Kicking Off 2019, Parts 1-3

Let's kick off 2019 with 3 hot topics from the past week!

NMS Now With BMW Power

#1: The South Carolina Region of the Sports Car Club of America kicks off the new season TODAY with a Test-N-Tune autocross event at Darlington, and then TOMORROW holds their first competition of the year. Look for NMS driver Brian Nixon in the new BMW-mobile to be competing for the first time. Here's the full season of autocross fun for the SCR:

Date	Event	Location
Saturday, February 9	2019 Test and Tune	Darlington Raceway
Sunday, February 10	2019 Points Event #1	Darlington Raceway
Saturday, March 2	2019 Starting Line School	Darlington Raceway
Sunday, March 3, 2019	2019 Points Event #2	Darlington Raceway
Saturday, April 6	2019 Points Event #3	Michelin Proving Grounds
Sunday, April 7	2019 Points Event #4	Michelin Proving Grounds
Sunday, May 5	2019 Points Event #5	Freestyle Music Park
Sunday, June 23	2019 Points Event #6	Fort Dorchester High School
Saturday, July 20 Sunday, July 21	2019 Carolina Clash                  (2-Day, non-points)	MCAS Cherry Point
Saturday, August 24	2019 Points Event #7	Freestyle Music Park
Saturday, September 7	2019 Points Event #8	Michelin Proving Grounds
Sunday, October 13	2019 Points Event #9	Freestyle Music Park
Saturday, November 2	2019 War at the Shore (non-points)	Roebling Road
Sunday, November 17	2019 Points Event #10	Darlington Raceway

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#2: Speaking of "Kick-Off", last Sunday was the Super Bowl. I don't know about you, but it didn't seem so "Super", and I totally missed any "Bowling." However, there were some car commercials, so our quick take on the car ads starts right now!

Plenty of people would probably agree with me that the best part of the Superbowl every year is the funny and creative commercial. If so, then the best part of the best part (best of the best of the best, SIR!) has to be the car commercials shown during the game. Let’s go to the tape and check out the best of them. 

National Anthem, Gladys Knight: KAPOW! Good stuff! I’ve seen her Chicken and Waffles restaurants in Georgia too! I don't think Maroon 5 is going to top Gladys, even without the Pips!

1^stQuarter

--Hyundai elevator ad, Jason Bateman, pretty funny, Car Shopping Shopper Assurance makes pricing and purchase easier, test drive comes to you, 3 day trial, kind of funny, not quite a killer, so let’s kickoff the grading with a B.

--Weather Tech and Pet Comfort, your basic ad, and kudos to Weather Tech for the huge amount of advertising they do for their car related products. B

--Audi E-Tron SUV, not an ad, but sponsoring part of the 1^stquarter?

-- Ahh, here's the Audi ad: Grandpa, welcome home, your future awaits, the guy was choking on a nut, dreaming of the Audi Etron of the future, coming in 2022. Oddball, sort of funny, B+, still waiting for a great ad. 

Audi wins the first quarter by a lot. No score in the game yet.

2^ndQuarter

Guy watching tv, walking around town, just says things and they happen, gets in his Mercedes A class, starts at 32500, talks to it to change music and lighting inside. Maybe an A- since I didn’t know what it was going to be for until he got in the car. 

Toni Harris gets in her hybrid RAV4 by Toyota, they said she’d never get a football scholarship, but she did. A

Planters peanuts, peanut mobile, always there in crunch time, Charlie Sheen, A-Rod, Nuts2U license plate, not really a car commercial, but about the funniest thing so far, another A, that makes two in a row for the 2^ndquarter.  Mr. Peanut saves A-rod from having to eat kale chips. 

Both of them got As in the second quarter, but I'm giving the win to the Planters peanuts for being funny!

Halftime--Here's a funny comment I saw on line....Maroon 5, Pats 3, Rams 0

Toyota Supra driving in a pinball machine, music courtesy of the Who “Pinball Wizard”, not bad, mostly we’re all just happy that the Supra is back! B. 

Mini Countryman, guy driving through city singing Don’t Fence Me In. Missed most of this commercial, so I’m glad to see Mini advertising at all!  C

Supra wins the halftime car ad bowl.

3^rdQuarter

Kia Telluride, assembled in West Point Georgia, here’s to the great unknowns, give it everything, one of those inspirational commercials, maybe I’m not a fan of serious car ads, C. To Kia's credit, it was a big long 90 second ad, and they sure sell a lot of cars. 

Only 1 car ad in the 3rd? OK, Kia wins with a grade of C. 

Rams kick field goal, tied 3-3

4^thQuarter  still 3-3

According to one website that listed ads, there won’t be any more car ads in this superbowl. Hmmm, not even one ad for a pickup truck? I thought this was America!

Weather Tech cup holder phone holder thingy, Hey, there was another car RELATED ad, only a 15 second one, but now I want to buy one of these things for all my cars. A

Pats win the lowest scoring Super Bowl of all time:  13-3
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#3: In the Formula 1 world, the new season pretty much started this week, not with any cars being driven, not with any new driver announcements, but with the first team to unveil their 2019 cars. The Haas F1 team took the wraps off their all new black and gold car, courtesy of new team sponsor Rich Energy drinks. After being in Haas colors of red and gray for their first three years, I think this mostly black with a bit of gold is very sharp looking. The other nine teams will reveal their cars next week, and then on February 18th all the cars will be testing, on track, for the first time this year. Luckily for those of us in the USA, that's the President's Day holiday, so we'll have some race cars running to make it a great day!

February 07 - Haas 
February 11 - Toro Rosso
February 11 - Williams
February 12 - Renault
February 13 - Mercedes
February 13 - Red Bull
February 13 - Racing Point
February 14 - McLaren
February 15 - Ferrari
February 18 - Sauber