Watch SRT's Viper GTS-R return to professional racing at Mid-Ohio

Spectators at this past weekend's ALMS race at Mid-Ohio made sure to pay special attention to the two Viper GTS-R racers with their video cameras, and Chrysler's cameras were out in full force as well. It was the first race for SRT Motorsport's Team Viper after a lenthy hiatus. Both V10 racers had to run their 8.0-liter engines with an air restrictor because the rest of the class runs with 5.5 liters. The 455-horsepower snakes finished the race in 10th and 12th place overall while gathering valuable data.

Oh, about that "thundering in your ears" that Autoblog Editor-in-chief John Neff mentioned in his race coverage? They've still got it. Big time. Have a watch and a listen of the videos below.

Team Viper and their thundering coupes head to Road America in two weeks.

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Dodge pulling out of NASCAR *UPDATE

After 11 years of competing in NASCAR, Dodge is reportedly once again pulling out of the racing series. Penske Racing, the only team running under the Dodge banner in 2012, announced in March it was switching to Ford for the 2013 season. On Monday, Penske Racing said it would also switch from Dodge engines to Roush-Yates Ford engines for 2013.

In March, Dodge rolled out its Sprint Cup Charger it planned to campaign in 2013, but NASCAR.com says it did not take part in a tire test at Martinsville Speedway this week.

This is not Dodge's first time leaving NASCAR. The company left the series in 1977 and returned in 2001. It has won 50+ races since then, and could still add to that tally before the end of the 2012 season. NASCAR.com reports that an official statement from Chrysler confirming its departure is expected later today.

*UPDATE: Chrysler has confirmed it is leaving NASCAR. Scroll down to read the official notice and watch a video of executive Ralph Gilles addressing the pullout.

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Audi teases RS5 Pikes Peak Hill climb entrant [w/video]

Audi has released a teaser shot of its entrant in the 2012 Pikes Peak Hill Climb on its Facebook page. The teaser of the menacing coupe is also accompanied by a nice little video of Audi's past dominance. It's a nice refresher going into this weekend's hill climb, which was postponed by wildfires.

The first Audi entrant in the Hill Climb was in 1984, with Michele Mouton piloting an Audi Sport Quattro. Mouton won the even in 1985, and was unseated by Bobby Unser in 1986 in an Audi Sport Quattro S1. The S1 featured a turbocharged five-cylinder making 600 horsepower

From what we can tell from this shadowy shot, this RS5 has the gaping grill and lower valences typical of a vehicle wearing the Four Rings and an RS badge. At this angle, it looks similar to the RS5 that you can get from a dealer. The stock RS5 makes 450 horsepower from the brand's venerable 4.2-liter V8. Chances are this hill-climber will be putting out much more than that, though. We'll know for sure when it competes in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb on August 12, but while you're waiting, you can check out the video by scrolling below.

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Final missing Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette discovered

You would think that by 2012 some four decades after the car collecting hobby hit maturity there would be no important and unaccounted-for cars left to be found. But you would be wrong.

Carlisle Events has announced that the No. 1 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette from 1960 was recently found in a warehouse in Florida, where it had been sitting neglected since the mid-1970s. The car will be on display at this month's Corvettes at Carlisle, with the full backstory on the car, including the identity of its new owner, to be revealed on August 24.

The Corvette was one of three such cars racing legend Cunningham entered at Le Mans in 1960 as privateer efforts during General Motors' self-imposed ban on racing. While the other two Chevrolet racers have been discovered and restored, the No. 1 Corvette has been missing since shortly after the race when it was sold off as a street car. When the two-door appears at Carlisle it will be shown in unrestored, "as found" condition.

The No. 1 Corvette might not have been discovered if it were not for the car's owner researching the VIN on the BriggsCunningham.com website. That led the website owner to contact Carlisle co-founder Chip Miller, owner of the No. 3 car, who apparently brokered the deal with the Vette's new owner. Plans do call for restoration of the car and a possible reunion with its teammates.

Scroll down to read the full press release.

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Audi ties new TT RS to IMSA GTO-conquering 90 Quattro

"A race car has a soul."

So says Hand-Joachim Stuck, winner of the 1990 DTM Championship behind the wheel of the iconic Audi 90 Quattro. Not surprisingly, Audi would love you to draw a connection between the soul of the turbocharged five-cylinder-powered Quattro of old with the soul-stirring new TT RS. Successful racing heritage is, after all, a major selling point of this class of cars.

But does the old 90 Quattro really have anything to do with the new TT RS? Well, that's debatable. If nothing else, both cars feature a turbocharged five underhood along with all-wheel drive. Quattro GmbH engineer Michael Ganz says that the TT's engine is a direct descendent of the 90's race-winning powerplant... of course, the old IMSA GTO-spec engine boasted some 700 horsepower, which is quite a bit more than the 360 horses spun out by the 2.5-liter in the TT RS.

Regardless of your opinions as to the comparison, the video after the break is worth a watch, if for no reason other than the vintage footage of the old 90 Quattro doing its dance against an assortment of period-spec peers. See for yourself in the video below.

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1 dead, 9 injured at Pocono Raceway as storms shorten NASCAR race

Severe thunderstorms devastated fans hanging around trying to enjoy the post-race atmosphere at the Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The NASCAR Pocono 400 Sprint Cup race itself had been halted 98 laps into the 160-lap event because of rain, and track officials twice warned spectators that severe thunderstorms were on the way and to find shelter.

According to reports, while race winner Jeff Gordon was heading to Victory Lane, the arriving storms brought two lightning strikes that hit ten fans. One man, who was said to be "either leaning on or inside his car when the car was struck by lightning," was killed in the strike behind the main grandstand. The other nine were injured, one critically, in that strike and the second strike by one of the gates.

It was a tragic epilogue to Jeff Gordon winning his first race in 31 tries. Our condolences to the families of all those affected.

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Ford Mustang race teams sit out Mid-Ohio race in protest of SCCA rules [w/video]

The Ford Mustang Boss 302S race car dominated the inaugural season of the GTS class in the SCCA World Challenge, with Paul Brown of the Tiger Racing team winning five races and capturing the driver's championship. That wasn't necessarily a surprise, though, as the class was developed in part for the turn-key race car. This season, Ford's pony car hasn't had nearly as much success, however, with a Mustang driver not standing atop the podium since the first race and the highest ranking team currently sitting 6th in the standings.

The frustration of the Mustang teams came to a head this past weekend at Mid-Ohio when their quickest car finished in 10th place in Saturday's race. To compound their problems, seven of the Mustang race cars had overheating issues, a problem that the teams say is due to the small air restrictors mandated for the Mustang by the SCCA. Tiger Racing experienced two engine failures, while another driver experienced temperatures so high in the cabin that the rubber soles of his shoes melted.

In protest, each of the Mustang teams decided to sit out Sunday's race, parking their cars in pit lane after the initial formation lap. "The Mustang owners and drivers collectively and unanimously feel that the SCCA's method of creating parity is not working and leaves the Mustang with a significant handicap in many areas, and an advantage in NO area," said the teams in a collective statement released yesterday. "The Boss Mustang teams held meetings with series officials throughout the Mid-Ohio event in an attempt to regain some level of competitiveness, but those discussions proved fruitless. The teams collectively felt that their voices were not being heard and staged a protest to bring more attention to this matter."

Scroll down to read the official announcement or watch Justin Bell, driver of the Tiger Racing Mustang Boss 302S, talk about the protest.

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