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Can Fernando Alonso win Indy? Here's why and why maybe not

SPEEDWAY, IN – The month of May has been a joy ride for Fernando Alonso at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The two-time Formula 1 champion came to Indy having never turned left in a race car without also turning right. But he acquired such a feel for Indy's 2 1/2 -mile rectangle during a month of practice and qualifying that he's considered a strong contender to win the 101st Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, rookie or not. "You're not trying to bring somebody on who has very little experience driving very high-performance cars," said 2003 Indy 500 winner Gil deFerran, who this month has helped Alonso learn the nuances that make the speedway such a tough place to conquer. "I suppose it would be a little bit different if you were dealing with a younger, much less experienced person." Driving a McLaren Honda from the potent Andretti Autosport team, Alonso was consistently near the top of the speed charts in practice, he qualified fifth fastest at 231.300 mph, and he handled runs in heavy traffic like a driver who'd done it many times before. But those were the prelims. The race is another creature. "The car felt the best (it has) in the last two weeks. I was making some moves, taking some different lines. I am extremely happy." Other drivers say the speedway looks different on race day when the crowd, expected to top 300,000, fills the grandstands and makes an already narrow track seem even tighter. The three-wide rolling start is something Alonso has never experienced, and he will see the green flag from the middle of the second row between Takuma Sato and J.R. Hildebrand. And the space he'll be given by his competitors in the first 180 laps may disappear In the last 20 when it's every driver for themselves. Can a rookie like Alonso win this race? Absolutely, as Andretti driver Alexander Rossi showed last year when his team used a fuel-mileage strategy to win in his first taste of Indy. We're talking about Fernando Alonso here, who easily could show his rookie stripes to the rest of the field most of the day. His best lap in Friday's final practice, 226.608, was fifth fastest in the field and, more important, he said the car felt comfortable in heavy traffic. "The car felt the best (it has) in the last two weeks," Alonso said. "I was making some moves, taking some different lines.

'84 MotorWeek Cherokee, Bronco and Blazer comparison indulges your SUV nostalgia

These days, truck-based, full-frame SUVs are somewhat of a rarity on the auto landscape due to the rapid rise in popularity of easier-driving, car-based crossovers. Although, without the gradually building popularity of these chunky, high-riding vehicles decades ago, it's unlikely that America's roads would be filled with so many CUVs today. In its latest dig into the archives, MotorWeek has found a 1984 comparison test of a trio of these early Sport Utility Wagons, as long-time host John Davis called them, that helped get acceptance of this segment going. This is a red, white and blue test of the SUVs from American automakers at the time and pits the Chevrolet Blazer, Ford Bronco and Jeep Cherokee (specifically in Wagoneer guise) against each other. Driving manners and interior usability are considered in the evaluation, but Motorweek actually takes these vehicles off road, too. Among the bigger revelations is the improvement in on-road ability in the past 30 years. While specific 0-60 times aren't given, all three models take around 10 seconds just to get to around 50 miles per hour in the 500-feet on-ramp acceleration test. Check out this clip to see just how far this segment has progressed in the past three decades or just get a blast of nostalgia from these now vintage models. News Source: MotorWeek via YouTube Chevrolet Ford Jeep SUV Off-Road Vehicles Classics Videos Ford Bronco chevy blazer

Both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay slated for Chevrolet lineup

Long awaited, the race among automakers to keep drivers connected to their smartphones has officially entered a new era. Hyundai said Tuesday it would be the first manufacturer to put Google's Android Auto into a production car, the 2015 Hyundai Sonata sedan. Not to be outdone, General Motors said today it'd offer both Android Auto and Apple's CarPlay on several Chevrolet models set to hit dealerships this summer. By giving car buyers the choice between these rival phone-projection systems, Chevrolet hopes to quell concerns from prospective customers worried about the compatibility of their smartphones and vehicles. "It's about providing choice," said Alicia Boler-Davis, GM's senior vice president for global connected car consumer experience. "No two customers are alike, and we cannot expect a single solution that works for every driver in every situation." Across the industry, automakers are rushing to add both to their cars as a growing base of customers seek an array of connected features. Estimates from automotive technology research firm SBD indicate smartphone-integrated content is available in 36 percent of current vehicles, and the company expects that penetration rate will grow to 84 percent by 2025. For Chevrolet, the systems will be available on select 2016 iterations of the Cruze, Camaro, Volt, Spark and Malibu as early as next month, and appear on 14 Chevy models overall for the 2016 model year. They're available on all trim levels, but they only work with the company's MyLink infotainment package installed in the cars, and the first to hit showrooms will only work on the seven-inch touchscreen models. "CarPlay and Android Auto, these are things that are addressable to the broad market, and I think it makes a lot of sense for GM to put it into Chevys first," IHS Automotive senior analyst Mark Boyadjis said. Via physical connections, both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto allow users access to smartphone features like turn-by-turn directions, phone calls, voice-to-text messages and music streaming. Interfaces are similar to the ones found on the respective smartphones, but on the dashboard, they're redesigned for a simpler, in-car experience. Fonts are larger, for example, and easier to press on a touchscreen. CarPlay relies heavily on Siri so that drivers spend more time staring at the road instead of their touchscreen. That sounds good, at least in theory.