October 2011 – There are a few things different about this year’s Mazda Laguna Seca race. For all drivers, the weather has been uncharacteristically chilly throughout the week’s practice runs and system checks. For Level 5 Motorsports, the weather is hardly noticeable-at least not compared to the brand new metal vessel they’ve been wheeling around at triple-digit speeds.

The team recently partnered with Wirth Research to debut an HPD ARX-01g chassis at the ALMS race tomorrow. Last week, drivers Christophe Bouchut, Joao Barbosa and Luis Diaz, along with team manager David Stone, visited the Wirth Research team to meet their new team member. But of course, giving it the once-over means nothing once behind the wheel.

Initial practice runs this week were promising; the drivers emerged from their seats optimistic. Team owner Scott Tucker was a man of few words after his first practice run. “It’s good,” he said. “We’re going through the normal systems checks. We’re just going through the motions.”

The motions should be enough for Level 5, if last year is any indication. The team won the 2010 American Le Mans Series championship, and Tucker won both 2010 Rookie of the Year and Champion Driver. Still, with a brand new car, it will be important to find the team’s sweet spot in order to make the podium once again.

“Right now, it’s more about finding the balance,” Luis Diaz Said after his practice run earlier this week. “If you have a good balanced car, you’ll have a good car in qualifying and race. We’re focusing on having a decent car, good balance front to rear, and then we’ll start to focus on having that ultimate lap.”

Although the drivers are being diplomatic in their answers, team manager David Stone offers a bit of insight. “Everybody left last night feeling pretty optimistic about the car,” he says. “The initial performance indicators were really good. This is really a test race for us getting ready for Petite le Monde.”

The team has been using a simulator in London in order to prepare for the new car’s debut. The car is so new that no spare parts have arrived yet, which makes this weekend’s race one of the riskiest ones for Level 5. “We don’t have any spare parts, so we need to be really good with the car today,” Stone said. The team rushed the new car to the raceway in order to be ready for Petite le Monde next weekend, so it’s clear their eyes are to the horizon.

Changing cars is not a new practice for the Level 5 team. Tucker, who began his career at age 44 in 2006, raced in two cars for his first season: the No. 55 Oreca FLM09 and the No. 95 Oreca FLM09. This year, the team entered the LMP2 class and changed cars again. Following a year of outstanding success, which included two podium finishes just four races into the season, the team made an announcement: it would finish the year with yet another car. They would pair their existing Honda motors with the Honda LMP2 chassis to finish out the race calendar.

True to his history, Tucker is prepared for and confident in the change. “We’ve seen gains with the engine all year and the good thing is that there’s still room for development,” Tucker says. “The HPD engine and chassis combination has proven to be the best over the years. We feel very comfortable and confident in making this unprecedented and decisive move in the middle of the season.”

As the race kicks off tomorrow, the new car will weather it’s first true road test. The results of tomorrow’s race will be a telling indicator of the weekend to come.

One of the obvious perks of working at a telescope shop is that I get to use a little of everything when it comes to astrophoto gear. But I do have some favorite telescopes and cameras Scott Tucker.

Many people are thankful for their parents for giving them the good kind of life with provision and quality time together with the family. Parents are a blessing from God for they are the ones responsible in taking care of their children. They have the power to help their children reach their maximum potential. They are the bearers of their children’s future and able to lead them and encourage them to do their best.

Society has become results oriented with how fast things are and sometimes we neglect the most important people in the society which are our elders. The government has given them privileges and pensions so that they can live life to the fullest at their age. Many services were offered and programs established to help our elderly for they are the priority and some include the following:

Care giving program – It assures that are old people receives hot and delicious food prescribed to them and also a provision of groceries for senior citizens who are not able to leave their homes. Caregivers also assist and help with household chores which are too difficult for the elderly.

Food Assistance – Our senior citizens are assisted with their meals and given brochures for appropriate diets they can follow and adapt. Exercise is also emphasized to have a healthy and dynamic lifestyle. This is customized to prolong their lives and have resistance to sickness. This promotes good health and appetite.

Transportation program – The government provides a shuttle service or a bus for the senior citizen when they have their errands such as visiting stores, to vote during election, attend Sunday worship service, attend occasions and visits to the doctor.

Other grants such as rental and food stamps are also provided to those whose retirement fund is not enough to support their needs. Indeed, our elders are important and must keep them healthy and well provided in all aspects in life. If it was not for them, we are not here in this world.

[Al Breitbach] has been in the field of Real Government Grants for a long time and maintains a website about Home Improvement Grants where you can get answers to the rest of your questions.

People apparently voted for Obama because they thought he was going to stand on the street corner handing out cash. What are all the people going to do who think they are going to get this free money when they find out they will not be getting it? President Obama doesn’t have any money to give out and as a nation we are pretty much bankrupt.

Our country is in a really bad spot financially and people are just not informed about the situation. They have mo idea how the economy works and unfortunately they think the government is magic and has unlimited funds to give them money. This might be why so many people voted for President Obama thinking they were going to be getting some money out of it. What is going to happen to his popularity when things continue to go downhill and perhaps even get worse faster?

The government has no money to give and so many companies are going bankrupt as well. Yes, the government can just print more money but that devalues all the existing dollars and hurts in the end. That has, unfortunately, never stopped the government from doing it but eventually it will catch up to us in terms of inflation. That time of high inflation just might be right around the corner.

Obama is also tackling student loans and hoping to take private industry out of the equation. The argument is that private industry is trying to make a profit on our children’s education when in fact perhaps that is wrong. There is much disagreement about this but one thing is for sure: colleges cost too much and our kids start off in life with a huge college loan they have to dig out from under. Obama may be doing many things wrong but in this one area of student loans he may have the right idea.

All the spending the US government is doing may or may not end up working to keep our country out of more financial trouble. It may work but no one knows whether it will because we have never faced a situation like this before. It may also put our country in a deeper hole than ever before too.

If you would like to learn about getting Obama grants for moms, please go to my website Obama Grant Program to learn more.