SPEED World Challenge GT at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

2009 SPEED World Challenge GT at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Click above for a high-res image gallery

With various racing series coming to a close this month, the Mustang has proven its worth on track by bringing home two major road racing championships. This past weekend Brandon Davis secured the 2009 SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT title in only his second season with a fourth place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Davis, who was racing in the new 2010 ACS Mustang that debuted a few weeks earlier at Road Atlanta, only needed to finish in eighth place to guarantee the championship and beat out Porsche driver James Sofronas.

In the Grand-Am Koni Challenge series, the Mustang FR500C also captured not only the driver title, but also the team and manufacturers' championships for the second straight year. Rehagen Racing sat atop the driver and team points lead with a sixth place finish at Virginia International Raceway, and the win by JBS Motorsports helped put Ford just one point ahead of BMW in the manufacturers' standings. Mustangs won five races during the 2009 season and finished on the podium eight out of eleven races.

We didn't make it out to VIR for the Koni Challenge race, but we were on hand at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to watch the SPEED World Challenge race with cameras at the ready. Check out the high-res gallery below, or tune into SPEED TV on November 3 at 2:00 pm EST to watch the race yourself.

Gallery: 2009 SPEED World Challenge GT at Laguna Seca

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would pay $150 million and receive Hummer

2009 Hummer HX concept – Click above for high-res gallery

Last week, it was reported that General Motors had signed a definitive agreement to sell Hummer to Chinese machinery manufacturer Tengzhong. The Chinese company and its partner in the deal, Lumena Resources Corp., would pay $150 million and receive Hummer and its intellectual property, ownership of U.S. franchise agreements, and manufacturing, business, and component assistance during a four- or five-year transition period.

The questions being raised now concern what is happening on the other side of the Pacific. The Chinese Commerce Ministry reportedly hasn't received Tengzhong's application to officially bring Hummer home, which has led observers to wonder if there will be a holdup or reversal of the deal. According to a Hummer representative, however, Tengzhong had to finalize the deal with GM before it could present it for approval to the Chinese authorities:

Gallery: Detroit 2009: HUMMER HX in the design studio

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Rockstar Energy Drink Drift captain Stephan Papadakis comes charging

Autoblog goes drifting with Tanner Foust – Click above for high-res image gallery

"It feels like I'm down on power!" yells Tanner Foust in the general direction of the gathered throngs containing both his crew and assorted media. Tanner and myself are currently five-point bolted into his new stock car-engined Formula D Scion tC. We've just exited an aborted lap around the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale because something – so says Foust – is amiss with the car.

Rockstar Energy Drink Drift captain Stephan Papadakis comes charging towards the Scion and begins earnestly, if not frantically, checking the car's vitals through the steering wheel's digital readout. Steph floors the motor a few times, checks the numbers and exasperatedly tells Foust that everything looks fine. "Oh," says Tanner, patting me on my beer belly. "Must be him." Very funny, jerk.

Gallery: Autoblog Goes Drifting with Tanner Foust

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Rockstar Energy Drink Drift captain Stephan Papadakis comes charging

Autoblog goes drifting with Tanner Foust – Click above for high-res image gallery

"It feels like I'm down on power!" yells Tanner Foust in the general direction of the gathered throngs containing both his crew and assorted media. Tanner and myself are currently five-point bolted into his new stock car-engined Formula D Scion tC. We've just exited an aborted lap around the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale because something – so says Foust – is amiss with the car.

Rockstar Energy Drink Drift captain Stephan Papadakis comes charging towards the Scion and begins earnestly, if not frantically, checking the car's vitals through the steering wheel's digital readout. Steph floors the motor a few times, checks the numbers and exasperatedly tells Foust that everything looks fine. "Oh," says Tanner, patting me on my beer belly. "Must be him." Very funny, jerk.

Gallery: Autoblog Goes Drifting with Tanner Foust

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Click either image for a hi-res gallery of the Chevy Orlando

GM has announced that it will unveil the Chevy Orlando show car at the Paris Motor Show next month. The compact 7-seat crossover has a 105-inch wheelbase, rides on the same platform (Delta II) as the Chevy Cruze and gets turbodiesel power from a 2.0-liter four. The Orlando and the Chevy Tacuma prototype caught testing in disguise would appear to be one and the same, and as the Tacuma spy shots hinted, instead of a traditional vannish MPV appearance, the Orlando show car demonstrates that the production vehicle will follow the CUV pack and adopt tougher-looking SUV styling queues (Quien es mas macho? Orlando.) A substantial split grille dominates the front end, along with headlights that sweep back onto the front fender. Inside, an attractive cabin blends styling elements from a number of modern Chevys and Opels. We'll get the rest of the skinny and report back live from the Paris show next month.

Gallery: Chevrolet Orlando concept

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Chevy Orlando Concept comes stateside

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Chevy Orlando Concept

Among the array of various concept and production vehicles at the GM display was the Chevy Orlando Concept that made its world debut in Paris just a few months prior. Based on the same platform as the Cruze, the Orlando offers seven seats in a relatively compact design. At its debut we found the Orlando to be a much more appealing than the HHR and hoped that GM would consider bringing it to the U.S. as a production vehicle. Our wish has been granted, and the Orlando will arrive in dealers as a 2011 model along with the Spark mini-car. Follow the jump for the press release from GM, video from the live unveil, and check out new high-res photos in the gallery below.

Gallery: Detroit 2009: Chevrolet Orlando Concept

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Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

PRESS RELEASE:

The Chevrolet Orlando show car will make its North American debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The compact, seven-seat multi-purpose vehicle has the versatile attributes of a sport-utility, a family van and a wagon.

Based on the recently introduced Cruze compact sedan, the Orlando show car carries Chevrolet's signature design language into a new vehicle segment. Cues include a two-tier grille, expressive headlamps that flow into the front fenders and muscular fender forms that wrap around the wheels.

"The Orlando suggests a possible addition to Chevrolet's global product portfolio, while adhering to its mission of offering value, quality and fuel efficiency," said Ed Peper, GM North America vice president, Chevrolet. "It offers adaptable seating, more than expected interior room and a powerful yet economical powertrain – features that were designed to suit a variety of needs in different markets."

Fuel-efficient power for the Orlando show car comes from a 2.0L turbo-diesel that generates 150 horsepower (112 kW) and a strong 235 lb.-ft. of torque (320 Nm). The small-displacement four-cylinder engine combines excellent fuel efficiency with surprising performance, thanks to high torque available across the rpm band. The car-based architecture of the Orlando – the hallmark of a true crossover – further contributes to the vehicle's efficiency with lower overall mass and better aerodynamics.

Inside, the five-door Orlando is designed to meet the needs of families and those who need plenty of seating capacity. It has reconfigurable, theater-style seating in three rows that comfortably accommodate up to seven occupants. The seats in rows two and three conveniently fold flat into the floor, whenever load carrying becomes a priority.

A long, 108.6-inch (2,760 mm) wheelbase, along with wide front and rear tracks, enhance the interior's spaciousness. Those dimensions also support a smooth, compliant driving experience, with assistance from a strut-type front suspension, compound crank rear suspension and a speed-sensitive, electric power steering system.