Full Throttle

It’s Monday after the long holiday weekend and most of the leftovers from Thursday are gone.

But as the picture seems to indicate there’s still some leftovers that have become the subject of the FT trivia quiz this week.

Your mission if you should except it, and why wouldn’t you, is identify this Jimmie Johnson impostor.

The silver & blue paint scheme is familiar but the more discerning among you will note the split grill and badge between it all scream PONTIAC GRAND PRIX. And the neon yellow #48 makes it appear from a distance to be a fairly accurate clone of the two-time NEXTEL Cup champion’s ride.

But it’s not.

Those with a shall we say, a more “worldly view” of stock car racing, may have a slight advantage in tracking down the #48’s identity. As would those with Google skills and decide to use the hints displayed in the image.

As for other hints, that’s about all I have fer ya. The season for this driver and the series he runs in starts in the spring just as the real Jimmie Johnson’s, so you can rule out the new SpeedCar Series whose inaugral season starts January 26^th, 2008.

As a last hint the series competes on an even split between road courses and oval tracks. One of the oval tracks is nicknamed “The Rock” (that should toss some of you for a loop!) and Tony Kanaan in a Ford/Lola Champ Car holds the track record at an average speed of 215.397mph.

So there you have it, the “#48 Man Edition” of trivia. I’ll bet a bucket of leftover giblet gravy no one guesses the correct answer.