“Carhenge named No. 2 wackiest attraction in U.S. - The Guardian” plus 4 more

Carhenge named No. 2 wackiest attraction in U.S. - The Guardian
C-4 Regulations - Texarkana Gazette
Frankie Taylor can’t quit drag racing - Daily News - Galveston County
AllTheRides.com introduces their automotive websites as their latest ... - PRLog (free press release)
US business group chief says SKorea-EU trade agreement could push US ... - The San Francisco Examiner

Carhenge named No. 2 wackiest attraction in U.S. - The Guardian

Posted: 18 Oct 2009 02:57 PM PDT

ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) â€" Western Nebraska's automotive replica of England's famed Stonehenge has been named the No. 2 wackiest attraction in America. Carhenge uses old cars painted stone gray to replicate the stone formations found at Stonehenge.

Carhenge near Alliance received the wacky recognition from the travel advice site, TripAdvisor, as part of a list of the nation's ten wackiest attractions.

The only attraction deemed wackier than Carhenge is the toilet seat museum in San Antonio that features more than 800 decorated toilet seat lids but no bathroom.

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On the Net:

TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com

Carhenge: http://www.carhenge.com

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C-4 Regulations - Texarkana Gazette

Posted: 18 Oct 2009 09:59 PM PDT

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n Commercial entertainment including but not limited to: amusement park; bingo parlor; miniature golf park; movie theater; pool/billiards hall; video arcade; water amusement park. n Convenience store n Convention/meeting/assembly n General retail ...

Frankie Taylor can’t quit drag racing - Daily News - Galveston County

Posted: 18 Oct 2009 09:45 PM PDT

DICKINSON — Frankie Taylor put the finishing touches on his 1952 Chevy Studebaker. He screwed in a PSI screw blower, to make the engine just that much faster.

When it was all set, Taylor got out from the driver's seat. He took a step back to look at his newest race car. The old one sat just to the right, in shambles, at his auto repair shop, Taylor Automotive, in Dickinson.

Taylor crashed last week in an 1/8-mile drag race at Houston Motorsports Park. He blacked out for five minutes, the longest he's ever lost consciousness in his 20-year drag racing career.

"I don't know why I do this," Taylor said, shaking his head. "I guess, maybe something's not right up there."

Taylor listed myriad reasons to quit. The 39-year-old is in more debt than he cares to admit. Though he races in two circuits, prizes barely cover general maintenance and travel expenditures. Last weekend marked his sixth crash. Traveling can take up 30 weekends out of the year.

But Taylor does have one very good reason to stay. His wife, Cindy, tells him to.

So this next weekend, Taylor will travel to Ennis and compete in the American Drag Racing League World Finals.

"At first I didn't like the drag races," Cindy said. "But I saw how much he loves it, and I figure, we're so involved now, why leave?"

The truth of the matter: Cindy is as committed as her husband. Frankie turned his love of racing into a family affair.

Frankie's brother, Paul Taylor, is the crew chief. Paul brings his wife and two kids to every race. Scottie Taylor, 6, and Emily Taylor, 14, also join their mom and dad on the trips.

The eight hop in the trailer most weekends and travel as far as Ohio. Sometimes the distance is as short as Baytown.

The Taylor family eats and sleeps in the trailer. Races, since they generally go four or five rounds, take most of the day. Cindy and the kids help with the car and keep dad company. They also socialize and meet other families.

"We have fun," Emily said. "It's our family time — and its like extended family with all the other racing families. We have lots of friends."

Frankie never imagined it like this. As a young boy, he loved tinkering with toys, trying to make them go fast. As he grew older, he moved to cars and never stopped.

At 19, Frankie hopped in his first drag car. He traveled the one-eighth of a mile in four seconds and his career started almost as fast.

A major turning point came in 1994 at Baytown. Frankie kept advancing in the Super Chevy race, but he busted his window and door. He tried to use duct tape and cardboard, but the race administrators said it wasn't safe. They said Frankie couldn't race, but that would not stop him.

Frankie then went to a shop. He put together a makeshift door with a quick, opaque concoction that blocked his view from the passenger's side. The administrators, however, couldn't find anything illegal, since it was sturdy enough to protect him in a crash.

It prompted one official to say, "You race like a madman, Frankie."

The nickname stuck, and Frankie "the Madman" Taylor's career took off. He won the Texas Outlaw Pro Mod Association points title two times, including 2008. He sits third this year. The TOPMA also has a championship race, which Taylor captured thee times.

Frankie holds the Houston Motorsports Park 1/8-mile record at 199.94 mph in 3.79 seconds. His best time is 204.5 mph in 3.72 seconds.

In the ADRL, established five years ago, Frankie currently ranks ninth in the points standing. He won his first ADRL race last year and finished third in the points standings.

Still, Frankie debates whether he should continue to race. Despite his wife's insistence, it's an internal never-ending debate. If only it were as easy as just getting in the car and racing.

Boundaries persist and prohibit Frankie from going fast. After his crash last weekend, Frankie needed to get a car donated to finish out the ADRL and TOPMA season. Luckily, he got one from Richard Patterson.

Frankie struggles to get sponsors and didn't make all the ADRL races. It really hurt his season and cost him a chance to compete in the championship.

And then there's time and labor. Frankie spends 50 hours a week just on maintenance on his car. That doesn't include travel and racing on weekend. It leaves very little time to dedicate to his automotive shop.

"We think about stopping a lot," Cindy said, "But what good is it not to do what you love?"

So that new furniture, the new TV — it can all wait, Cindy said. As long as her husband and family continue to remain happy.

Which means the Taylors get in the trailer every weekend and go to the next race.

"I just want to go faster," Frankie said. "It's one of the few things I've really ever wanted to do."

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AllTheRides.com introduces their automotive websites as their latest ... - PRLog (free press release)

Posted: 17 Oct 2009 01:51 AM PDT

art automotive websites to small to mid-sized dealerships.

AllTheRides.com has undergone tremendous change over the years to accommodate their growing demand for business solutions from dealerships. Thus, with their phenomenal range of automotive websites and automotive business solutions, they are gearing up for an influx of dealers interested in taking their business two levels above their competition. AllTheRides.com is well placed to take on the challenges and competition by well known automotive websites like Cars.com and AutoTrader.com. Megan Adams, AllTheRides' s public relations executive is very optimistic on the prospects and feels that AllTheRides.com is strategically well placed to offer the full range of service to their ever growing client list.

"Our automotive business solutions are designed to help dealers market their business effectively via our automotive websites which are fully optimized and geared towards the automotive community," said Megan. She further adds that unlike other automotive marketing companies, they handle all aspects of web development and marketing for their clients' automotive business.

AllTheRides.com has gained tremendous momentum since its inception two years ago, an excellent achievement for a relatively new free auto classified site. Their team of creative marketers is constantly on the lookout for new avenues and ways to market the site with the goal of increasing traffic and web exposure. Megan explains "What makes AllTheRides.com unique from other automotive websites is that it is 100% user driven, which means we rely on users to drive our success. Therefore we want to appeal to both dealers and private consumers hence we made sure that our business solutions catered to their needs."

With the introduction of their latest business solution, AllTheRides.com continues to gain speed towards their goal of being the best free automotive classified in the automotive world.

For more information about their automotive business solution, please go to http://alltherides.com/ business-solutions/

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US business group chief says SKorea-EU trade agreement could push US ... - The San Francisco Examiner

Posted: 19 Oct 2009 12:08 AM PDT

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Progress between South Korea and the European Union in realizing their free trade agreement could serve as a catalyst to restore momentum to a stalled deal between the United States and Seoul, the head of a U.S. business group said Monday.

"I hope that the initialing of the Korea-EU FTA .... will light a fire under policy makers in Washington," Amy Jackson, the new president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea told reporters.

South Korea and the U.S. signed a landmark accord in June 2007 to slash tariffs and other barriers to trade, but the deal has languished in political limbo in both countries, where it awaits legislative ratification.

In the meantime, the European Union has played catch-up in the race to secure closer trade ties with South Korea, one of Asia's leading economies. The two sides last week initialed their free trade agreement in Brussels, though it still awaits official signing and final ratification. They began negotiations in May 2007, about a month after Washington and Seoul concluded theirs.

Jackson, a former U.S. trade official with a focus on Japan and South Korea, said that pessimism regarding the South Korea-U.S. deal was unwarranted, though she added that further talks between the two sides were necessary to iron out issues in the automotive sector.

"The chances that (the agreement) will not be ratified are zero," she said.

Standing in the way of progress were President Barack Obama's need to deal with the global economic crisis, efforts to seek approval for his health care reform plans and the administration's desire for further talks with South Korea on the auto sector, she said.

Wendy Cutler, the U.S. trade official who negotiated the hard-fought deal with Seoul, told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday that automakers have concerns and that the administration is trying to find ways to address them. She said Washington hopes to begin talks with Seoul soon about an ongoing U.S. review of the agreement.

U.S. and European automakers have been critical of South Korea over its large surpluses in auto trade and have blasted the agreements their governments have concluded with Seoul.

South Korea has been adamant that the deal stands and has been cool to any talk of renegotiation.

Jackson said she was confident the U.S. and South Korea can reach a compromise without needed to renegotiate the agreement.

South Korea and the U.S. did $84.8 billion in bilateral trade in 2008, making Washington South Korea's fourth-biggest trading partner after China, the European Union and Japan.

South Korea's trade with the 27-member EU amounted to $98.4 billion last year. The EU is the largest foreign investor in South Korea.

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