Darrell Waltrip Automotive Staff Ride in the 2010 Jack & Back

This is the 16th year of Jack Daniel’s “Bike to Jack & Back” MS Bike Ride. This year, the Jack & Back Ride takes place October 2-3. The Mid South Chapter of the National MS Society hopes "to raise $671,000 to help fund research and programs for people living with MS."

Here at Darrell Waltrip Automotive, we have several employees and managers looking to help the Mid South Chapter reach that goal! Jean “Coach” Rollins, John Gallagher, Andy Giordano, Dick Wilson, Mark Smallwood, Jamie Putman, and Beth Schaller have all signed up to participate in this year’s event! Rollins, Gallagher, and Giordano are veterans of the Jack & Back, with this year’s race being their 5th Jack & Back.

Training for ‘Jack’ is tough- cyclists have the option to ride either 57 or 75 miles during each day of the bike ride, with preparations for the race beginning months before!

Around 950 cyclists and 150 volunteers participate in the annual Jack & Back.
In 2009, the Mid South Chapter "raised over $2 million dollars, serving more than 8,400 clients in 107 counties across the state of Tennessee, northern Georgia, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas."
For more information about the Mid South Chapter, please visit their website.

Honda Tops American-Made Index on Cars.com

The Cars.com American-Made Index
By Kelsey Mays, Cars.com

What Are the Top American-Made Cars?
Cars.com's American-Made Index rates vehicles built and bought in the U.S. Factors include sales, where the car's parts come from and whether the car is assembled in the U.S. We disqualify models with a domestic parts content rating below 75 percent, models built exclusively outside the U.S. or models soon to be discontinued without a U.S.-built successor.

Rank Make/Model U.S. Assembly Location Last Rank

1. Toyota Camry Georgetown, Ky.; Lafayette, Ind. 1
2. Honda Accord Marysville, Ohio; Lincoln, Ala. —
3. Ford Escape Kansas City, Mo. —
4. Ford Focus Wayne, Mich. —
5. Chevrolet Malibu Kansas City, Kan. 3
6. Honda Odyssey Lincoln, Ala. 4

Excludes hybrid variants (applies to Camry, Escape and Malibu). The Camry excludes the related Venza; the Accord excludes the related Crosstour.
*Quad cab and crew cab only. Excludes Ram 1500 single cab, which is assembled in Mexico.
Sources: Automaker data, Automotive News, dealership data, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
__________________________________________________________
In today's global economy, there's no easy way to determine just how American a car is. Many cars built in the U.S., for example, are assembled using parts that come from elsewhere. Some cars assembled in the U.S. from strictly American-made parts don't sell well, meaning fewer Americans are employed to build them. Cars.com's American-Made Index recognizes cars that are built here, have a high amount of domestic parts and are bought in large numbers by American consumers.

Accord Up, F-150 Down
The Toyota Camry, which dethroned the Ford F-150 pickup in last year's AMI, remains at the top for 2010. But the No. 2 model, Honda's strong-selling Accord, surged unexpectedly. Since the AMI's 2006 inception, we've scrutinized two generations of Accords. In the past, Honda sold few imported Accords to U.S. buyers — "a percentage below 10 percent for many years," spokesman Ed Miller said — but the Accord spent several years with its domestic parts percentage in the 60s. That's not the case this year. With all Accords sold in the U.S. now assembled in either Ohio or Alabama, the Accord's 75 percent domestic content and strong sales came close to unseating Toyota for first place.

Full article here

Darrell Waltrip Automotive Supports 32nd Franklin Classic

On Labor Day, September 6, 2010, Mercy Children’s Clinic in Franklin, TN held the 32nd annual Franklin Classic, with proceeds from the fundraiser benefiting their clinical services. Mercy Clinic is a “comprehensive pediatric healthcare facility that serves thousands of children from 32 counties”, according to Event Director Jessica Perry. The clinic has been operating in the Franklin Community since 1999 and, as a non-profit organization, relies on fundraising events, such as the Franklin Classic, to keep its facilities open.

Events at the Franklin Classic included a 5k run, a 10k run, a 4k family walk, and a 1k children’s run. The 5k race winner was Donald Bowman, with a total time of 17:28. Jacob Carrigan placed second with a time of 17:45, and David Scott came in a close third at 17:55. In the 10k race, Scott Wietecha finished first with a time of 32:12. Additionally, there were activities for children in the KidZone, and Scat Springs performed live at the Classic.

The Franklin Classic is Mercy Clinic’s “largest fundraising effort… With an annual budget of nearly $3 million, 50% of which is raised through sponsors and donations, we're hoping to raise $100,000 through this year’s event”, according to the Franklin Classic event guide. Official figures will not be out for a few weeks. The number of race runners and walkers totaled over 3,000 and Perry estimates there were an additional 3,000-5,000 spectators at the event Monday morning.

Darrell Waltrip Automotive helped the clinic by donating $20 per test drive during the two registration days September 3-4. The test drives took race participants and volunteers around a short route, and were met with much enthusiasm. Darrell Waltrip Automotive donated over $2,000 to Mercy Clinic from the two days of test drives. In total, Darrell Waltrip Automotive donated $12,000 to benefit Mercy Clinic through sponsorships and other miscellaneous donations, including a $500 cash prize to the school that put together the largest team for the Franklin Classic.

Check out our photo collage on our website!

How to Read a Tire Sidewall | Autobytel.com

How to Read a Tire Sidewall
Translate the jibberish on your tire by Kirk Bell
http://bit.ly/cMuAQm


The typical tire size is expressed something like this: P245/45R17 93H M+S. Those numbers and letters can seem like Greek, so let's define them one at a time.

P: The first letter stands for the tire's intended use. P is the most common and it means Passenger. LT stands for Light Truck. An LT tire has a sturdier construction than a P tire, and it can carry a greater load, which we will talk about later.

245: The width of the tire, from sidewall to sidewall, in millimeters. A 245 is 245 millimeters, or 24.5 centimeters, wide. The tread width is actually somewhat smaller than the tire's actual width.

45: Aspect Ratio. This is the sidewall's height from the inside diameter to the outside diameter. It is expressed as a percentage of the width. A 245/45 is 45 percent as tall as it is wide, making it approximately 110.25 millimeters tall. As aspect ratios decrease, the tire's firmness increases. Smaller aspect ratios, such as 35 or 40 are generally reserved for performance tires on sports cars.

R: The tire's type of construction. R stands for Radial, and all new cars and light trucks today use radials. You may also see B in this spot for Bias Ply. Bias ply tires were used prior to the mid 1970s.

17: The tire's inner diameter, which matches the outer diameter of your car's wheels.

93: Load Rating. Load ratings range from 0 to 279 and each has a corresponding weight associated with it. A 93 load rating means that tire is certified to carry up to 1433 pounds at maximum inflation pressure. If a car weighs 4000 pounds, then each tire handles 1000 pounds with no passengers or cargo aboard. If you intend to tow a heavy boat or trailer, you should buy tires with a higher load rating. This will require some math to figure out the vehicle weight, the trailer weight, and the weight of a load you may carry inside the vehicle while towing. Add it all up, divide by four, and make sure your replacement tires have a corresponding load rating.

H: Speed Rating. All passenger tires have a speed rating expressed as a letter. Those letters and the corresponding speeds the tires are capable of are included in this chart:
S: 112 mph
T: 118 mph
U: 124 mph
H: 130 mph
V: 149 mph
W: 168 mph
Y: 186 mph
Z: over 186 mph

A Speed Rating is really an indication of a tire's ability to dissipate heat to avoid a blowout. Higher speeds mean greater heat buildup. Tires with higher speed ratings are constructed to handle heat better. In general, they also ride harder than tires with lower speed ratings. S-, T-, and U-rated tires are considered regular passenger-car tires. H- and V-ratings are reserved for touring tires, which are generally found on sport sedans. The Z rating is for performance tires found on sports cars.

M+S: Mud and Snow. This is an all-season tire. A summer performance tire would have no designation here.

Honda Begins Production of 2011 Odyssey Minivan in Alabama

LINCOLN, Ala. August 31, 2010



Honda marked the start of production of the all-new, Alabama-built 2011 Honda Odyssey minivan today with an end-of-the-line celebration that included participation by more than 1,200 associates at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA).

The Odyssey minivan has been the top-selling minivan in the U.S. for the past two years and is considered the benchmark vehicle in the minivan class. The completely-redesigned 2011 Honda Odyssey improves on its already award-winning, class-leading design with a more-distinctive style, higher fuel efficiency and greater interior versatility. Improvements to the fourth-generation Odyssey represent a new Honda vision for the "ultimate in family transportation."

"In about four weeks, our Honda dealers will have this new Odyssey on their showroom floor. But I don't think it will be there for long," said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of product planning for American Honda Motor Co. "Whether you're driving in Oregon or Orlando, Milwaukee or Mobile - everyone in this great, glorious nation of ours will know that every 'American Odyssey' has its roots right here in Lincoln, Alabama."

Tuesday's event at the assembly line celebrated the start of mass production of the new Odyssey, which has received a total makeover for the 2011 model year. HMA is the exclusive global production source of the Odyssey minivan, the Pilot sport utility vehicle and the Ridgeline pickup. The Lincoln plant also shares production of the Accord V-6 Sedan with the Marysville Auto Plant in Marysville, Ohio and builds the V-6 engines that power each model.

"What a beautiful vehicle we have created together," said Art StCyr, chief engineer for the 2011 Odyssey at Honda R&D in Raymond, Ohio. "It's called the American Odyssey because - for the first time - the Odyssey minivan was designed, developed, and manufactured in the U.S. What a great sense of pride that brings to all of us."

The 2011 Odyssey's more-aerodynamic shape with a lower roofline contributes to class-leading fuel efficiency; yet improved interior packaging maintains similar vertical functionality as the previous model. A wider stance creates a more accommodating interior while accenting the exterior's dynamic appearance. The 2011 Odyssey will go on sale this fall at Honda dealerships across the U.S.

Also, on Friday, Sept. 3, the $1.4 billion Lincoln plant will mark another milestone with production of the 2 millionth Honda vehicle to be built in Alabama. HMA employs more than 4,000 associates and has the capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles and V-6 engines each year.