New South Park Episode Takes on NASCAR - With Teaser Video

Being avid fans of South Park here at Carscoop, we couldn't pass up the chance to show you a preview video of tomorrow's [October, 6] mid-season premiere episode of the animated series titled "Poor and Stupid" that takes a humorous stab at the world of NASCAR.

In the teaser after the jump you can watch bad-boy Eric Cartman getting ready to take on the pros at NASCAR with the help of Leopold "Butters" Stotch as his crew chief. "Don't worry, Butters," says Cartman, "I've learned everything I can about being poor and stupid. I'm ready for NASCAR." Ouch...

Via: Jalopnik , Source: South Park

Dodge debuts V10 Viper-powered Challenger for the strip

Dodge is ready to keep fighting the Mustang Cobra Jet a quarter mile at a time. With its latest Drag Pack, available on the 2011 Challenger, Dodge has decided to ditch the 6.1-liter V8 and drop in the Viper's 8.4-liter V10 backed by a two-speed automatic racing transmission.

The new Dodge will make its debut at the Viper Owner's Invitational taking place in Salt Lake City, followed by a stop at SEMA in November on its way to Orlando.

Mopar CEO and President Pietro Gorlier says, "With the introduction of our new 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak, Mopar will be the only place to get a factory-built V10-powered race-ready drag car. Mopar's new Challenger Drag Pak is a race rocket that will appeal to racers, collectors, dealers, and Dodge Viper owners."

The Drag Pack-equipped Challenger will be available in either Stock Eliminator or Super Stock form. It rides on comp tires and comp wheels attached to a solid rear axle; the car also gets a comp fuel system and fuel cell. Options include a $7,950 competition package (which adds an 8-point cage, 6-spoint harness, and a mesh window net), a $6,800 paint option (instead of the bright white), and a $950 body wrap.

All this V10 drag strip Challenger goodness comes at a price though: an MSRP of $85,512 for each of the 70 examples Mopar will build. That's good for the race teams, but how about give it a street-able powertrain and turn this into a special edition production version of 2009's Challenger SRT10. That was one of the sweetest modern Challengers I've ever seen.

By Phil Alex

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Paris Show: Citroën Unleashes DS3 WRC Contender

Joining the world premieres of the MINI Countryman WRC and Ford Fiesta RS WRC at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, is Citroën's all-new contender for the 2011 World Rally Championship, the DS3 WRC in full racing livery.

The French firm's replacement for the multi-championship winning C4 WRC fully complies with the new FIA regulations with power coming from a 300hp 1.6-litre direct-injection turbocharged engine. The car also gets a four-wheel-drive system that incorporates a six-gear sequential gearbox and front and rear mechanical differentials.

"The DS3 WRC is designed to limit the budgets required to compete in the WRC", said Citroën in a statement. "The new FIA rules ban costly materials such as titanium and carbon-fibre, and standardise certain parts like the turbocharger and limit the changes that can be made to the vehicle during its lifetime. Rally nevertheless remains a great testing ground for driving new advances in vehicle technology."

The new DS3 WRC will make racing debut at the Rally Sweden in February 2011. The French firm has already confirmed two teams of the next racing season, Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena and Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia.

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Paris Show: Ford Previews New Fiesta RS WRC Prior to 2011 Race Debut

Not one to let Mini's announcement of the new Countryman WRC to go unanswered, Ford has revealed its new soon-to-be-airborne Fiesta RS rally car. Co-developed by Ford of Europe and M-Sport (with a little help from the French Pipo Moteur), the Fiesta RS gets a 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine which, like the Mini, has direct injection.

Testing of the Focus RS WRC replacement, which was initially done in Britain and France using the outgoing Fiesta's engine and a prototype of the new one, will continue next week in Spain using Ford WRC drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala (as well as their co-drivers Jarmo Lehtinen and Miikka Anttila). That means we should have some videos soon.

Ford of Europe's Motorsport manager Mike Norton says, "The introduction of Ford's latest engine technology to its rally programme reinforces further our commitment to motorsport. It also demonstrates our continued support for affordable competition by using an off-the-shelf production engine on which to base our WRC power plant."

We'll have a chance to see it live and hopefully bringing the damage in Round 1 of the World Rally Championship in Sweden next year.

By Phil Alex

Paris Show: Mini Unveils Countryman WRC in Preparation for 2011 S2000 Rally Season

Working with Prodrive, Mini has officially re-entered the World Rally Championship after a decades-long hiatus. With its Countryman WRC, which made its world premiere in Paris today, Mini will be ready to compete in the 2011 season with a car driven by Kris Meeke.

Unfortunately, the AWD Mini Countryman-based rally car will only be taking part in six of the thirteen 2011 events in what Prodrive founder David Richards is calling a "preparatory year"; don't worry, 2012 will be a full season for the retro racer as it goes for the title.

Under the hood is a BMW Motorsport-tuned 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that uses direct injection and meets all FIA S2000 regulations (meaning the WRC is just the first of its many possible applications). Also, it's hooked up the an Xtrac 6-speed sequential transmission. What we do know is that Mini says the car has undergone a "baptism of fire" at the Prodrive rally track and has gained a Prodrive-developed roll cage.

BMW's Ian Robertson says:

"The Paris Motor Show is the perfect stage on which to launch our MINI WRC. The response to our announcement that MINI will return to the world of rallying next year was very positive. The FIA World Rally Championship is the pinnacle of rallying, making it the ideal platform for demonstrating the competitive spirit of our brand. The development of the car is running on schedule, and the preparations for the world championship are in full swing. The MINI Countryman production model provided the ideal basis for our new world championship challenger."

By Phil Alex