Motorsports icon Carroll Shelby crossed the finish line late Thursday, May 10. Given his indomitable spirit, many thought he might live forever. Sadly, that is not the case. He was 89.

Old ‘Shel leaves a rich legacy, marked with brilliant innovations, unwavering confidence and a competitive spirit that set a benchmark in American racing history that few, if any, can match. 

The Texas chicken farmer turned California hot rodder was in love with cars since childhood. His goal was to one day build his own car, but not before he tried his hand at racing them. The young Shelby turned out to be very quick, including a win at Le Mans. That garnered offers to drive from Enzo Ferrari himself. He turned “Il Comendatore” down three times because he did not like the way the fiery Italian treated his drivers. Their paths would cross again.

Shelby’s driving days ended when doctors told him his heart was so bad he only had a few years left looking down at the grass. That’s when he got serious about building his own cars. He toured the Italian and British sports car companies and realized they were quite small and manageable. That’s when he found AC Cars. They had a nice little roadster, but with a tractor-like engine. The hot rodder in him thought a small V-8 would liven it up.

Shelby’s quest took him to Dearborn, Michigan and the office of Ford up-and-comer Lee Iacocca. Shelby was not trained in the art of consultative selling. Instead, he was more of an “attack dog.” So much so that Peter Brock recalls someone at the meeting saying: “Get him out of here before he bites somebody.” Shelby left with two small block Ford V-8s for his AC, later dubbed “Cobra.” More...

The gearhead’s guilty pleasure, "World's Wildest Police Videos,” is back. It made its high-speed return to TV this week on Spike, thanks to the son of the man who created the show that originally ran on Fox between 1998 and 2001.

Paul Stojanovich, Jr. says watching videos of people running from the cops, bad guys assaulting good guys, and bank robbers proving why bank robbery is such a low-yield enterprise gives him a nostalgic feeling. His dad, Paul Sr., was a pioneer of reality TV, and won Emmys for his work on show like “WWPV,” “COPS,” and “American Detective.”

Paul Jr., who says he practically grew up in patrol cars, says technology has changed a lot in the 11 years since the show was last aired, mostly because of smart phones that provide video footage of a far better quality than the old VHS tapes used on the show in its early years.

With the rise of the smartphone comes an increase in the number of videos showing how cops interact with the public, something cops are not always happy about. But Stojanovich says the police shouldn’t worry about being observed every minute of every shift because, as he says, good cops don’t have anything to hide.

The new "World's Wildest Police Videos” features video shot all over the world, but good old homegrown footage prevails.  Stojanovich says Texas, California, and especially Florida are the most frequent sources of material.

Here's the latest in case you missed it. Watch it to the end.

The car collecting hobby ain’t no thinkin’ thing, to quote the words of philosophers Tim Nichols and Mark D. Sanders. It’s, as popularized by Trace Adkins, a passion that we can't hold back.

I became infatuated with restoring an ex-Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Memphis 1960 Ford F-100 that’s been in my family since it was new (my grandfather was CEO of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Memphis). It’s got a 292 Y-block V-8 and a three-speed manual transmission.

I dreamed and schemed. After not seeing it for 11 years, I discovered the truck had been vandalized. All except one piece of the chrome had been stripped away. The dang pillagers even stole the carburetor. Someone, who will remain nameless except to say his last name is “Demere,” shot out the windows. At least they didn’t steal the serial plate and the hood ornament.

I was thinking about finding a restored 1960 F-100 and fitting it with as many surviving pieces, including the serial plate, as possible. Then recreate the Coca-Cola paint job. After five years of work and $50,000, I’d have a truck worth $20,000. Maybe.

My left brain steered me toward a fully restored ’54 to ’60 F-100. The problem is finding one I can afford. I’ve used autotempest.com to search craigslist offerings across the country. A car-guy friend looked at a ’56 in California. It was listed at $15,000. My friend responded: “No.” Oldride.com, oldcarsonline.com and classiccars.com show some really nice ones...starting around $25,000 and passing $50,000. Mrs. Demere said, at that price, the bed better be comfortable because that’s where I’d be sleeping.

Also, I’m picky. My dream must be as original as possible. No 5.0 Mustang engines, disc brakes, lowered suspension or Tremec transmission. (And no automatic trannies, either.) I’m not looking for a racecar. I want a time machine.

Sing along with Trace: There's nothin’ that we need to analyze. There ain't no rhyme or reason why ‘cause it ain’t no thinkin’ thing.

When American buyers finally get their hands on the new Scion FR-S in the next few months, there’s going to be a wave of aftermarket customization driven by passionate enthusiasts, and—if the recently-debuted FR-S Speedster is any indication—that’s going to be a very, very good thing.

This little slice of Japanese brilliance is a chop-top, white and red rolling racing homage that proves there will be plenty of ways to make your FR-S unique.

Where to start? Outfitted in classic Toyota Racing colors, and marked with the legendary No. 86 in reference to the AE86 generation Corolla that inspired the FR-S, the FR-S Speedster takes balance and agility to new heights. It sports KW Suspensions Clubsport Coilovers, drilled and slotted two-piece brake rotors from SRP and custom red calipers from Wilwood. The big wing keeping this RWD marvel glued to the track is a 61-inch carbon fiber wing from APR Performance. Basically, it’s the canyon carver of your dreams. More...

Valvoline NextGen Fords Sweep Texas Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won their respective races at Texas Motor Speedway over the weekend. The Valvoline-supported Roush Fenway Fords were favored, and The Biff’s win broke a 49-race drought for the No. 16. Many fans said the race was flat-out boring, largely due to the lack of wrecks and cautions (only 2). This bumped the race-average speed to more than 160 mph and gave the Texas race the largest number of Superspeedway green-flag laps in this century. Unfortunately, Rick Hendrick will have to lug the “200th Win” box of hats top yet another race. Jimmie Johnson led 160 laps but was no match for Biffle. The No. 48 scraped the wall in pursuit of the 3M Ford, finishing more than 3 seconds behind at the checkers.

Will Power: A Dang Houdini Nobody would have given a Chevrolet-powered IndyCar a ghost of a chance to win the Long Beach Grand Prix after the series-imposed 10-spot penalty for an engine change—unless, of course, if your name is Power, Will Power. Penske’s Aussie just put his head down and drove a methodically brilliant race from his 12th place start to win. It’s still a mystery how he was able to fend off a charging Simon Pagenaud as the race wound down and not run out of ethanol. Penske team boss and Power’s race strategist said, “I don’t know how he (Power) does it. We just give him a fuel number and he does it.” Could it be some kind of Aussie magic? The win leaves the Honda teams completely flummoxed.

Racing’s Back at the Rock Hats off to Andy Hillenberg for bringing NASCAR back to Rockingham Speedway after an 8-year hiatus. Hillenberg got the bug to buy the track after working on the movie “Talladega Nights.”It was such a shame to see weeds growing on a track with this much history,” Hillenberg said. “It grabbed my heart.” Several years and $4.4 million dollars later, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rolled onto the iconic “cheese grater” asphalt surface. The near sellout crowd watched Turner Motorsports put on a driving clinic as pole sitter Nelson Piquet Jr. led 107 laps, only to get busted for pit-lane speeding. It knocked him out of contention. Meanwhile, dog-tired teammate Kasey Kahne was working his way from the back of the field a couple cars at a time—this after a 500-mile race in Texas Saturday night. James Buescher, Turner’s other regular driver could not hold back the adrenaline pumped Kahne at race end. More...