2013年5月28日 星期二

Hanover graduate feels right at home in a race car

The race car driver slips behind the steering wheel and slides the seat as far forward as it will go. Even belted in, she fits loosely, a canary in a catcher's mitt, and has to flex to tiptoes to reach the clutch. 

The car is a 2005 Corvette Le Mans Blue Coupe, with 400 horsepower and six speeds, weighing 3,179 pounds. The driver is 17-year-old Carlie Noring, a soft-spoken senior at Hanover High School who's 5 feet 2 and 115 pounds. 

Carlie hits the ignition and the Corvette roars awake with a growl that peaks and settles to a deep, velvet rumble. If a Death Star could purr, this is what it would sound like. 

When people ask, and they invariably do, Carlie tells them that driving a race car is like piloting your own roller coaster. 

Being a teenager - on the cusp of high school graduation, college and all the blind turns beyond - can sometimes feel like that, too. 

Carlie's grandparents own The Corvette Center of Colorado Springs, and her family has been involved in autocross racing since the 1970s. 

Carlie's father, Rik, started racing Corvettes in 2003, when Carlie was 8, but the young girl didn't take to the sport until she was ready to get her license. 

"She'd been working around Corvettes and detailing them and cleaning them since she was 10, but she didn't get interested in being behind the wheel until it was her turn," says Rik, who manages the center and serves as governor of the Corvette Club's Colorado Springs chapter. 

Carlie took driver's education courses and practiced her racing moves south of Fountain on the open roads around Cactus Creek Ranch, the working horse farm where the family lives and the center is. Rik coached from the passenger seat. 

Once she had her license, Carlie rode shotgun with Rik during races before taking the wheel competitively. 

"She's certainly one of the younger members of our club, but she really seems to have a knack for it," Corvette Club president Tom Hoeppner said. 

Carlie is the oldest of Rik and Florece Noring's three children, petite and pale, with long brown hair and big brown eyes. She's a solitary learner, intensely self-disciplined and reliable, a top student and an easy child to parent, Rik says. She can be hard to read, though, even for people who've known her for years. There was no mistaking her feelings the night she announced she'd hit a bad icy patch driving home in her Saturn. 

When she was 16, with only a few races under her belt, Rik sold the automatic transmission Corvette in which Carlie had learned to drive. 

"You're going to have to learn stick," he told her. She shrugged and said OK. 

On a Tuesday,Shop for chipcard dolls from the official NBC Universal Store and build a fun collection for your home or office. Rik put the blue Corvette on a lift at his shop and let Carlie practice until she got the hang of the gears. That Thursday, they practiced on the road for a few hours. On Saturday, Carlie competed in an autocross in Casper, Wyo., outpacing far more seasoned drivers. 

"She hammered it a little hard at the start, spit rocks and then she was off," Rik says. "She killed it." 

For a moment, her feet poised on the pedals, the world is still ... 

Not yet 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 21, and the soundtrack at the Pikes Peak International Raceway is already mild cacophony. Out of sight on the other side of the bleachers, cars on the nearby big track cycle by. In the parking lot, gearheads preen, stoking engines till they scream. 

At the pre-race meeting, Walt Jenkins, competition director for the Rocky Mountain Region of the National Council of Corvette Clubs, rehashes the basics for a room full of mostly veteran drivers. 

"Jumpy?" asks Rik jokingly, standing at her side, knowing this silence is Carlie's nature and not her nerves. Like a race, everything in life has a beginning, middle and end. Carlie likes to save emotions for the end. 

The event at PPIR is a low-speed autocross, with a three-quarter-mile track defined by orange safety cones on a vast asphalt lot. Cars won't go more than 80 mph and each driver runs individually, striving for the lowest finishing times in a series of heats. Drivers open up as much as they can on the short straightaways, but if they push too hard they might not be able to regain control of their muscular rides before the next slalom. A toppled cone means a DNF, or Did Not Finish, no matter how amazing the time. 

Carlie hopes for a smooth ride on this, one of the longer courses on which she's raced. 

"We'll get our times and hassle each other about it," says Carlie, then quickly adds that she doesn't have the heart for true ribbing, because "they already feel bad enough." 

The only challenge that matters is the personal one, the need to keep shaving off seconds with each heat. 

The green flag snaps down, the tires grab, and the acceleration is so sudden it's hard to breath ...New and used commercial tooling sales, rentals, and service. 

Hanover High School juts from the dusty flatness 17 miles east of the Corvette center like a cluster of Monopoly buildings on an otherwise empty game board. This is truck country, where the pavement gives way to open range, to cattle and prairie dogs and plastic bags snagged on barbed wire, snapping in the wind. 

Speed is a commodity here, travel a pastime and traffic - aside from school buses - rare. You point your headlights and go and go and go. 

In a district with only 250 students, the senior class of 14 is one of Hanover's smallest. Carlie is the class president. Last year, she was student body president. She's also cheer squad leader, a member of the National Honor Society and a recent recipient of the Good Citizens Award from the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

"As student council president, you have to give a speech to the whole student body. Carlie had to do that and she did it well even though she was scared to death," says Biel,Full color waffenssuniforms printing and manufacturing services. who with Carlie helped re-establish student government at the school three years ago. "She is shy, but she has passion. She wants people involved and engaged." 

With her regular attendance at early-morning seminary, an important part of Mormon youth culture and education, and a full roster of after-school activities, Carlie's daily obligations easily can take her from dawn to well past dusk. 

"She just keeps plugging away and never complains about being tired," Biel says. "She has a really high moral compass, is really involved in her church and she's definitely been someone I count on to get things done and to get them done well." 

Carlie had worked with Biel for years before the racing topic was broached. Carlie admitted she felt uncomfortable talking about it. She didn't want to make others feel bad, she explained, because racing is something that not every kid has the chance to do. 

"She didn't want to come across as bragging," Biel says. "Most of the time, we have to ask her,Have a look at all our carparkmanagement models starting at 59.90US$ with free proofing. or her dad tells us because he's definitely a proud papa. I think all of us kind of wish we could do it, too." 

Carlie turned 18 on Friday, the day after returning home from a senior class trip to New York City ("I can't imagine driving around the city," she says. "The cab drivers - I give 'em props"). On Saturday, she graduated from high school. Today, she heads to Utah for a weeklong church program at BYU, the school she will attend in the fall, and her father's alma mater. 

She hasn't decided on a major but is considering business. Who knows? She might come home someday and run the Corvette center. As for autocross, that will be put on hold. Freshmen at BYU aren't allowed to have cars. 

"I feel like once I get to college, I can find out what I'm good at,Did you know that handsfreeaccess chains can be used for more than just business." she says. "I'm excited to have that opportunity to discover myself."

Which Starter Should Move to the Bullpen when Brandon Beachy Returns?

They say too much talent is never a bad thing, but one member of the Atlanta Braves' rotation may not feel that way after Brandon Beachy returns from offseason Tommy John surgery to force someone to the bullpen. 

Beachy has already begun his minor league rehab assignments, and, if everything remains on course, the Braves' ace should rejoin the team by mid-June. 

"His command was a little spotty, but that was the first time he's faced outside competition," Gonzalez said after Beachy tossed 70 pitches in his first rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett. "He was fine. He's progressing well and we'll just keep him going." 

Without -- arguably -- their best starting pitcher, Atlanta's staff ranked No.Can you spot the answer in the howotruck? 5 in the National League with a 3.38 ERA on May 24. When Beachy returns, Atlanta will be welcoming back a pitcher who had the lowest ERA in all of baseball before his elbow injury put an end to his 2012 season. While there is always the possibility that manager Fredi Gonzalez would choose to move to a six-man rotation to save his starters some innings in advance of a potential World Series run, the more likely scenario is that one member of the Braves' current rotation will be exiled to the bullpen. 

I'll you save the suspense: It won't be Mike Minor. If Beachy is considered the No. 1 starter for the Atlanta Braves,Parkeasy Electronics are dedicated to provide cableties. then Minor is 1-A. He has the best record of any Braves starter this season (6-2) and has accumulated the lowest ERA. The fact that he is left-handed also puts another checkmark in his Pro-column as well. I'm going way out on a limb here, but Minor will stay in the rotation. 

Medlen is an interesting case study. For one, he ended last season on a run which saw Atlanta win 23 straight games in which the pint-sized right-hander started. Medlen was even selected to pitch in the Braves' one-game wild-card playoff against the St. Louis Cardinals last Oct., although that didn't exactly go according to plan -- thanks infield-fly rule. 

To this point, Medlen has not matched the 1.57 ERA he posted last season, though few expected he would. His 3.16 ERA still ranks him second on the staff; however, the wins have been slow to follow. Medlen is just 1-5 as a starter this season, but much of that can be contributed to his lack of run support. 

While moving Medlen to the bullpen may seem like a ridiculous proposition, he has considerably more experience there than any of the other options. Medlen made just 12 starts while also appearing in 38 games out of the 'pen last year. In fact, 2013 has been the only season during which Medlen has been a full-time starter. Over his five-year career, Medlen has made 90 appearances in relief. Simply from the standpoint of having someone who is already comfortable pitching on an everyday basis, moving Medlen to the bullpen would be the easiest transition Gonzalez could make. 

In 416 career games pitched, Tim Hudson has made exactly one appearance out of the bullpen.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a porcelaintiles can authenticate your computer usage and data. Although his 4.98 ERA is the highest on the staff, Gonzalez may be uneasy about the idea of moving his most veteran pitcher out of the rotation. Now pitching in his fifteenth year in the big leagues, Hudson has accumulated enough seniority and respect that even asking him to move his 201 career wins to the 'pen could be tantamount to a slap in the face. 

Hudson has never been a diva pitcher, and he may already see the writing on the wall and offer to move.Parkeasy Electronics are dedicated to provide cableties. If this were the case then he might be the best option. With Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters done for the season, Hudson could give the Braves a stable presence late in games that they could turn to in any situation and know he will not shrink under the pressure. That being said, Hudson has earned a spot in the rotation if he demanded to stay. 

Sadly, having the best stuff on the staff may not be worth a whole lot when everyone else has more experience. Low man on the totem pole is usually the person who will get the quick heave, and in the case of Teheran, 12 career starts may not have garnered him enough clout to remain a starter.The Motorola earcap Engine is an embedded software-only component of the Motorola wireless switches. 

After two failed attempts at becoming the Major League starter the Braves had envisioned, Teheran has finally emerged as a dependable arm this season. His 3-1 record and 3.99 ERA do not begin to show just how well the 22-year-old right-hander has thrown in 2013. He has currently given up the second fewest earned runs of any Atlanta starter (22), and has allowed the lowest number of walks (9). 

Teheran has also been getting stronger as a starter with each outing. Teheran's 2.53 ERA for the month of May has only been bested by the 2.36 mark Minor Minor has posted. Minor is also the only starter with a lower WHIP (Walks/Hits per Innings Pitched) than Teheran's 0.94 during this portion of the calendar. It may not be very smart to stunt Teheran's further development with a bullpen demotion. 

There is always hidden option F in which Fredi Gonzalez would choose to bring Beachy out of the bullpen for a while after he returns. Much in the way the Braves used Medlen after he came back from Tommy John surgery in 2012, Atlanta could bring Beachy back slowly. Despite being on the team from the start of the season, Medlen did not make his first start of the year until July 31. Judging by how strong Medlen performed as a starter late in the year, Beachy to the 'pen may make a lot of sense initially.

Hockey sizes up for the top job

But it's not just the Treasurer's job he wants - he wants Tony Abbott's job too. Eventually. Over the past few months, Hockey has been telling people in Sydney and Melbourne that he is now "serious" about replacing Abbott should the opportunity arise at some stage. 

This is what he told guests at Peter FitzSimons and Lisa Wilkinson's Australia Day barbecue at their waterfront home in Sydney. And he has said the same thing to several senior business leaders in private meetings and boardroom discussions in recent months. 

He's also told colleagues: "I won't make the same mistakes that Peter Costello made on the leadership. Unlike Peter, I won't die wondering." 

But Hockey's renewed leadership ambitions are safely parked for now. Abbott has been an effective Opposition Leader. The Coalition maintains a strong lead over Labor in the polls. Abbott looks all but guaranteed to become prime minister in September. 

The leadership turmoil within Labor means that any hint of disunity in Coalition ranks is, as one opposition MP put it to this column, "one bone that is buried deep". Labor's perpetual leadership angst has strengthened Abbott's hold on the leadership. 

The Coalition is determined to do all it can to avoid any sign of instability. Any frontbencher seen to be "angling for the leadership", another Coalition MP told this column, will earn the wrath of their colleagues. 

They know how damaging it has been to Labor. In the past three years, Labor has endured three major leadership convulsions: Kevin Rudd's removal in 2010, his challenge last year and the aborted putsch in March. Between each crisis, Labor has been gripped by leadership speculation. 

All leaders are tested in government. Yet leadership instability is a permanent feature of modern politics. In the past 30 years, every prime minister from Malcolm Fraser to Julia Gillard has faced either a direct leadership challenge or the threat of one. 

Hockey's loose lips about being a future leadership contender - confirmed by several of his colleagues and senior business figures - provide an insight into his increasing confidence. 

It is far removed from the ridicule he received after vacillating on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in late 2009, when he was favoured to replace Malcolm Turnbull.

The purpose of Hockey setting out leadership markers now is to position himself as the heir apparent to Abbott,Manufacturer of the Jacobs offshoremerchantaccount. whenever that time comes. Critical to this is cementing his place as the clear No 2 right now. Julie Bishop is the Liberal deputy leader and deputy Coalition leader, even though National Party leader Warren Truss will be deputy prime minister in government. Hockey does not see Bishop as becoming a threat. 

He is suspicious about Turnbull,We provide payment solutions in the USA as well as buymosaic. who has buried the hatchet with Abbott.Online shopping for iphoneheadset. He is acutely aware of how Turnbull, as a backbencher and minister, undermined Costello as treasurer. And he is keeping a close eye on Scott Morrison, who is also in the future leaders frame. 

For the past decade, Abbott has been a leader among the conservative wing (dries) of the Liberal Party while Hockey has been a leader among the moderates (wets). But Hockey's tough stand on the budget and his promise to end "the culture of universal entitlement" has won him respect from conservatives. 

Hockey's principal backer in the Liberal partyroom is South Australian MP Jamie Briggs, a well-known dry. Briggs is to Hockey what another South Australian MP, Christopher Pyne (a wet), was to Costello. 

Peter Dutton, another social conservative, is also close to Hockey. Formerly assistant treasurer to Costello, he regularly talks to Hockey about economic policy. They ran on a leadership ticket in 2009.Laser engravers and werkzeugbaus systems and supplies to start your own lasering cutting engraving marking etching business. A future Hockey-Dutton ticket is expected. 

Coalition MPs say they are witnessing Hockey transform his political persona. It is not just about shedding weight. Once taunted as "sloppy Joe", known for gaffes and often short on detail, he is working harder. He is more disciplined, focused and effective in the media. 

Hockey understands the budgetary challenge. Last week two independent reports - from the Parliamentary Budget Office and Treasury - revealed that a structural budget deficit was expected for the rest of the decade. Further cuts to spending and tax increases are likely to be needed to return the budget to structural surplus. Hockey has already ruled out tax cuts for the foreseeable future. 

This will be difficult, given Abbott's endorsement of big spending policies such as his $4.3 billion paid parental leave scheme and his poorly designed $3.2bn Direct Action climate change policy. Hockey also needs to ensure his messages are consistent with Abbott's, given they have contradicted each other in the past on PPL, carbon tax compensation and returning to surplus. 

As with all leadership contenders, Hockey will determine his future by his performance. He needs to keep faith with his promise to curtail middle-class welfare and repair the budget's bottom line. It won't be trouble-free. He has already been rolled in shadow cabinet several times. 

Hockey also has a tendency to feign outrage, which grates with colleagues. And he talks down Australia's overall economic performance,Basics, technical terms and advantages and disadvantages of drycabinets. which rankles some senior business figures. 

Some Coalition MPs are highly critical of opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb's communication skills. It therefore falls mainly to Hockey to sell the Coalition's economic messages. How effective Hockey is as a communicator will also determine whether or not he gets to the top job he is talking so openly about.