Prost Grand Prix announced Acer as its new title sponsor. The team is to compete as Prost Acer and the customer Ferrari engines will be badged in deference to the Taiwan-based company. The PC manufacturer and information technology company employs more than 350,000 people in 42 countries. Team chairman Alain Prost said, ''I am proud to have brought into Formula One, once again, a brand-new name. Our fields share the same philosophy and objectives: a drive for excellence and achievement. Together we look forward to a long-term successful partnership.''
Blundell returns
Former Champ car racer Mark Blundell will drive for MG in next year's Le Mans 24 Hours. The former PacWest CART driver inked a deal with chassis builder Lola, which is masterminding MG's return to La Sarthe. Blundell was unavailable for comment, while MG refused to confirm the driver ahead of an official announcement. The 34-year-old is a major catch for MG's two-car team of Lola-built LMP675 prototypes. Blundell won the race with Peugeot back in 1992 and claimed pole position for Nissan two years earlier. He last raced at Le Mans in a McLaren F1 GTR in 1995.
Familiar colors
Team Penske announced Penske Auto Center will be the sponsor on the IRL cars driven by CART regulars Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves when they appear in league races. Currently, the team is scheduled to compete at Phoenix and Indianapolis. Tobacco companies are limited to sponsoring only one series in a country, which is why Marlboro, Penske's primary sponsor in CART, cannot be a part of the IRL program. The team has not revealed what color the car will predominantly be, but team director Tim Cindric recently acknowledged that the black the cars sported at the Phoenix open test last month carried a nice outlaw look.
Loomis fined
Robbie Loomis, crew chief for Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, was fined $25,000 for a roof-height infraction in the Feb. 26 Dura Lube 400 at the North Carolina Speedway. Gordon won the pole, led the most laps and finished third. He kept the third-place and 175 points.
Hill of beans
Hills Brothers coffee sponsored the unsponsored Jack Birmingham-Barry Dodson/ Kenny Wallace team in Vegas. The No. 27 Pontiac team is among the No Bull 5 contenders, and Birmingham-Dodson hopes to hang on until then before reviewing its options for the rest of 2001. Hills Brothers already is the full-season sponsor of the Junie Donlavey/Hut Stricklin No. 90 Ford team.
