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Tornadoes halt output at Mercedes, Toyota plants in South

Violent weather across Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee has halted production at Toyota and Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama, as emergency workers try to assess two days of damage in the region. On Wednesday, a mile-wide tornado destroyed parts of Tuscaloosa, Ala., damaging the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International auto-assembly plant just north of the city.

Video: Darrell Waltrip laps Bathurst with V8 Supercar driver Jason Bright

One of the most entertaining things to come out of the Bathurst 1000 last weekend in Australia--besides Garth Tander and Nick Percat taking the checkered flag--was ex-NASCAR driver and commentator Darrel Waltrip going for a wild hot lap with V8 Supercar driver Jason Bright. After taking the first turn at speed in the 650-hp Holden Commodore, Waltrip yells, “Impossible!” The video gets even more entertaining around the Esses and the Dipper, two succeeding corners. The clip is full of repeatable one-liners from Waltrip including, “I lost my lunch, and I didn't even have lunch.” He calls the track on Mount Panorama a geological oddity.

Car Design of the Year Awards 2006

Only four more days until the contest closes! Make sure you get your vote in for the Car Design of the Year 2006. Here's a way to blow away those holiday hangovers before getting too drawn into 2007.