The Carnival of Wheels has been a bit lame for the past few weeks and I’ve been chalking that up to summer activities for everyone. Then, earlier this week, I discovered that this week’s CoW didn’t even have a submission page! I’ve been screwing with everyone’s timing over the past few weeks. Now, after an appologetic plea, we have all sorts of cool reads for this morning. It’s a good thing we decided that The Girl was to wiped out to race today following a full day at the beach yesterday. So sit down, grab a java and strap in for the first real hot lap in weeks! The Carnival of Wheels is up and running!

Every time I get a visit from Hello Kitty Hell, I get a little excited. What crazy new Hello Kitty nonsense has the Mrs. dragged up this time? Now, Hello Kitty is getting a little sexy and joined the Zent Super GT racing team. Now there isn’t just a bevy of super hot asian girls, but also a little furry kitty in a short skirt. Do I need to say more?

Post CoW, I’m spending the rest of my day catching up with taxes, so the next submission holds some promise.

We’ve all been grumbling about gas prices lately, so what can we do to deal with it? Many folks have been driving smaller, more efficient cars but there has to be more than just saving gas that can be done to control the costs. How about a hybrid? Did you know that in the States, the IRS offers rebates on alternative fuel vehicles that in some cases are substantial? Don’t mess with taxes has a list of vehicles that these rebates apply to. Can you believe there are actually 57 alternate fuel vehicles on the market in the States at the moment? I’m amazed there are that many.

The car hobby affects all sorts of people, many of whom don’t even drive. This past week, Granny J from Walking Prescott, visited a show at Watson Lake Park in Prescott, Arizona where she came across all sorts of cool vintage cars and trucks. Sprint cars, tee shirts, firetrucks and even some cool old wreckers. I think my fave is the old work truck that looks sort of like a gypsy caravan, complete with a couple of seats out front, flanking a bomb.

We’re not done with the hybrids yet.

On the surface, the Honda Accord Hybrid looks like a winner. Better economy than a 4 cylinder Accord, coupled with more oomph than the V6 powered version of Honda’s popular sedan. So why is production being stopped, as reported by Leroy Brown at Houston Cars? Well, to get to that oomph out of the 3600 plus pounder one needs to beat the economy out of the portly beast. What this means to consumers though is some great bargaining power on existing models once the 08’s hit the showroom. Couple that with the tax rebates we talked about above and there could be some great deals to be had.

In case you were wondering, not all alternate fueled vehicles are suffering from obesity. Many enthusiasts worry that performance cars will go the way of the dinos as cars become more eco friendly. As Jeff Fisher from DrivingEnthusiast points out, that need not be the case. Earlier this week, Ford showed that they are planning to keep the fun in the game by chasing a new land speed record with a Hydrogen powered Ford Fusion. They did just that on Wednesday during Bonneville Speed Week, with a record run of 207.297 Mile per hour. Very cool Fusion indeed!

Working in the industry, I’ve seen some pretty strange things stolen from vehicles, but this one is new to me. According to Egon at Automoblog, thieves are now ripping the catalytic convertors from beneath unsuspecting SUVs and Pick-ups. My only question is…How do they get around the noise of a sawzall carving through 3 inch pipe?

Dale Earnhart Jr. Vs the evil step monster Theresa. While fans, teams and sponsors try to figure out where the numbers game will go, the whole thing still comes down to a battle between the chosen son and the evil woman. Over at Racedriven, Brian has put together a number of the possible scenarios. Either way, some fans will be happy and some will be unhappy. Likewise, the battle between Dale Jr. and his step momma will go on until she drags he company into the ground. Only then will he be able to step in and recover what is rightfully his. For the record, I agree with Brian that Jr. should go with the #81.

Over at Automotive.com there is some discussion about how poorly new car dealers traditionally do selling accessories. There are more than a few reasons I can come up with though they sound more like justifications than valid reasons. Methinks I’ll have to write a post on this topic soon.

Finally, we’re going to visit Automotive.com for one more burning topic. Is it Un American to buy a foreign car? I’ll leave it up to you, the reader to battle that one out!

That’s it for this week’s hot lap around the automotive blogosphere. Be sure to head back next week as the summer winds down here in The Garage. We’ve got just 2 1/2 weeks till we head to the Poconos for the IMPA test days, so summer must be almost done. Bloggers, be sure to get your submissions in by Midnight next Saturday!