$100 for Web 2.0 style logo for automotive news/social networking site

After having much success with my previous design contest for some buttons, I've decided to retry my luck and see what everyone has to offer.

I need a Web 2.0 style logo for an automotive news/social networking site that will be launched in a number of weeks. I have a concept in mind but would like somebody to flesh it out and possibly expand or improve upon what I had in mind.

Desired Color Scheme:
red, white, black, grey

Desired Style:
Web 2.0

Accepted File Formats:
vector, png, jpeg

The logo is for a site I'm still building - http://www.autoconcourse.com

If you go to the site, you'll see an under construction/site off-line page, but you can see what is currently there as a logo (just text.) What I'm looking for is some sort of small logo to go to the left of the text. The carbon fiber pattern will stay as the header.

I'd like to keep the color scheme: auto in red(ff3333 or ff0000), concourse in white, but I'm open to suggestions. The color scheme of the site is red, white, black, and grey. Fonts I like are Berthold Akzidenz-Grotesk Extended and Sveningsson(currently being used.) Please keep the logo text in lower case, with very little gap spacing between the letters and the two words. (follow the existing example) If anybody wants to experiment and apply some sort of effect(s) to the text, that'd be great too.

The site's name implies a place for cars (or in my case, automotive enthusiasts) to come together. As such, what I have in mind is a logo that combines elements of a 6-speed shiftgate and what many social networking sites implement in their logos - a stick-like figure with a head, usually in numbers.

To elaborate, the 6-speed pattern should look like this: (edited to show picture instead of text)

http://www.saabthai.com/images/key_93_05.jpg

I don't know how this will look, but I was thinking of applying some circles at each point, where the R, and gear number are, so that at first glance, it looks like a 6-speed shiftgate, but at second glance, also looks like a person to the left, connected to others, kind of like 6 degrees of separation.

I don't know whether to just have the logo placed next to the text on its own or have it enclosed in some shape, but I'm open to any ideas.

Some sites/pics for reference:

http://www.wetpaint.com
http://www.myspace.com
http://www.go2web20.net
http://drivewerks.com/catalog/image…weight.jpg
http://www.elektro.com/~audi/audi/m…_6spdb.jpg
http://www.bmw.com.cy/_images/produ…ine_02.jpg
http://www.saabthai.com/images/key_93_05.jpg
http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/se…ift_HR.jpg

Last note: Per the advice given in the FAQs, I would like to get a signed contract from the designer, assigning copyright to me, before issuing payment. I'd also like to have the the designer warrant the originality of the artwork in writing. Sorry, I hope that doesn't deter anybody from entering, but I figure it's best for all parties involved.