NBCSN’s first live NASCAR Sprint Cup race led the network to several milestones this past weekend, including a total day average of 428,000 viewers, marking a 224-percent increase over the same weekend last year on NBCSN.

Saturday’s prime time presentation of NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Kentucky ranked as the most-watched cable sports program of the week and highlighted a triple-header weekend of racing that also included the most watched IndyCar telecast in four years, as well a thrilling Friday night NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

NBCSN’s daily show NASCAR America also raced to a couple of series highs last week, registering the most-watched episode and week in the history of the program.

NBCSN’s primetime Saturday presentation of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race averaged 3.2 million viewers—ranking as the most-watched cable sporting event of the week and topping all Saturday sports programming (broadcast or cable). NBCSN’s viewership for the telecast topped Saturday’s second-most watched sporting event by 10 percent (regionalized MLB coverage—including Yankees vs. Red Sox—on FOX, 2.9 million viewers).

Viewership for Saturday’s NASCAR telecast peaked at 3.7 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET as Kyle Busch took control of the race in dramatic fashion.

NBCSN’s Friday night NASCAR XFINITY Series race averaged 1.1 million viewers—ranking as Friday’s most-watched cable sports program.

NBCSN’s Sunday afternoon Verizon IndyCar Series telecast from Milwaukee averaged 532,000 viewers, making it the network’s most-watched IndyCar race since Sept. 4, 2011 (591,000, Baltimore). It was also up 66 percent vs. last year’s Milwaukee race (320,000 viewers). This was the second consecutive telecast in which NBCSN posted its best IndyCar viewership since the 2011 Baltimore race (Fontana, June 27, 512,000 viewers).

NBCSN’s NASCAR America 5:00 p.m. ET studio program averaged 164,000 viewers last week, making it the most-watched week in the history of the studio program.

Monday’s NASCAR America telecast tallied 279,000 average viewers and was the most watched live NASCAR America telecast to date. Fans streamed 2.1 million minutes of live NASCAR racing last weekend via NBC Sports Live Extra.

Forrest Lucas has teamed with professional racer Ali Afshar to launch ESX Entertainment, which will finance and produce films with inspiring and purpose-driven stories.

Lucas and Afshar’s new ESX Entertainment will focus on feature films, TV and digital content as Afshar’s ESX Productions and its film slate will be folded into ESX Entertainment. The slate includes The Wrong Side of Right, a social issue drama starring Lea Thompson, James Remar, Allison Paige and Jayson Blair; and The Wizard, a coming-of-age story of perseverance in the face of adversity, starring Jon Voight, William Fichtner, Gabriel Basso and Afshar.

The new company also inherits Afshar’s Born to Race franchise, which includes the original Born to Race and the sequel Born to Race: Fast Track, as well as a Born to Race TV series currently in development.

ESX Entertainment marks the first venture into film for Lucas, who also counts among his properties the "Protect the Harvest" organization—a nonprofit that helps protect and educate the public about hunting, farming, ranching and pet ownership.

ESX Entertainment’s initiatives will be supported by a media fund backed by Lucas, which allows ESX to both finance content as well as provide P&A funding. The company aims to make 3 to 6 projects a year across TV, film and digital media.

Tooele County (Utah) commissioners have set a deadline of Thursday at 4 p.m. to take proposals to buy Miller Motorsports Park, according to a report from FOX 13 in Salt Lake City.

The Larry H. Miller Group of companies announced in May that it would not renew its lease to operate the park after this season.

Instead of looking for someone new to lease the park, the county, which owns all of the fixed assets and the land, wants to sell it all.

The county hopes to announce a new owner by the end of the month. During a meeting earlier this week, a number of business owners that operate out at the park expressed their satisfaction that the county is moving fast.

“Due to the pace of motorsports, those decisions have to happen hard and fast, so now that we know the commissioner has paced a deadline on the bid process that’s an encouraging sign for us,” said Ian Lacey, the owner of a motorsports prep company that operates at the track.

The county hopes to see more encouraging signs in the future with a new owner that has an even larger investment.

“We’re looking for someone that has skin in the game and is all in.  That restores confidence and predictability to the businesses that operate out here and the fans,” said Commissioner Milne.

Initial work on Watkins Glen International's resurfacing project has begun.

Following the facility's recent SCCA U.S. Majors event, this section of the long course affectionately known as "The Boot" was closed, as it is not active during the upcoming August 6-9 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend.

Work will begin on the remainder of the historic circuit following the completion of the Cheez-It 355 on Sunday, August 9.

Officials announced late last year that a repaving project would begin in summer 2015, marking the first time the track is being repaved since 1998. The repave is slated for completion in advance of the 2016 race season.

Interested parties will be able to witness the project from the Fans R1st Viewing Area in the Argetsinger Grandstand. That area will remain free and open to the public through the end of October. Progress of the project may also be followed via Facebook, Twitter and www.TheGlen.com.

NHRA and FOX Sports officials have jointly announced that starting in 2016, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be televised by FOX Sports 1 (FS1), with four events airing on the FOX national broadcast network during each season of the long-term agreement.

FOX Sports, which is already the home to races in NASCAR, Monster Energy Supercross, the FIM MotoGP World Championship, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the fully electric FIA Formula E Championship, among others, will significantly expand on its annual motorsports coverage when it adds NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series programming to the lineup next season.

The agreement calls for FS1 to provide coverage of Friday and Saturday qualifying and Sunday eliminations for each NHRA Mello Yello Series event, with a minimum of 16 Sunday eliminations shows to be presented in a live coverage format, and the remainder shown either in weekend afternoon or primetime time slots. Four of those live elimination shows will air on the FOX national broadcast network.

“This really is a game-changer for NHRA regarding the presentation of our marquee product, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA president. “FOX Sports promises to be just the right media partner we’ve been looking for to help give our professional series the stage it deserves and to provide our passionate fans the timely, quality coverage they are craving.”

The Sunday elimination shows will consistently be presented in three-hour programs, and the Friday/Saturday qualifying shows will be two-hours of coverage. In addition, FS1 and FS2 will provide multiple re-airs for all of the events. FS1 also will provide coverage of select NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Sportsman Series events. In total, FOX national networks will feature more than 450 hours per year of NHRA programming.

The deal also includes NHRA racing on FOX Sports Racing in Canada and the Caribbean, as well as FOX Sports GO, app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content that is now available in 70 million households.

FOX Sports has also committed to heavily promoting all NHRA Mello Yello Series shows throughout its media platforms. NHRA will sell advertising and sponsorship packages and assume responsibility for the production of the shows in concert with FOX Sports, with the creation of an in-house television production group, as well as handle all international distribution for the programs.

For more information, visit www.nhra.com.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow West Coast 2001 GMC tractor-trailer was stolen sometime between Saturday July 11 and Monday morning July 13, from its storage location in San Jacinto, California. It has an Illinois License Plate #P834651.

Industry members in Southern California are urged to be extremely aware of this event, and are asked to contact HROT's Jim or Rodney Bingham at 815/722-5460 with any relevant information about the incident.

Furthermore, HROT has asked that if anyone hears of people trying to return or sell any Edelbrock carbs, manifolds, heads, air cleaners or MSD ignitions or Hedman Hedders, engine stands or anything automotive, to please make sure they are not stolen.

A police report has been filed, if anyone needs this information.


Jasper Engines & Transmissions presented its 2015 Service Award to Modern Silicone Technologies Inc. (MSI) at its recent supplier conference.

Winners were determined in a joint nominating effort between members of Jasper’s sourcing and buying staff members. Key considerations for receiving the award include: a “can do” attitude, a sense of urgency, timely responses, prompt problem resolution and a high level of expertise.

On hand to deliver and accept the award were T.J. McAtee of Jasper (pictured in center) as well as Tom Collins (at left) and Dave Singer (at right) of Modern Silicone Technologies (MSI).

MSI’s rapid expansion includes new product categories for the Magnum Gaskets brand, including full sets, timing cover sets and rear main bearing seal sets, plus individual miscellaneous gaskets in poly bags. Also included are greatly enhanced coverage in head gaskets and head sets, as well as more depth of domestic and import coverage in all categories.

The Magnum Gaskets brand was launched in 2012 by Modern Silicone Technologies (MSI), a contract manufacturer of high-tech molded gaskets for major aftermarket brands and OEMs for over 20 years. For more information, visit www.magnumgaskets.com.

Furniture Row Racing is having its best season to date with driver Martin Truex Jr. earning 14 top-10 finishes in the first 17 races of the season, which has the Denver, Colorado-based organization looking toward the future. Owner Barney Visser told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio recently that he would like to have a second team in less than two years.

"We'd like to have (a second team) by '17," Visser said. "I doubt that it will happen by '16, but we think maybe '17 it's going to roll around the way we need it to.

"We're going to have to attract the sponsors. When we finally get the sponsors, we'll be able to do it."

In its 10th season, Furniture Row is a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifier for the second time in three years, having made its first Chase in 2013 with Kurt Busch. Truex earned the team's second win last month at Pocono Raceway to go with Regan Smith's Southern 500 victory at Darlington Raceway in 2011.

Visser rewarded his team members based in the Rocky Mountains with rings to celebrate its Pocono win. The owner noted the long hours and tight turnarounds that come with being located outside of the Charlotte, North Carolina, hub of racing.

Earlier this season, Visser also said his team needed more manufacturer support than Chevrolet was currently providing, and the team had spoken with the sport's other manufacturers, Ford and Toyota.

Under the direction of Brad Allen, Ace Speedway’s 2015 season will resume July 24.

Allen, who currently works with the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS), has reached a conditional agreement to cover the outstanding debt and reopen the track, located in Altamahaw, North Carolina, for the remainder of the 2015 season.

“There’s a conditional agreement to get back 24th of July to set it up," he said, "and that’s enough to cover outstanding debt where we can operate the rest of the year.”

Allen had run the track for five seasons but stepped aside at the end of 2014, which was when Bill Catania and Short Track Management took over. The track closed down in early June with thousands of dollars in outstanding debt. While it seemed unlikely Allen would return to his role as the general manager of Ace Speedway, it is a track the former racer loves and wants to see succeed.

Allen is already looking into running some special events with hopes of attracting CARS Tour competitors who have otherwise been running exclusively in the series.

Along with the CARS Tour, the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Labor Day race at Ace Speedway, which was cancelled, could also be back on the schedule.  Allen says he has talked to PASS President Tom Mayberry and they will make a decision shortly on whether that is an option. According to Allen, PASS will still race on Labor Day and has entertained the possibility of racing at the soon to be opened Carteret County Speedway in Eastern North Carolina.

Design Engineering Inc. (DEI) has announced that Bill Herrmann has joined the company as vice president of operations. He joined the company in late June and will report directly to DEI's CEO, David Markley.

Herrmann has more than 30 years of experience in industrial and chemical distribution, as well as chemical and food manufacturing. He has spent most of his career within the supply chain procurement, logistics, forecasting, operations management and inventory control disciplines.

Prior to joining Design Engineering Inc., Herrmann held positions including director of operations, supply chain manager, director of logistics and supply chain/product manager respectively at Palmer Holland, Sandridge Food Corp. and Lubrizol/Noveon. In these positions, he worked as a senior management team member that minimized asset risk, improved communication, and brought new and innovative approaches to the companies’ warehouse and service networks.

Herrmann graduated from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in management. He started his career at Applied Industrial Technologies/iSource Performance Materials.