Grace Autosport, the first all-female IndyCar Series racing team, has announced plans to compete in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

From team owner to race engineers to aerodynamicists to the driver to marketing and public relations directors, the women of Grace Autosport will be on the grid for the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" on May 29, 2016.

Grace Autosport will spearhead a one-of-a-kind racing program with a focused educational initiative, which looks to create and inspire future champions and leaders in motorsport. The goal of this pioneering all-female racing team is not only to empower women in motorsport, but to encourage a new generation of women to pursue careers in STEM (science/technology/engineering/math). Grace also hopes its program and platform attracts a new fan base to IndyCar racing and the Indianapolis 500 race, the largest sporting event in the world.

"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the scene for many automotive firsts," said Grace Team Principal, Beth Paretta of The Paretta Company and former motorsports director for SRT Motorsports/Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. "It makes it so special to have the opportunity to launch our team here. For us, true success will be measured by how many girls and women we can encourage to pursue a STEM career. Having said that, we are here to win and our goal is within 10 years to make sure a woman's face will grace the BorgWarner trophy."

Katherine Legge, a two-time Indy 500 competitor, has been named as the inaugural driver. Her firsts as a female racer has spanned single-seater and sports car racing. The native Brit's diverse racing history includes British Formula Fords, Toyota Atlantics, Champ Car/IndyCar, IMSA sports cars, DTM and Formula E racing.

Additional team members include: Catherine Crawford, aerodynamicist, principal of Crawford Composites and one of the few women around the globe supervising a race team, which she currently does in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship; Lauren Elkins, motorsports engineer, track support technician and data analysis manager, who brings multiple years in IndyCar and sports car racing to the team; Jessica Rowe, a junior design engineer with a variety of race experience, both at track and in the design office; and Barbara Burns, a skilled motorsport professional specializing in communications, public relations, event management and media training for young professional athletes and drivers.

Grace Autosport will continue to provide updates with regards to team sponsors and personnel in the months to come. For more information, visit www.graceautosport.com.

On Friday, July 17, QA1 will welcome car enthusiasts for its 4th Annual Open House and Cruise, from 7-9 am.

All are invited to QA1's facilities to gain an inside look at the company's daily operations, show off their cars, win great prizes, and spend the morning with other car enthusiasts. The company is headquartered at 21730 Hanover Avenue, Lakeville, MN 55044

Those who have pre-registered for the Street Machine Nationals in St. Paul can also join QA1 for a cruise from QA1's Open House to the fairgrounds, where they'll have preferred entrance to the show.
 
To register for this event, learn further event details, and see videos and information from past open houses, visit the QA1 website.

Champion Oil, a major player in development and manufacturing of performance lubricants, has announced that Tecnolub Cia Ltda is its exclusive Master Warehouse Distributor in Ecuador.
 
Tecnolub Cia Ltda is a leader in the distribution of passenger car, commercial and industrial lubricants. The company will offer Champion branded products in a number of categories, such as motor oils, transmission fluids, hydraulic fluids, diesel motor oil, differentials lubes, greases, brake fluids, and automotive chemicals and additives.

“It is extremely important for Champion Oil to identify a partner that shares the same goals and has the ability to provide our Ecuadorian customers, retailers, dealers, and installers with first class service, support and distribution,” said Karl Dedolph, Director of International Sales for Champion. “Tecnolub Cia Ltda clearly fits the stringent criteria we identified to disseminate our motor oil, chemical, additive and lubricant line in key demographics, applications, and strategic global markets.”

Miguel Amorozo, owner of Tecnolub Cia Ltda, now promotes the complete “Purpose-Built” line of Champion Motor Oils, Chemicals and Lubricants.

For more information, visit www.ChampionBrands.com.

Robby Gordon and Stadium Super Trucks have been invited to the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed, the world’s largest and most diverse celebration of motorsports history, taking place June 25-28 on the English estate of the Earl of March in West Sussex, England.

Two Stadium Super Trucks, along with a ramp that allows the SST trucks to fly through the air in dramatic fashion during races, will be featured along with hundreds of other modern and historic race cars and trucks from all corners of the globe. The race vehicles will take part in demonstrations and competition runs up the nine-turn 1.16-mile Hillclimb in the Goodwood House grounds approximately 80 miles southwest of London.

“It is and incredible honor to be invited by Lord March to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed with our Stadium Super Trucks,” said Gordon, who founded the SST series and conducted its first race in April 2013. “Goodwood is a who’s who of motorsports and to be included as part of this amazing program is a tremendous testament for our company. For our young series to gain international recognition and be invited to such prestigious events alongside Formula 1, NASCAR and other forms of motorsports is a great testament to our drivers and team members.”

Since 1993 the Festival has been a celebration of the world’s greatest cars and drivers, and the event has grown to attract hundreds of thousands of fans every year at the British estate. Not only will Gordon drive a Stadium Super Truck on the famous Hillclimb Circuit in a timed event, but a second truck will be featured in a new off-road venue on the estate’s activity field.

Now in its third season of competition, the SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS is a full series of races featuring identically prepared trucks resembling their smaller radio control TRAXXAS counterparts. The trucks race at large IndyCar street circuit events, massive Australian V8 SuperCar races, in stadiums, on dirt and on paved surfaces.

King Engine Bearings has signed an agreement with Don Gross warehouse to act as brand representative and master distributor in California. The Don Gross team will focus on the aftermarket replacement and King Racing lines of bearings, providing new regional coverage for the King Engine Bearings on the west coast.

“We are excited to have sealed the deal with such an experienced distribution team,” said Limor DePetro, VP of sales and marketing, King Bearings. “This new partnership is a strategic alliance that greatly expands King’s reach on the west coast and brings immediate access of our wide range of bearings to the Don Gross customer base.”

Don Gross Warehouse specializes in hard parts and has been a family owned and operated company since 1972 with locations in Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside. Because of these centralized locations, Don Gross Warehouse will expand the supply of King Engine Bearings throughout Central and Southern California, Southern Nevada, Utah and Arizona.

“King is producing an exciting range of top quality products in today’s engine bearing category, a quality that extends to their strong and robust vision for the future,” states Dan Gross, Owner, Don Gross Warehouse. “Because of this, it was an easy decision to partner with King in support of our customer’s needs. With both of these partnerships, our team can confidently bring to the table a proven product that we trust.”

For more information on the King Engine Bearings complete line of performance engine bearings, visit www.kingbearings.com.

At 11:45 a.m. yesterday, IndyCar officially announced Helio Castroneves had been docked eight championship points for “avoidable contact” at the start of last Saturday’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Castroneves, starting third, ran into the back of second-place starter Scott Dixon.

Less than one hour later, the penalty was the least of Castroneves’ concerns as the Team Penske driver spun in turn one and the rear of his Chevrolet lifted off the ground sending the Brazilian driver airborne. The car flipped, landed upside-down and then bounced back on all four wheels.

“The car was really good and I am very blessed,” Castroneves said after he was examined and released from the IU Health Infield Care Center at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Unfortunately I still do not understand what happened. I got loose in Turn one and spun out. The good news is the impact wasn’t very strong and the landing was smooth as well.

“In all aspects, I have to say I was very lucky there was no big shunt. The accident was most impressive, but the good news is I am feeling very good. This just set us back one day since it is Wednesday. The good news is we still have Thursday and Friday before qualifying. I’m counting on my guys, my boys, to put the car back together and go back to work.”

Because Chevrolet and Honda introduced Aero Kits this season it has created a “law of unintended consequences” situation. This is the first time the superspeedway kit has been used in IndyCar action this season after the first five contests have been on street and road courses.

“We’re playing with new areas from an aerodynamic standpoint, and of course going backwards at that speed, you don’t know what kind of lift it had, but obviously it got airborne, which we were surprised, so we’re going to take a good look at it,” team owner Roger Penske said.

Castroneves, however, didn’t have to wait until Thursday to get back on track. His Team Penske crew prepared the backup Chevrolet and he was back at speed with less than 20 minutes left in Wednesday’s practice session.

“The car was very fast—we even were taking off,” Castroneves said. “But that’s not the way we want to take off. I have to thank the messages from the fans for the encouragement. I’m here today because of those prayers and the safety and the track. I have to pay a big respect to my guys at Team Penske, just to be able to put a car together and be back again. That was impressive. You cannot be scared. When you go out there you are more confident because of all these guys.

“I’m super happy now we were able to run. I didn’t want to wait until Thursday so now we focus on Thursday and Friday.”

Castroneves did not expect to flip backwards but was surprised by the soft landing.

“It’s like I spun out any other race track,” said Castroneves, who has had just one other crash in the Indy 500 in 2006. “This new Aero Kit we are trying something different and even the most experienced guys get surprised. For me looking at the data I know exactly what happened so I have no issues. It’s understanding the car and it’s limits. To come back like this is great.

“Now, we can focus on the next two days.”

Castroneves believes the setup from Tuesday worked but the new sidepod the team is using pushed the limit under Wednesday’s weather conditions, which was clear, sunny and cool.

“It’s the risk that we are involved,” Castroneves said. “When I lost it in Turn 1 I lost it and I expected it to win but when it took off it was surprising. I was expecting a big shunt and it didn’t happen.

“My life flashes by me every day so that is nothing new to me.”

Castroneves was able to end his day with a smile on what could have been a very difficult time for the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

“Things happen here so fast you can’t predict them and when you do you have to handle the situation and that is what your guys did here today,” Penske said. “You are always concerned when a car gets backwards the way the car went up and went over but you can only test so much in your simulations and wind tunnel. This is something that is good to know now and look at it and try to help all of the cars on the track. The whicker on the front of the car pinned the front down as it was sliding and the rear end went up in the air and the holes in the floor exacerbated that.”

Castroneves’ saga overshadowed Carlos Munoz posting the fastest speed of the week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when the Honda driver turned a lap at 230.121 miles per hour for Andretti Autosport.

Munoz’s fast lap came with just six minutes left in Wednesday’s practice.

“Really, we were not looking for a tow, we just made a change and said, ‘OK let’s go in the group and see if we can just cop a tow and feel the car in traffic a little bit,’” Munoz explained. “I went back to the pack and it’s practice, so whoever gets the best tow is the one who is going to finish first. The positive thing is that I feel really comfortable with the car, the car feels OK. In traffic and by my own, I feel fast. We have to continue working, we have still two days of testing so we have to try some stuff.”

Townsend Bell’s Chevrolet was second at 223.969 mph followed by 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan’s 228.172 mph in a Chevrolet. James Davison’s Honda was fourth at 228.043 mph followed by second-year driver Sage Karam’s Chevrolet at 227.822 mph.

Thirty-three drivers ran 2,146 laps in Wednesday practice. There is more action Thursday with practice running from 12 noon to 6 p.m. Eastern Time.

“We’re staying in a tight little box, being a single-car program, only event of the year so far with the team,” said Bell, driving the No. 24 The Robert Graham Special Chevrolet entered by Dreyer & Reinbold-Kingdom Racing. “Trying to be pragmatic and just stay focused on the fundamentals. So far, so good. We hit the track pretty reasonable, thanks to (team managing director and former Indy car driver) Davey Hamilton for shaking down the car (on opening day May 3), I was in Monterey for a (sports car) race. Davey did a nice job to just work out the bugs for us and we were able to hit the ground running when we got here.”

Motorsport.com takes its coverage of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship series to another level with acclaimed news journalist Jonathan Noble beginning his role as F1 Editor.

Noble has spent the last 16 years with United Kingdom-based Autosport, where he most recently served as its Group F1 Editor.

Motorsport.com is a technically advanced digital distribution platform, which provides worldwide, multimedia motor sports coverage resulting in over 180 countries this year.

"I am thrilled to be joining Motorsport.com at this very exciting time," said Noble. "There are very ambitious plans for the future and the website's huge traffic growth over recent months shows that it is on the right track to become the go-to resource for everything motor sports related."


Noble's first weekend representing Motorsport.com comes ahead of the upcoming street-racing extravaganza at glittering Monaco. He will be reporting from every Grand Prix around the world direct from the F1 paddock—renowned as the 'Piranha Club.'

In his new role, Noble will lead the direction of all F1 content for Motorsport.com and report directly to Editor in Chief Charles Bradley.

"Having Jonathan spearheading our F1 coverage is the perfect scenario for our editorial team," said Bradley. "Just like a great F1 driver, he's got the ability to perform to the highest level in one of the toughest environments in the sport, as well as possessing the ability to lead a team and to push it forwards.

"From next weekend we will benefit not only from his in-depth knowledge and years of experience in the F1 paddock, but also his unrivaled ability to uncover genuine world exclusives. It's the latest game-changing move in our exciting strategy."

Noble joins F1 paddock veteran Adam Cooper on the Motorsport.com F1 news roster, and will also work alongside feature writer and columnist Kate Walker.

Lernerville Speedway has been sold to Tomson Scrap Metal of Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, effective immediately.

The World Racing Group will continue to operate the speedway under the DIRTcar Racing banner as scheduled for 2015 with the new ownership.

“Lernerville Speedway is an incredible facility with so much history, and we’re excited to see the next generation of ownership take the reins,” said WRG CEO Brian Carter. “We’re very pleased to continue playing a role in Lernerville, especially when it comes to the Firecracker weekend, the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup and the Steel City Stampede. We believe Lernerville is in great hands going forward and look forward to seeing it continue to grow in Western Pennsylvania.”

Family representative Ted Tomson added, “The Tomsons are happy to team up with World Racing Group and bring Lernerville Speedway into our family organization. Lernerville is a top dirt track racing in the country and a gem to our community. The track is a great fit with our family businesses – Tomson Scrap Metal, Brackenridge Heights Golf Course and Restaurant, Stanson Paper Recycling and TSM Harness Racing. Our family has lived in this area their entire lives and this acquisition allows us to invest in the community. Lernerville is a vital community asset providing jobs and entertainment plus giving this area a nationally known facility.”

Lernerville Speedway, about 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, opened in the fall of 1967 and has run continuously ever since. Lernerville, one of the most popular family-friendly race tracks in the country, is the home “Fab Four” Friday night racing with Sprint Cars, Dirt Late Models, Big-Block Modifieds and Sportsman Stock Cars.

In 2005, the Martin family sold Lernerville, a 4/10-mile dirt oval, to World Racing Group, which continues to run the weekly program along with special events.

The Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame will be inducting seven new members on October 16, 2015, in Lincoln, NE. This is the 18th class for the Hall, which was created in 1998 to honor Nebraskans, both native and adopted, for their contributions to the sport of auto racing.

The seven newest associates in the Hall of Fame are:

Bill Barbour, Omaha

Barbour started out racing midgets throughout the Midwest until he broke his back and was paralyzed in a racing accident. Bill then started drag racing in partnership with Gene Stanley.

Phil Durst, Lincoln

As a car owner, Durst racked up some impressive wins and championships. Among his drivers were, Ryan Durst, Jack Hewitt, Kasey Kahne, Danny Lasoski, Randy Smith and Doug Wolfgang.

Pat di Natale, North Platte

Beginning in solo events, Natale carved out an impressive racing career with SCCA in regional and national competition. Natale was twice awarded the SCCA’s Governors’ Cup and was one of three founders of Pro Solo, SCCA’s professional autocross program.

Scott Fernyhough, Lincoln

Fernyhough spent his early years working for Jerry Day, Duke McMillen and Kenny Woodruff, with drivers Jimmy Sills and Jan Opperman. He then worked as a welder and pitman for Bob Trostle from 1977 through 1981, working with such names as Doug Wolfgang, Shane Carson and Tim Green.

Tom Lathen, Grand Island

Lathen’s first experience as an announcer came in 1976, at the Speed Bowl in Red Cloud. Soon he moved into radio and the print media. His announcing credits including tracks, Alta, Denison, Spencer, Webster City and West Union in Iowa; Doniphan, Lexington in Nebraska. He was the full-time voice of the NASCAR All Star Series and WDRL, and also announced, from time to time, for a number of other series including UDTRA, UMP, MLRA and others.

Clayton Petersen Jr., St. Paul

Petersen was one of the top late model racers in the country throughout the 1970s. He won point titles and set records across the Midwest. He also built some of the fastest cars in the country at that time.

Larry White, Lincoln

White started his flagging career in 1976, at Eagle Raceway. He has waved the bunting over most of the top dirt track organizations including, the World of Outlaws, All Star Circuit of Champions, ASCS, MLRA, WDRL, IMCA and Busch All Stars.

The 18th Annual Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held at the Lincoln firefighter’s Reception Hall at 241 Victory Lane in Lincoln, Nebraska on Friday, October 16, 2015. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased after July 1. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. with the ceremony beginning at 6:00 p.m.

TORC: The Off-Road Championship Presented by AMSOIL will continue its exclusive series partner relationship with GoPro as the official camera of TORC.

GoPro cameras allows people all over the world to capture their lives through photos and video, and TORC has long used GoPro cameras to provide high-quality coverage for its fans and sponsors.

In 2015, TORC will exclusively use the GoPro HERO4 Black for all POV and onboard shots. The camera is capable of shooting 4K as well as 120 frames per second at 1080p.

“TORC Off-road racing is such a sensory sport, and GoPro can bring the audience closer to the action and really translate the intensity and excitement that the series offers to both current and new fans of the sport,” said Rod Rojas, Motorsports Marketing Manager for GoPro. “We are happy to have them as a member of the GoPro family.”

In additions to giveaways, retail and event promotion, GoPro will also use its considerable presence on social media to spread the word about TORC.

TORC President B.J. Birtwell, with years of experience in television production, having produced over 100 hours of TORC TV programming for Discovery, Fox & NBC Sports Networks said when it comes to providing thrilling content that will mesmerize an audience, there is no substitute for GoPro.

“There’s no better camera to capture the high flying, punishing action of the TORC Series,” Birtwell said. “Unparalleled shots at incredibly high quality come from placement of GoPros in areas that no other camera can reproduce. And now that we’re using the Hero4 exclusively in 2015, our fans will see the highest quality onboards and POV’s ever.”