The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile has revealed the eight manufacturers who will enter the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship in season two.

For the inaugural 2014/2015 season, the 10 Formula E teams all compete using identical single-seaters—the Spark-Renault SRT_01E—utilizing a powertrain by McLaren Electronic Systems. From the 2015/2016 season, the series will become an open championship allowing manufacturers to pursue their own in-house innovations, beginning with the development of bespoke powertrains.

In order to limit costs and promote investment and innovation in the most important areas, the manufacturers’ scope is initially limited to the powertrain—specifically the e-motor, the inverter, the gearbox and the cooling system. All other parts on the cars will remain as they are, with the aim being to prevent costly aerodynamic developments.

Following a tender process and an in-depth analysis of each, the FIA has selected the following eight manufacturers:

- ABT Sportsline

- Andretti
- Mahindra

- Motomatica

- NEXTEV TCR

- Renault Sport

- Venturi Automobiles

- Virgin Racing Engineering

The next regulation progression—scheduled for season three—will see manufacturers extend their efforts to the batteries, with the objective being the use of a single car per driver during races from the fifth season.

“The launch of the FIA Formula E Championship has been a great success,” said FIA President Jean Todt. “This innovative and spectacular discipline is in the process of gaining its sporting and technical credibility and the arrival of manufacturers for its second season is the next stage in Formula E’s development.

“The gradual opening up of the regulations will promote innovation, while at the same time keeping costs under control. The solutions chosen by the manufacturers will hopefully lead to rapid development of the future-focused technologies at the heart of Formula E,” he added. “In terms of the manufacturers chosen, we are satisfied with the quality of the applications received and the number of manufacturers becoming involved reflects the huge interest generated by Formula E.”

“It’s fantastic for Formula E to have this many manufacturers wanting to be a part of the championship after just four races, and shows great confidence in the series,” said Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E. “One of our objectives from the beginning was to promote technology competition but we cannot do that as organisers of the championship, we need ‘actors’ to join and to develop technologies to fight against each other in the races. Through this fight we improve the technology and then with this improved technology we improve electric cars in general. We expect more manufacturers to join from season three onwards and we’re already talking with many different manufactures and also OEMs.”

The homologation process for single-seaters for the 2015/16 Formula E season has already commenced.

NASCAR announced the 20 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

Five members selected from that group will be inducted into the Hall next January.

New to the list this year are Ray Evernham, Harry Hyde, Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin, and Hershel McGriff.

Following are the 20 nominees for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, listed alphabetically:

Buddy Baker, won 19 times in NASCAR's premier (now Sprint Cup) series, including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500

Red Byron, first NASCAR premier series champion, in 1949

Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series

Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion

Ray Evernham, three-time NASCAR premier series championship crew chief

Ray Fox, legendary engine builder and owner of cars driven by Buck Baker, Junior Johnson and others

Rick Hendrick, 14-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series

Harry Hyde, 1970 NASCAR premier series championship crew chief

Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier series champion

Alan Kulwicki, 1992 NASCAR premier series champion

Terry Labonte, two-time NASCAR premier series champion

Mark Martin, 96-time race winner in NASCAR national series competition

Hershel McGriff, 1986 NASCAR west series champion

Raymond Parks, NASCAR's first champion car owner

Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier series champion

Larry Phillips, only five-time NASCAR weekly series national champion

O. Bruton Smith, builder of Charlotte Motor Speedway and architect of Speedway Motorsports Inc.

Mike Stefanik, winner of record-tying nine NASCAR championships

Curtis Turner, early personality, called the "Babe Ruth of stock car racing"

Robert Yates, won NASCAR premier series championship as both an engine builder and owner


The five nominees for the Landmark Award are as follows:

Harold Brasington, founder of Darlington Speedway

H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway

Raymond Parks, NASCAR's first champion car owner

Ralph Seagraves, formed groundbreaking Winston-NASCAR partnership as executive with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Ken Squier, legendary radio and television broadcaster; inaugural winner / namesake of Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence

VP Racing Fuels, Inc. announced that Star Fuel of Oklahoma, LLC, has signed on as the latest partner in its national branding program. Based in Leawood, Kansas, Star supports 275 retail sites in an operating area that encompasses Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri and Arkansas with future plans for expansion in Nebraska.
 
“VP’s branding program appealed to us first because of the significant savings we and our station owners will realize from lower credit card fees and the ability to source unbranded supply,” said James Koop, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Star Fuel. “But we see VP’s race fuels as a real point of differentiation for our station owners, offering incremental revenue from an untapped segment.
 
“Good gas is good gas, but race fuel will appeal to the many racers and performance enthusiasts in our market area with street rods, muscle cars, motorcycles and more,” Koop added. “We anticipate each of our VP-branded stations will sell VP’s off-road fuel blends in 5-gallon pails from a Fuel Cube along with VP Madditives, VP Small Engine Fuels and other VP-branded products. The whole program serves to make our station owners more competitive.” 
 
“We are incredibly proud to add Star Fuel to our growing family of distributor partners,” said Alan Cerwick, President of VP Racing Fuels. “We’re very selective in choosing our partners, evaluating candidates’ financial stability and longevity of business model as well as business practices, trust, integrity and strategic fit. Clearly, Star Fuel excels in every category. They are a leader among their peers and I couldn’t more pleased to be working with them to grow our respective businesses. With VP’s game-changing business model, together we’ll be positioned to offer the best solutions to the challenges faced by today’s convenience store owners.”

VP Racing Fuels announced the extension of its sponsorship of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car and Late Model Series through 2017. With the agreement, VP will continue as the “Official Fuel” for each series and provide trackside fuel service at select events from the season kickoff DIRTcar Nationals in Florida to the Bad Boy Buggies World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Racers can contact their designated VP Regional Distribution Center to confirm the trackside fuel service for each scheduled event.
 
“Extending our partnership with VP Racing Fuels is an easy decision,” said Brian Carter, World of Outlaws CEO. “Not only does VP have excellent products for our competitors, but their promotion of short track racing and attention to detail is second to none. Our two companies work extremely well together, and we’re looking forward to continuing the growth of short track racing.”
 
“The World of Outlaws has been a great partner and we value our relationship, which is now in its eighth year,” said Chris Wall, VP’s Chief Marketing Officer. “WoO offers a great platform to promote VP’s industry leading race fuels which racers and engine builders alike have come to embrace for increased power, consistency and superior engine protection. A great example is VP’s Late Model Plus which was Darrell Lanigan’s exclusive fuel of choice in his record-breaking run to 17 race wins and third series championship this past season.”
 
According to Wall, the sponsorship also provides the opportunity to promote VP’s growing roster of consumer products as well as its VP-branded gas stations and convenience stores which continue to roll out across the country. VP’s consumer products include VP Madditive performance chemicals, VP Small Engine Fuels for 2- and 4-cycle outdoor power equipment, VP PowerWash and VP Sportsman’s Containers.

Just days after the debut at Daytona International Speedway, the continuing development of the ARCA Ilmor 396 engine package was back on course.

ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards officials tested the new ARCA Ilmor 396 engine at Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR) on Tuesday, providing the development platform for road course racing, and the upcoming event at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

“All in all, it went well,” said Grayling Call, ARCA’s Director of Competition and Race Technology. “We got a lot accomplished in a short amount of time.”

PBIR is a 2.034-mile, 10-turn road course with a six-tenths-mile straightaway. Call said the steel-bodied Ford Fusion from Bill Kimmel Racing ran 40 laps, or just over 80 miles during the test. Will Kimmel was the driver while car owner and crew chief Bill Kimmel prepared the car.

“Things went really well overall,” Bill Kimmel said. “I think we gleaned a lot of great information from the test. In going through all the upshifts and downshifts, it worked out really good … no issues at all. Several different fuel cell configurations were tested, so that worked out really good, too. I think we left with several good options.”

Bill Tichenor, Director of Marketing for Holley Performance Products, said one of the things under the watchful eye at the test was Holley’s new HydraMat fuel reservoir for the new ARCA Ilmor 396.

HydraMat is a fuel reservoir system designed to reduce fuel starvation issues in cornering, acceleration, stopping, inclines and low fuel conditions. It is in these situations that traditional fuel pick-ups can be starved of fuel, which then introduces air into the fuel system resulting in poor engine performance and even engine stalling. Holley developed the system.

“We’re super excited about the success of the HydraMat at Daytona,” Tichenor said. “The Daytona race was the first official outing for the HydraMat and it proved to be a great option for the teams. It’s an efficient way to keep the fuel under control in the fuel cell which is a must in an EFI environment. We tested a new configuration of the HydraMat at Palm Beach this week to confirm the best pick up location in a road course environment. We got that figured out and now we’re ready for the entire 2015 ARCA race season.”

It’s the fifth different track-type test for the ARCA Ilmor 396, which was tested twice at Salem Speedway, twice at Daytona International Speedway and once at Talladega Superspeedway prior to the start of the 2015 ARCA season. Twenty-five ARCA Ilmor 396 motors made their competitive debut at Daytona in the Lucas Oil 200 presented by AutoZone. Grant Enfinger had an ARCA Ilmor 396 in his race-winning Chevrolet.

Call said this week’s test will help engineers at Ilmor to further develop the engine.

“Ilmor will take the information they received from this test and, now that they know how the car reacts, be able to dyno test it and simulate a road course race,” Call said. “This is a little bit different course than New Jersey Motorsports Park, but the information they have now can simulate a road course.”

ARCA’s only road course race of 2015 will be May 24 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, a 2.25-mile asphalt road course with 14 turns and a one-mile straightaway. Sunoco Race Fuels supported the test, as did Hoosier Tire, which brought the same tire that will be used at New Jersey.

“We did some short runs and some longer runs,” Kimmel said. “I think the ARCA Ilmor 396 speeds will be comparable with speeds last year at New Jersey. We also messed around with some different gear ratios … pretty good learning day overall.”

Tichenor said it is a great time to be involved in racing.

“This is an exciting time for our company,” he said. “Our carburetors have powered stock car racers for literally millions of miles and I have always been proud as I have watched those races. That was happening long before I ever started at Holley, so to be on hand and see our fuel injection and other products make their debut on stock cars was a tremendous feeling. When the cars made their first lap at full speed it was a great moment for the race teams, ARCA, Ilmor, and of course all of the Holley team members that worked so hard to make it happen.”

Following the recent announcement that Pro Outlaw 10.5 will be contested at two PDRA events in 2015, DiSomma Racing Engines has committed to sponsoring the class at both the North-South Shootout in Maryland and PDRA Finals in Virginia.

The experts at DiSomma Racing Engines (DRE) build engines for turbo, nitrous, blower and naturally aspirated applications. They also build custom engines for specific classes such as Outlaw 10.5 and X275 Drag Radial.

Anthony DiSomma, head mastermind at DRE, explains that sponsoring the Pro Outlaw 10.5 class was a no brainer for him.

“The PDRA is a good sanctioning body. It’s going to go places. They have good people running it who are actually racers. So I think it’s good for publicity for the 10.5 class and for DRE. We’ve built a lot of record-setting 10.5 engines and radial engines and Pro Boost engines. We currently hold the record in Pro Boost for mile an hour, as well as records in Qatar, Bahrain and in Super Street,” said DiSomma.

The Pro Outlaw 10.5 class will be contested as part of the larger Mickey Thompson Tires Outlaw 10.5 National Championship Series. DiSomma, along with many others, hopes that as the 10.5 division continues to grow, it can gain a permanent home with the PDRA.

“It’s big in the northeast right now,” DiSomma added. “There’s a lot of cars at Cecil and other tracks in the northeast. As long as the rules stay the same and competitive the class has been growing every year. The 10.5 series is a huge step in the right direction and so is teaming up with the PDRA in 2015.”

DiSomma is a 10.5 competitor himself, driving for Punisher Racing NY. He will compete in both Pro Boost and Outlaw 10.5 this season.

“The Pro Mod car is owned and tuned by Saud Alzabin,” DiSomma explained. “I drive it and build the engine. The Outlaw 10.5 car I drive is owned by Punisher Racing NY. I have my own 10.5 car but it’s been parked for four years because my customers want me to drive for them. My goal this year is to try to win the Championship in Outlaw 10.5 and Pro Boost, or one of them at least. ”

“The PDRA is proud to welcome Anthony DiSomma, and DiSomma Racing Engines as a Class sponsor in 2015,” said Mike Congdon, PDRA Senior VP of Marketing. “We are lucky to have guys like Anthony as part of our Series. He’s a tough competitor as proven in the last two events of the 2014 season, and he has now stepped up to further support our series as a marketing partner.”

As race teams make final preparations to start the 2015 season, NASCAR announced its diverse lineup of 2015 NASCAR Contingency Program sponsors for all three national series.

This year’s program is highlighted by the renewal of longtime sponsors and the addition of a new brand to the stable of participating contingency partners.

The MOOG Steering and Suspension brand, a Contingency Sponsor of NASCAR for nearly 50 years, will now extend its reach to consumers by becoming a NASCAR Official Partner. MOOG parts have been the choice of every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion since 1966, an unprecedented winning streak. The MOOG brand will continue to provide Contingency Sponsorship for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The brand will also sponsor the MOOG Problem Solver of the Race and Year awards in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series which is awarded to the eligible crew chief that improves the most from the first half of the race to the second half of the race utilizing the 40 best lap times (10 best lap times for road course events).

New to the field of Contingency Sponsors this year will be Ingersoll Rand, the Official Power Tools of NASCAR. The Ingersoll Rand Power Move Award will be given to the team that advances the most positions during the last 10 percent of each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the highest finishing eligible team. Cars must display the Ingersoll Rand contingency decal to be eligible. The annual award will be given based on cumulative positions gained during each weekly race. This award recognizes crew chiefs that bring the same level of intensity and reliability when it matters most.

Edelbrock will continue to provide Contingency Sponsorship to Top 5 finishers carrying the Edelbrock decal in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series through 2019. Edelbrock began its NASCAR association as the first company to sign a multi-year contingency sponsorship agreement. In 1993, Edelbrock became an Exclusive NASCAR Performance Partner and its intake manifolds are currently approved for NASCAR competition and used by teams in all NASCAR national series.

“The NASCAR Contingency program is rich in history and participating sponsors have direct access to our teams, connection with our loyal, passionate fan base and prominent visibility in our sport,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president, Industry Services. “We are pleased to see the continued level of commitment from both new and returning partners to the program this year.”

The NASCAR Contingency program strives to build strong relationships with high quality, performance-driven brands that are leaders in their respective categories, and award money to teams via per race and year-end awards. Competitors become eligible for prize money by displaying sponsor decals on the front fenders of their race cars and trucks. In some instances, use of a sponsor’s product is required.

Memphis International Raceway (MIR) announces the recent hire of Craig Wack, who will join the MIR team as the Director of Public Relations and Marketing.

Wack has more than a decade of experience in the motorsports world and firsthand knowledge of MIR as he worked as a motorsports writer for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis and covered events over the course of 10 years. In addition, he was a Public Relations Specialist for Geiger Media Global, serving clients in the NHRA and the AMA SuperCross series. Most recently, Wack worked at Academy Sports + Outdoors as an E-Commerce Content Coordinator.

"Craig is a great addition to the MIR team," stated Pam Kendrick, VP & GM of Memphis International Raceway. "He's a former Memphian and is bringing with him some impressive credentials that will be an asset to MIR and the growth of our race track. We're looking forward to Craig joining us and welcome him to MIR."

"It's exciting to get back to the Memphis market after a few years away," Wack said. "There are a lot of great things on the horizon for Memphis International Raceway and I'm proud to be a part of the team."

MIR is the premiere racing destination in the Mid-South with a drag strip, tri-oval, and road course. In addition, a state-of-the-art dirt track is scheduled to open during the summer of 2015. Wack will oversee the advertising, event marketing, media relations, digital and social media for all the facilities at MIR, effective immediately.

NASCAR and Seekonk Speedway revealed that the famed Massachusetts oval will celebrate its 70th season of auto racing in 2015 by joining the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly racing program.

The announcement reunited two longstanding entities of the auto racing world. Seekonk Speedway, which opened in 1946—two years prior to NASCAR’s inaugural season—was previously aligned with the sanctioning body from 2000-05.

Seekonk President Francis Venditti, son of the track’s founder, the late D. Anthony Venditti, expressed his anticipation of the new alliance.

“There’s a lot of history [at Seekonk Speedway], and this is an important effort to keep that history alive,” said Venditti. “We want to build our fanbase and our sponsor base. We have a great team here and we want to build on that and create a lasting and enduring relationship with NASCAR that is going to be notable.”

Known as the “Action Track of the East,” the .333-mile asphalt oval is located in Seekonk, just across the border from Providence, Rhode Island.

Established in 1982, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is NASCAR’s national championship program for weekly short track auto racing. Competitors at more than 50 paved and dirt tracks throughout North America vie for track, state and province, and overall series championships in Divisions I-V.

Seekonk’s reigning track titlist out of the pro stock feature division, Kenny Spencer, met with the media at the announcement. The Taunton, Massachusetts, competitor expressed excitement about his home track becoming a NASCAR Home Track.

“I’m very happy that NASCAR has come aboard, so hopefully we can go out and win it again,” Spencer said. “The NASCAR name is everything in racing. That’s why we love to see the NASCAR name on the car. We’re pretty excited to see it back at Seekonk Speedway.”

Also on hand at the festivities was North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, driver Len Ellis, who knows what it means to earn a NASCAR championship at Seekonk. He was the track’s 2001 titlist during the previous NASCAR era, and has extremely fond memories of the celebration at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards that year.

“That was probably the greatest moment other than the birth of my kids—I can honestly say that,” Ellis said. “When I went down there in 2001 everything was top shelf, and you understand why these people strive to do what they do.

“I’m overwhelmed by the fact that NASCAR is coming back, and I hope they’re back for a while.”

Seekonk’s opening day of NASCAR-sanctioned competition will be Sunday, May 3, and the regular Saturday night program kicks in on May 9. Pro stocks will be designated NASCAR Division I at Seekonk while the late models will be Division II, street stocks Division III and sport trucks Division IV.

Not only will the pro stock champion earn distinction as a NASCAR champion in 2015, but he will also become the first NASCAR Massachusetts state champion since Stan Greger in 1981. Top drivers were recognized by regions instead of states during Seekonk’s previous NASCAR association.

“The northeast has a dedicated NASCAR following, and the addition of Seekonk Speedway to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly racing program further strengthens that bond,” said George Silbermann, NASCAR’s vice president for regional and touring series. “We are also extremely excited to expand our Southern New England presence into the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which has deep NASCAR roots.”

Bristol Motor Speedway announces the hiring of public relations industry veteran, Dana Landry, as director of communications. Landry has led communications and sports marketing programs for numerous high-profile brands throughout his career.

As a member of the communications team, Landry will lead Bristol Dragway’s public relations efforts and assist in integrated strategy, development and execution for all Speedway and ancillary events. He also will work closely with the Bristol Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.

“We’re thrilled to have found someone as talented and experienced as Dana to join our team, said Jerry Caldwell, general manager and EVP for Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway. “His position was a key hire for us as we continue to strengthen our communications efforts in the community, motorsports industry and beyond.”

Landry brings nearly 20 years of experience in communications and sports marketing to Bristol Motor Speedway having worked with leading brands including NASCAR, SUBWAY Restaurants, MTV Networks, Pepsi, Mountain Dew and NAPA Auto Parts. Most recently, he spent six years with Catalyst Public Relations at its Charlotte, North Carolina, office where he managed agency account teams for a host of client partners.

Landry, a native of the seacoast region of New Hampshire, will relocate to Tri-Cities, Tennessee, at the end of February and report to Vice President of Communications Becky Cox.