When it comes to the NHRA, there’s only one Pomona.

The legendary Auto Club Raceway at the Los Angeles Fairplex has played host to the season-opening Winternationals and the season-ending World Finals for five decades.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of what is now known as the Auto Club NHRA Finals from Nov. 13-16, the NHRA has released a colorful and in-depth tome known as “The History of the NHRA World Finals.”

The new book complements a sister publication, “The History of the NHRA Winternationals,” which was released earlier this year to mark that race’s 50th anniversary, as well.

From a NHRA media release, the book is described as such: "The 76-page book is packed with great photos and year-by-year recaps that highlight some of the most spectacular finishes in NHRA history: Tony Schumacher’s “The Run” from 2006, Don Garlits’ stunning 5.63 pass from 1975, Shirley Muldowney’s come-from-behind title in 1980, and many more.

The book also includes interviews with famous NHRA drivers sharing their recollections of their most memorable Finals outing, a look at the different venues that have hosted the season finale throughout the years, a complete listing of every driver to have won the race, plus stats and more.”

If you’re going to attend this year’s season finale, you can purchase books at the track’s NHRA Membership Hospitality Center.

Otherwise, you can order both books from Amazon.com. Search for “NHRA books.”

If you’re a diehard NHRA fan, these would both be great additions to your collection of souvenirs and memorabilia.

The new 410 sprint car series founded by Tod Quiring of Big Game Treestands now has a name—the National Sprint League.

The series has also announced the addition of its first two employees. Chuck Zitterich will serve as competition director, while Bill Wright will be public relations director.

The National Sprint League recently announced four dates at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa (May 9, June 27, July 4, Aug. 29), as well as one at the Eagle Raceway near Eagle, Neb., (Friday, May 8). The May 8-9 Eagle/Knoxville weekend will offer a $20,000 bonus for a sweep of the features, thanks to Phil and Ryan Durst of Durst Motorplex in Lincoln, Neb.

The point fund for the series will be $350,000, while drivers will still be able to vie for the Knoxville Championship Cup Series, which pays out more than $250,000 in cash and contingencies.

Zitterich brings a wealth of experience, and presently serves as an official with the Knoxville Raceway. He most recently was the competition director with the ASCS Midwest Region. He also has been active in the past at the Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., and with the NMRA series, among others.

Wright has been a freelance journalist, announcer and public relations representative in sprint car racing for the last twenty years. He has been employed at the Knoxville Raceway in several different capacities over the last ten years, including website maintenance, public relations and as co-track historian. His announcing experience includes shows sanctioned by the Sprint Invaders, MOWA, IRA, ASCS and audio broadcasts from the Knoxville Raceway.

“We’re all excited about the National Sprint League,” said Quiring. “We’re really happy to have Chuck and Bill on board as our Competition Director and PR Director. They bring a wealth of experience. It’s really overwhelming the response we’ve had from the fans, promoters, tracks and major businesses. We have a lot of exciting news we’ll be announcing in the coming weeks.”

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum and the Barber Motorsports Park announced the completion of the Barber Proving Grounds, a major addition to the Barber Motorsports Park. The Proving Grounds are currently in operation, with Mercedes-Benz USA as the first customer, using it for their employee "Brand Immersion Experience."
 
The complex is located adjacent to the current Barber track and consists of a new track area and wet/dry skidpad. The track is primarily asphalt, 24 feet wide, and can be configured to many different lengths, including up to more than a mile in length. A new 150 ft. x 300 ft. wet/dry skidpad will allow drivers to explore traction limits under varying conditions. The new track and skidpad have a look that complements the overall theme and design of the Barber Motorsports Park.
 
The new track will allow additional events to be conducted while the existing track is in use. Some anticipated events include product debuts, corporate outings and events, safety instruction, driver schools, and autocross and kart events.
 
The new track will offer an environment that will challenge all types of vehicles and drivers, with multiple configurations of turns and straights, including a banked bowl designed to evoke the banked track at Daytona. The track has been designed to allow users to experience vehicle dynamics in a controlled environment, with special areas available to demonstrate vehicle capabilities, such as accident avoidance, braking, turning, and acceleration.
 
“This new addition should draw even more people to Birmingham and Alabama to visit, spend money, generate economic impact and have a great time,” said George Barber, the Barber Park’s founder. “It’s all about helping create a better Birmingham and Alabama.”
 
In addition to the new Proving Grounds, Barber Motorsports Park is home to what is considered one of North America’s finest road courses for car and motorcycle racing—a 2.38 mile racing circuit 45 feet wide, with 17 turns and elevation changes of more than 80 feet. The track annually hosts world-class events such as the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, the Triumph Superbike Classic and the Barber Vintage Festival, in addition to numerous international product launches and driving schools.
 
Additionally, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, on-site, is the largest motorcycle museum in the world, with more than 1400 vintage and modern motorcycles from 17 different nations and more than 125 manufacturers.

Podium Raceway, which has been open for a little more than three years in a 44,000-square-foot warehouse in West Oahu, is now owned by a California firm called K1 Speed that has kart racing centers in several states.

The deal, which closed within the last two weeks, does not include the property. K1 Speed is taking over the lease from the former owners, Kelly and Neil Tsutsui, Sheree and Mark Jeffries and Warren and Michele Cole, who all come from various positions in the construction industry.

"The owners called and wanted to know if we were interested," Randall Hoppe, spokesman for K1 Speed. "They were interested in new ventures, but wanted to ensure the integrity of what they've built would remain top notch."

He noted that there will be no major changes to the kart racing center in Kalaeloa, and that if anything, it will add more employees. A new restaurant also is expected to be added to the center.

Hoppe expects the center, which will change its name to the K1 Speed brand, to have a staff of up to 25 people.

“It was always a hope and dream to open a center in Hawaii," he said.

K1 Speed, one of the largest indoor karting companies in the country, operates more than 20 centers across the nation, including in California, Washington state, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and Florida.

Podium Raceway is the only public indoor electric kart racing track in Hawaii.

The Groove Hawaii, an entertainment park which opened earlier this year in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, offers go-cart racing in an outdoor setting.

Tri-City Raceway Park is the latest track to book Renegade Sprints events in 2015.

The half-mile track in Franklin, Pensylvania, will host multiple shows, including the possibility of a speedweek in Western Pennsylvania.

“We’re definitely going to do a couple of shows,” Tri-City Raceway Park Promoter Chad Wagner said. “I’m working with (Renegade Sprints Officers) Shane Helms and Rob Hunter on a Western PA speedweek. Basically we’d like to get a three, four, five-show speedweek. That’s what we’re aiming for. That’s on our agenda.”

Wagner said he’s been impressed with everything he has seen and heard about the Renegade Sprints.

“It’s new blood,” he said. “Having a new series with a new mission and a new vision of taking racing back to the grassroots, being family oriented, putting on a quality show with a quality amount of contenders. That’s a big statement about what the Renegades are trying to do.”

Renegade Sprints President Shane Helms noted that he is equally excited to work with everyone at Tri-City Raceway Park.

“It’s been great talking with Chad and everyone there,” he said. “They are putting in a lot of effort at Tri-City Raceway Park and we can’t wait to take the Renegade Sprints there next season.”

The Renegade Sprints have one more weekend of racing on the schedule this season—Oct. 24-25 at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, for the $15,000-to-win Open Wheel Championships.

Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, with its 2.3-mile road course along side U.S. Highway 521, is for sale.

The owners are getting older and want to pass the Lancaster County track on to the next owners, says David Palmer, managing director of the site.

"The facility continues to be financially sound, so while bittersweet, it's our goal to find the right person or group to further develop this regional asset," Palmer says in a news release about plans to sell the track.

The track opened in 1999 and its kart-racing track has attracted some important contests. Nowadays the road course is used for race team practices, automobile testing, television show and commercials filming and law-enforcement driver training.

Retired NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd says the facility offers drivers a chance to practice in a safe environment.

"I have spent a lot of time there doing just that and, given it's the only course of its kind in the Carolinas, I think it's the best-kept secret around," Rudd says.

A listing price of the site wasn’t disclosed.

The 2014 NHRA Breakfast at the SEMA Show will celebrate 50 years of the NHRA Finals. The popular annual event at the SEMA Show, which has showcased many of NHRA’s legendary drivers, team owners, and other characters within the sport, has grown into a must-attend affair for SEMA Show attendees, and this year’s program promises to continue that tradition. 
 
NHRA will bring together some of the most popular drivers in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, and they will discuss many of the iconic moments through 50 years of the NHRA Finals at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California.

Drivers who will be featured during the NHRA Breakfast are John Force, Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, and Gary Scelzi.

Force is an eight-time winner of the NHRA Finals in Funny Car, the most for a driver in any Pro category. Perhaps his greatest triumph at the event came in 2010, when he rallied to overcome a 38-point deficit and steal the championship away in the season’s closing moments from rival Matt Hagan by winning the race in spectacular fashion.

Schumacher has won the race four times in Top Fuel at the controls of his U.S. Army dragster and famously won the 2006 world championship title in the race’s final moments by winning the race and setting a national e.t. record in the final round. It is referred to as “The Run” by drag racing historians and is one of the most iconic moments in the history of the sport. The next season Schumacher entered the Finals trailing the points leader and worked his magic at the event one more time, denying "Hot Rod" Fuller a place in history as a world champ when Fuller lost early and Schumacher went on to win the race and the championship.

Brown has won the NHRA Finals in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle, and in 2012 he clinched his historic first Top Fuel world championship title at the event when Schumacher failed to deliver another one of his miracle comebacks.

Another driver who achieved success in multiple categories at the Finals, Scelzi won the race in Top Fuel and has clinched world championships in both Top Fuel and Funny Car at the season-ending event. Scelzi put a bow on his 2000 world championship title in Top Fuel by winning the Finals that season and then secured his 2005 Funny Car crown in memorable fashion at the famed race by holding off Force and Ron Capps during eliminations on the season’s final day.

The NHRA Breakfast at the SEMA Show will be held Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino (formerly the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino), Ballrooms A and B. The annual NHRA Breakfast is part of the 2014 SEMA Show, the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world which draws the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one place, the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nov. 4-7, 2014. The NHRA Breakfast is open to all registered SEMA Show attendees. A continental breakfast will be served.

The panel will be moderated by longtime NHRA announcer Bob Frey. Following the NHRA Breakfast, all of the special panel guests will be at the NHRA Booth (Booth #22329) signing autographs from 10–11 a.m.

This event is open to all registered SEMA Show attendees at no cost; however, tickets are required. To order your event ticket or register for the show, visit www.SEMAShow.com/register and click Add Event Tickets.

Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, South Dakota, will have a new race promoter next year.

In a unanimous vote at Tuesday’s Brown County Commission meeting, commissioners selected Bullet Sports of Watertown as the next promoter of stock car races at the fairgrounds track.

Immediately after the vote, Todd Neuendorf of Bullet Sports signed an agreement to oversee local stock car races beginning next year. The contract is for one year with four one-year renewals. Bullet Sports replaces Generation 2 Promotions, headed by Nick Guthmiller, the track promoter in recent years.

The commission discussed the possible change during last week’s meeting following a presentation by Neuendorf, the athletic director at Roncalli High School, and his brothers, Troy and Scott. Commissioners decided to table a decision last week because of the absence of Vice Chairman Mike Wiese.

“Racing is part of our history and heritage,” Wiese said before the 5-0 vote. “Nick and his crew have done a wonderful job taking us back from some difficult situations, but with the money being put forth and with the professional nature of the proposal, I support the Neuendorf proposal.”

In a seven-page report submitted to the commission last week, the Bullet Sports team outlined a number of goals for the future of the speedway, including cultivating of a more “family-orientated atmosphere” and “bringing larger races back to the area.”

The proposal also stressed providing “security personnel throughout the grandstand for the safety of fans and drivers,” something that wasn’t provided under Generation 2. With the agreement, Bullet Sports will pay the county $15,321 per year. The Generation 2 bid was for $10,500 per year.

Commissioners thanked Guthmiller for his work at the speedway, and he thanked the county for the opportunity.

Tebis America, a software company specializing in CAD/CAM systems for design and manufacturing servicing the tool, die, mold, aerospace and automotive manufacturing industries, has announced the opening of a new office in California. The new office, currently located in Orange County, is managed by Michael Thiessen and will cover the entire west coast. The announcement was made by David Klotz, CEO and President of Tebis North America.

Klotz stated, “With our expansion to the west coast we are better able to serve our customers in this vitally important area. California is a natural choice for our operation. With our continued growth in North America we need to meet the challenges of our expanding markets.”

Thiessen added, “The west coast, and in particular California represents an integral part to Tebis growth in the automotive and aerospace industries. We want to have a strong sales and support team here and bring our knowhow in CAD/CAM technology of 30 years to our clients on the west coast.”

Thiessen has been with Tebis for over 11 years. He began his career with Tebis as an Application and Support Specialist before becoming Account Manager handling the Ford account in addition to other clients.

Perris, California-based PRW Industries Inc., a manufacturer of high-performance engine components for hot rods and race cars, welcomes Shaun Snow as a customer service sales manager.

Snow has served in various capacities with companies including Advanced Flow Engineering, Nitrous Supply, and Nitrous Oxide Systems. He has an educational background in Automotive Technology with an emphasis on Performance. He also has experience in automotive machine shop.

In Snow's high school days he owned a 1967 Chevelle SS with a 396 and a 4 speed. He still owns the car but the 396 has given way to a 427 that he built entirely himself, including all the machine work.

When not around cars Snow likes to fish local bass tournaments. PRW is excited to have him on board as he has been a positive and knowledgeable member to the PRW team.