Speedway Australia, the national controlling body and industry advocate of speedway racing, has appointed leading South Australian senior executive Jeff Krebbekx as General Manager.

Krebbekx has been involved in motorsports since age 11 as both a driver and team manager. His vast knowledge of the industry is complemented by his passion for motorsports. Krebbekx, who has raced in Europe as a contracted driver, further understands the demands of being a committed motorsports enthusiast.

“I am looking forward to working with the Board, as well as the staff, to drive the peak body of speedway racing in Australia into new and exciting places,” he said.

Krebbekx holds an International MBA, accompanied by years of experience in strategic development, corporate administration, board governance, and stakeholder management. He has held Senior Executive positions in a multitude of business sectors, from logistics, training and education, not-for-profit, business coaching, strategic consultancy, and professional services.

“Ultimately, I would like to further raise the profile of our great sport. I will work together with other professional racing bodies around the nation, earn their respect, and work toward one direction for Australian motorsport,” he added.

SCCA Announces Changes To Pro Racing Leadership

SCCA Pro Racing Ltd. President and CEO Tom Campbell has announced his intention to retire later this year, and the company has named former Honda Performance Development chief Robert Clarke its new president.

Clarke joins SCCA Pro Racing after leading Honda Performance Development (HPD) for 15 years, from 1993-2008. As its president and CEO, Clarke developed HPD into a world-class motorsports research and development business, also winning six manufacturer championships, eight driver championships, and 123 wins in top domestic open-wheel series and sports car racing.

Clarke’s motorsports roots started with SCCA, attending his first race with his father in 1959, establishing a base that would drive his racing passion, both in business and as a participant, for the next 55 years.

“I look forward to use the skills, expertise and experience I gained at Honda and to help SCCA, as a whole, venture into some new directions to become more contemporary and relevant for today’s society and automotive enthusiast," Clarke said.

Campbell, a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of both Sports Car Club of America, Inc. and its subsidiary, SCCA Pro Racing, was named interim President and CEO of SCCA Pro Racing in January 2011. Campbell agreed to remain in the position full-time, with a focus on bringing stability to the organization.

“It was never my intention to have a long tenure with SCCA Pro Racing," Campbell said, "but rather to position it for future growth. Robert brings the professional motorsports industry experience and skill set we need to realize our full potential. I look forward to working closely with Robert over the coming months.”

Campbell will remain with SCCA Pro Racing as Chief Executive Officer throughout the transition, with Clarke starting as the new president immediately.

In addition to serving as SCCA Pro Racing President, Clarke will also work closely with the parent company, SCCA, Inc., in business development.

A partnership between a specialist motorsports manufacturer and a design and commercialization business will result in the fast-tracked development of an advanced six speed gearbox for the racing world.

Pfitzner Performance Gearboxes (PPG) has been teamed with Innovact Consulting as part of a $50,000 innovation voucher grant from the South Australian State Government.


PPG Business Development Manager Richard Sanders said the grant will allow the company to develop a new six-speed gearbox for motor racing.


"It's enabling us to get new products to market quicker, and letting us enter into export markets that otherwise wouldn't have been obtainable," said Sanders.


"The main thing we're getting out of the grant is taking a product from the initial concept design, taking it through research and development, and then to full manufacturing and engineering. Ordinarily, to do that, there's significant time and cost."


Commercialization, industrial design and engineering specialists Innovact Consulting will be assisting PPG through the entire process, which Sanders says brings a "degree of professionalism that is difficult and costly to obtain" to the project.

Andi Stevens, Senior Industrial Designer at Innovact, said the project has been a lot of work, though the grant makes the process much more fluid for PPG.

"Now the cars are getting so powerful—some are putting out 2000 horsepower. You're squeezing it all into the standard gearbox housing. There's a lot we're helping them with—six configurations, all the 3D, all the drawings, development and stress testing. It's a big project," Stevens said.

"We're in there to assist them accelerate the product to market. Without a grant it's all off the top, and they might not see returns on that investment for up to 12 months."

Innovact also hopes to help mentor a young engineer within PPG, to fill their current role with the company internally.

Manufacturing and Innovation Minister Susan Close said the innovation voucher, part of the South Australian Government's Manufacturing Works program, helps connect and support SMEs around the state.


"The collaboration between Innovact and Pfitzner is a great example of how the voucher program is working for team designers and manufacturers," Dr Close said.


"The six-speed gearbox project exemplifies the State Government's strategy to support local manufacturers to transition to high-margin products that target profitable niche markets."

Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Public Relations Department has taken on new leadership with the recent hiring of IMS Communications Director Jeremy Riffle.

A longtime communications specialist, Riffle most recently worked in that capacity locally with Carrier Corporation as manager of public relations, and with the Bohlsen Group as director of public relations, event services.

Riffle was formerly a public relations consultant for Team Penske, where he implemented media relations campaigns for Philip Morris USA’s IndyCar Series partnership with Penske Racing.

Joining Riffle on the IMS Public Relations team will be Senior Manager of Communications John Schwarb, who will begin his duties on July 21.

Schwarb covered the Verizon IndyCar Series, NASCAR, NHRA and other racing from 2005-09 for ESPN.com. During that time he also wrote for the Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Monthly and NCAA.org.

A former sportswriter for the St. Petersburg Times, Schwarb most recently was a writer and website producer for the PGA Tour, where he covered the Web.com Tour and coordinated coverage for the 50-and-over Champions Tour, and the “golf insider” for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing arm.

IndyCar's competition boss Derrick Walker expects to make changes to the series' procedures for investigating post-race penalties following its recent about-face on sanctions issued against Sebastien Bourdais.

Bourdais was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for the remainder of the 2014 season after being deemed responsible for his collision with Justin Wilson at Texas last month, only for the punishment to be completely rescinded two weeks later due to insufficient evidence.

Speaking about the chain of events that led to Bourdais being cleared, Walker said that he anticipates making changes to the way that evidence is reviewed in future.

"I hope so, definitely," he said. "That was the worst-case scenario, if I have to overrule the stewards, because it means that the system I put in place went wrong.

"It's not about my judgment. But at the same time if I'm an appeal court, and I have the option to be able to give clemency or waive a penalty because I think it's the right thing, or we've not looked at it well enough, that's something that should still be there.

"Obviously, people will judge whether I'm worthy of doing that, but I really did think [rescinding Bourdais' penalty] was the right thing to do, and that's something I really want IndyCar to do: if we don't do something right, we stand up and call a spade a spade. And as long as I'm here we'll always do that, because it's important for the competitors to know that we admit our mistakes.

"But also it's important for our employees internally to know that we have got to get it right, otherwise we all look bad."

The starting field for Friday’s Whelen All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a who’s who of modified racing, with a combined 16 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships and 132 race wins among the lineup of 20 drivers.

Mike Stefanik, the seven-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, leads the star-studded field that includes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Ryan Newman, two-time tour titlist Donny Lia and defending champion and NASCAR Next driver Ryan Preece. The race will also feature current championship points leaders of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (Doug Coby) and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour (New Hampshire native Andy Seuss).

Friday’s race, a 40-lap shootout split into two 20-lap segments with a partial field inversion at the halfway mark, is set to begin at 2:10 p.m. ET.  The race will be televised on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, July 20 at 2 p.m. ET.

The following is the Whelen All-Star Shootout field, listed in the order they will draw for starting position:

• Mike Stefanik (Coventry, R.I.): A nine-time NASCAR touring series champion overall, he has eight NHMS wins among his record 74 career Whelen Modified Tour victories.

• Donny Lia (Jericho, N.Y.): Two-time tour titlist and 17-time race winner, he has two victories at NHMS.

• Ted Christopher (Plainville, Conn.): The 42-time race winner, including five at NHMS, earned the tour crown in 2008.

• Bobby Santos (Franklin, Mass.): The 2010 tour champion has 12 career wins.

• Todd Szegedy (Ridgefield, Conn.): The 2003 champion has 18 career wins, including last September’s race at NHMS.
• Ryan Preece (Berlin, Conn.): Defending tour champion has nine Whelen Modified Tour wins.
• Doug Coby (Milford, Conn.): The 2012 champion has 10 career wins, including two wins in the last three races NHMS.

• Ron Silk (Norwalk, Conn.): The 2011 titlist has nine career victories; he won at NHMS in 2011. 

• Jamie Tomaino (Howell, N.J.): The 1990 champion has three career wins and a record 574 career tour starts.

• Andy Seuss (Hampstead, N.H.): Seuss has 18 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour wins, including three this season.

• Ryan Newman (South Bend, Ind.): Sprint Cup driver moonlights in Whelen Modified action, where he has four wins, including two at New Hampshire.

• Chuck Hossfeld (Ransomville, N.Y.):  A seven-time race winner on the tour, he’s won three times at NHMS.

• Matt Hirschman (Northampton, Pa.): Has a pair of wins in his Whelen Modified Tour career.

• Rowan Pennink (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.): Has won at Riverhead and Thompson.

• JR Bertuccio (Centereach, N.Y.): Won this season’s southern tour race at Southern National Motorsports Park.

• Glen Reen (Wilbraham, Mass.): The 2008 tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year and 2011 Thompson World Series winner.

• Cole Powell (Mount Brydges, Ontario): The 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

• Eric Goodale (Riverhead, N.Y.): The 2009 Sunoco Rookie of the Year recently earned his first tour win at Riverhead, his home track.

• Bryan Dauzat (Alexandria, La.): One of three drivers representing the Whelen Southern Modified Tour in this event.

• Patrick Emerling (Orchard Park, N.Y.): The 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

Following Friday’s Whelen All-Star Shootout, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will also be on track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday for the Sunoco 100, which will air on Fox Sports 1 on Friday, July 18, 12 p.m. ET.

Two-time National Hot Rod Association funny car world champion Tony Pedregon has chosen Prolong Super Lubricants as his primary lubricant sponsor for the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. 
 


Pedregon has 43 career wins, with a career-best elapsed time at 4.041 seconds, and he holds the record of quickest quarter-mile run in funny car history at 4.659 seconds.


Pedregon trusts Prolong products to protect the 10,000 horsepower engine in his funny car. His crew uses Prolong's newest Nitro Racing Oil, designed to deliver extra protection and performance in alcohol- or nitromethane-fueled race engines.

In addition to Prolong's Nitro Racing Oil, he also adds the company's performance-enhancing Engine Treatment and Oil Stabilizer. Even Pedregon's transport vehicle gets a boost from Prolong products, with Diesel Injector Cleaner and Diesel Fuel System Cleaner to help improve mileage as the team travels. And the company's Waterless Wash & Shine and Super Protectant keep both the transporter and the race car looking clean.


"We are excited to sponsor Tony Pedregon throughout this racing season. Our products are proved to protect engines and bearings from wear during the extreme pressure of high horsepower engines," said Jon Apogee, General Manager: Marketing, Domestic Sales and Motorsports, Prolong Super Lubricants. "Not only do Prolong products help prevent metal-to-metal wear by bonding to the metal, but our oil also limits dilution from the nitro and therefore protects bearing surfaces for the entire run. This means teams can utilize key parts run after run saving thousands of dollars."
   


Prolong Nitro Racing Oil features a blend of premium synthetic base oils and additives and is available in 40, 50 and 70 weight versions. All Prolong Oil, Engine Treatment Fuel Products and Oil Stabilizer products are formulated with Prolong's Anti-Friction Metal Treatment (AFMT) technology to protect against high temperature oxidation, wear and viscosity breakdown during severe use. Made in the United States and meets the demand of high-horsepower, high-RPM engines, these advanced products feature highly-effective detergent dispersants and corrosion inhibitors to keep engine parts clean and free of sludge, varnish and rust.

In addition to filling the podium at Le Mans this year, where Xtrac transmissions completed over 100,000 race kilometers with complete reliability, we had a clean sweep at the Indy 500 and also achieved our 30th anniversary.

Almost 30 cars equipped with Xtrac transmissions, across all four categories, took part in the 82nd Le Mans 24 hour race, which was also the 3rd round of the 2014 World Endurance Championship. Of the 12 podium positions on offer Xtrac equipped cars took 7 positions, including the entire LMP1 podium, the winner in GTE Am and 2nd place in GTE Pro and LMP2. 

Xtrac had a full technical support operation at the circuit, including technicians able to assist customers gearbox mechanics during what is an incredibly demanding event.
The next round of the WEC is on September 20th at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas, USA.

The 98th Indy 500 race was won by the Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay in his Dallara DW12 equipped with a P1011 gearbox complete with integrated Mega-Line assisted gearchange system (AGS) supplied and supported by Xtrac. This is the 3rd year of racing for the latest P1011 gearbox which proved completely reliable during the 33,150 miles of practice and qualifying and 15,262.5 miles completed during the race, a total of 48,412.5 miles during the “Month of May.”  As well as building all of the P1011 gearboxes at our Indianapolis facility, now operating in its 11th year, a full trackside spares and support operation was also provided.

Ryan Hunter-Reay’s win is the 21st Indy 500 victory for a car using an Xtrac gearbox since our first win at this race in 1991 with Rick Mears in a Penske. Over this period six different chassis manufacturers and six different engine suppliers have relied on Xtrac transmissions to win the Indy 500 race.

Xtrac have been the exclusive supplier of transmissions to the IndyCar series since 2000, and the P1011 is the 3rd generation transmission specified during this era. 

In addition, following the successful installation and commission of a new Ipsen vacuum bright temper furnace further machine tools have now arrived and are making a significant improvement to Xtrac’s capacity as part of a £3.5m capital investment program.

To date the following additional equipment has been purchased and installed:
    •    Ipsen Vacuum Bright Temper Furnace (February)
    •    Okuma LM300 Lathe (February)
    •    Studer S31C Universal Grinder (May)
    •    Jones & Shipman Ultramat Universal Grinder (May)
    •    Xtrem Polishing (May)
    •    Factory Compressor x 2 off (June)
    •    Xtec Polisher (June)
    •    Pfauter P400 Hobber (June)
    •    Kapp VX59P Gear Grinder (Due October) – Increasing capacity to 5 off gear grinding machines

Enhancements to the overall factory layout, to improve product throughout and machine utilization are also being implemented and in parallel with the above machine tool procurements, 28 additional staff positions have been created since February. The vast majority of these positions are machinists and most have already been filled Xtrac are extremely proud of their award winning apprenticeship and under graduate programs with the combined initiatives taking on nine new positions this year.

MAVTV, a destination for all things motorsports and one of the fastest growing independently owned cable networks, has signed a multi-platform/multi-year carriage agreement with Verizon. In addition to linear HD and VOD carriage, the agreement includes TV Everywhere and mobile rights. Effective immediately MATV can be viewed on FiOS's Ultimate HD and Sports Pass HD packages, on channel 810.
 
"We are proud to be partnering with Verizon in adding MAVTV to their channel line-up. We have been working hard to expand our distribution and we are very happy that Verizon sees the value of offering a network dedicated to Motorsports to their customers, and it illustrates that our automotive and motorsports programming has nationwide appeal," said Bob Patison, President of MAVTV.
 
Terry Denson, Vice President of Content Strategy and Acquisition for Verizon said: "The addition of a network committed to all things motorsports fills a measured programming interest that we expect consumers to respond to very favorably."
 
MAVTV is enjoying an increase in audience viewership with such automotive/motorsports programming as "The Dave Despain Show," "Full Custom Garage," "High Tech Rednecks," "Stacey David's GearZ" and the Lucas Oil owned and promoted events including the "Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League," and the "Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series." Upcoming are two new series "Speed Sport" and "Speed Sport Magazine hosted by Ralph Sheheen" in partnership with National Speed Sports News. MAVTV will also air live broadcasts of both the 250 and 450 classes opening motos for the entire 12-round Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship - sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.

The 54th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store is quickly approaching and the July 12 entry deadline is this Saturday.

Teams that enter on time by July 12 are entitled to six pit crew members entering at the cost of $30 per pit pass each night. Entries received after the deadline will not be eligible for this discount and will be charged $50 per pit pass each night. That is a savings of $120 each night and possibly $360 total for three nights of racing. All teams are encouraged to enter by July 12.

The SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge still has several drivers eligible who have yet to enter the event. The winner of the World Challenge will fill the 25th starting position of the FVP Knoxville Nationals A-Main on Saturday,  Aug. 9. The World Challenge is open to all international drivers competing in the 2014 FVP Knoxville Nationals, and it is only open to American drivers that qualified at select international qualifiers in Australia and New Zealand.

Sixteen drivers have entered the SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge so far. Those drivers are Justin Henderson, Sammy Swindell, Shane Stewart, Jason Sides, Daryn Pittman, Randy Hannagan, Lynton Jeffrey, Dale Blaney, Donny Schatz, Ian Madsen, Kerry Madsen, Brad Sweet, Paul McMahan, Brooke Tatnell, Kevin Swindell and Jason Meyers.

American drivers eligible who have yet to enter are Jonathan Allard, Tyler Courtney, Geoff Ensign, David Gravel, Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Kody Kinser, Terry McCarl, Danny Smith and Trey Starks.

The 24th Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals also has a July 12 entry deadline. Teams that enter by July 12 are entitled to six pit crew members entering at the cost of $25 per pit pass each night. Entries received after the deadline will be charged $30 per pit pass each night.