Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE-Symbol: DVD) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Nashville Superspeedway facility to NeXovation, Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dover Motorsports and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nashville Speedway U.S.A., Inc., will sell the Nashville Superspeedway facility along with some related equipment and assets for $27 million in cash and the assumption by NeXovation of obligations of Dover Motorsports under certain Variable Rate Tax Exempt Infrastructure Revenue Bonds.

The Bonds are the obligation of the Sports Authority of the County of Wilson, Tennessee and were issued by the Sports Authority in 1999 in order to build certain infrastructure improvements benefiting the speedway. Debt service on the Bonds, which have a remaining principal balance of $18,800,000, is payable from property and sales taxes generated by the facility. Principal and interest on the Bonds are secured by a letter of credit provided by Dover Motorsports which will be replaced by a letter of credit provided by NeXovation.

Commenting on the sale, Dover Motorsports CEO, Denis McGlynn said, “This is a great deal for all concerned insofar as we can transfer an under-utilized, high quality asset to NeXovation, who will create and implement a new business model and re-activate Nashville Superspeedway for the benefit of everyone in the area. We wish them the best and we thank all those in middle Tennessee who made us feel welcome during our time there.”

Closing is expected to take place in the third quarter and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Summit Racing continued its support as title sponsor of the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals for a fourth consecutive year.

The series has 30 races scheduled, most in its history, with the $3000-to-win opener set for June 7 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. More than 60 cars entered last year’s event at Tri-State, the second largest car count during the 2013 season.

“The past three years have been above and beyond my expectations,” said Jim Greenleaf, Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports and Events Manager. “The series has gone from 18 races with 300 drivers to 30 racers with over 550 racers. It’s just an incredible series to be a part of and the drivers truly appreciate everything both Summit Racing and DIRTcar Racing are doing for them.”

This season, the Summit Racing Modified Nationals will feature a $15,000 point fund to be distributed to the Top 10 in points based upon their best eight race average during the 30-race series.

“The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals is catered to the working competitors,” said Sam Driggers, DIRTcar Director of Competition. “We understand that our drivers work 9-5 during the week, which is why we designed the series to be based upon their best eight finishes. Drivers can’t take off a whole month to compete so this way, we allow everyone to have a chance at the title.”

Not only does the series feature a massive $15,000 point fund, but it also boosts an incredible $26,000 contingency program. In all the series will give out more than $60,000 in cash and product awards to the racers.

“We’ve worked long and hard in the off-season to deliver the best possible contingency program we could to our drivers,” said Alex Cummings, DIRTcar Client Services Manager. “I’m extremely happy with what we have to offer our drivers this year and the sky is the limit with this series. We just keep growing and growing, it’s astonishing to see the success we have had and I’m truly amazed at how well everything is going.”

Road America and Continental Tire have agreed to a multi-year partnership that makes Continental Tire the title sponsor for Road America’s most popular sports car racing weekend August 7-10.

The newly titled “Continental Tire Road Race Showcase” will include the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge on Saturday and the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race on Sunday, plus races from the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, IMSA Prototype Lites and the Mazda MX-5 Cup.

“Road America is a revered facility for generations of race fans and drivers which makes this partnership a perfect fit,” said George Bruggenthies, Road America’s president and general manager.

“Road America is commonly known as America’s National Park of Speed and serves as the perfect platform for Continental Tire to connect not only with the fans from Wisconsin, but across nation as many fans drive long distances to be here for this one weekend. We like to say, come for the experience and stay for the race, because this weekend will be packed with racing and we are thrilled to have Continental Tire join us in making this weekend even more memorable for everyone.”

“Continental Tire is proud to support IMSA and motorsports in North America,” said Travis Roffler, director of marketing for Continental Tire. “We are pleased to extend our support to one of the greatest sports car weekends at Road America by sponsoring its Road Race Showcase.

“It’s an honor to be able to partner with historic tracks like this, and help bring the excitement and passion of professional sports car racing to fans and enthusiasts. We invite everyone to come out and participate in what is sure to be an outstanding weekend.”

Honda has been penalized 50 Engine Manufacturer Championship points per Verizon IndyCar Series rules for violation of Rule 16.5.1 (engine change under mileage) after Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Honda engines were changed out in the Nos. 14, 15, 19, 27 and 34 entries. Each occurrence is a 10-point penalty incurred by the manufacturer.

Also, engine changes in the No. 5 (Jacques Villeneuve/Schmidt Peterson Motorsports), No. 16 (Oriol Servia/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), No. 41 (Martin Plowman/A.J. Foyt Racing) and No. 68 (Alex Tagliani/Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing) cars violated Rule 16.5.1 (entrant initiated engine change under mileage). Each entrant and driver has been assessed a 10-point penalty, according to Verizon IndyCar Series rules.

Members may contest the imposition of the penalty pursuant to the procedures and timelines detailed in the review and appeal procedures of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook.

It’s time once again for racers and race fans to help construct a new national cable TV network. I had been waiting patiently for MavTV to arrive in my cable box, but when our good friend Dave Despain started airing his new show on MavTV, it was definitely time to take action. I called Time Warner Cable on their customer service number and had a conversation with Priscilla, in Texas, who was very helpful and a race fan. We talked about the new Austin track (Circuit of Americas), and we both agreed we’ve got to catch the F1 race there one day. “That would be awesome!” said Priscilla.

She had heard of MavTV, but asked for more details, “What kind of programming is that?” It felt great to describe the need for MavTV throughout the Time Warner Cable system, “There’s a lot of great grassroots racing. Dirt late models, sprint cars, modifieds...” Priscilla kept searching on her end of the line for more information on MavTV, and was immediately enthusiastic upon discovering it, “Oh, yes! They’ve got all kinds of things on MavTV!” Yes, they do indeed, Priscilla. Time Warner Cable is a provider of MavTV, but not in my area, Priscilla said. She put in the request to get MavTV to my hometown.

For the readership of this magazine, MavTV needs no explanation. It’s another venture from Lucas Oil, which may just be the most innovative company in racing right now. They rebranded the cable network in mid-2012, and you can find all the Lucas Oil racing series on MavTV, in addition to a variety of other racing series, from Indiana sprint car racing to Best In The Desert off-road racing.

A good place to get started in getting your cable TV company to provide you with MavTV is the MavTV website (www.mavtv.com). You’ll see a menu option at the top right for “Get MavTV.” The site will even provide you with an email form to complete and send instantly to your cable TV provider (I filled that out, too).

Race fans played a key role in establishing several cable TV networks, beginning with ESPN. The new cable TV company not only found an instant audience of millions in race fans craving more motorsports on TV, but also found race sponsors to be a terrific source for commercial sales. Race fans demanded their ESPN, and the new idea took hold. Race fans then also helped ‘construct’ ESPN2 and, naturally, SpeedChannel.

My TV time never recovered from the loss of Thursday Night Thunder, when you could see great drivers like Stan Fox, Rich Vogler, Jeff Gordon, Kenny Irwin Jr., Mike Bliss, Tony Stewart and others battle it out on the nation’s short tracks each week. Yes, Priscilla, I want my MavTV.

Max Dull, general manager, MAHLE Aftermarket, Service Solutions, has announced the appointment of Jim Markle as business development manager. Markle has many years of experience in the automotive aftermarket in the automotive maintenance equipment segment. He spent 13 years in a variety of marketing positions for RTI Technologies (now MAHLE Service Solutions) overseeing sales, marketing and product management.

“Jim’s past experience and expertise with the company proved valuable in choosing him to serve in this essential role for the new Service Solutions division of MAHLE,” explained Dull.

Dull said Markle will conduct research related to new markets, new products and services, and listening to the voice of customers to ensure the company’s programs are aligned to meet their needs. In addition, he will be responsible for identifying customer prospects, developing sales and pricing strategies, and generating new business sales.

Before joining MAHLE Service Solutions, Markle oversaw key accounts as manager of government and corporate accounts for Visual Sound, Inc. in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He was an infantry team leader for the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1991 and was awarded the “Expert Infantry Badge.” Markle earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from Lehigh University.

Formerly the RTI Division of MAHLE Aftermarket, the division is now MAHLE Aftermarket, Service Solutions with the official name change effective on November 1, 2014.

MAHLE Aftermarket, Service Solutions, specializes in the development, manufacturing and distribution of automotive maintenance equipment, including air conditioning service, fluid exchange and nitrogen tire inflation systems. For more information about MAHLE Aftermarket visit www.mahle-aftermarket.com.

Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: DVD) has announced that Patrick McMaster has been hired to serve as the manager of business development for Dover International Speedway.

In this role, McMaster will work with and oversee a team that is responsible for forming new corporate partnerships for the Speedway, as well as managing and maintaining existing relationships. In addition, his team is responsible for group sales efforts at the track, including suite and hospitality sales. The team includes Karen Ptak, business development and motorcoach sales, Adrian Branch, business development representative, and Reggie Hinson, business development representative.

“We’re excited to have Patrick on board our business development team,” said Mark Rossi, vice president of sales and marketing for Dover International Speedway. “His background working in corporate sales in the sports world will make him a tremendous asset to our company.”

McMaster joins Dover International Speedway from the Trenton Thunder in Trenton, N.J., the AA affiliate of the New York Yankees, where he served as the director of ticket sales and corporate partnerships from 2011 to 2014. Prior to that, he was the assistant general manager for the Charlotte Stone Crabs, the A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, in Port Charlotte, Fla. from 2008 to 2011.

A graduate of the University of Tampa with a B.A. in Business Management, McMaster is originally from Hanover, Pa. and has relocated to Dover with his girlfriend, Devon.

Eighteen National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees will be in Knoxville this weekend for the 25th annual National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction banquet on May 31.

They will honor this year’s inductees, Dave Argabright of Indiana, as well as Dave Blaney of North Carolina, Bobby Davis, Jr. of Tennessee, Mark Kinser of Indiana, William “Windy” McDonald of Arizona, and Chuck Merrill of Illinois.

“We are going to have an incredible turnout of National Sprint Car Hall of Famers here to honor this year’s inductees, which include the late George Nesler and the late Larry Beckett,” said National Sprint Car Museum curator Tom Schmeh.

“Those that have indicated that they will be here are Karl Kinser of Indiana, Larry Dickson of Ohio, Tom Bigelow of Indiana, Lynn Paxton of Pennsylvania, Gordon Woolley of Texas, Jeff Bloom of Michigan, Allan Brown of Michigan, Shane Carson of Oklahoma, Jerry ‘Scratch’ Daniels of Minnesota, Ray Lee Goodwin of Missouri, Casey Luna of New Mexico, Newton ‘Buzz’ Rose of Arizona, Ron Shaver of California, Steve Stapp of Indiana, Bob Trostle of Iowa, Bobby Ward of Arkansas, Kenny Woodruff of Oklahoma and Ralph Capitani of Iowa.”

Typically recognized as an underdog in NASCAR, Phil Parsons Racing and driver Josh Wise have been able to break the stereotypical mold this year with the support of the online community.

With successful crowd sourcing efforts on reddit behind funding for three primary race sponsorships of the No. 98 Chevrolet SS and the election of Wise into the Sprint All Star race, Phil Parsons Racing has formed another internet-based partnership.

This time, the “little team that could” will partner with the world’s premier motorsports racing simulation, iRacing. From May 27 through June 30, both new and current iRacing subscribers will have the opportunity to support Wise and Phil Parsons Racing through select purchases on the online racing simulation site.

“I am very excited about the partnership between iRacing and Phil Parsons Racing,” commented Wise. “I have used iRacing for the past six years as a training tool for my weekly NASCAR races because of how accurate their simulation and track layouts are. It has been such an awesome year for us with so much fan support on these projects, and this is another great way for fans to not only get a 60 percent discount on their membership, but also for the proceeds to go toward helping us build our program at PPR.

“It is also great to be continuing our relationship with reddit.com and its subreddits. Reddit was the internet’s best-kept secret for me until I was introduced to it earlier this year. It has been really fun to have fans so involved in our race program from the ground up, and I feel like this is another weekend where everybody can be a part of this and have fun.”

Automotive company Chevrolet has extended its title sponsorship of Indycar’s Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.

The new deal extends an association first formed in 2012, when the race returned to Chevrolet’s hometown for the first time in four years. Since then, Chevrolet has contributed towards US$2.7 million worth of improvements at the Belle Isle circuit.

Financial terms of the deal were not released. However, Indycar race title sponsorships typically sell for anything between US$300,000 and US$500,000.

“We are very excited to continue our partnership with Chevrolet to build on the momentum we’ve established with this wonderful event,” said Bud Denker, the chairman of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.

“Without the support of Chevrolet, we would not have been able to bring world-class auto racing back to the Motor City and with an extension of this partnership we know the future certainly looks bright on Belle Isle for the Grand Prix.”

This year’s event, a Verizon IndyCar Series doubleheader, takes place from May 30 to June 1 at the 2.3-mile Raceway at Belle Isle circuit. Mike Conway and Simon Pagenaud, who won the races last year, will return to defend their titles.