Richard Childress Racing has entered into a long-term partnership with Lucas Oil Products, effective immediately. This marks a return to the NASCAR track and garage for the Indianapolis-based lubricants company.

"Richard and I have a lot in common, as we both like long-term relationships and neither of us want to settle for anything but the best,” said Forrest Lucas, founder and CEO of Lucas Oil. “Knowing that Richard wanted a long-term oil partner and consistent high-performance with research and development support for his engine program, I wanted to commit our resources in R&D and production. He committed his personnel to help with the development and we think we’ll have the premier oil performance in the sport.

“Richard has a great staff from top to bottom and that's what we need. We look forward to being back in NASCAR and using this partnership to tell the ‘Lucas story’ and what our products stand for. We’ve already developed a strong relationship with RCR and ECR.”

RCR and ECR Engines can benefit from having a lubricants partner with strong roots in racing and one that understands the high-powered competition platform. In turn, the technology can transfer over to short-track racers and everyday consumers.

“We’re very proud to be associated with a company like Lucas Oil and represent their market-leading products,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of RCR. “Forrest and his group have been great to work with and have developed some incredible products for us to compete, win races and contend for championships in NASCAR.

“All levels of racing have benefitted from the work and commitment Forrest has made to the racing community. We are looking forward to winning races with Lucas Oil inside our cars and promoting the Lucas brand on the outside of the cars.”

Lucas Oil becomes the official motor oil of ECR Engines and a technical partner to both RCR and ECR Engines. Its oil will run in RCR’s No. 3 and No. 31 entrants in the Sprint Cup Series and in all of RCR’s Nationwide Series entrants this year.

“We have been testing their products diligently for quite some time now with strong results,” said Richie Gilmore, COO of ECR Engines. “Everyone at Lucas Oil has gone above and beyond to make sure this partnership was going to work on both ends. They have durable, reliable products and we have had nothing but great results with everything we’ve tested.”

McLaren Racing announced that Eric Boullier has been appointed to the position of Racing Director, effective Monday, February 3.
 
Boullier has played the central role in Lotus F1 Team’s recent successes, and brings with him extensive single-seater motorsport experience, having worked in senior positions in World Series by Nissan and A1 Grand Prix before moving up to Formula 1.
 
Working with Jonathan Neale (Chief Operating Officer) and his senior management colleagues within McLaren Racing, Boullier will ultimately report to the Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing, an all-new position, whose yet-to-be-appointed occupant will in turn report directly to Ron Dennis (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Group).
 
Until such time as a Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing has been appointed, Neale will be acting in that role.
 
Boullier said: “First of all, I regard this appointment as an honour, a privilege and a wonderful opportunity.
 
“The McLaren Racing workforce and the facilities at the McLaren Technology Centre are world-class, and I’m hugely excited about the prospect of joining such an outstanding team.
 
“I’m both eager and determined to play an active part, working alongside McLaren Racing’s other senior managers and directors, within a new operational structure, to bring about the changes that will deliver success.
 
“Last, I want to take this opportunity to assure the McLaren Racing workforce that I’m utterly determined to match their famous passion and commitment to win.”
 
Ron Dennis added: “Eric’s appointment is an integral part of a senior management restructure within McLaren Racing.
 
“I’ve already personally conveyed to the entire workforce of the McLaren Group, which includes McLaren Racing, the values, principles and mindset that I intend us all to adopt, going forward. My intention is that from now on everyone at McLaren Racing will understand their responsibilities and accountabilities, focusing on their specific areas of expertise, in keeping with those values, principles and mindset.
 
“In due course we’ll announce the identity of McLaren Racing’s new Chief Executive Officer, who’ll report to me, and to whom Eric will report.
 
“I’m firmly of the belief that, once McLaren Racing’s restructured senior management team has been assembled, together we’ll begin the march back to full competitiveness, quickly and professionally, harnessing the fantastic depth of talent that exists within our organization.”
 

In 2014, Borgeson Universal Company enters its 100th year in business.

The company began manufacturing universal joints for lathes and milling machines in a small shop in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1914. Throughout the years, Borgeson has developed and manufactured universal joints for military, aerospace, industrial, agricultural and automotive applications.

Today, Borgeson still operates in the same city, although in a much larger, 50,000-square-foot facility, and has grown to include a full line of steering components.

For more information, visit www.borgeson.com.

The King of America IV Modified Nationals is set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 27-29, as more than 100 of the nation’s elite open-wheel dirt modified drivers will descend on the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kansas, for the fourth straight year.

The winner of Saturday’s 100-lap main event will earn $10,000 while every driver making the big dance will pocket no less than $1000 to start. Saturday’s “A” Main will also award four gift cards worth $250 for drivers who finish the race and finish fifth on back. In addition, there will be a $500 Hard Charger Award for the driver advancing the most positions.

Each driver will run four heat races from four different starting positions—two on Thursday and two on Friday. Passing points will be combined for the best three of four heat races with the top 12 drivers in overall combined passing points from Thursday and Friday’s heat races locked into the first six rows of Saturday’s “A” Main.

Also on Thursday and Friday, the top 16 in passing points each night will run a 20-lap feature with $1000 up for grabs for the winner.

The entry fee is $200 if received or postmarked by Feb. 1. After that, the entry fee is $250 through March 26. The entry fee is $300 at the track on race day. Drivers can download an entry form at www.usmts.com/downloads/entry-forms or call 515-832-7944 during regular business hours.

King of America IV “A” Main payout: 1. $10,000, 2. $6000, 3. $4000, 4. $2700, 5. $2200, 6. $1800, 7. $1500, 8. $1400, 9. $1300, 10. $1200, 11. $1150, 12. $1125, 13. $1100, 14. $1075, 15. $1050, 16. $1025, 17-26. $1000. All “B” Main non-transfers earn $700. All “C” Main non-transfers earn $500. All Last Chance Race non-transfers earn $350. All others are guaranteed a minimum of $200 on Saturday.

The blockbuster event will feature both Modifieds and B-Mods in action all three nights. Modifieds will be co-sanctioned by the United States Racing Association (USRA) and United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS). USRA national points will be awarded. No USMTS points will be awarded. All USRA rules apply, including USRA Modified chip rule.

The Iron Man Challenge featuring USRA B-Mods will run a complete show of heat races and main events all three days. Thursday’s winners gets $500, Friday’s winner gets $2000 and Saturday’s winner goes home with $1000. An entry form for USRA B-Mods is available on the USRA website at www.usraracing.com or by calling the USRA offices at 515-832-6000.

Two-time USMTS national champion Ryan Gustin is the defending King of America. Stormy Scott won the event in 2012 and nine-time USMTS national champion Kelly Shryock won the inaugural race in 2011.

There will be an open practice for all drivers on Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. Admission to the grandstands is free. Pit passes are $20.

The American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Ass’n has announced its annual All America Team.

A group of special drivers representing multiple forms of professional motorsports is elected each year by AARWBA. The association’s members vote on drivers within their participating categories of racing and the top two from each discipline are elected to the first team.

This 2013 All-America First Team:

Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves were the top vote getters in the Open Wheel division. Dixon claimed the IZOD Indycar Series Championship driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing for the third time in his career. Castroneves finished second in the Indycar standings for Team Penske.

Road Racing saw the driving team of Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor earn the most votes on the strength of their Grand Am title for Wayne Taylor Racing. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas claimed runner up honors on the Grand-Am circuit and in the Road Racing division votes.

USAC was well represented in the Short Track Division. Sprint car champion Bryan Clauson led the vote tally while Silver Crown titlist Bobby East was second. Both men drive for Tony Stewart/ Curb-Agajanian Racing.

Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth led the way in the Stock Car category. Johnson won his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crown driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Kenseth finished second in the Cup standings on the strength of seven wins for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The Drag Racing category was honored with the driver earning the most votes of any All America Team nominee. John Force won his 16th NHRA Funny Car championship with four final round victories for John Force Racing. NHRA Top Fuel kingpin, Al-Anabi’s Shawn Langdon finished second among drag racers.

Force is also recognized as the Jerry Titus Memorial Trophy winner for the driver having the most overall votes.

In the Touring Series, Donny Schatz earned his first team position with 23 World of Outlaw Sprint Car A-Main victories for Tony Stewart Racing. Frank Kimmel drove Thorsport Racing’s Toyota to his 10th career ARCA Champion and a spot alongside Schatz.

Sage Karam and Johnny O’Connell were the At Large category’s top vote earners. Karam was the Indy Lights champ for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. O’Connell was the Pirelli World Challenge GT winner for Cadillac Racing.

Andretti Autosport Firestone Indy Lights pilot Carlos Munoz was voted the Rising Star award after his Lights crown and a second-place finish in the Indianapolis 500.

In addition to rapid extrication (in particular in the case of fire), the different teams trained in numerous procedures and learned the usual precautions to be taken (removal of helmets, putting on a collar, laying the patient on a stretcher, etc.) to ensure the driver’s safety after an accident.

The 200 specialists from all over the world also familiarized themselves with certain particular situations like safety procedures on hybrid prototypes to avoid electric shocks.

To help out Toyota lent one of its TS030 hybrids, the car driven to second place in the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours by Stéphane Sarrazin-Sébastien Buemi-Anthony Davidson, which also won the Bahrain 6 Hours, the final round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship. An open prototype was on hand: the Morgan-Nissan LM P2 Art Car lent by the Le Mans-based team, OAK Racing, which won this category in the 2013 24 Hours.

Victorious in the LM GTE AM category in 2012 and 2013 respectively, Larbre Competition and IMSA Performance Matmut supplied a Corvette and three Porsche 911s.

The teams could also practice on the new Porsche 911 GT3, specially designed to facilitate the extrication of drivers thanks to a removable door and an access hatch in the roof.

DAMS lent two single-seater GP2 cars; two Formula Renaults were supplied by the Auto Sport Academy and ARTA Engineering, while the FIA Institute provided a replica of a Formula 1 cockpit.

Extrication from a single-seater is very different from a prototype or a GT as the driver is extracted in his bucket seat. Each of the cars had a garage on the pits straight and the extrication teams passed from one to another during their training course.

Professor Jean-Charles Piette, vice president of the FIA’s (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) Medical Commission summed up the aims of these stages: “To standardize international extrication procedures so that the training is the same everywhere.” Once they have returned home, the mission of the trainees present at Le Mans on 24-26 January will be to pass on the know-how acquired at Le Mans to their fellow-countrymen.

For the last 91 years the Le Mans 24 Hours has been a trail-blazer in the development of new technologies linked to the motor car. And now the legendary circuit has became a world training centre for the safety of drivers! “The most important thing is to save their life,” summed up Professor Gérard Saillant, the FIA Medical Commission’s President, who visited the training sessions over the three days.

Infiniti Red Bull Racing has revealed its 2014 Formula One race car, the RB10.

Unveiled in the pit lane at the Jerez Circuit ahead of the first day of testing, the RB10 is powered by a turbocharged Renault Energy 1.6-liter V-6 engine paired with an Energy Recovery System.

The Red Bull team has enjoyed success in recent years winning the last four Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles but they now have a new car to master. Due to the new regulations, the RB10 has little in common with its predecessors.

2013 Champion Sebastian Vettel returns and be looking to win his fifth title this season. Joining him will be former Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo, who replaces Australian Mark Webber.

The 2014 USAC Eastern HPD Midget calendar features 30 dates from April through November, encompassing more than a dozen venues in five states.

The season opens with an April 5 race at Orange County Speedway in Durham, N.C., and concludes with the John Blewett III North/South Shootout at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

In between are events in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and a pair of races in New York. The New York venues are Spencer Speedway in Williamson Aug. 1 and Oswego Speedway Aug. 2.

An Eastern “Midget Week” is also planned, to include a June 17 race in Charlotte, plus June 20-21 races at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, N.C. and Franklin County Speedway in Callaway, N.C.

Other venues on the calendar include Anderson (S.C.) Motor Speedway, Concord (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, N.C., Southern National Motorsports in Kenly, N.C., Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Va., and the Sept. 13 East/Midwest shootout at Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway.

The 2014 USAC Eastern HPD Midget Schedule:


April 5 – Orange County Speedway – Durham, N.C.

April 25 – Anderson Motor Speedway – Anderson, S.C.

April 26 – Orange County Speedway – Durham, N.C.

May 9 – Ace Speedway – Altamahaw, N.C.

May 10 – Concord Motor Speedway – Concord, N.C.

May 22 – Concord Motor Speedway – Concord, N.C.

May 24 – Orange County Speedway – Durham, N.C.

May 31 – Caraway Spedway – Asheboro, N.C.

June 17 – Charlotte – Charlotte, N.C.

June 20 – Ace Speedway – Altamahaw, N.C.

June 21 – Franklin County Speedway – Callaway, Va.

June 27 – Wake County Speedway – Raleigh, N.C.

July 4 – TBA – TBA

July 5 – TBA – TBA

July 11 – Anderson Motor Speedway – Anderson, S.C.

July 12 – Southern National Motorsports Park Kenly, N.C.

July 25 – Ace Speedway – Altamahaw, N.C.

Aug. 1 – Spencer Speedway – Williamson, N.Y.

Aug. 2 – Oswego Speedway – Oswego, N.Y.

Aug. 15 – Ace Speedway – Altamahaw, N.C.

Aug. 16 – Hickory Motor Speedway – Hickory, N.C.

Aug. 22 – Wake County Speedway – Raleigh, N.C.

Aug. 23 – Concord Motor Speedway – Concord, N.C.

Sept. 13 – Columbus Motor Speedway – Columbus, Ohio

Sept. 20 – Hickory Motor Speedway – Hickory, N.C.

Oct. 4 – Lonesome Pines Raceway – Coeburn, Va.

Oct. 10 – Ace Speedway – Altamahaw, N.C.

Oct. 11 – Ace Speedway – Altamahaw, N.C
.
Oct. 31 – Caraway Spedway – Asheboro, N.C.

Nov. 1 – Caraway Spedway – Asheboro, N.C.

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America will induct its 26th class of racing legends Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014 at Detroit’s historic Fillmore Theater.

Those being honored include Ole Bardahl, Raymond Beadle, John Bishop, Ricky Graham, Arie Luyendyk, Marshall Teague and Rusty Wallace.

“Once again, the depth and breadth of American motorsports is reflected in the 2014 class of inductees,” says Ron Watson, president of the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is racing’s Cooperstown, memorializing achievement in all forms of motorized competition. Over the years, 209 motorsports luminaries have been inducted. The 99-person nominating panel itself reads like a who’s who of racing, including names like Mario Andretti, Don Garlits, Craig Breedlove and Richard Petty.

Ole Bardahl (1902-89) – As founder of the Bardahl Oil Company, Bardahl was convinced success in motorsports would be a great selling point. By the mid-’50s, his additives were No. 1 in the world with distributorships across the globe. Bardahl sponsored IndyCars for over 25 years, his “Miss Bardahl” powerboats won 6 national championships and 5 Gold Cups, and the “Miss Bardahl II” P-51 Mustang won the 1968 Reno Air-Races Transcontinental National Championship.

Raymond Beadle (1943-) – “Blue Max,” one of the most famous names in drag racing, is synonymous with Raymond Beadle. During the 1970s, Beadle and his Blue Max Funny Car were nearly as popular as “Jungle Jim” Liberman and as proficient as Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, his key rivals. Beadle’s Blue Max Funny Cars won three consecutive NHRA (1979-1981) championships and three IHRA championships (1975-76 & 1981). As a NASCAR owner (1983-1990) his team won the 1989 Cup title with Rusty Wallace behind the wheel.

John Bishop (1926-) – Bishop was a visionary for organized sports car racing in the United States. He helped create the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) for Group 7 sports cars and was instrumental in founding the SCCA Trans-Am and SCCA/CASC Can-Am series. And that was just for starters. In 1969, Bishop played a key role in founding the International Motorsports Ass’n. IMSA’s GT series introduced international endurance racing to North America in 1971. In 1973, IMSA sanctioned the 12 Hours of Sebring for the first time. Bishop’s encouragement of “special prototypes” led to the creation of the highly successful GTP class of racing.

Ricky Graham (1958-98) – An AMA Grand National Champion three times (1982, 1984 & 1993), Graham is considered by many to be one of the most talented dirt-track racers ever. He posted 39 career Grand National victories, seven Sportster Performance national wins and was 1993 AMA Athlete of the Year. That year, he won a record 12 races, including six straight to establish the longest winning streak in AMA Grand National history. A fifth-place in the Del Mar Mile in 1997 proved to be his final race. Graham’s life was cut short by a tragic house fire in early 1998.

Arie Luyendyk (1953-) – The two-time Indy 500 winner started his career in the early ’70s, winning Dutch national titles. He won the U.S. Formula Super Vee championship in 1984 and was Indy 500 and IndyCar Rookie of the Year the following season. His success at The Brickyard included wins in 1990 and ’97, poles in ’93, ’97 and ’99, and retiring from the lead on three occasions. In 1996, he set the Indy qualifying lap record at 237.498 mph. A three-time participant in the International Race of Champions, Luyendyk also won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Marshall Teague (1921-59) – A gifted driver and mechanic, Teague is credited with pioneering factory participation in NASCAR when he persuaded the Hudson Motor Car Company to back him. In 1951-52, Teague piloted a “Fabulous Hudson Hornet.” He won seven NASCAR races in total before moving to the AAA stock car circuit, where he won the 1952 and ’54 titles. Teague also prepared winning mounts for fellow drivers Herb Thomas and Dick Rathmann. His best Indy 500 finish was 7th (1957). Teague died in a reconfigured IndyCar two years later while attempting a closed-course speed record at the newly opened Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Rusty Wallace (1956-) – Prior to becoming a NASCAR superstar, the Missouri native made a name for himself winning 200 short-track races. Wallace was USAC’s stock car Rookie of the Year in 1979 and ASA champ in 1983. He finished second in his first NASCAR start and became 1984 Rookie of the Year after joining the series full time. In 1989, Wallace scored six wins and the Cup title with Raymond Beadle’s Blue Max team. He notched a career-high 10 wins and was runner-up to Dale Earnhardt in the title race with Penske Racing in 1993. Wallace’s 55 career wins rank 9th all-time. Since his retirement, Wallace has provided commentary for NASCAR events on ABC and ESPN.

Tickets for the induction ceremony can be purchased by calling 248-349-7223 or through the Hall of Fame’s website www.mshf.com.

Dale Jarrett was watching NASCAR’s 1990 spring Cup race at Darlington, S.C., on television from his Catawba County home when Neil Bonnett’s car slammed into the water barrels in front of pit road.

Bonnett’s crash didn’t look to be too serious initially, at least not to Jarrett, who had won on that same track the night before in the Busch Series, or what currently is the Nationwide Series.

Jarrett soon would hear differently. And what transpired over the next few days would re-kindle a career that seemed to have stalled before it really started – and into one that will be celebrated Wednesday when Jarrett is inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in uptown Charlotte.

Jarrett, then 32, was driving exclusively on the Busch Series during 1990. The son of racing legend and Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, Dale had started racing in Busch Series in 1982 before moving up to Cup in 1984. After driving for various teams in both series over the next seven years, he suddenly was a driver without a Cup ride as the 1990 season unfolded.

The reason is a familiar one in racing: Jarrett’s Cale Yarborough Motorsports team was losing major sponsorship.

“That was eye-opening,” Jarrett said. “It was one of the pitfalls of the sport my dad had always warned me about.”

Driving only in the Busch Series, Jarrett was reduced to being a Cup spectator in 1990.
Two days after watching Bonnett wreck at Darlington, Jarrett’s phone rang. On the other end was Eddie Wood of the famed Wood Brothers, owners of Bonnett’s No. 21 Ford.

Bonnett had what would turn out to be a concussion, Wood told Jarrett. The team wanted Jarrett to be Bonnett’s replacement driver for that week’s race in Bristol, Tenn.

“Eddie told me it could be for one, two or five races. They didn’t know,” Jarrett recalled recently. “I told them I’d take whatever they had.”

Jarrett would finish 11th at Bristol. Bonnett didn’t return that year; his injury was serious enough that he would retire (although he attempted two comebacks before dying in a crash during practice in Daytona Beach, Fla., during 1994).

Jarrett finished that season with seven top-10s and a fourth at the season-ending race at Atlanta. That was enough for the Wood Brothers to ask him back.

And a Hall of Fame career truly would be launched.

Jarrett would win his first Cup race in 1991 at Michigan. And although that was his only full season with the Wood Brothers, Jarrett used it to vault into NASCAR’s elite.

“We knew Dale was going to be a really good driver for us,” Eddie Wood said. “He was one of those drivers who would never, ever give up. It didn’t matter if he was two or three laps down; he just kept coming. That always impressed us.”

The security offered by the Woods’ full-time ride helped Jarrett develop as a driver.

“When you have that, you’re more relaxed,” Jarrett said. “You don’t feel like every week might be your last week. You can enjoy what you do. If you don’t know what you’re doing next week or next year, there’s a lot of uncertainty. Whether it’s business or sports, you can’t be at your best. It builds up a huge amount of stress.”

In 1992, Jarrett left the Wood Brothers to become the first driver for a new team owned by a Super Bowl-winning football coach named Joe Gibbs.

Eddie Wood said the Wood Brothers would have liked to have kept Jarrett longer. But they understood the nature of the business and held no grudges. Gibbs faxed a note to the Woods on Washington Redskins letterhead, thanking them for allowing him to hire Jarrett.

Jarrett drove for Gibbs for three years before leaving in 1995 for Robert Yates Racing. He would have his biggest successes with Yates, winning the 1999 Cup title and Daytona 500 in 1996 and 2000.

Now 57, Jarrett eventually would win 32 Cup races and will join four others – Maurice Petty, Jack Ingram, Fireball Roberts and Tim Flock – in the Hall of Fame’s fifth class.

“Second chances don’t do any good,” Jarrett said, “if you don’t do something with them.”