NHRA Funny Car pioneer Jack Chrisman was one of seven icons from the world of motorsports inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America class of 2013 Wednesday evening during the organization’s annual induction ceremony at The Fillmore Detroit.

Chrisman, the 1961 NHRA world champion who was also widely credited with developing the first Funny Car, was inducted posthumously. The other class of 2013 members included automotive publisher Robert E. Petersen, famed open-wheel racer Alex Zanardi, legendary NASCAR team owner Bud Moore, sports-car and road-racing specialist Masten Gregory, champion motocross racer Brad Lackey, and Harvey Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.

Chrisman, who passed away in 1989, became one of NHRA's biggest stars in the 1960s as he won multiple titles at NHRA's biggest events, including the Winternationals and U.S. Nationals. Chrisman was ranked 23rd by an elite panel of drag racing historians and journalists on the list of the top 50 NHRA drivers in 2001.

Aside from the great success he achieved driving a dragster in the early part of his career, Chrisman’s lasting legacy in the sport was his involvement in the development of the Funny Car. He made significant modifications to a Mercury Comet in 1964 so it could accommodate a large blown and injected 427 engine. He debuted that car at the 1964 U.S. Nationals, and not only was it highly competitive, but it also was an instant hit with fans. The first Funny Car established many performance records and changed the landscape of the sport of NHRA Drag Racing forever.

“At anything he undertook, Jack Chrisman was one of the best,” NHRA founder Wally Parks once said. “As a campaigner who drove some of the era's fastest and most innovative cars, his heads-up abilities put him out in front and won him a well-deserved world championship title. Jack represented the true spirit of drag racing.”

Former NHRA announcer Bob Frey presented Chrisman for induction. Chrisman's son Steve, who currently competes in NHRA Top Fuel racing, accepted his father’s Hall induction. Jack joins his uncle Art—a 1997 inductee—in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. NHRA President Tom Compton and NHRA Senior Vice President-Racing Operations Graham Light attended the event on behalf of NHRA.

Chrisman is the 25th inductee in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America from the world of NHRA Drag Racing. Others are Don Garlits (1989), Shirley Muldowney (1990), Don Prudhomme (1991), Connie Kalitta (1992), Parks (1993), Bob Glidden (1994), Keith Black (1995), Bill Jenkins (1996), Art Chrisman (1997),  Don Nicholson (1998), C.J. Hart (1999), Danny Ongais (2000), Tom McEwen (2001), Eddie Hill (2002), Ed Donovan (2003), Joe Amato (2004), Tommy Ivo (2005), Chris Karamesines (2006), Ronnie Sox and Buddy Martin (2007), John Force (2008), Kenny Bernstein (2009), Dale Armstrong (2010), Ed McCulloch (2011), and Ed Pink (2012).

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a museum showcasing the stories of Heroes of Horsepower along with a display of a wide variety of racing and high-performance vehicles. The constantly changing collection features racers from the world of Indy cars, stock cars, sports cars, sprint cars, powerboats, truck racing, drag racing, motorcycles, air racing, and even snowmobiles.

One of the biggest race weekend of the year just got a little more lucrative. The 6th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic at the Calistoga Speedway received another financial boost for the Amsoil USAC/CRA and Western Classic Sprint Cars Series purse. The Saturday night main event winner will now receive a $7500 payday, while the Sunday night winner will win a record $10,000. Never before in the history of the speedway has a non-wing sprint car winner received such a handsome check for one night of work. “It has been incredible, the outpouring of financial support we have been receiving for this weekend,” said Calistoga Operations Manager Tommy Hunt.

The 6th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic will take place starting Saturday night, August 31, and Sunday night, September 1. The traditional racing format will feature both non-wing sprint cars and midgets with entrants from all over the United States. The Saturday and Sunday night Honda Western Midget main event winner will earn a $10,000 winner’s check. “We could not be happier with the magnitude that this race continues to achieve,” said Hunt. “We are very proud to host such a wonderful event that pays tribute to the great Louie Vermeil while showcasing some of the most talented dirt track racers in the World.”

The two days of USAC thunder in wine country will also vaunt an added nightly bonus for 360 sprint cars. Jerry Crowell Racing Shocks and USAC will be awarding the highest finishing 360 sprint car an impressive $1000 each night. On top of that the second highest finishing 360 sprint car will receive $650 while third will be awarded $500. The 360 bonus will continue to pay until the 7th highest finisher running a 360 is awarded each night. Seventh place will receive $200. This allows the opportunity for many 360 sprint car teams to attend the two-night event and earn extra cash incentives.

While the racing takes center stage during the night time, the Louie Vermeil Classic will once again host the 6th Annual Wine Pouring event on Saturday afternoon starting at 1 pm and closing at 5 pm. At least 15 wineries will be represented and for $10 fans will have the opportunity to sample the wines and take home a commemorative wine glass. On Sunday it is the beer makers chance to showcase their beverages. From 1 pm to 5 pm fans can cruise the beer garden for samples of drinks. Sunday is also a $10 cost and includes a commemorative glass. During both days the Speedway will host an autograph session featuring Calistoga Speedway Hall of Fame Inductees. There will also be vintage race cars on display, live music and plenty of good times.

The 6th Annual Louie Vermeil Classis is scheduled to take place August 31st and September 1st at the Napa Valley Fairgrounds in Calistoga. Front gate will open up at 5 pm with racing scheduled to start at 6:30 pm each night. Tickets for the Louie Vermeil Classic can be purchased by calling 916-773-7223.

If you’ve dreamed of working for a Formula One team, your chance may have arrived, courtesy of Infiniti and Red Bull Racing. They are jointly offering engineering graduates a chance to work at RBR via what they call “a new global talent search initiative.”

The Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy will see two winning candidates complete a 12-month assignment with RBR, working alongside Infiniti engineers, while also spending time at the company’s UK road car technical center.

Recruitment will not open until later in the year, so no details are available as yet. However, the regional selection process will begin in May 2014 with the applicants put “through a comprehensive selection process to assess their performance potential and innovative thinking,” and the finalists will then be judged by a panel from Infiniti and RBR.

The winners will be announced at next year’s British GP. The placements start in September, with Infiniti noting that this “once-in-a-lifetime scholarship includes a salary, accommodation, and the use of a car.”

RBR’s Adrian Newey (pictured) said, “One of the key advantages of our partnership with Infiniti is our ability to utilize their resources, from materials to processes and people. As such it is really interesting for us to benefit from a worldwide selection process which brings the best new talent through our door.

“The speed of technical development in Formula One means that fresh thinking is crucial in keeping ahead of the other teams and we hope that providing an opportunity for world class graduates to work with us will provide long term performance benefits for us and for Infiniti,” he added.

Meanwhile Infiniti president Johan De Nysschen said, “We are looking for candidates who share our passion, and we open up an avenue for them to become an elite member of the Infiniti engineering team in the future.”

Bob Patison, president of MAVTV American Real, has announced expansion of his executive team in the areas of production, marketing, and distribution for the Lucas Oil-owned network.

Steve Grein, Executive Producer and assistant to Patison, will head the production team. Grein is the former President and Executive Producer of Chicago-based NeWave Media Productions and has produced more than 1500 nationally televised shows in the past decade, including motorsports documentaries for Lucas Oil Studios.

Ed Niemi has been named Vice President of Distribution at MAVTV American Real, having served for the past seven years as the VP of Affiliate Relations & Distribution for SportsTime Ohio (STO)—the TV home of the Cleveland Indians.

He will be responsible for all aspects of the Affiliate Sales Department including negotiating distribution contracts and developing and maintaining strong relationships with MAVTV’s cable and satellite affiliates.

Mark Mitchell will become Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development at MAVTV American Real. Mitchell is an experienced media professional with deep industry connections and over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing and business development across all forms of motorsports media from print to internet to television.

The history of the biggest continuously operating dirt track event on the West Coast will be recapped with a host of memory lane activities at the 60th Gold Cup Race of Champions scheduled for September 4–7 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA.

Leading the way will be four nights of competition on the ¼-mile clay oval located at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds. Led off by the California Civil War and Hunt wingless cars and capped by the World of Outlaw sprint cars, a full slate of events will celebrate this historical event.

Work has already begun on a commemorative book detailing all 59 Gold Cups held up to the 60th. Each year will be punctuated with photos, quotes, and facts about each race. Summaries of the events will be added along with actual race stories published at the time. Individual biographies will be scattered among the pages along with personal notes about each year's activities.

The Gold Cup Memories book will go on sale at the Speedway on September 4. A limited printing will provide books on a first-come, first-served basis.

History will gather in a Fairgrounds building as one of the most aggressive plans for a museum has been unveiled by organizers.

Director Tom Herseth and local historian Lew Lewis have plans to fully stock a museum with antique race cars, photos, programs, trophies, shirts, and memorabilia of 59 years of history. Herseth has located a car that won the Gold Cup more than 40 years ago.

Hours of operation for the museum are noon to 7 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It will also be opened after the Thursday and Friday night races. Several former Gold Cup Champions will be signing autographs from noon to 3 p.m. each day.

On track, the nostalgia will continue, as the night's race divisions have been chosen based on their history and influence on past Gold Cups. The historic United States Auto Club Sprints cars will be joined by the BCRA/USAC midgets, and the Nor Cal Dwarf cars.

Vintage BCRA Midgets and Vintage Hardtops hit the speedway surface for a series of exhibition laps during the Thursday night program.

Visit www.goldcup.silverdollarspeedway.com for more information on the 60th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions.

A record number of Nostalgia Funny Cars are heading for 60th Annual World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova Dragway Park in Cordova, Illinois.

Upwards of 20 AA Funny Cars may be on hand August 23-24, racing at over 230 mph on the historic Cordova Dragway Park quarter-mile track.

Racers from Pennsylvania to California and Texas to Minnesota will compete in the Mickey Thompson Tires DragRacingOnline.com AA/FC Challenge presented by Comp Cams. Cordova is the fourth event of seven on the 2013 schedule.

Among cars and drivers scheduled to take part is NHRA professional Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon.

The DRO AA/FC Challenge cars will run Friday and Saturday, with the World Series of Drag Racing continuing on Sunday.

For information, go to www.cordovadragwaypark.com.

Tests conducted by a North Carolina facility have determined a tire used by Night of 10,000 Stars Modified runner-up Brian Mullen was IMCA legal.

The tire had produced a suspicious reading from the tire sniffer in post-race tech on August 9 at Hancock County Speedway. Mullen protested that reading and the tire was confiscated by IMCA.

Six samples were taken from various parts of the tire and sent to Blue Ridge Labs in Hudson, North Carolina, which has a baseline sample of the IMCA-stamped Hoosier G-60 tire.

“The tire matched the baseline and was determined not to have been chemically treated or softened,” said IMCA Vice President of Operations Brett Root. “As a result, Mullen received second place points and pay ($3000).”

“Drivers need to be careful when they use any substance to mount a tire,” Root explained. The tire acts like a sponge and the sniffer smells the air to detect any chemicals.”

“It’s challenging to beat the sniffer and impossible to beat the testing lab,” he added. “It’s important for all IMCA racers to know we have the equipment and testing at our disposal and will continue to use it at any IMCA event.”