The TRAXXAS TORC Off Road Series, presented by Amsoil, recently announced a new partnership with Red Bull Media House which will offer live coverage of select 2013 Series races.

The new partnership will showcase the 900 horsepower, 4000 pound battle trucks—fighting on crowd-friendly, short course tracks and jumping 100 feet in the air—streamed live on www.RedBull.TV. 



The series features seven-time MX champion Ricky Johnson and desert sensation Bryce Menzies, Red Bull athletes who have combined for four series championships in the past two years. Guest drivers include Travis Pastrana, scheduled to race July 19-20 at Chicagoland's Route 66 raceway.



TORC visits a wide array of tracks across the US, kicking off at two of America's premier dirt ovals, Dodge City Raceway in Kansas and Eldora Speedway, owned by Tony Stewart and a new stop for the NASCAR truck series in July.

The series also makes a stop at Red Bud MX, the largest attended MX race on the East Coast. The Series is showcased at the two largest attended off-road races of the year, Bark River and Crandon International Off-Road, the grandaddy of all off-road racing.



"The opportunity presented by Red Bull Media House to deliver live digital coverage to their worldwide fanbase is a game-changer. Our sport has seen significant growth in recent years and to expand to the Red Bull audience worldwide will be a boost to our race teams and sponsors," stated Kevin Miller, CEO of USAC Racing, the sport's sanctioning body. 



Live coverage kicks off with the TRAXXAS TORC Series' first race of 2013 on April 12, with pre-race coverage beginning at 7:30 pm EST on April 12 and green flag racing at 8 pm on www.RedBull.TV.

Kurt Spitzner has been named Rally Programs Director for SCCA Pro Racing.

The new position will serve as a liaison between SCCA Pro Racing and the Global Rallycross Championship. The GRC, which will be sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, holds several rallycross events worldwide, with the majority in the United States.

Another key responsibility of the position is to create increased synergy between the club-level rallycross programs and the professional level series. This includes organizing local volunteers to support GRC events as well as exploring the possibility of staging joint events with SCCA RallyCross participants.

Spitzner brings to the post more than three decades of experience in the motorsports industry. His experience includes a prior stint with the SCCA in much the same position, however, on the club side of the organization as Director of Performance Rally from 1998-2003.

In Spitzner’s initial time with SCCA, he was responsible for much of the development and growth of the SCCA ProRally program. His diverse involvement included oversight of everything from operations to partnership and marketing initiatives.

For more, visit www.scca.com.

The Michigan based Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP recently announced a new tire agreement with Hoosier Racing Tire.

The 360 winged sprint car sanctioning body has come to an agreement to allow Hoosier to provide tires for the 2013-2015 racing seasons.

This three-year program will be a four-corner commitment to Hoosier, meaning that both front tires and both rears will be Hoosier tires exclusively.

The Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt, founded by veteran racer John Naida in 1980, is scheduled to begin its 34th season of competition on April 27 at Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, Michigan. The series races primarily in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario.

Under the new deal, SOD will continue to run the 105/16-15 Medium on the right rear, and any Hoosier tire will be required on the left rear and fronts at all events, according to Craig Cowan, Hoosier Tire Midwest-Plymouth Store Manager.

More information regarding the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP can be found at www.sprintsondirt.com.

For more information on Hoosier Racing Tire, visit www.hoosiertire.com.

A new chapter in the history of the Cottage Grove Speedway begins in 2013—not only will the facility have new ownership, but a new general manager, too.

That position will be filled by Heather Boyce of Cottage Grove, who will see to the day-to-day operations of the historic venue for owner Jerry Schram.

Boyce has considerable involvement with the Kage Kart community the past 10 years as a race director for several tracks in the Pacific Northwest.

Since 2009, she has been the head lap checker at Cottage Grove, with the exception of a hiatus for the majority of the 2012 season, before moving up into the same duty for the American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region last year.

Cottage Grove Speedway’s racing season is scheduled to begin on April 13.

For more information, visit cottagegrovespeedway.com.

The schedule for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real has changed.

Events at the Tri City Speedway on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, at the Paducah International Raceway have been removed. Originally slated to be the first paring of the Lucas Oil Late Models and Lucas Oil ASCS, track owners made the move to just feature Late Models as the cost of hosting both national series at the same time proved to be prohibitive.

Another venue is currently being sought to fill these dates.

The event scheduled from Saturday, June 8 at the I-30 Speedway has been removed. A possible rescheduled date is in the works. Reasoning behind the change for the I-30 Speedway is the amount of high dollar shows scheduled at the I-30 Speedway all within a close proximity to one another. In order to give the track, and fans, time to recover, a replacement date is in the works.

To see the complete Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real schedule, log onto national.ascsracing.com/schedule/.

Board of Trustee elections for districts 3 (N.C.), 6 (Mich., Ohio) and 9 (Conn., Maine, Mass., N.H., N.Y., R.I., Vt.) recently concluded and, as a result, the World Karting Association has three new Board of Trustee members.

Johnny Bartlett is the new District 3 Trustee. John Klutz will serve as Bartlett’s 2-cycle Representative and Bobby Gettys will serve as Bartlett’s 4-cycle Representative.

Jerry Cole has been elected the new District 6 Trustee. This will be Cole’s second term as a WKA Trustee after a three-year hiatus. Chuck Bunnell will serve as Cole’s 2-cycle Representative. Mike Brown will serve as Cole’s 4-cycle Representative.

Lee Camarra has been elected the new District 9 Trustee. Jim Sorrentino will serve as Camarra’s 2-cycle Representative. Mike Fauci will serve as Camarra’s 4-cycle Representative.

In welcoming Bartlett, Cole and Camarra as new members of the World Karting Association Board of Trustees, the WKA also expresses thanks to Bobby Gettys, Steve Rumsey and Don Guilbeault, former district 3, 6 and 9 trustees, for their years of service on the Board of Trustees.

Officials from the American Drag Racing League announced that coming off of a hugely successful season opening Dragpalooza IX event at Rockingham Dragway, they have signed a multitude of new sponsors.

As a result, the contingency awards to their competitors have exploded to more than $650,000 for the 2013 ADRL Tour presented by Speedtech.

“The phones have been ringing off of the hook since Rockingham,” said ADRL President Kenny Nowling. “I think a lot of companies were taking a wait-and-see approach and I can’t blame them for that. There was a significant amount of changes within the ADRL during the off-season. Based on the response that we have received since our season opener, it appears that the industry agrees they were definitely changes for the better.”

The list of companies that have signed on with the ADRL over the past few weeks is a virtual who’s who of recognizable names that include Altronics, Chassis Engineering, Davis Technologies, Edelbrock, Flatout Gaskets, Flying A Motorsports, Hardee’s, LAT Racing Oils, MSD, Plattinum Products, Powersource Transportation, ProThings, Racepak, Ross Racing Pistons and VP Racing Fuels.

For more information, visit www.adrl.us.

Racepak, an industry leader in manufacturing and marketing of data acquisition for racers, has named Sarah Burgess as Product Manager.
 
Burgess, who is co-owner of BMI Racing, will be in charge of managing and marketing the Racepak brand. Racepak, which focuses exclusively on securing and acquiring meaningful data with their data acquisition products, will expand its global marketing focus. Burgess will spearhead this effort.
 
Before joining Racepak, Burgess served as a Marketing Consultant at SEMA and oversaw several marketing-related tasks for SEMA. Prior to SEMA, she co-owned BuzzEngines and Billet Machine Industries. Her responsibility there involved trade and retail sales and marketing, product design and CNC machining.

She also has been the driver of her drift car for three years and will continue to stay active in her role as driver and co-owner of BMI Racing.
 
Burgess graduated from Bundamba College, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, with a degree in Business Administration. She, her husband Adam and daughter Bridget will continue to live in Southern California.
 
To learn more about Racepak, which is part of the MSD Performance family, visit www.racepak.com.

Legendary chief mechanic and engineer Louis “Sonny” Meyer Jr. and 1968 Indianapolis 500 pole winner Joe Leonard are the 2013 inductees to the Auto Racing Hall of Fame at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.



Meyer and Leonard will be inducted in two ceremonies during Race Week of the 97th Indianapolis 500 in May.



A public Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is scheduled for 10-11 a.m. Friday, May 24, on the Pagoda Plaza Stage during Coors Light Carb Day. The invitation-only 29th Annual Oldtimers Recognition Dinner and Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown.



Meyer, son of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer, was a wizard of racing engine preparation. It is estimated that he was directly involved with preparing the winning Indianapolis 500 engine 15 times, most notably in 1973 with Patrick Racing, driver Gordon Johncock and crew chief George Bignotti.

Meyer also led engine development with Vince Granatelli Racing and was the development engineer of the potent V6 turbocharged Buick engines fielded for many years by John Menard’s team.



Meyer joined Meyer & Drake Engineering shortly after his father and Dale Drake purchased the Offenhauser engine business from Fred Offenhauser in early 1946. In addition to his engineering duties, Sonny Meyer also served as a “500” crew member, becoming a chief mechanic for the first time in 1958 when veteran Tony Bettenhausen finished fourth after leading the very first Indianapolis laps of his storied career.



When Louis Meyer sold out to Dale Drake in 1964 to become the distributor for Ford’s double-overhead camshaft V8 racing engine, Sonny Meyer relocated to Indianapolis, where he mentored many future chief mechanics who trained under his leadership during the next five years.



Leonard competed in the Indianapolis 500 nine times from 1965-73 and won two USAC National Championships after making a successful transition in the early 1960s from motorcycle racing to auto racing. He captured American Motorcycle Association national championships in 1954, 1956 and 1957.



The versatile Leonard won the pole for the 1968 Indianapolis 500 with track records of 171.953 mph for one lap and 171.559 for four laps driving one of Andy Granatelli’s turbine-powered four-wheel-drive Lotus “wedge” cars and was leading the race when forced out with nine laps to go. He placed third in the “500” in 1967 and again in 1972.



Leonard captured the National Championship over his high-profile Vel’s Parnelli Jones teammates, Al Unser and Mario Andretti, in 1971 and 1972. He also won the 1971 Ontario 500 and the 1972 Pocono 500, plus three USAC races at The Milwaukee Mile and one at Michigan International Speedway.



The Auto Racing Hall of Fame, established in 1952, is located at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

Safety-Kleen has announced its sponsorship of the Stadium Super Truck Series (SST), whereby Safety-Kleen will provide environmental services at all the venues for the inaugural season of Stadium Super Truck action.

Robby Gordon Off-Road’s Stadium Super Trucks involves high-powered off-road trucks racing on challenging dirt tracks consisting of huge jumps, crossovers, and tight corners. The 2013 season will be comprised of 12 events providing action in state-of-the-art stadiums across the US and one to-be-named International event.

Safety-Kleen, a Clean Herbors Company, has spent the past three decades involved in all types of motorsports and will be providing services at the events on the SST tour this year.

Safety-Kleen will recycle the used oil, used oil filters, fuel, absorbents, used rags, brake fluid, antifreeze and aerosols generated at the events.

“We couldn’t be happier to be part of the excitement that is off road racing—as a longtime fan of Mickey Thompson and short track off road racing I am thrilled that we can be part of the series,” said Buddy Judy, Safety-Kleen Motorsports Manager.

Additional information about Safety-Kleen can be found at www.safety-kleen.com.