A small block Chevy motor, to be custom-built to the needs of the buyer by noted engine builder Ed “The Old Master” Pink, is currently being auctioned on eBay.

Proceeds from the sale benefit the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides help for young people who seek a career in the automotive industry.

The auction ends on November 11, so there’s still time left to purchase a one-of-a-kind engine and do a good deed.

Because the SMSF is a 501(c)3 corporation, the purchase price may be tax deductible as a charitable contribution (check with your accountant or tax preparer).

The engine is based on a Dart SHP block and Dart SHP aluminum cylinder heads, topped off by a Holley “Stealth Ram” EFI. The buyer will be able to select the engine displacement, compression, camshaft and valvetrain specs, etc. using myriad products manufactured by Comp Cams, Mahle, Scat, Total Seal and Manley.

A total of 20 SEMA-member firms have contributed their expertise to the build, as has Ed Pink Racing Engines.

Other “goodies” include an ATI Super Damper, FAST billet distributor, PowerMaster starter and alternator, March pulleys, Milodon pan and oil pump, Joe Gibbs Driven lubricants, Edelbrock water pump and front cover, Moroso plug wires Champion spark plugs, Clevite bearings, Fel-Pro gaskets and Hedman hedders. ARP fasteners are used throughout.

This is not just an engine sale. The winning bidder will also get a trip to the PRI Show in Orlando, Florida (includes airfare, lodging, credentials, etc.) where they will meet with representatives of Ed Pink Racing Engines and finalize the specifications.

Afterward, the selected components will be balanced and blueprinted, the build completed, and the engine dyno tested at Pink’s Van Nuys, California, power emporium.

To find out more about the engine, go to: www.SEMA.org/auctions.

The WKA RLV Tuned Exhaust Products Gold Cup Series will return to a 4-cycle-only national tour in 2013, and included in the new season’s class structure will be three new Briggs Animal Pro Gas divisions.

The new Pro Gas classes will be for Briggs Animal engines running on unleaded pump gasoline from a designated Briggs Pro Gas Sportsman will be offered for racers age 7 to 12 years old, Briggs Pro Gas Junior for the 12- to 15-year-old category and Briggs Pro Gas Senior for drivers age 15 and up.

The three classes will run the final one, final two format and count the best seven out of 10 races toward a single national championship.

In addition to the traditional national championship eagle trophies and other WKA awards, the champions of these three Briggs Pro Gas classes will be awarded an array of valuable prizes and products, led by a brand-new, turn-key go-kart chassis.

Coyote Motorsports, Margay Racing Chassis and Razor Chassis have posted primary sponsorship for the three classes. Each Pro Gas national class champion will win a brand-new Coyote, Margay or Razor chassis. Each kart will come complete with a Briggs & Stratton Pro Gas Animal engine and all key running gear, including clutch, tires, wheels, bodywork, etc., with exception to an electronic gauge.

It is yet to be determined which class winner will receive which chassis, however, it may come from a random draw or a mutual agreement among the three class champions.

A number of companies have stepped up to support this program with product awards for the 2013 racing season and year-end awards ceremony. In addition to Coyote, Margay, Razor / Roberts Kart Shop, the following companies are providing product sponsorship for the 2013 Pro Gas Gold Cup classes.

-       Briggs & Stratton Racing
-       Kart City Performance
-       Baker Racing Engines
-       American Power Sports
-       Dyno Cams
-       Target Distributing
-       MGM Chassis Co.
-       Michigan Kart Supply
-       Bridgestone
-       RLV Tuned Exhaust Products
-       ARC Racing
-       R2C Performance Filters
-       Jammer Clutches
-       Tomar Clutches
-       SMC Clutches
-       Bully Clutches

Technical engine specs for these new classes are being developed and will be announced shortly.

Many benefits highlight this new Animal Pro Gas engine program. Financial benefits include a lower cost to build, increased time between rebuilds, reduced labor time and lower engine and overall maintenance costs.

The Pro Gas engines will also feature increased engine durability, user-friendly pump gasoline usage and the elimination of carburetor corrosion issues that are currently associated with methanol fuel use.

Regarding engine performance, the Sportsman and Junior classes will see similar horse power and track lap times as the current methanol-fueled Animal.

In the Senior class, the Pro Gas will run a slightly lower horse power at lower RPM levels but still very comparable at high RPM levels.

This performance equality will be emphasized utilizing some of the following spec internal and external components.

-       Spark plug
-       Exhaust header with port extension
-       Camshaft
-       Blower housing guard with spec holes

The 2013 WKA RLV Gold Cup Series schedule will be announced soon.

For more information, visit www.worldkarting.com.

Two more of IMCA’s longest sanctioned tracks will be recognized during the November 24 national awards banquet in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Thirty-year Modified sanction awards will be presented to Independence, Iowa, Motor Speedway and Boone, Iowa, Speedway.

In all, 26 tracks are to receive length of sanction awards for five, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 consecutive years. A total of 36 awards are to be presented.

Crystal, Mich., Motor Speedway and WaKeeney, Kan., Speedway are to be honored with 25-year sanction awards for Modifieds.

Twenty-year awards go to Mohave Valley Raceway in Bullhead City, Ariz., Thunderhill Raceway, in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and Thunder Mountain Raceway in Olathe, Colo., for Modifieds and Seymour, Wis., Speedway, for Stock Cars.

Five tracks get 15-year plaques: 281 Speedway in Stephenville, Texas, Buena Vista Raceway in Alta, Iowa, and Dacotah Speedway in Mandan, N.D., for Modifieds; Davenport, Iowa, Speedway for Late Models and Redwood Speedway in Redwood Falls, Minn., for Sprint Cars.

Ten-year awards go to Atomic Motor Raceway in Atomic City, Idaho for Modifieds; Thunder Mountain Raceway and WaKeeney Speedway for Stock Cars; and Luxemburg, Wis., Speedway and Thunderhill Raceway, both for Hobby Stocks.

Sherman County Speedway in Goodland, Kan., and Thomas County Speedway in Colby, Kan., both receive five-year awards for Modifieds, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks.

Dodge City, Kan., Raceway Park, gets five-year awards for Modifieds and Stock Cars.

Tracks receiving five-year awards for sanctioning their Modified division with IMCA include Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa, Lovelock, Nev., Speedway, Montezuma County Fairgrounds Speedway in Cortez, Colo., and Phillips County Raceway in Holyoke, Colo.

Also in line for five-year awards are Dubuque, Iowa, Speedway and Farley, Iowa, Speedway, both for Late Models; Quincy, Ill., Raceway for Stock Cars; and Beatrice, Neb., Speedway, Independence Motor Speedway, Seymour, Speedway and Thunderhill Raceway, all for Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods.

Drivers winning championships and rookie of the year awards will also receive awards during the November 24 banquet at the Cornhusker Hotel in downtown Lincoln. Cocktails are at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. and the ceremony to follow.

This is the first time the event will be broadcast on www.xsan.tv. Tickets are $30 each and can be ordered by calling the IMCA home office at 319/472-2201.

Banquet goers should call the hotel at 402/474-7474 and request the IMCA group rate regarding overnight accommodations.

Fourteen IMCA marketing partners will receive sanction awards. RSVPs are also requested from those planning to attend the Friday, November 23 open house at the Smith Collection of American Speed, on the Speedway Motors campus in Lincoln.

WC Vision announced Wednesday that the Pirelli World Challenge will race at Lime Rock Park, July 4-6, 2013.

The series returns to the scenic 1.5-mile track having last raced there in 2008.

Over the three days, GT, GTS, Touring Car and Touring Car B-Spec drivers and machines will compete in a total of five races—GT/GTS competitors will race twice, while TC/TCB competitors will race three times.

It’s the 16th time in Pirelli World Challenge history that the series will race at Lime Rock Park, situated in the hills of Connecticut’s Litchfield County.

Pirelli World Challenge races feature thrilling standing starts, adrenaline filled door-to-door action and world-class drivers. Pirelli World Challenge features cars from the world's most popular manufacturers—race-prepped versions of the cars driven on the streets.

Sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, Pirelli World Challenge races at North America's premier road and temporary street courses. For more information about the series, visit www.world-challenge.com.

The following statement was released Wednesday by Jim Cohan, president/CEO of Team 211 Entertainment, which has operated Irwindale Speedway for its owners, Nu-Way Industries, since they filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February:

"We're pleased to indicate that we've just had some productive and very positive preliminary meetings with the owners and management of the new Kern County Raceway Park. We were given a tour of the facilities and were impressed by the overall design and the good progress that has been made in recent days.

Our talks with the KCRP management team were wide-ranging and included subjects relating to operations, scheduling, racing divisions, events, and other points of mutual interest. We came to the conclusion that our business philosophies are very similar and totally compatible. We like each other, we respect each other, and we understand what we each have at stake. We agreed that our common goal is to bring back and expand regularly scheduled motorsports and other forms of allied outdoor entertainment to southern California.

Happily, our two tracks are about as different and challenging as any two half-mile paved ovals could be; and we fully expect that distinction to be something that fans from all over the country will want to come and witness for themselves. Like Irwindale Event Center, Kern County Raceway Park was conceived and designed to be a multi-faceted, multi-use, community-orientated facility.

Our talks also included ideas for co-promotion and cross-promotions of special attractions, and events, publishing a unified set of competition rules and classes, as well as considering the idea of establishing a highly trained stock car racing tech inspection team that would serve both tracks.

There's much, much more, and a lot of work ahead for both facilities ... Both tracks could be said to be in a ‘rebuilding’ mode. The truth is, with the sort of teams that we have in place, and the sort of support we've been offered from our fans, sponsors, racers, suppliers, and even the sanctioning bodies; we know that we're teamed up and embarking on a exciting new era in motorsports entertainment. We want to invite everyone to come and join us."

For more, visit www.irwindalespeedway.com.

The SCCA National Office in Topeka, Kansas, has named a host of members to serve in administrative and Chief Steward roles for the U.S. Majors Tour for 2013.

The Conference Administrators will serve as liaisons between the National Office and the SCCA Regions hosting the event, as well as a local information post for drivers and participants.

The role will include working with the Regions on pre-event logistics and preparation and post-event awards distribution and follow-up with the participants.

During the race weekends, the Administrator will assist with managing victory circle ceremonies, the live timing system and other customer service-related components.

The Series Chief Steward will be the same at every Majors race within the Conference, tasked with setting the Majors “tone” and bringing consistency for drivers at each event. Local stewards will operate the event under the guidance of the Conference’s Chief Steward, who will oversee the event.

A Conference Administrator and a Chief Steward has been appointed in each of the Eastern, Mid-States, Northern and Western Conferences:

Eastern Conference (NEDiv & SEDiv): Gayle Lorenz, Conference Administrator, and Bob Hudson, Chief Steward


Mid-States Conference (MWDiv, RMDiv & SWDiv): Marina Kraft, Conference Administrator, and Barrett Braun, Chief Steward


Northern Conference (CENDiv & GLDiv): Melinda Frame, Conference Administrator, and Costa Dunias, Chief Steward


Western Conference (SoPacDiv & NorPacDiv): Dave DeBorde, Conference Administrator, and R.J. Gordy, Chief Steward

The complete U.S. Majors Tour Schedule will be released in the coming weeks. The Conference Administrators will hit the ground running following a training session in Topeka early in December.

More information can be found at www.scca.com and on the U.S. Majors Tour at www.sccamajors.com.

The Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club (DARF) will hold its annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony on November 27 at Celebrations II, located at 7615 Poe Ave., in Dayton, Ohio.



This year’s inductees are Tom Bigelow, Mel Kenyon, Bill "Pappy" Lewis, Omar Williams, Russ Clendenen, and Marvin Goins.



Doors open at 7 p.m., and all DARF members are encouraged to attend. The public is cordially invited to witness the ceremonies as well.



For information, contact chairwoman Jana Sparks at 937/335-1730, or visit www.darfnews.com.

The 25th annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend highlights a diverse schedule at Sonoma Raceway for the 2013 motor-racing season.

In addition to NASCAR, the Big O Tires Racing Season will also include the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, IZOD IndyCar Series, FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival.

NASCAR headlines the schedule as the series marks its 25th annual visit to Sonoma. Race fans will also be treated to the NASCAR Pro Series West race on Saturday, as well as the premier air show on the NASCAR circuit during pre-race ceremonies on Sunday, June 23.

Drag racing fans will be treated to back-to-back weekends of action, highlighted by the 26th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 26-28. All eight track records were broken in 2012, including a 327.43-mph blast by Spencer Massey in Top Fuel. The NHRA Division 7 Drag Races, presented by Korbel, will kick off festivities the weekend prior, July 19-21.

The GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma marks the IZOD IndyCar Series’ 9th annual visit to Sonoma Raceway, August 23-25, and its only stop in Northern California. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe took the checkers in 2012, becoming the seventh different winner over eight years of INDYCAR racing in Sonoma.

The FIA WTCC will bring its international flair to Sonoma for the second consecutive year, September 7-8. The inaugural touring-car event was well received by Northern California race fans, and the drivers were delighted with their first visit to the challenging circuit. The weekend will again feature an action-packed schedule on Sunday with two 13-lap main events.

Historic car racing will take center stage during two unique weekends, including the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival (May 18-19), which will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Corvette, and the Classic Sports Racing Group Charity Challenge (October 5-6).

For more information, call 800/870-RACE (7223) or visit www.racesonoma.com.

The Marion County Fair Board has selected a management team to oversee the day-to-day operation of the Knoxville Raceway and Marion County Fair.

Brian Stickel has been promoted to General Manager and will also direct the marketing and sales efforts at the track.

Gary Schumacher has been named Director of Human Resources and will take over the Office Manager duties in addition to his accounting responsibilities.

John McCoy will remain Race Director for all Knoxville Raceway events.
 
Knoxville Raceway hosts 33 events from April through September each year. Premier events include the 53rd Knoxville Nationals August 7-10, the Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals August 1-3, the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals September 26-28, and the Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series.

Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Truck Series recently announced that Jason Markham will lead the efforts for the newly formed SST Productions, which will hold offices in both Los Angeles, California, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Markham will oversee the development of SST Productions along with the in house production/post-production, editing, and distribution of each of the 12 events and additional programming to NBC Sports Group.

SST Productions will be a rights management, content production, distribution and entertainment company designed to increase exposure, media and content opportunities for the entire sport, while also helping to better serve the public relations and media industry that cover Stadium Super Trucks worldwide.

Previously, as founder and CEO of Mag7Films, Markham served as the Supervising Executive Producer for the 2010 and 2011 seasons of “The Off Road Championship” which aired on Discovery’s newly launched Velocity Network. In addition to his role in the production of the series, Mag7 Films provided all the post production services for the 28-episodes that also aired on the Velocity Network.

His experience in the sport began in 1992 when Jason partnered with his father, Monte Markham, to create Perpetual Motion Films. Over the next two decades, the two Markhams were able to produce upwards of 250+ hours of documentary, series and live motorsports programming shown on networks such as NBC Sports, A & E, The History Channel, Discovery, and SPEED to name a few.

In fall 2008, Markham resigned as CEO of Perpetual films to accept an offer to become Commercial Director of the USF1 Formula 1 race team.

Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks series will begin in 2013. The series will consist of 12 stadium truck racing events that will bring entertainment and the excitement of off-road racing to the masses.

The Series offers Quad, Side-by-Side/UTV, BIGFOOT and Stadium Super Truck racing to fans of all ages. For more information, visit www.stadiumsupertrucks.com/tv/.