NASCAR announced this week two personnel moves within its Industry Services department designed to bolster its support of industry partners.

Jeff Wohlschlaeger has been hired as managing director of event services and Chad Seigler has been promoted to managing director of team services.
 
Wohlschlaeger joins NASCAR from the Chicago Bulls, where for the past 18 years he served as senior director of game operations. Wohlschlaeger produced and directed all elements of Bulls events, overseeing the entire in-game experience.
 
In the newly developed role, Wohlschlaeger will work closely with track partners to design and implement a world-class and unmatched fan experience at all NASCAR events. He will manage the overall development of NASCAR resources for tracks and serve as a resource for track promoters in the development, execution and measurement of fan engagement initiatives.
 
Seigler will continue working closely with race teams within each of NASCAR’s national touring series, providing marketing tools, resources and counsel. With his oversight, his team works in concert with NASCAR Market and Media Research in order to provide consultation and research tailored for specific business objectives. Seigler also manages the group’s Industry Operations function.
 
Both Wohlschlaeger and Seigler will report to Jill Gregory, NASCAR vice president of Industry Services. That group is comprised of strong employee teams dedicated to providing services across the industry constituent groups—including teams, event promoters and drivers.

Gregory also manages NASCAR’s Driver Services group, which is actively seeking high-performing candidates for its managing director position. NASCAR is partnering with professional recruitment agency Harvey Nash to secure a top talent for this important Charlotte-based position.
 
Seigler will remain in Charlotte and Wohlschlaeger will be based in NASCAR’s headquarters in Daytona Beach.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda has announced its 2013 schedule, which will see the series expand its reach across the United States and into Canada.

Seven premier circuits will host a minimum of 14 rounds of competition, providing up-and-coming drivers with experience on a blend of three permanent road courses, three temporary street circuits and one oval event.



The USF2000 2013 season will open in Florida. The first two rounds of competition will be held at Sebring International Raceway in support of the American Le Mans Series and the 61st running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on March 14-15.

The series will head to the streets of St. Petersburg the following weekend on March 23-24 for a double-header in support of the opening race of the IZOD IndyCar Series calendar.



The lone oval event will be the traditional “Night Before the 500” on May 25 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Indiana. The race will be preceded by a Mazda Road to Indy Oval Clinic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 9 and a test day at Lucas Oil Raceway on May 10.



The series will make its debut in Canada on July 13-14 with a pair of races in support of IndyCar during the popular downtown Toronto street circuit event. USF2000 will again pair with IndyCar on August 3-4 for a triple-header round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

In September, the series will make its first appearance in support of GRAND-AM with a doubleheader—and potentially a tripleheader—weekend of racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. 



USF2000 will again move into new territory at Houston, Texas, for its season finale on October 5-6 at the Reliant Park street circuit with a pair of races in support of IndyCar.



For complete schedule information, visit www.usf2000.com/Home.aspx.

Indoor auto racing is coming to the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday, December 8.

The show will feature the exotic TQ (Three Quarter) Midget race cars and agile Champ Karts that have put on many exciting indoor racing shows for a number of years under Len Sammons Productions.

Tickets for the first-time event in Baltimore will go on sale Monday, October 29, at noon at all Ticketmaster locations and the arena box office.

Other Indoor Racing events are scheduled for the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, on December 31, 2012, and at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for two consecutive days, February 1-2, 2013.

The 1st Mariner Arena is located near the Camden Yards baseball stadium, in the middle of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area.

Each class will compete against the clock in time trials that will determine starting positions in a series of qualifying heat races. The heat races will narrow the entries down to twenty-two starters for a 40-lap TQ Midget A-Main and a 25-lap Champ Kart feature event.

Grandstand gates will swing open at 6 p.m., with racing starting one hour later beginning with qualifying heat races.

Ted Christopher of Plainville, Connecticut, a multiple NASCAR Whelen Modified champion, and a multi-time Indoor race winner in both Providence and Atlantic City, is the first official entrant for the Baltimore and Providence races. Other well-known drivers such as Lou Cicconi Jr. and Joey Payne are expected to lead the TQ-Midget entries in the inaugural event.

The entries are limited to 60 TQ-Midgets and 42 Champ Karts.
 
Competitors intending to enter the Baltimore or Providence events may do so now online. Technical rules and race procedures for both events are available online at www.aarn.com or by calling 609/888-3618.

Title and associate event sponsorships are being sought for the three Indoor Race events.

PBM Performance Group of Louisville, Kentucky, is excited to announce the acquisition of World Products Automotive Division. The PBM Group includes Engine Parts Warehouse, a supplier to engine builders across the continent, Erson Cams and PBM, both manufacturers of high performance engine components.

World Products, based out of Ronkonkoma, New York, was born out of the necessity for new and improved performance based heads and engine blocks. The company's cast iron Merlin big blocks and heads, Motown line and the Man O'War iron blocks for Fords set the standard and created the market for aftermarket engines. PBM plans to continue the performance and quality heritage that is expected with every World Products component.

"It is exhilarating to watch our company grow and to expand our manufacturing," stated Paula Flowers, the co-founder and CEO of the PBM Group. "Our goal is to offer our engine builders the opportunity to compete and once again make a profit on internal engine parts. The inclusion of World Products Automotive Division to our line of performance components will give customers, the ability to prosper with quality products designed to perform."

"The group at World is very excited to join forces with the PBM Performance Group and their five warehouse locations across the country. Along with more than 30 expert engine parts phone sales people available to assist you, EPW offers resources beyond anything World Products could offer," said Bill Mitchell, founder of World Products.

All World product iron blocks and heads will be manufactured in the USA to ISO 9000 standards. World Industrial will continue to support their OEM and industrial offerings while Bill Mitchell Products continues with the aluminum market.

Corvette Racing and Team Falken Tire were the big winners among fans of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón for a second straight year. Only this time, the honors were reversed at the annual Night of Champions awards banquet following Petit Le Mans.

Falken's Bryan Sellers won the ALMS' Most Popular Driver trophy, and Corvette Racing won the "From the Fans" award again after Team Falken Tire claimed the honor in 2011. It goes to the person or group who made the biggest contribution to ALMS and sports car racing during the past year.

Both awards were voted on by ALMS fans and were the first of many trophies doled out the night following Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda and the close of the 2012 season.

It was a big night for rookies. CORE autosport's Alex Popow claimed the Rookie of the Year award to go along with his Prototype Challenge championship. Cooper MacNeil, the GT Challenge champion from Alex Job Racing, won the Founder's Cup.

The Battery Tender Mechanic of the Year trophies went to Jason Safray, Dyson Racing (P1); Norm Hornitschels, Level 5 Motorsports (P2); Alex Zaric, Team Falken Tire (GT); Cody Brown, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (PC); Larry Ellert, JDX Racing GTC).

Mazda received the annual Promoter's Trophy for its efforts in the promotion and support of the American Le Mans Series through its on-track activity, consumer activation and social media efforts.

2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón Award Winners

Most Popular Driver: Bryan Sellers

From the Fans: Corvette Racing

Rookie of the Year: Alex Popow

Founder's Cup: Cooper MacNeil

Promoter's Trophy: Mazda

Mechanic of the Year: Jason Safray, Dyson Racing (P1); Norm Hornitschels, Level 5 Motorsports (P2); Alex Zaric, Team Falken Tire (GT); Cody Brown, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (PC); Larry Ellert, JDX Racing GTC)

Americo Teixeira Jr. is the newest member of the Performance Racing Industry team. Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the 50-year-old motorsports veteran will be representing PRI in Brazil.

Teixeira started his career as a journalist in 1981 and has been dedicated to motorsports ever since. He launched two newspapers, Jornal Do Kart and Motorpress, and was the editor-in-chief of Racing and Motorsport Brasil magazines.

He has covered motorsports news at main events all over the world, including Formula One, IndyCar, Indy 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring and more.

Currently Teixeira is the editor of the website Diário Motorsport and handles PR in Brazil for IndyCar star Helio Castroneves.

Now, he will also be responsible for increasing buyer attendance at the PRI Trade Show and readership of PRI magazine in Brazil. He will build strong relationships with key industry people and racing companies in his region, as well as develop new sales opportunities.

Concorde Agreement discussions between Formula 1 teams, the FIA and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone look set to drag on for at least a few more weeks on the back of the latest meeting to try and reach a consensus.

The FIA had said last month that it hoped to finalize a new deal before the end of October, but that target now looks set to be missed.

However, following a get together between the teams, the FIA and Ecclestone in Paris on Monday, which had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, the governing body issued a statement saying that some progress on the matter had been made.

Having urged the teams to put forward issues on matters that concerned them—which are understood to include a hike in entry fees, cost control, and a new governance structure—the FIA stated it was upbeat about how the talks developed.

"All the participants in the meeting were encouraged to seek clarification which resulted in a fruitful and helpful debate on how the new structure would operate in 2013 and beyond," said a statement issued by the FIA.

"A further important step has been achieved today to secure the future of the F1 World Championship, which should lead to a final settlement to be reached between the FIA, the Commercial Rights Holder and the Teams in the coming weeks."

The FIA and Ecclestone have been locked in discussions for several weeks about agreeing a path forward for the sport—with the governing body adamant that it not only retains control of F1 but also that it secures extra revenue from the sport.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Monday, FIA president Jean Todt had said, "The FIA is a non-profit organization, but we need to run our organization.

"We need to encourage the development of the sport; we need to encourage development of action for road safety.

"We cannot be a federation without having any revenue. So where do we find our revenues?"

Officials from FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) and the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) have announced a multi-year extension of the current television rights agreement between the two groups, with a minimum of 10 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards events televised either live and/or same-day delay each season.

In 2013, ARCA television coverage begins with the drop of the green flag on the series’ 50th appearance at the world-renowned Daytona International Speedway in February.

“ARCA has a very supportive group of race fans, and for over 15 years they have turned to us for their television coverage,” said Scott Ackerson, FOX Sports Media Group EVP, Executive Producer and SPEED President. “We now look forward to continuing in that role over the coming years.”

ARCA’s relationship with SPEED reaches back to April 20, 1997, when the network (then Speedvision) covered the ARCA Racing Series race at Salem Speedway. Since then, SPEED has aired 197 ARCA Racing Series events, with tonight’s season-ending Kansas Lottery 98.9 scheduled as the 198th.

Year-over-year broadcast ratings have spiked by 24 percent in 2012, highlighted by substantial improvements in key demographics.

“We’re very encouraged by the completion of this deal,” said ARCA president Ron Drager. “Fox Sports Media Group has shown its commitment to motorsports in a significant way this week, and we are especially pleased to make this announcement at the season finale to create some momentum as we move forward into 2013.”

The ARCA Racing Series season will close in tonight’s Kansas Lottery 98.9 at Kansas Speedway, with race action starting at 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local) on SPEED. ARCARacing.com will also feature live timing and scoring coverage for the season finale.

2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 26 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.375 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time.

Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.
 

While they may not have accomplished their ultimate goal of winning a world championship in 2012, Steve Furr and Jacob Elrod still walked away from the racing season with quite the resume culminating with two of the biggest awards in the International Hot Rod Association at the recently completed IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals.
 
Furr, of Harrisburg, North Carolina, was named IHRA’s Sportsman of the Year for 2012—essentially IHRA’s hall of fame award—and Jacob Elrod of Harrod, Ohio was named the Sportsman Driver of the Year at the recent IHRA Awards Celebration held at Memphis International Raceway following the completion of the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals.

Furr, a four-time World Champion in Super Rod and two-time IHRA Driver of the Year, was named Sportsman of the Year for his dedication and contribution to the sport.
 
Furr is also a great driver on the track behind the wheel of his ’68 Camaro. Furr won world championships in 2011, 2006, 2004 and 1996 and is a constant in the Summit Pro-Am championship chase. He had another great season this year, finishing sixth in the final Super Rod rankings with a Pro-Am championship in Division 2 and several big wins to his credit including the Summit Sportsman Spectacular at Maryland International Raceway.
 
“This season didn’t exactly end the way we wanted it to, but it was still a very good season,” Furr said. “This award definitely surprised me. I have won the driver of the year award before, but never this award. I know a lot of people that have won this award in the past and there are some awfully good racers on that list and to add my name as a winner of this award, I am very honored by that.”
 
Awarded since 1998, the Sportsman of the Year is awarded to drivers that show true class away from the track in addition to having success on the track.

While Furr had what anyone would consider a great season, someone who took that to a whole new level with a year unlike any other was Jacob Elrod, the 2012 recipient of the Sportsman Driver of the Year award.
 
Elrod made drag racing history in July when he won three races in three different classes all in one day—a first in the sport—when he won Quick Rod, Hot Rod and Top ET at the Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex. And as it turns out, that accomplishment was only the tip of the iceberg.
 
Elrod’s Grand Bend success vaulted him into a summer unlike any other as the Ohio native went on to collect seven victories on the Summit Pro-Am Tour in nine finals in four different classes. Elrod also captured two divisional championships by winning the Top Dragster and Super Rod crowns in the North Stars division. Thanks to all those wins Elrod actually qualified for the Tournament of Champions in an unprecedented four separate classes, but the rules of the TOC state that a driver may only compete in two classes at the World Finals.
 
Once there Elrod drove his 2002 Corvette to a seventh place finish in Super Rod at the World Finals and an unfortunate second round exit in Top Dragster. Still, despite the fact that he didn’t add a championship to his season, it was definitely a year to remember for Elrod and his famous racing family.
 
“This year we have been stupid lucky. This is the one year where I was good when I needed to be and lucky when I needed to be so really everything just fell into place,” Elrod said. “I have had so many people come up and congratulate me, and not just regular people, but really, really good racers that I respect and look up to. To have them come up and say ‘man you are doing a good job’ is really humbling.
 
“And while we didn’t win the championship, after the year we have had, I am certainly not going to walk away from this thing with a sour face. How could I after a year like this.”
 
Elrod was the unanimous winner of the award given out to the top overall driver from the racing season.