Sports Business Journal is reporting that the National Hot Rod Association has agreed to a multiyear deal that will extend Coca-Cola's sponsorship of its signature drag racing series through the 2016 season.

Coca-Cola's Full Throttle had been the NHRA series' featured brand since 2009, but that contract was set to expire at the end of next year.

Read the full report here.   

Packaged with a new chassis for 2012, engine manufacturer competition returned to the IZOD IndyCar Series after a six-year absence as Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus are supplying consumer-relevant 2.2-liter, turbocharged V6 engines powered by E85.

Chevrolet clinched the Manufacturers’ Championship as Ryan Briscoe won the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Chevrolet supplied 15 of 27 engines to the starters in the 85-lap race on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn road course. It has won nine of the 13 IZOD IndyCar Series races.

IndyCar racing runs deep in Chevrolet’s history, dating to co-founder Louis Chevrolet joining brothers Gaston and Arthur in competing in the Indianapolis 500. The cars they designed won the 500 Mile Race in 1920 and ’21 (Gaston driving in 1920).

Mario Andretti was the first driver to win with Chevrolet power, taking the checkered flag at the Long Beach Grand Prix in April 1987. On May 29, 1988, Rick Mears gave Chevrolet its first Indianapolis 500 victory.

Jim Campbell, US Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, said IndyCar racing is integral in Chevrolet’s continuing efforts to define itself as a global automotive leader.

Its IZOD IndyCar Series engine, featuring direct injection, turbocharging and renewable E85 fuel, are key technologies in several Chevrolet production cars on the streets and in the design phase.

Chevrolet powers the IZOD IndyCar Series cars of championship contenders Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud as the fierce competition continues at the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT on September 2. Power leads Hunter-Reay by 36 points in the title chase. 

The season finale is September 15 at Auto Cub Speedway in Fontana, California.

The schedule for the November 17-19, 2012 West Coast Asphalt Short Track Championships at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has changed.

With the recent announcement that the United States Auto Club’s annual Turkey Night Grand Prix will be contested on dirt for the 2012 season, Bullring and USAC officials have announced that the USAC National Midget event originally scheduled for Saturday, November 17, will be removed from the schedule.

The Hoosier Tire Late Model Series will replace the USAC National Midget Series race.

“We are happy to learn that the famed Turkey Night Grand Prix has found a home for the 2012 season, but unfortunately the logistics – the Midwest teams having to bring both an asphalt and dirt Midget to the area – presented many challenges,” said Chris Blair, LVMS’ vice president of racing operations. “As a result, we are adding the Hoosier Tire Late Models to the program. We are working with USAC to bring the National Midget Series back to LVMS for a special event in 2013.”

The West Coast Asphalt Short Track Championships is a two-day event designed to showcase the region's top touring divisions.

The Spears SRL Southwest Tour, Lucas Oil Modified Series and USAC Ignite Focus Midget Series all will all wrap their 2012 points races at this event.

The Spears SRL Southwest Tour race and Lucas Oil Modified Series event will be televised in a tape-delay format.

Friday, November 16

* Practice

Saturday, November 17

* Spears SRL Southwest Tour

* Lucas Oil Modified Series

* Hoosier Tire Late Models

* USAC Ignite Midget Series

* USLCI American Band Legend Cars

Sunday, November 18

* Hoosier Tire Late Models

* USAC Ignite Midget Series

* USLCI American Band Legend Cars

* USLCI Roadsters

* USLCI Silver Star Plumbing Bandoleros Ultimate 99 (three features, 33 laps each).

* Bomber Enduro

For more information, call LVMS at 702/644-4444 or visit www.LVMS.com.

Pedregon Racing is holding their annual Open House on Thursday, August 30, at the team’s shop just two miles from Lucas Oil Dragway in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This event’s festivities will feature race cars and hot rods, great concerts and a charity silent auction.

The race cars and hot rods will be parked in the front of the shop and will include a few from the Pedregon family collection. The band Luminate presented by K-LOVE Radio will perform from 3-4:30 p.m.; beginning at 5 p.m., the band The Protest will take the stage.

Finally, the Andrea Pedregon Charity Foundation, “A Spark Of Hope,” will be hosting a silent auction during the open house. Race memorabilia from drivers, teams and sponsors including John Force Racing, Cruz & Tony Pedregon, Ron Capps, Alexis DeJoria, Bob Tasca, Erica Enders, Coca Cola and many others are arriving daily for fans to bid on.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit Girl’s Nite In, a non-for-profit (Indy affiliate) that helps to empower young girls to make wise choices through safe refuge places and a structured framework.

Follow Andrea Pedregon Charity Foundation at www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Andrea-Pedregon-Charity-Foundation-Inc/170507729716860 or Tony Pedregon at www.facebook.com/tonypedregonofficial for updates on items that will be up for auction this coming week.

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) will hold its 2013 National Championships on September 5-8 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.

Located just 35 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City, Miller Motorsports Park is a state-of-the-art road racing facility. It is considered among the finest facilities of its type in North America.

The NASA National Championships showcases over 400 of the best racers and teams from around the country. And 2013 will mark the seventh year of this prestigious event, where competitors compete for more than $1 million in contingency money and prizes.

For more information on the National Auto Sport Association, visit www.nasaproracing.com.  

For more information about Miller Motorsports Park, visit www.MillerMotorsportsPark.com.

When the 5th annual Louie Vermeil Classic sprint car race hits Calistoga Speedway on September 1-2, the late summer event will kick off a new tradition as inaugural members of the track's Hall of Fame will be inducted during the weekend, led by a couple whose name is synonymous with the famous half mile oval, Alice and Louie Vermeil. 
 
The Louie Vermeil Classic, a Labor Day weekend tradition that features non-wing sprint cars and midgets, is sanctioned by USAC.
 
The inductees or their family members will be introduced during the weekend racing program, and their place in the Hall will be memorialized with a trophy that will be kept at Calistoga Speedway, which is celebrating its 75th year of racing.
 
Leading the list of eight inductees will be the late Alice and Louie Vermeil, whose passion and dedication to Calistoga Speedway and sprint car racing throughout Northern California set the foundation for the track to thrive for decades.  

In recent years, the speedway has been known as "The Track That Louie Built," in recognition of his support as a car owner, race official and founding member of the Northern Auto Racing Club during a critical time when racing was just getting established in California’s Napa Valley.             
 
Other inductees to be honored that weekend include: 

•    Leroy Van Connett, the eight-time Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) champion and the speedway's all-time race winner with 31 victories;

•    Charlie Wolleson, a longtime member of the Napa County Fair Board of Directors and a NARC pit steward, whose support was critical to maintaining the racing program for many years;

•    Billy Anderson, a three-time Calistoga Speedway champion;

•    Bill Sullivan, a former NARC and Calistoga Speedway champion;  

•    Charlie Curryer, promoter of the first race at Calistoga Speedway and subsequently at tracks throughout Northern California; 

•    Bill Deschamps, a former member of the NARC Board of Directors, car owner and driver

•    Brent Kaeding, 13-time NARC and Golden State Challenge Series champion who, with 21 victories, sits second on Calistoga Speedway's all time win list.

Donald Davidson, longtime historian at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will be the featured speaker at the International Motor Racing Research Center on Saturday, August 25.

Davidson is considered the preeminent expert on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and the United States Auto Club.

Davidson’s appearance to discuss the famed 500-mile race held at one of the world’s most recognized race tracks is being presented in the third installment of the Center’s 2012 Center Conversations series, “America’s Great Tracks.”

The free talk begins at 1 p.m. at the Center at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen, and is open to all.

Also slated to speak is car collector and publisher Joseph Freeman, who will cover the “Roadster Era” at the Indianapolis 500. His Joe Hunt Magneto Special, a front-engined “Watson Copy” roadster that raced in the 500 in 1960, is now on display at the Center.

“Davidson is a legend in the world of Indianapolis racing. He’s a giant,” said Center Governing Council member and award-winning motorsports author Michael Argetsinger. “His statistical knowledge of all things Indy 500 is unparalleled in the sport, as well as his ability to enthrall the audience with his stories.”

Davidson has been historian for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1998, but his involvement with the track began decades earlier.

A serious race fan from afar, he attended his first Indianapolis 500 in 1964. Traveling from his home in England, Davidson took with him a deep knowledge of the series, including knowing the results of every race and much about every driver who had ever competed in an Indy 500.

He had written before his arrival to track radio announcer Sid Collins and was invited to the booth, becoming a big hit with the crowd.

At the next year’s race, Davidson again joined Collins in the announcer’s booth. A few days after the race, he was hired by USAC as a statistician, a position he held for 31 years.

Davidson’s career in radio includes decades of shows about racing. His career as a writer includes his “Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500,” co-authored with Rick Shaffer and published in 2006, as well as many magazine articles and collaborations with other book authors.

Davidson was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2010. At the time, he was one of only 25 who were living and one of only two living who were never a participant.

Car collector Freeman is owner of Racemaker Press, specializing in books about vintage racing. He is a vintage racer and former president of the Society of Automotive Historians.

Freeman also is past president of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts, and is a car show judge.

The talks by Davidson and Freeman continue the mission of the Racing Research Center to preserve the history of motorsports in all series, at all tracks.

The final talk in the “America’s Great Tracks” series will be on October 13 and presented by Tom Schultz, historian at Road America since 2000.

The Northern Kentucky International Trade Association, a program of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, recently awarded Mazak Corporation with a 2012 Greater Cincinnati International Trade Award, recognizing the machine tool manufacturer as a champion in the area of global commerce.   





The Northern Kentucky International Trade Association presented the award to members of the Mazak team August 9 during the association’s Merx International Best Practices Summit, which included interactive discussions between international executives, business leaders and global leaders on best practices for navigating through the global marketplace. 





The Greater Cincinnati International Trade Award program demonstrates to the local region that companies of any size can access overseas markets. Due to a dramatic increase in the region’s international activity and the number of nominations received for this award, the Northern Kentucky International Trade Association presented the award in two categories: the large company category with more than 500 employees and the small to medium company category with less than 500 employees. 





Mazak, Toyota Boshoku and Toyota Motor Manufacturing were the top three finalists in the large company category. Both Mazak and Toyota Motor Manufacturing walked away from the summit as co-winners in this category.  





Mazak Corporation designs and builds several of the world’s most advanced machine tools at its North American manufacturing facility in Florence, Kentucky. While these machine tools serve the North American market, they are also in high demand throughout Asia and South America. In fact, Mazak recently expanded its manufacturing facility to be able to further increase capacity to export machines worldwide.    





In order to be eligible for a Greater Cincinnati International Trade Award, companies must have established operations in the Greater Cincinnati area, hold memberships with a chamber of commerce as well as import or export from the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area. Winners of the award are chosen based on revenue generation, global network and noteworthy accomplishments.

For more information, visit www.mazakusa.com.

A Registration Brochure jam-packed with all of the information racing professionals need to attend the 25th Annual Performance Racing Industry Trade Show has been mailed to 50,000 racing retailers, race engine builders, professional race teams, race car builders, motorsport engineers and more.

"From the extraordinary array of hardcore racing exhibitors to the news that John Force will be the featured speaker at this year's Grand Opening Breakfast, this powerful direct-mail piece to 50,000 racing professionals tells the BIG story of all that's to be gained by attending the PRI Trade Show in Orlando," said John Kilroy, producer of the PRI Trade Show.

"More new racing products, more business/technical seminars, more racing professionals...more solutions than can be found anywhere," added Kilroy. "That's what keeps the serious buyers in motorsports going to the PRI Trade Show year after year, for 25 years."

The first mailing was to 'VIP attendees' who attended the PRI Trade Show the previous two years. The second mailing was to PRI's entire US and international mailing list of racing companies.

Click here to read the Registration Brochure online.

Kilroy urged attendees to register online in order to receive their credentials in the mail before departing to Orlando. Attending buyers can register online at www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow.

Click here to register for the 2012 PRI Trade Show.

It was fun to read a report the beginning of this month about hotel room nights that had already been reserved in Orlando, and see that the number was up by 1,000 over last year at the same time. I figured this was probably exhibitors getting an early jump on hotel accommodations. I inquired with our housing manager, Michelle Gallegos, as to how many of these rooms were reserved by attending buyers, and she came back with 17% as the answer. I then checked with Nicole Harless, registration specialist, and she said that online registration had already started with a fairly steady pace. It was triple the same amount last year. This is good news, because our big Registration Brochure had not yet hit the mail. It went out to 50,000 racing professionals later in the month. We trust you’ve spent a few minutes with it already. We’ve got a hell of a racing trade show coming together, with an incredible array of exhibitors and events. We encourage you to spend a few minutes and register online, then receive your credentials in the mail. Click here to register now.