The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is set to race in Cape Town, South Africa, for the first time on February 25, 2023, following approval at the recent FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting.

Cape Town joins Hyderabad, India, and São Paulo, Brazil, as new cities scheduled to hold races in Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, which opens in Mexico City, Mexico, on January 14.

In addition, Berlin will now host a doubleheader race weekend on April 22–23, while the two races previously announced for Seoul have been removed from the calendar. Locations for Rounds 10 and 13 in the 17-race season are being finalized and will be announced at a later date.

Season 9 will mark the beginning of the Gen3 era in the all-electric, single-seater racing series.

For more information, visit fiaformulae.com.   

IMSA, in conjunction with NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick and NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing, has announced this year’s recipient of the Trackhouse Karting Career Advancement Award, which provides an opportunity for a promising karting driver to take the next step in their racing career.

Karter Christian Miles was honored during the IAME USA Grand National Championship in Mooresville, North Carolina, last week. Miles will receive a test day in an Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires car. 

The one-day test session will be with Mazda MX-5 Cup team McCumbee McAleer Racing at a date and location to be determined. It includes professional driver coaching, including data and video review after each session, with a value in excess of $7,500.

“Growing up racing karts, I have a real passion for the sport,” said Harvick, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion. “This event is a great way to showcase the talent we have in North American kart racing. With the group that is involved, it is a real way to give back to karting and use all of our platforms to help promote kart racers.”

The award is supported by IMSA, Trackhouse Racing, and Harvick’s KHI Management.

For more information, visit imsa.com, trackhouse.com, and
khimanagement.com. 

Brembo—the Italian provider of high-performance braking systems with North American headquarters in Plymouth, Michigan—has launched Brembo Ventures, a venture capital unit that aims to “accelerate the development of innovative solutions for the mobility of tomorrow.”

Brembo Ventures will invest globally as a shareholder in technology startups—with a focus on artificial intelligence, big data, sensors, mechatronics, energy efficiency, and sustainability businesses—to find solutions that can be applied in the automotive sector. 

“Brembo Ventures is the tool to attract and give power to innovators; those who explore technological frontiers,” said Roberto Grazioli, Brembo’s Chief Business Development Officer. “Our strategy is to invest in startups whom we can work with side-by-side to accelerate the development of new solutions. With Brembo Ventures, we are even more structured to seize the market opportunities that can contribute to our goal of redefining the future of braking systems and mobility for the benefit of our customers.”

Brembo Ventures most recently acquired 6.8% of PhotonPath, a deep tech company spin-off from the University Politecnico di Milano, which develops integrated photonics-based products. 

“With PhotonPath, Brembo will be able to accelerate the development of new solutions for the digitalization of braking systems, a path already undertaken with the launch of the new SENSIFY intelligent braking system,” a company release stated. 

Infibra Technologies—the Italian company that develops and produces integrated photonic systems—will also join Brembo Ventures following Brembo’s acqusition of a 20% stake in 2020.  

For more information, visit brembo.com/en/.

Jacob McNeal has purchased I-30 Dragway and rebranded the 1/8-mile drag strip in Caddo Mills, Texas, as Poseidon Raceway Park. 

Track surface improvements have been made, with McNeal also announcing plans for a new drainage system, an extension of the shutdown length of the track, increased parking, and more. 

Several races will be hosted at Poseidon in the next few weeks, including The Gamblers Ball No Prep on November 11–12, and a Thanksgiving weekend event on November 25–27. 

For more information, visit facebook.com/Poseidon-Raceway-Park-100829588520806/.

Tony Stewart, left, and Ralph Sheheen
 

Motorsports icon, championship-winning driver and team owner Tony Stewart will help kick off the three biggest business days in racing as the headline guest at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show’s annual Grand Opening Breakfast, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Indianapolis, Indiana.                            

The Breakfast is an annual tradition for thousands of motorsports professionals from all over the world. Taking place the morning of the first day of the PRI Show, it symbolizes the official opening of the three-day event. 

With host Ralph Sheheen of SPEED SPORT joining Stewart on stage, the two will engage in a casual, talk-show style interview that is sure to educate, entertain and inspire. 

“Tony Stewart’s passion and drive is going to add a great deal of energy to an already iconic event,” said Dr. Jamie Meyer, PRI president. “We’re looking forward to hearing Tony’s outlook on the racing industry, what projects he has in the works, and learning where he is headed as a leader of the racing industry.”

Stewart’s most widely known titles are the three he scored in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, he has 13 driving championships under his belt, including an IndyCar series championship and four United States Auto Club (USAC) championships—three of which made up an unprecedented win of USAC’s “Triple Crown” in 1995. He is the first and only driver to win championships in stock cars, Indy cars and open-wheel Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown cars. 

In 2009, Stewart become a driver/owner in the NASCAR Cup Series when he formed Stewart-Haas Racing with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas. Three years later, Stewart won the championship. It was his third and final Cup Series title as a driver, but the first of three NASCAR owner titles. 

Stewart has 27 owner championships under the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) banner—14 in USAC, nine in the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series and four in the All Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets Series. 

In 2022, Stewart expanded TSR’s footprint to include the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. His eponymous team fields two full-time entries—one in Top Fuel for 10-time event winner Leah Pruett and one in Funny Car for 42-time event winner Matt Hagan.

In addition to TSR, Stewart also owns the legendary Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The half-mile dirt oval is where Stewart frequently raced as an up-and-coming USAC driver, and it hosts several of the year’s biggest dirt racing events. Stewart is also part-owner of two other racetracks—Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and Macon (Ill.) Speedway.

Stewart is a series owner as well. He purchased the All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) in January 2015. The ASCoC is one of the oldest traveling 410 winged sprint car organizations in the United States and it’s a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. In 2020, the ASCoC added to its roster by absorbing a three-quarter midget racing series, renaming it the All Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midget Racing Series.

“Tony Stewart personifies the winning spirit that drives our industry,” said Meyer. “He continues to push boundaries and has proven himself as a racer, a team owner, a track owner and a businessman. I know that he is going to inspire the crowd by sharing his personal story.”

Doors to the Grand Opening Breakfast open at 7:00 a.m., and the program begins at 7:45 a.m. All PRI attendees are invited to the breakfast free of charge, but guests are advised to arrive early, as seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

The 2022 PRI Trade Show takes place December 8–10 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis. The Show floor opens immediately after the Breakfast and will feature nearly 1,000 exhibitors showcasing the latest products, services, machinery, simulation and testing technologies, and trailers for the racing industry in a single location. PRI encompasses all forms of motorsports and attracts attendees from all 50 states and all over the world, including professional race teams, retail shops, warehouse distributors, engine builders, fabricators, dealers, installers, jobbers, and media. For more details, visit prishow.com. 

To register for the PRI Trade Show, visit performanceracing.com/trade-show/attend.

Jeff Trout has agreed to purchase the pavement sprint car chassis business owned by Jimmy Riddell, according to a LinkedIn post written by Trout, which stated the following:

Today, I purchased Jimmy Riddell’s Hornet pavement sprint car chassis business. [Effective immediately, my] partners and I will be producing Hornet non-winged and winged pavement sprint cars and maybe a Silver Crown car... Our cars will feature AWS-certified and inspected welds, standard halos, and outlaw-style intrusion bars, as well as optional CASM Seat Mount System.

Hornet sprint cars have won the last five NCMA championships with three different cars and three different drivers. The last race of the 2022 season saw Shauna Hogg pick up the win at Stockton 99 Speedway in a Hornet.

Trout was previously announced as the president of the POWRi Pacific Racing League (PRL). 

The Jessi Combs Foundation (JCF) has awarded three students with scholarships to WyoTech—the automotive, diesel, and collision trade school headquartered in Laramie, Wyoming. The scholarship program is one of many ways JCF fulfills its mission to educate, inspire and empower the next generation of trailblazing and stereotype-breaking women.

Maggie Daskam, Jade Bovee, and Kaygen Bogle have each been recognized with a JCF Scholarship. 

“I feel honored [to receive] the support from a very inspirational and well-known name,” said Bovee, who enrolled in WyoTech in September 2021 and began classes in October. “The Jessi Combs Foundation thrills me and very much inspires me to explore and get my name known the same way Jessi did with ‘the fastest woman on four wheels.’”

The Jessi Combs Foundation was founded in 2019 in honor of the late Jessi Combs, a renowned race car driver, and WyoTech graduate.

For more information, visit wyotech.edu and thejessicombsfoundation.com.

NASCAR has announced that long-time Canadian motorsports executive Tony Spiteri has been named general manager of NASCAR Canada. In this newly created role, Spiteri will be responsible for growing all facets of NASCAR in Canada, including the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, the largest national motorsports series in the country.
 
Spiteri, who will be based out of Burlington Ontario, has been involved in Canadian motorsports for more than three decades, including most recently as president and chief commercial officer of Freshstone Brands. 

“NASCAR has a strong dedicated fanbase in Canada and Tony is the right person to take our efforts to the next level,” said Chad Seigler, NASCAR Vice President of International. “Tony’s experience and relationships in the industry will be invaluable in aligning our existing stakeholders and elevating the NASCAR Pinty’s Series—and the entire sport—to the next level in Canada.”

For more information, visit nascar.ca.

The 2022 midterm election will be held on Tuesday, November 8, and it’s important to know which candidates support racing when going to the polls or voting early. With the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate up for grabs this Fall, the racing community has a chance to shape the outcome of this election. 

When casting your vote, consider the lawmakers that have stood up for the interests of racers and motorsports parts businesses, like those that have supported the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act), H.R. 3281 and S. 2736. This bipartisan bill—which PRI has lobbied for extensively—guarantees the right to modify street cars, trucks, and motorcycles into dedicated race vehicles and safeguards the industry’s right to offer parts that enable racers to compete.

To see a list of lawmakers that have publicly supported the RPM Act and are up for re-election in the midterms, visit saveourracecars.com/vote-racing.html.  

PRI’s Vote Racing page also allows you to see voter information; a list of candidates in your region; elected officials that represent you at the federal, state, and local levels; and even allows you to register to vote. 

For more information, visit here or contact erics@sema.org.  

Magnuson Products Founder Kim Pendergast has been named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50 list, a designation that spotlights women who are “shattering age and gender norms across every sector of business, politics, the sciences and society.” 

Pendergast is the chair and CEO of Magnuson Products, the developer of superchargers for the automotive aftermarket based in Ventura, California. She also serves on the SEMA Board of Directors and as the SEMA Political Action Committee (PAC) Chair. 

In 2021, after examining alternative energy strategies, Pendergast led Magnuson to produce a supercharger for a hydrogen-powered truck. She first entered the automotive aftermarket at age 52 by purchasing and running Martinsville, Virginia-based Arrington Manufacturing, a company that made engines for NASCAR. 

For more information, visit forbes.com/profile/kim-pendergast/.