The NTT INDYCAR SERIES has released an updated 2020 race calendar featuring several modifications.
Three events already scheduled on the series calendar will now become doubleheader weekends, including INDYCAR’s upcoming race weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Prior to the originally scheduled Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Sunday, Aug. 9, the stars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will square off in another championship-points paying event Saturday, Aug. 8. Limited tickets are on sale at MidOhio.com.
In addition, the race weekends at World Wide Technology Raceway in August and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in October will become doubleheader weekends. WWTR will feature races Saturday, Aug. 29 and Sunday, Aug. 30. Tickets are on sale for the weekend, which will also feature the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series.
IMS will add a road course race Friday, Oct. 2 before the already scheduled INDYCAR Harvest GP on Saturday, Oct. 3. Spectators can register for pre-sale tickets on the INDYCAR website.
“Our race fans have loved the exciting doubleheader action of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this year at Road America and Iowa Speedway,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles said. “We look forward to giving them even more world-class entertainment this season at three of the most exciting racetracks on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar.”
INDYCAR’s race at Portland International Raceway and doubleheader weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mutual decisions between the series and promoters following consultations and monitoring of the local situations.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES remains on track to run 14 races in the 2020 season. The full, updated schedule can be found at INDYCAR.com/Schedule.
Extreme E, the new electric off-road motor racing championship, has announced that it is in advanced talks with Fisker Inc., the creator of sustainable electric vehicles and advanced mobility solutions, on a series partnership and potential works team entrance.
Set to begin in early 2021, Extreme E will see electric SUVs go head to head in extreme locations around the world, including arctic, desert, glacier, coastal, and rainforest courses, to raise awareness for regions affected by climate change and environmental issues.
“We feel thrilled at the prospect of having Fisker Inc., a pure EV manufacturer, join Extreme E for the start of the first championship,” Extreme E Founder and CEO Alejandro Agag said. “Creating the world’s most sustainable racing series is the perfect launch platform for their new Ocean SUV as well as providing a challenging testing environment for product durability.”
The Fisker Ocean SUV, set for a 2022 release, is designed to be the world's "most sustainable" vehicle. It features a 250-300 mile all-electric range and more than 300 horsepower with four-wheel drive.
“Alejandro brought electric vehicle racing into the mainstream with Formula E and I fully support his vision to reinvent off-road racing at the same time as creating an education platform for the threats posed by climate change. Extreme E and Fisker Inc. are completely aligned in our mission and values,” Fisker Inc. Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said.
Maurice Petty, the man who supplied the horsepower that propelled his brother Richard Petty to nearly all of his 200 NASCAR Cup Series victories and seven NASCAR Cup Series championships, has died. He was 81.
The man simply called “Chief” was one of the best engine builders in the history of the sport, and an often behind-the-scenes member of the Petty dynasty. Maurice was the fourth member of the family dynasty to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame — following his older brother Richard, father Lee Petty and his cousin Dale Inman.
Petty, born in 1939 in Level Cross, North Carolina, was the first engine builder to be inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame. He is credited with 212 wins as an engine builder, according to Richard Petty Motorsports. The stock-car racing pioneer also served as the occasional crew chief and was later the team’s general manager.
“The ‘Chief’ was one of the most talented mechanics in NASCAR history,” Jim France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “He provided the power that helped Petty Enterprises define dominance in sports. While he was known for his work under the hood, Maurice played multiple “behind-the-scenes” roles, doing whatever it took to help deliver his cars to Victory Lane. On behalf of the France family, I offer my condolences to the friends and family of Maurice Petty, a true NASCAR giant.”
This productive pairing of storied family enterprises yields powerful results on and off the track.
History roams these race tracks. And when combined with equally potent elements like family, proximity, and personal spirit, it can forge powerful bonds and yield results far beyond the ordinary.
It’s also what launched the partnership of Drydene Performance Products and World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series racer Logan Schuchart (pronounced “shoe-hart”). Both of these family-oriented Pennsylvania natives have their own rich history. Drydene is a maker of lubricants, founded back in 1893. Schuchart’s team, Shark Racing, is the creation of Bobby Allen, a hall-of-fame sprint car competitor who started in the 1960s.
Schuchart is Allen’s grandson. He races alongside his uncle, fellow Shark teammate Jacob Allen—Bobby’s son, also sponsored by Drydene.
But while many such shared elements underpin this fruitful sponsorship, it’s ultimately driven by results. Last year was Schuchart’s first full season sponsored by Drydene, and it proved to be a breakout year. Schuchart won eight races, doubling his World of Outlaws career win total and elevating him to fifth in the series points standings.
To learn more, we talked to Dave Klinger, Drydene Performance Products president, and Bobby Allen, Shark Racing owner/manager.
PRI: How did this partnership come about?
Dave Klinger, Drydene Performance Products: A person here sent me a video PR piece Logan had put together. I realized that Logan was the grandson of Bobby Allen. I’ve always been a huge dirt track race fan since I was a kid. My grandfather took me to all the races, and Bobby Allen was one of my big heroes. So that connection with Bobby, and the fact that they’re based in Pennsylvania like Drydene is. And then to see Logan’s PR and how he had been performing—it just seemed like a really natural fit for us.
Bobby Allen, Shark Racing: Drydene was wanting to get into sponsoring races to sell their products. And by coincidence, they’re from around here, too. They also liked it because they’re a family business, and we’re a family racing team. So that got us in the front door.
PRI: Why did this partnership make sense from a business standpoint?
Klinger: Before this, Drydene was more of a regional brand on the mid-Atlantic, but now we have our sights set on taking the brand national. The World of Outlaws teams are traveling literally from East Coast to West Coast, so that recognition is on a national basis. That’s huge for us right now.
Allen: The big guys have got big sponsors. Even to run the All-Star or just run around here, you’ve got to have some money behind you.
PRI: How do you measure the results of the partnership?
Klinger: We run an incredible amount of metrics, looking at return on investment. We can measure it from the standpoint of fan engagement and orders. You can look at that and say, “Okay, boom, there was an uptick at this point in time when we made a sponsorship announcement—website hits, social media, product orders, product inquiries, distributor inquiries.” Those are the metrics that we’re using to really gauge the success. When we see that spike after doing certain things, that can be a jump up, and then it flattens out. That maintenance side of things creates rates of return as well.
Allen: Sponsors don’t want excuses. They want results. And naturally, the better you can run up front the more exposure you get. When you run up front, you’re selling products. The folks from Drydene showed us graphs, and they were way up there, in terms of how much we’ve improved their business.
PRI: What is the duration of the agreement? Is there an option to extend it?
Klinger: The current agreement goes through this year. When we signed with Logan, we signed specifically for 2018, and then we made the announcement at the end of 2018 that we were doing a multi-year deal, which was for 2019 and 2020. Right now, we’re in negotiations to extend our sponsorship beyond this year.
Allen: Our first year, they wanted to try us out in the middle of summer. They gave us a little bit of money. And then we sat down and put together a sponsorship for two years. That was when we got sponsored last year.
PRI: How has the partnership stayed active during the COVID-19 shutdown/slowdown? (Editor’s note: This interview was conducted in late April 2020.)
Klinger: We’re doing our very best to keep our teams—Logan, Shark Racing, the others—active on our social media platform. We also have them participating in the iRacing circuit. It’s now just really focusing on the website, social media, and staying in touch with the teams to make sure that everything is well with them, that they’re continuing to stay positive.
Allen: Right now, iRacing is our main outlet. That’s good for us, because it can expose you. But it takes a lot of practice. We’re trying to figure that out in a short amount of time.
Drydene Performance Products’ partnership with Logan Schuchart of Shark Racing has helped the manufacturer promote its brand on a national level. “The World of Outlaws are traveling literally from East Coast to West Coast. That’s huge for us right now,” Dave Klinger said. Pictured here are Shark Racing team owner Bobby Allen, at left, and Schuchart, at right, at the track.
PRI: Do you think the coronavirus crisis will widen the gap between teams that have large sponsors and those who don’t?
Klinger: It will be interesting when it all comes back, because so many of these teams aren’t sponsored as well. We haven’t stopped paying sponsorship money to teams, and that obviously is something that helps hold them over through something like the coronavirus crisis. But I think we’re going to have some fallout. The crews that are with other teams still have a passion, and they love what they do. But they’ve got to eat in the meantime. If there’s no racing, they might just have to trail off and find a different job.
Allen: I don’t see much difference between the big teams and little teams as far as getting through this. Most of these guys are racers. They’re not racing on the road for the money, I can tell you that. They’re doing it because they love it. It’s only been in the last three or four years that I’ve been able to pay anybody.
PRI: How satisfied are you with this sponsorship relationship?
Klinger: We’re very pleased. Logan is a really great brand ambassador. And the whole team continues to impress me, even now moving to iRacing. He had a podium finish last week and he was in the top five this week. That’s him in literally just the last three or four weeks taking up the sport and saying, “I’m not just doing it for fun. I want to be competitive.” He wore his red race suit for the iRace, because he knew there would be pictures taken and posted on social media. That’s just fantastic.
Allen: We’re very satisfied. They make us feel like part of the family. They’re right there for us no matter what. They’re a good sponsor.
Last year was Logan Schuchart’s first full season sponsored by Drydene Performance Products, and it proved to be a breakout year. Schuchart won eight races, doubling his World of Outlaws career win total and elevating him to fifth in the series points standings. “Logan is a really great brand ambassador,” said Drydene’s Dave Klinger.
PRI: Do you have any advice for racers or teams trying to get sponsorships?
Klinger: I’m not suggesting that racers go out and hire a professional PR person. But in my opinion, they do need to be proactive. We’re looking for somebody to come to us and actually pitch a story of why they would be a good fit for us. It’s having that storyline—“I started five years ago. Here’s my success, my background, and my passion for the sport.”
Allen: You’ve got to win races. And you’ve got to have a portfolio to show what you’ve got. There’s also this thing I came up with—“KBD.” Know somebody. Be there at the right time. Don’t burn your bridges!
Pre-registration is now open for Holley’s second annual Intergalactic Ford Festival, set for Bowling Green, Kentucky, at Beech Bend Raceway, on October 1–4. Holley is teaming up with NMRA and its All-Ford World Finals for a weekend of drag racing, Holley’s grand champion and autocross events, pro-level and amateur drifting, a dyno challenge, show-n’-shine, an Aussie-style burnout competition and more.
Pro Formula Drift drivers Vaughn Gittin Jr. and the Fun Haver Tour will headline drift demo sessions.
Holley’s Intergalactic Ford Festival is open to any vehicle with a Ford engine. For more information, visit FordFest.com/registration.
Indoor Auto Racing Series officials have announced five race dates have been booked for the 2020-21 off-season.
The competiton is set to begin at the New York State Fairgrounds Exposition Center in Syracuse on Nov. 20-21, followed by the Indoor Concrete Series featuring the TQ Midgets, Champ Karts, and Slingshots at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania Jan. 8-9.
The NAPA Know How weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will be held Jan. 29-30, followed by the fourth annual East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals featuring the 600 micro sprints at Trenton, New Jersey's CURE Insurance Arena on February 19-20. The 2020-21 season finale is set for Syracuse, New York, on March 12-13.
Officials have also announced the Motorsports Racecar and Trade Show is set for the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 22-24.
Additional information, including possible social distancing requirements for the events, will be announced at a later date.
NASCAR competition officials have announced that the remaining national series events on the 2020 schedule will be held without practice and qualifying.
The move is part of a continued effort to limit at-track time for teams, officials, safety workers, and other essential personnel under COVID-19 health protocols. The safeguards—which include at-track screening and limited team rosters—have been in place since NASCAR returned to the track in May after a two-month layoff because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Following discussions with our race teams and the broader industry, NASCAR will continue to conduct its race weekends without practice and qualifying for the remainder of the 2020 season in all three national series,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition. “The current format has worked well in addressing several challenges during our return to racing. Most importantly, we have seen competitive racing week-to-week. NASCAR will adjust the starting lineup draw procedure for the Playoff races, and will announce the new process at a later date.”
SCORE has released its official 2021 schedule for the SCORE World Desert Championship.
All four races will be contested in Mexico, and the events will taped to air domestically and syndicated internationally.
The 2021 season-opener will be held in San Felipe, while two events will be held in Baja California. The season finale will start in Baja California and finish in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
SCORE will announce additional information in the following weeks. For more information, visit SCORE-International.com.
2021 SCORE World Desert Championship Schedule
34th SCORE San Felipe 250—February 9-14, San Felipe, Mexico
Total Seal Piston Rings, based in Phoenix, Arizona, has announced the launch of its new website and e-commerce store, TotalSeal.com.
The easy-to-navigate site features a selection of piston rings, tools and lubricants, data, technical videos, FAQ and support, an online catalog, UPS tracker, and more.
The new website is also mobile- and tablet-friendly.
I-80 Speedway has announced that this week's events will feature three days of side-by-side racing action along with $65,000 in top prizes and over $250,000 in purse money. Fans will also be in attendance, and tickets are available at I-80Speedway.com.
Racing begins Thursday, July 23, for the Dirt Track Bank 50 featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) in a $12,000-to-win event. Also in contention will be the Dirt Track Bank BRLMs.
Friday, July 24, will be highlighted by two rounds of heats also featuring the LOLMDS along with USMTS Modifieds. Passing points from each round will determine the lineups for Saturday night's events.
On Saturday, July 25, B-Mains will be held, plus the $3,000-to-win, $1,000-to-start S&S Showdown non-qualifiers race. The top three finishers will have the choice of keeping their winnings, or forfeiting to start in the main event, the 101 lap, $53,000-to-win Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals.
All three nights of racing from I-80 Speedway will be available live to anyone with a yearly subscription to LucasOilRacing.TV. For more information, call 402-342-2453 or visit I-80Speedway.com.
A running list of race track reopenings and 2020 schedules may also be found here.
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