The NASCAR Hall of Fame has opened its online voting portal for its Class of 2021.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads the list of 15 possible inductees, which also includes five first-time NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees – three on the Modern Era Ballot and two on the Pioneer Ballot.

Fans can vote for two possible inductees from the list of Modern Era nominees, and one from the Pioneer category.

For more information on the lineup of nominees, visit here. To vote for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2021, visit nascar.com/halloffame. For more information on the NASCAR Hall of Fame, visit nascarhall.com.

Officials from Must See Racing (MSR) have announced winged sprint cars will return to the Indianapolis Speedrome for a two-day event on August 20-21, 2020.

The inaugural "INDYANA SHOOTOUT" presented by Engine Pro coincides with the rescheduled date for the Indianapolis 500, and will also feature midgets and TQ midgets.

The on-track action will begin Thursday, August 20, with full racing programs for the MSR midgets categories, including National, Regional, Focus Midgets, and Mel Kenyon Midgets. The Mighty TQ Midgets, Ford Oval, and Figure Eight classes will also run full programs. MSR Winged Sprints and MSR Late Models will participate in an open practice.

Also set for Thursday is the first of the two-part "Rumble For The Record" exhibition, which will feature five MSR Winged Sprints competing against five MSR Winged Late Models in a speed trials qualifying format "in a battle to lower the all-time track record."

Friday, August 21, will feature a complete racing program for the MSR Winged Sprint Cars, MSR Midgets, Mighty TQ Midgets, and Factory FWD classes. The "Rumble For The Record" finale will also take place Friday, with the fastest Late Model going head-to-head against the fastest sprint car from Thursday's race in a qualifying format. The winner will take home $500 in purse money.

The event will be telecast on SPEED SPORT/MAVTV programming and will feature live-coverage updates by veteran motorsports broadcaster Ralph Sheheen as well as pit reporter Derek Pernesiglio.

For more information, visit mustseeracing.com or contact Jim Hanks at hmsinc98@aol.com.

Permatex, the provider of chemical technology for automotive maintenance and repair, has named Ashley Khan as its new Marketing Manager for the Permatex and Versachem portfolio of products. Paco Agrafojo, Permatex Director of Marketing, made the announcement and noted that Khan will be based in Hartford, Connecticut. She will lead a team of brand marketers in the Permatex Engine Repair Group.

Khan joins Permatex in her third role with Illinois Tool Works, most recently serving as the Brand Marketing Manager for Permatex Canada, Inc., where she managed the company’s Rain-X, Slime, Fix-A-Flat, Black Magic, and Gumout brands.

“We are very excited to have Ashley Khan on our marketing team. She comes to us with an intimate knowledge of our company and our brands that will allow her to hit the ground running. She is very familiar with our team and our markets and is in an excellent position to make an immediate and significant contribution to our programs," Agrafojo said.

Prior to joining Permatex Canada in 2016, Khan held a variety of roles at several advertising agencies, leading domestic and internationally integrated advertising campaigns for brands including General Motors, State Farm, and Dell.

Khan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Marketing with a specialty in Media Studies from the University of South Florida.

For more information, visit permatex.com.

Despite the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) is moving forward with plans to honor and recognize the brave men and women of the US Armed Forces through its third annual Mission 600 campaign in conjunction with the Coca-Cola 600 set for Sunday, May 24.

In partnership with the Coca-Cola Racing Family of drivers and the US Department of Defense, this year's Mission 600 will be updated. Instead of drivers donning camo fatigues and experiencing a day in the life of brave military heroes representing each of the five branches of the US Armed Forces, they will instead offer virtual salutes through social media videos and connect with regional military bases online.

Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suárez, and Ryan Newman are recording videos from home to salute the troops, while plans are underway with Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace for interactive virtual meetings with servicemen and women. In addition, the campaign, which runs through race day on May 24, will provide Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers a platform to recognize the fallen soldiers who will be honored with their names across race car windshields during 600 Miles of Remembrance at the Coca-Cola 600.

"Mission 600 may look different this year, but the objective remains the same - to show the men and women who are on the front lines fighting and protecting our freedoms how much we appreciate them and all they do for our country," CMS Executive Vice President and General Manager Greg Walter said. "This year the US Armed Forces are also engaged in America's fight against the coronavirus, so saying 'thank you' takes on even greater meaning. Until the time is right that we can honor our military at the track again - and we all look forward to that day - hopefully, this year's virtual Mission 600 provides a few smiles and reminds both our US Armed Forces and race fans around the world that brighter days are ahead."

Fans can keep up with all the latest by following #Mission600 on social media.

For more information, visit charlottemotorspeedway.com.

The World of Outlaws and DIRTcar Racing have announced the launch of the Return To Racing initiative, along with a new Resource Center available on the two organizations' websites (worldofoutlaws.com and dirtcar.com).

The Resource Center has been designed as an open-source portal for its sanctioned race tracks to use in support of their individual efforts to return to racing.

The Return To Racing initiative features a set of guidelines and procedures developed with the support of motorsports experts Agajanian & Anthony, P.C., Jeff Ladd at Sports Insurance Specialists, LLC, and Dr. Jack Faircloth, MD, a coordinating panelist for the North Mecklenburg (NC) COVID-19 Response Team.

Included in the initiative is a 10-step guide that is designed for tracks regardless of its location and government restrictions in the area. Officials are also encouraging tracks to use the Executive Summary document to reflect the conditions in their specific region.

For more information, visit worldofoutlaws.com and dirtcar.com.

NASCAR's North Carolina-based teams may be able to return to work soon, as announced by State Governor Roy Cooper during a press conference earlier this week.

Although the state's stay-at-home order has been extended through May 8, Gov. Cooper said that it was his understanding that NASCAR teams were allowed to remain open under the current state executive order.

“From the information that I have now, already under our state executive order, they can begin working in their garages as an essential business as defined under our executive order. (Teams) are still in contact with local health departments. Local governments may have some different health restrictions," Gov. Cooper said when asked whether teams could work in their shops.

Gov. Cooper also announced he is in discussions with NASCAR officials, track owners, and team owners in regard to the upcoming Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. There is a possibility for the race to commence without fans, but an official announcement will be made "pretty soon."

For the latest NASCAR schedule, visit nascar.com.

Australia-based Supercars driver Thomas Randle has launched a new simulator and driver training business in collaboration with Lee Holdsworth, who also races with the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

Dream Simulation is located 40 minutes Southeast of Melbourne, and features a simulator contained within a "near anechoic climate-controlled chamber."

The simulator features state-of-the-art racing hardware and technology, including a five-point racing harness, Supercars-style gear lever, fully adjustable shifter weight, front and rear ARB adjusters, brake bias quick adjuster, and more. 

The Dream simulator offers a complete six degrees of freedom (6DOF) experience with the entire simulator rig moving in unison. Depending on the purchased package, racers' audio will also be linked to Randle, who will analyze the driver's telemetry and data, giving real-time feedback.

Packages range from one hour to four hours, and prices begin at $200.

For more information, visit dreamsimulation.com.au.

DIRTcar's all-time winningest driver Brett Hearn leads the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame Class of 2020, which is set to be honored on Thursday, July 23, at the Northeast Dirt Modified Museum.

The additional inductees include Harold Bunting, Joe Donahue, car owner Tico Conley, mechanic Billy Taylor, promoters Bob and Donna Miller, TV producer Terry Rumsey, and April Preston-Elms.

The 29nth annual induction ceremony will take place in the Northeast Dirt Modified Museum, which is located on the grounds of Weedsport Speedway in New York.

The ceremony is free of charge, open to the public, and will also feature pre- and post-event receptions.

For more information, call the museum at 315-374-3661.

For the first time ever, Ford Performance has introduced a one-off Mustang Cobra Jet factory drag racer with all-electric propulsion.

The battery-powered Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype is purpose-built and projected to deliver over 1,400 horsepower and over 1,100 ft.-lbs. of instant torque.

“Ford has always used motorsport to demonstrate innovation,” said Dave Pericak, Global Director, Ford Icons. “Electric powertrains give us a completely new kind of performance and the all-electric Cobra Jet 1400 is one example of pushing new technology to the absolute limit. We’re excited to showcase what’s possible in an exciting year when we also have the all-electric Mustang Mach-E joining the Mustang family.”

Ford Performance teamed up with several suppliers, including MLe Racecars, Watson Engineering, AEM EV, and Cascadia.

The Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 honors the original Cobra Jet that first dominated drag strips in the late 1960s and still is a major force in sportsman drag racing today.

"This project was a challenge for all of us at Ford Performance, but a challenge we loved jumping into,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports. “We saw the Cobra Jet 1400 project as an opportunity to start developing electric powertrains in a race car package that we already had a lot of experience with, so we had performance benchmarks we wanted to match and beat right now. This has been a fantastic project to work on, and we hope the first of many coming from our team at Ford Performance Motorsports."

Ford Performance continues to test Cobra Jet 1400 ahead of its world debut later this year at a drag racing event. Fans can catch a sneak peek at the new car with MotorTrend's OnDemand "Hard Cell" program.

For more information, visit performance.ford.com.

NASCAR, Race Team Alliance, and Motorsport Games announced the eNASCAR Heat Pro League season two kicks off Wednesday at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. The series will again be streamed on eNASCAR.com, as well as NASCAR Heat’s Twitch and Facebook.
 
“The eNASCAR Heat Pro League debut last year highlighted the significant opportunity for our esports platforms,” said Tim Clark, senior vice president, and chief digital officer, NASCAR. “We’re excited about season two, and in the midst of this sport’s hiatus, we’re proud those platforms can help fill that void for our fans.”
 
The 2020 season features 14 races at tracks across the NASCAR circuit, including virtual visits to Eldora Speedway, Road America, and Iowa Speedway, with gamers showcasing their skills in all three of NASCAR’s national series. The 14-race season is broken up into three four-race segments, with one driver per platform (Xbox One and PlayStation4) capturing a spot in the Championship race as well as a shot at the $200,000 prize pool. In addition, a final wildcard event at the virtual Daytona International Speedway in July will allow for two more drivers to secure their Championship hopes.

“eNASCAR Heat Pro League competition helps create yet another opportunity for teams across NASCAR to engage with fans and grow their presence in the evolving esports space,” said Dmitry Kozko, CEO, Motorsport Games. “With an increased prize pool to $200,000 and a new schedule format, competitors and teams have more on the line this season, and the racing is sure to show it.”

Draft results and team rosters for the eNASCAR Heat Pro League can be found here.

For more information, and the complete 2020 schedule, visit eNASCAR.com.

Photo courtesy of eNASCAR