McLaren Racing and Mercedes-Benz announced today that the McLaren F1 team will be powered by Mercedes from 2021 until at least the 2024 season under a long-term agreement.

The agreement will bring McLaren and Mercedes together as a customer team and power unit supplier for the first time since 2014. 

“This agreement is an important step in our long-term plan to return to success in Formula 1. Mercedes is the benchmark, both as a team and a power unit, so it is natural we would seek to secure a relationship with the company for the next phase of our journey,” Chief Executive of McLaren Racing Zak Brown said.

“We are delighted to welcome McLaren back to the Mercedes-Benz racing family with this new power unit supply agreement. Although the two brands share a prestigious history, this new agreement is all about looking to the future and beginning a new era of power unit supply for the years ahead,” Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff said.

For more information, visit mclaren.com.

Photo courtesy of McLaren

INDYCAR will conduct its first on-track test for the INDYCAR Aeroscreen driver safety innovation that will be implemented for the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season.

Five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, 2014 series champion Will Power of Team Penske, INDYCAR President Jay Frye and Red Bull Racing Business Development Engineer Andy Damerum will participate in the test, which is set for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, October 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

INDYCAR previously announced in May that the sanctioning body formed a partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies to design an aeroscreen for enhanced driver cockpit protection that will be implemented for the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season.

The aeroscreen—which currently surrounds the cockpit and consists of a ballistic windscreen anchored by titanium framework—is being developed to reduce the risk of driver injury from debris or other objects striking the cockpit area.

The RBAT design will be a polycarbonate laminated screen that will include an anti-reflective coating on the interior of the screen, anti-fogging device through an integral heating element and possibly tear-offs, all of which will be produced by integrated third-party companies. Another feature for the drivers will be a cockpit cooling option that will be designed by Dallara in conjunction with RBAT.

The titanium framework will mount in three areas around the cockpit—the chassis center line, two rear side mounts and roll hoop integration—to provide enhanced load-bearing capabilities.

This will be the first of three on-track tests in three weeks for the aeroscreen. Additional tests are scheduled for Barber Motorsports Park on Monday, October 7 and at Richmond Raceway on Tuesday, October 15.

The aeroscreen is the second phase of INDYCAR's objective to further enhance driver safety in the open-cockpit race cars. INDYCAR debuted the Advanced Frontal Protection (AFP) device for the INDYCAR Grand Prix that was held May 10-11 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and it was used throughout the season. The AFP is designed to help deflect debris away from the cockpit area and the driver.

For more information, visit indycar.com.

The NMRA Ford Nationals has released its 2020 all-Ford event schedule. Operating for over 20 years, the NMRA series is the largest and longest-running Ford performance series in the world.

The 2020 NMRA schedule packs in championship drag racing, Street Car Shootouts, Car Shows, Manufacturer’s Midways, and much more.

“The NMRA series has a lot to offer racers and fans in 2020 with the same line-up of awesome tracks as 2019, increasing the number of special attractions at each stop on the tour, and using unique formats at two of the six events,” NMRA General Manager Rollie Miller said.

New for 2020 are compact race schedules for the NMRA Gateway Rumble, held at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (Madison, Illinois), and the NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals which takes place at Maple Grove Raceway (Mohnton, Pennsylvania). These events will run over three days with the gates opening on Thursday, qualifying on Friday, and eliminations on Saturday.

The season opener is once again at Bradenton Motorsports Park (Bradenton, Florida) with the NMRA Spring Break Shootout. Twice a year the NMRA combines with the NMCA for the All-Star Nationals at Atlanta Dragway (Commerce, Georgia) and the Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing at Route 66 Raceway (Joliet, Illinois). The season concludes at Beech Bend Raceway (Bowling Green, Kentucky) with the largest Ford high-performance event of the year known as the NMRA World Finals and Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival.

For more information, visit nmradigital.com.

The FIA today announced the World Rally Championship calendar for the 2020 season, following an e-vote by the World Motor Sport Council this week.

The 14-round calendar opens with the traditional Rally Monte-Carlo, while three new rounds—Rally Kenya, Rally New-Zealand and the season-closing Rally Japan—will make their return to the world stage.

“In order to further globalize the championship, we needed to have more WRC rounds outside Europe. I am glad to see the results of our expansion strategy, with emblematic events such as Kenya and Japan coming back to the WRC calendar next year, alongside New Zealand replacing Australia, while long-standing, iconic European events provide a great balance and preserve the DNA of the sport,” FIA Rally Director Yves Matton said. “Following the integration of Chile last year, the 2020 calendar also expands our presence on both the Asian and African continents.”

For the complete 2020 FIA WRC calendar, visit here. For more information on the FIA WRC, visit wrc.com.

Diamond Park Speedway in Nashville, Arkansas, is for sale at $375,000. As one of Arkansas' premier racing facilities, the track features a 3/8-mile dirt oval and sits on 32 acres of land.

Popular events at the track include Turkey Nationals, ASCS Sprints, COMP Cams Super Dirt Series (Late Models) and Monster Truck Rallies. The track also has many other events featuring Factory Stocks, FWD 4-Cylinders. Modifieds, Mod-Lites, Pure Stocks and Street Stocks.

The state-of-the-art facility comes ready to operate and includes, a water truck, grader, wrecker, push van, tow truck, sheep foot, two VIP booths, two ticket booths, grandstands, pit grandstands, office, press box, equipment shed, souvenir stand, concession stand, radios and headsets.

Interested buyers may contact Brian Jortner at brian.jortner2@gmail.com or at 440/935-7460.

Ford Performance has teamed up with Tony Stewart’s/Curb-Agajanian Racing (TSR) and Durham Racing Engines to release the new FPS 410 sprint car engine.

The engine debuted on track on August 16 at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan, and went to victory lane for the first time two weeks later when Stewart won an Interstate Racing Association (IRA) Outlaw Sprint Series event on August 31 at the Plymouth (Wisconsin) Dirt Track.

“A lot of time and effort has been spent by our team working with the people at Tony Stewart Racing to make sure that when we put this engine in competition, it would be good right out of the box,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports. 

“Seeing that come to fruition is a testament to all the hard work by everybody who has been involved in this project, and we look forward to Tony and others winning many more races with it in the years to come.”

Ford’s participation in sprint car racing has been limited, but that could be changing with the completion of this engine and TSR’s continued commitment to the series.

“This is another step in immersing ourselves in this form of racing,” said Rob Johnston, global marketing manager, Ford Performance. “Signing Chase Briscoe as a development driver and Stewart-Haas Racing switching to Ford in 2017 has opened new opportunities in sprint car racing from a marketing perspective.”

For more information, visit performance.ford.com.

Photo courtesy of Ford Performance

Bell Racing USA celebrated the grand opening of its new Mooresville Pro Shop located at 129 Talbert Pointe Drive in Mooresville, North Carolina on Monday, September 30, 2019.

The grand opening event—which began at 10 a.m. ET and featured special guests Bell Athletes Joey Logano and Karsyn Elledge—was open to the public.

In addition to serving the professional teams based in the surrounding region, the new Bell Racing USA Mooresville Pro Shop location will sell retail auto racing and more specialty helmets.

For more information, visit bellracing.com.

Photo courtesy of Bell Racing, Facebook

Racing industry veteran John Della Penna has passed away at the age of 68 following a battle with cancer.

Della Penna, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, fielded cars in CART and the Indy Racing League (IRL). He began his career as a car owner in the Atlantic Series, fielding cars for drivers such as Jimmy Vasser, Richie Hearn, Scott Harrington and Memo Gidley.

After CART and IRL split in 1996, Della Penna fielded cars in both tours and even finished third in an Indianapolis 500 debut that year with Hearn at the wheel. Later that same year, Hearn scored a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with IRL.

Focusing on CART racing in 2000, his team drivers included Gidley and Norberto Fontana. Della Penna later shut down his Indy car program after that year.

Photo of Richie Hearn courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS)

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Summit Team Finals continue this week with Division 4 (Renegades) Sept. 26-29 at Pine Valley Raceway in Lufkin, Texas.

Participating tracks at this weekend’s IHRA Division 4 (Renegades) Summit Team Finals include Pine Valley Raceway, Amarillo Dragway, Xtreme Raceway Park, Little River Dragway, Evadale Raceway, Penwell Knights Raceway, and Edinburg Motorsports Park. Amarillo Dragway is the defending Division 4 Renegades Summit Team Finals champion.
 
Any Summit SuperSeries competitor, who has an IHRA membership and an “X” number registered and valid according to IHRA records from May 1 through his or her division’s Summit Team Finals event, can win the Summit Team Finals main event championship and become eligible for the Summit SuperSeries World Championship race. For more information, click here.
 
For more information on the IHRA Summit Team Finals, visit here. For more information on the IHRA, visit ihra.com.

Online entries are now open for the 35th annual Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout, taking place Wednesday, January 1, through Saturday, January 4.

The 35th edition of the Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout will feature A-Class (Wing, Non-Wing, and Restricted), Outlaw (Wing and Non-Wing), and Junior Sprints as well as the new Oklahoma 600cc Modifieds.

The event takes place at the Tulsa Expo Raceway located inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The discounted early entry fee is set for $100 and raises to $125 per class beginning Wednesday, December 4.

For more information, including class rules, visit tulsashootout.com. To register, visit here or call 918/838-3777 during business hours.