The FIA World Endurance Championship will include Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on its calendar for the next four years, extending a relationship which has been in place since the start of the championship in 2012.

Spa has always played a major role in the WEC’s calendar, not only for its favored position in Northern Europe which attracts spectators from Belgium, France, Germany, the UK and Netherlands, but also because it serves as the all-important dress rehearsal for the WEC’s headline event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Talks between the iconic Belgian circuit and the WEC have been ongoing since the 2019 event in early May. The successful renewal of the contract coincides with the announcement that the WEC’s 2020 Belgian round will be brought forward by a week from its traditional early May date. The TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa, round 7 of the 2019-2020 FIA WEC season, will now take place on Saturday 25th April 2020.

“By moving our 2020 TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa race forward a week we manage to avoid some clashes with other events in order to satisfy our competitors, partners, fans and media,” WEC CEO Gérard Neveu said.

Photo courtesy of WEC

One of NHRA’s most prestigious events will celebrate its 65th anniversary August 28–September 2, at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, as NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series teams face their last chance to snag a spot in the Countdown to the Championship.

The 18th of 24 races, the 65th anniversary of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals also culminates the end of the NHRA regular reason. Drivers will compete for a spot in the top 10 at the event, which also features an increased amount of points via the points-and-a-half system. A total of 150 points will be awarded to the winner.

NHRA fans can take part in the Mello Yello Walking Tour to see the teams hard at work in the pits. Also set on the schedule are NHRA schools, where fans can learn how different builds operate and reach top speeds. Scheduled schools include Nitro School, Factory Stock School Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle Schools and Pro Mod School.

Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis will also host a Mello Yello autograph session and allow fans to meet their favorite drivers.

The first of five Mello Yello Series qualifying sessions is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30. Two more sessions will take to the track on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 1:15 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. and the final two qualifying sessions will take place on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 1:15 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 2.

For more information, visit nhra.com.

Jackson Marketing, Motorsports & Events, a fully integrated marketing, communication and events agency, has announced that Jeff Smith has joined as Motorsports Marketing and Operations Director. In this role, Smith will be responsible for developing marketing, operations and event strategies, including activation programs, for Jackson’s key motorsports clients.

Smith has more than 15 years of motorsports, business development and marketing experience. Most recently, he served as Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships and Marketing for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), where he led multimillion-dollar marketing and activation initiatives for IMSA’s Official Corporate Partners.

Jackson Marketing has also announced the addition of Garrett Catalano as its new Dealer & Product Portfolio Manager.

Based out of the San Diego, California, office, Catalano’s responsibilities will include managing and growing Jackson’s product sales and service offerings, including those geared toward the off-road enthusiast consumer market. He will also support new product launches, events and marketing initiatives.

For more information, visit jacksonmg.com.

Photo of Jeff Smith courtesy of Jackson Marketing, Motorsports & Events

INDYCAR, in partnership with Chevrolet and Honda, will implement a single-source hybrid system in its race cars for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

The hybrid powertrain component, which can be activated by the driver from the cockpit, will mark the first time that the vehicles will depart from the traditional, manual handheld electric starters. The hybrid system will also work in parallel with the internal combustion engines from Honda and Chevrolet.

In addition to allowing drivers to restart their cars from the cockpit, the system will increase the horsepower of the push-to-pass system and potentially improve the pace and overall time of races.

The hybrid powertrain will also push the debut of the new engine formula from 2021 to 2022, realigning it with the arrival of the next-generation chassis as initially scheduled. The move will allow INDYCAR to continue working on other future innovations for the new package as well as extend the window of opportunity for an additional OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to join Chevrolet and Honda in 2022.

The addition will be integrated into the push-to-pass system and provide a power boost to the tool used by drivers for overtaking on road and street courses. The current system, which is limited to 200 seconds per driver in those events, will gain additional horsepower from the hybrid system to help INDYCAR reach its target goal of achieving 900-plus horsepower for its cars.

From a safety standpoint, the system will improve on-track situations by giving the driver the ability to restart the car quickly should it stall on track. This will help reduce the time the driver and AMR Safety Team are exposed on track as opposed to awaiting a manual restart.

This feature will also potentially reduce the number of caution flags for stalled cars on track and lead to improved overall pace and time of races.

The new engine regulations will be in place for six years, 2022 through the 2027 seasons.

For more information, visit indycar.com.

Four-time F1 champion and current Renault F1 Team Advisor Alain Prost has become Renault Group’s new non-executive director, according to published reports.

It was announced earlier this month that Prost was appointed as a member of Renault Sport Racing Ltd.'s board, replacing Renault Group CEO Thierry Bolloré.

Prost first joined Renault as an ambassador to the brand after its return to F1 in 2016, and later held a position as a team advisor. As of now, it is unclear if Prost's new role will change his current duties with the F1 team.

For more information on the team, visit renaultsport.com.

For the first time, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race at Iowa Speedway (Newton, Iowa) next year. The 2020 event marks the first time in history that the unified Whelen Modified Tour will journey this far west.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be in action during NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 weekend at Iowa Speedway July 31-August 1.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever felt this much excitement about an upcoming season,” said Iowa Speedway President David Hyatt. “From the fans to competitors and media, it’s industry-wide excitement and we are already looking forward to it. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Iowa Speedway are a perfect match.”

Next year marks 15 years of racing at Iowa Speedway. For the fifth consecutive year, Wide Opening Weekend will feature both the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series on June 13-14, 2020.

The ARCA Menards Series will take the green flag on Friday, July 17. The NTT IndyCar Series will again hit the Fastest Short Track on the Planet for the Iowa 300 on Saturday, July 18, giving fans a full complement of stock car and open wheel racing during INDYCAR weekend.

The 2020 Iowa Speedway racing season concludes July 31-August 1 with another world-class NASCAR doubleheader featuring the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series 150 and the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250.

For more information, visit iowaspeedway.com.

Design Engineering, Inc. (DEI), based in Avon Lake, Ohio, has announced a job opening within its Sales & Marketing Department.

The family-owned heat and sound control business is looking for an Inside Accounts Supervisor, whose primary role will be to ensure the success of the company’s sales department.

Another main responsibility will be to grow existing accounts as well as cultivate new accounts from leads generated from phone calls, website inquiries, trade shows, purchased lists and more. The new hire will also establish business relationships with customers and inform them of new product announcements, price adjustments, policies and more.

For more information, visit the SEMA Career Center job listing here or visit designengineering.com.

Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) today announced that Matt Breeden, who has held executive positions in motorsports companies for over 15 years, has joined the company as its president.

“Matt has demonstrated tremendous skill in previous corporate officer roles at premier motorsports companies such INDYCAR and Champ Car,” said SVRA CEO Tony Parella. “The growth of SVRA has exceeded our expectations and I realized I needed a top talent like Matt to manage and grow the business. With his experience, I can focus on sponsorship development, customer relationships, and strategic initiatives such as our new Speed Tour brand and relationship with Trans Am.”

Breeden, who most recently served as Chief Financial Officer for Indianapolis-based Racetrack Engineering, LLC, is a long-time resident of the auto racing capital and will keep his office there. Prior to that he was vice president, business affairs at INDYCAR where he managed the series schedule as well as day-to-day relationships with all venues, led sanction agreement negotiations, performed due diligence for new and existing venues and more.

Breeden was also vice president and general counsel of the Champ Car World Series. He managed all legal affairs, including contracts with tracks, promoters, sponsors, broadcasters, and vendors. He also was responsible for risk management, insurance, litigation, employment, and governance. In addition to a host of other responsibilities and accomplishments, Breeden represented Champ Car in its historic merger with INDYCAR to unify top-level North American open-wheel racing.

For more information, visit svra.com.

Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd (MGP) has confirmed the nomination of a new non-executive chairman and the appointment of a new non-executive director, following a board meeting held last week in Stuttgart, Germany.

Markus Schäfer—the member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development—has been nominated as the non-executive chairman of the board. Schäfer has been a non-executive director of MGP since March 11, 2019.

Frank Markus Weber—Vice President Corporate Development of Daimler AG—has also been appointed as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

The change follows the departures of Ola Källenius, now Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG & Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, and Bodo Uebber, both of whom stepped down from their board functions on May 22, 2019.

Schäfer and Weber join existing board members Britta Seeger, René Berger and Toto Wolff, the Team Principal & CEO of MGP.

“The commitment of our parent company has been fundamental to the team’s success and will continue to be so in the years ahead. This support for Formula One has always been reflected in our team’s board, with strong representation from Daimler’s senior leadership, and it continues through the appointments of Markus and Frank Markus for the years ahead,” Wolff said. “Formula One is a powerful technology and marketing platform for Mercedes-Benz globally, and a valuable shop window for the company’s values and its competitiveness.”

For more information, visit mercedesamgf1.com.

The date for Tony Stewart’s KARTAPALOOZA has been set for Wednesday, August 7, 2019, in conjunction with the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.

Taking place at Slideways Karting Center in Knoxville, Iowa, the fundraising event will feature the Sage Fruit Go-Kart Spectacular where fans can race head-to-head with Stewart, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and sprint car drivers Brian Brown and McKenna Haase.

A handful of entries remain for the 50 non-professional driver slots on the slick karting track. Along with bragging rights, drivers will receive a meet & greet with all five drivers, a logo-etched piston signed by the drivers, an official t-shirt and a swag bag.

The winner will take home a custom trophy.

The event raises funds to benefit children who are critically ill or physically disabled, at-risk animals, and drivers injured in the sport of racing.

Also taking place during the event are several fun activities, including the special “FETCH!” contest and a pie-eating contest.

For more information, including a tentative schedule, visit here.