Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Carl Edwards will be inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame on November 3, during the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR playoff weekend.

The Columbia, Missouri, native will become the 20th member inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame during a special ceremony held in The Grand Ballroom of The Speedway Club.

Other honorees will include team owner Joe Gibbs, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Christopher Bell.

The Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame ceremony serves as a major fundraiser for the Speedway Children’s Charities-Texas Chapter. Tickets are priced at $75 and include a gourmet Texas barbecue.

Edwards won a total of four Cup Series wins—along with two Xfinity Series wins—at the famed track in Fort Worth.

Team owner Gibbs will also receive the Bruton Smith Legend Award for his leadership in his role as a championship-winning team owner. With more than 300 wins in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series, Gibbs has already solidified himself as one of the top owners in NASCAR history. 

Harvick will be honored with the 2017 Racer of the Year Award after a pair of strong finishes in April and a drought-ending victory in the fall.

Bell will be honored with the Sportsmanship Award after winning a Camping World Truck Series race in June 2017 at his home track. While in victory lane, Bell was more concerned about the status of fellow racers Timothy Peters, Austin Wayne Self and Johnny Sauter— who were involved in an on-track accident during the event—more than the trophy.

Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS) Founder Aaron Fry has assumed ownership of the FAST 410 Championship Series based out of Ohio.

First founded by a trio of sprint car fans in 2009, FAST was formed as a local and affordable series that traveled between Attica Raceway Park and Fremont Speedway. (The FAST acronym stood for Fremont Attica Sprint Title).

In 2014, Rich Farmer, the Fremont Speedway track promoter at the time, took over as president and CEO of the series. Farmer expanded the schedule to include other Ohio tracks including Millstream Speedway (Findlay), Limaland Motorsports Park (Elida) and Waynesfield Raceway Park. He also changed the name to FAST Championship Series, and today it is known as All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads FAST Series presented by Ohio Logistics.

Farmer will pass the reigns to Fry to focus on his other growing businesses, including six NAPA Auto Parts stores.

“I’m honored to be chosen by Rich to carry on the FAST name and we plan to do our best to make him, the marketing partners and the teams proud to be associated with BOSS/FAST,” Fry said to SPEED SPORT.

Fry told SPEED SPORT that he aims to have up to 25 series events next year, with plans to target tracks in all corners of Ohio, as well as expand past state borders to Eastern Indiana and Pennsylvania. He will also coordinate the BOSS schedule with the FAST series schedule.

“With the three winged races BOSS held this past year we have gotten a lot of inquiries from tracks and joining forces now with FAST will open that up to more possibilities. We will, however, stick to the core of  BOSS and FAST and that’s to have a series for the weekend racers. Our goal is to keep this fun for the race teams and fans,” Fry said.

As for the JLH General Contractor FAST 305 Championship Series, Farmer said he is contemplating its future and no decision has yet to be made.

The Bondurant School of High Performance Driving filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.

Court documents put the school’s accrued debt in the $1 million to $10 million range, with between 50 and 99 creditors seeking payment, according to Autoweek.

The following statement was made on the company website on Wednesday:

In a difficult yet important step towards becoming a stronger company, Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, Inc. filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona on October 2, 2018.

We will continue operating and serving our students and corporate groups as usual while we develop new business relationships to ensure the vitality of the company in the future. For over 50 years, Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has been a fixture in Arizona and renowned nationally and internationally in the world of racing, thanks to our loyal students, dedicated employees, and the Gila River Indian Community.

The Chapter 11 ensures we will have sufficient time to reorganize and position the company for sustained success. Our plan is to emerge from this process as a stronger company and continue to drive this company into the next 50 years.

The USAC 2019 season opener has expanded with the addition of USAC Midget National Championship to the February festivities at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida, along with the addition of an annual appearance by the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship.

The midgets will make their debut at the 3/8-mile D-shaped dirt track on Thursday, February 7, with an open practice, followed by two consecutive, full nights of racing on Friday, February 8—Saturday, February 9, the first appearance by the series in the Sunshine State in five seasons.

The following week, USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car racing returns to Ocala once again for the ninth consecutive year to kick off its season at “Winter Dirt Games.”  The mini-series will take place at Bubba Raceway Park with an open practice night on Wednesday, February 13, then three complete full programs on Thursday through Saturday, February 14–16.

Additional info on the events will be made public in the coming months.

Colin Mullan (left), from Danville, California, and Jake Craig (right), from Mission Viejo, California, will carry the patriotic Team USA Scholarship colors in a trio of Formula Ford race weekends in England beginning later this month. Braden Eves, from New Albany, Ohio, was initially selected as a Scholarship winner before requiring surgery which will preclude him from accepting the opportunity.

Mullan and Craig will follow in the footsteps of a long line of talented young Americans dating back almost three decades.

Mullan, 16, began racing at age 5 in quarter midgets. He progressed through minicups (50 percent scale NASCAR stock cars) and karting before undertaking some testing and coaching in a Spec Miata in late 2016. After a first full season in the West Coast-based Formula Car Challenge, Mullan continued to shine this year in sports cars, driving an LAP Motorsports MINI JCW in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. He also displayed his versatility during an impressive F1600 Championship Series debut at Summit Point Raceway in August with a pair of emphatic victories.

Craig, 20, also began racing at age 5 in karting. What started out as a fun outing with his family quickly developed into a career path. He displayed tremendous promise when invited to attend the Ferrari Driver Academy in conjunction with Prema Racing at Maranello, Italy, in 2014 – and again last fall when he received an invitation from eKartingNews.com to contest the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship shootout – but it wasn’t until this year that he was able to focus on car racing. He impressed immediately by finishing second in the Canadian-based Toyo Tires F1600 Championship and F1600 Super Series.

The pair of talented Californians were chosen from an initial group of 11 candidates, representing a wide range of entry-level racing categories.

Mullan and Craig will travel to England next week to join Cliff Dempsey Racing, which will be running the pair of Team USA Scholarship Ray Formula Ford cars for the 11th consecutive season. They will enter the final round of the BRSCC Avon Tires National Formula Ford Championship at Donington Park on October 13/14 in preparation for the following weekend’s Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone on November 3/4.

In 2019 and onwards, the sprint-format championships currently known as the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, Blancpain GT Series Asia and Pirelli World Challenge GT will be known as a new global initiative: the Blancpain GT World Challenge.

Each series will retain its present status as an individual championship and will be known as Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe, Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia and Blancpain GT World Challenge America.

Drawing inspiration from the concept successfully pioneered in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, where manufacturers compete through local teams, each of the 12 current GT3 manufacturers will be able to establish a lineup of 12 drivers who will score points for their brand in the overall Blancpain GT World Challenge.

The drivers will be split across the three continental sprint series, with four competing in the World Challenge Europe, four in the World Challenge America and four in the World Challenge Asia.

America: An Enhanced Presence At Premier Circuits

The acquisition of a controlling stake in WC Vision LLC, the producers of the Pirelli World Challenge, will establish SRO Motorsports Group as a full-time presence on the American continent in 2019. The Blancpain GT World Challenge America will consist of seven events at high-end venues, beginning at COTA (March 2-3) and concluding with a grand finale on October 19-20.

A new-for-2019 format will see two races of 90 minutes at each event, with the successful two/three-day European program adopted. This will be further strengthened by the presence of SRO’s experienced sporting staff at all Blancpain GT World Challenge America events.

On the GT4 side, the format will be restructured around two series. GT4 America Sprint (previously GTS) will contest eight nationwide rounds. The series will feature one driver per-car, with competitors up to and including Gold classification eligible.

GT4 America Sprint X will compete at eight events nationwide. This will see two drivers per-car on a Pro-Am basis, with regional GT4 America East and West titles awarded from five of the eight races. TC America will contest a seven-round calendar featuring the TCR, TC and TCA classes, allowing this growing category to fully develop its own identity.

For more information on the SRO Motorsports Group 2019 season plans, including plans for both Europe and Asia, visit here.

PRI exhibitor Professional Drag Racers Ass’n (PDRA) has released next year’s schedule for its eighth-mile doorslammers.

The tour will run from April through October with eight stops across the Eastern half the United States. Many favorite tracks return, along with an entirely new stop.

The tour will kick off at GALOT Motorsports Park, April 5-6. GALOT Motorsports Park will have another familiar stop September 6-7.

Virginia Motorsports Park is the only other track to have two stops, hosting the second event of the year, May 3-4, and the World Finals, October 25-27.

The stars of the eighth-mile will be at Maryland Int’l Raceway, May 31-June 1, and then make a trek south June 28-29, to South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Dragway 42 is a new stop on the tour. The Ohio facility will open the last half of the season on July 19-20. The tour stops at Darlington Dragway, October 4-5.

For more information on PDRA, visit pdra660.com.
 
2019 Schedule
April 5-6—GALOT Motorsports Park
May 3-4—Virginia Motorsports Park
May 31-June 1—Maryland Int’l Raceway
June 28-29—South Georgia Motorsports Park
July 19-20—Dragway 42
Sept. 6-7—GALOT Motorsports Park
Oct. 4-5—Darlington Dragway
Oct. 25-27—Virginia Motorsports Park

Team Vesco Turbinator II, along with driver Dave Spangler, roared into history as the first wheel-driven automobile to exceed 500 mph on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. The speed machine averaged 493 mph in the measured mile and recorded a 503 mph mark as it exited the timing lights, indicating the car was still accelerating.
 
"Dave drove the car straight and true," Team Matriarch "Jinx" Vesco said. "We have looked over everything and nothing was hurt, we are ready for our record run! It's been a very long time in coming."

The team will make a return run to satisfy record requirements of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), with the second run averaged to determine the new national record. TEAMVesco was the top record-setter at the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) World of Speed in September, with a 482 mph class record. In August, at the venerable SCTA Speed Week, the team also earned the HOT ROD Magazine Top Time Trophy with a 463.038 mph in class 3/T.

Powered by a Lycoming T3 turbine tuned by Advanced Turbine Services, the engine feeds a bespoke reduction gear case that distributes the blistering horsepower to all four wheels simultaneously.

"Our organization is very glad to be part of history. The is an epic event and amazingly, 500 miles per hour DOES look different than 400,” World Finals Race Director and SCTA President Pat McDowell said.

Visit here for video coverage of Team Vesco's spectacular run.

Advanced Fuel Dynamics, one of the leading manufacturers of performance flex fuel systems, has announced that Gray Fredrick will serve as its new Director of Sales and Marketing.

In his new role, Fredrick will look to expand Advanced Fuel Dynamics sales and marketing efforts. Fredrick will also be responsible for growing Advanced Fuel Dynamics’ brand presence and consumer education.

“We are thrilled to have Gray join the Advanced Fuel Dynamics team,” Advanced Fuel Dynamics CEO William Clayton said. “Gray’s background and knowledge of the aftermarket business as well as his innovative approach to marketing makes him a great fit for this company.”

Fredrick got his start in marketing at Louisiana State University, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising and Marketing. An avid car guy, Fredrick pursued further education in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tennessee. After college, Fredrick designed and sold transmissions as the co-founder of American Powertrain. In his spare time, Fredrick enjoys working on his own cars, inventing, writing and frequently contributing automotive tech articles to various automotive publications.

PRI exhibitor DAYCO Products, LLC has announced the appointment of John Kinnick as executive vice president of US aftermarket. In his new role, Kinnick will be accountable for US aftermarket strategy for all functions including sales, marketing, and operations within the United States.
 
Kinnick brings more than 22 years of experience driving performance within global organizations with diverse product offerings including three years in the Asia Pacific. Most recently, he served as the chief transformation officer at Dayco, where he successfully led strategy and transformational activities.
 
“I am pleased to have John join the US aftermarket team. His diverse background in operations, supply chain management and manufacturing are instrumental to Dayco’s overall transformation and will play a key role in our growth strategy within the aftermarket division, as Dayco drives its promise to ‘Move Forward. Always,’” Bruno Vallillo, president global aftermarket, said.
 
Kinnick holds an MBA from Syracuse University and earned a bachelor’s from GMI Engineering and Management Institute.

For more information, visit daycoproducts.com.