(Image courtesy of Pirelli World Challenge).

TruSpeed AutoSport, a previous race and championship-winning program, is set to return with a new brand, new drivers and new marketing partners in the upcoming Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) season. TruSpeed AutoSport will run a pair of Audi GT3 R8s (pictured).

“We have been hard at work for the past three months securing equipment and the proper personnel to put together a winning program from the very first event onwards. While our driver lineup and official team name are set to be announced in the very near future, I can officially say that we will house a pair of former Stevenson Racing Audi R8 GT3 machines and compete in the PWC Sprint and SprintX programs in 2018,” Owner of TruSpeed AutoSport Tyler Tadevic said.

As former GT champions, the TruSpeed AutoSport brand will return to GT competition in 2018 under the leadership of founder and former owner Rob Morgan.

In related news, Flying Lizard Motorsports announced the return to the PWC in 2018 for its second season of competition in the GTS class. For the first time since 2014, the team will field two full season Audi R8 LMS GT4 entries, driven by Mike Hedlund and Adam Merzon. Ryan Eversley will join Merzon in the Case-it Racing by Flying Lizard Motorsports entry for the five SprintX race weekends.

Flying Lizard Motorsports first raced the Audi R8 LMS in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, finishing second in the team’s first race of the season, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The team will retain the same crew from 2017, bringing with them existing knowledge of and experience with the Audi R8 LMS.

For more information, visit the Pirelli World Challenge website here.

Kern County Raceway (KCRP) officials announced the track’s 2018 schedule, featuring 20 events at the half-mile track in Bakersfield, California.

The Kern County Raceway 2018 season kicks off with the 4th annual Winter Showdown on Feb. 2–3 and will feature top Super Late Model/Tour Car Drivers from around the nation, including NASCAR champion Kyle Busch. The weekend will also include the Late Models and Super Stocks.

Kevin Harvick will make his racing debut at Kern County Raceway on March 15 at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season opener.

Other highlights of the 2018 season will be the return of two events: the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series on April 14 and the October Classic featuring both the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series and The K&N Pro Series West Championship finale on Oct. 27. KCRP will also host the Lucas Oil Modified Series on June 30, featuring the Salute to America Fireworks Spectacular.

And for the fifth straight year, the season will close out with the George Snider Classic King of the Wing National Sprint Car Championship on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Championship divisions at Kern County Raceway in 2018 will include; NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, and Spec Mods. Other championship divisions include INEX Legends and Bandoleros, Junior and Senior Mini Dwarfs, Skid Plate Races and Golden Empire Supermoto.

KCRP will release the dirt track schedule at a later date.

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, which has hosted drag racing since 1965 and the NHRA Summernationals for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series since 1971, will not conduct quarter-mile or eighth-mile drag racing at the historic New Jersey drag strip this year.

Owned and operated by the Napp family, the decision has been made to end drag racing at the facility and refocus the business on other types of entertainment.

“It is with a great sadness that the Napp family is discontinuing drag racing, however, the family looks forward to continuing to provide the best outdoor events in this new era of Raceway Park,” a statement from the family said.

Raceway Park will still use the stadium portion of the facility, which includes the VIP hospitality tower and grandstands. It will also continue to host auto and racing-related events, like the Spring and Fall auto swap meets, car shows, motocross practice/racing, kart racing, drifting, road course activities, mud runs and monster truck shows. The facility will also host musical concerts, festivals and more.

“NHRA drag racing events have been held at the track in Englishtown for almost 50 years,” said NHRA president Glen Cromwell. “The Summernationals have played an important part in our heritage and we hope that fans in the area will try to make it to another one of our events. Our focus remains on making the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series a memorable experience for our fans, racers, sponsors, partners and tracks.”

(Image courtesy of Hoosier Racing Tire Corp.)

Joyce Newton, the co-founder of the Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. and the matriarch of the company, died Tuesday morning at the age of 85.

Newton, along with her husband Bob Newton, started Hoosier Racing Tire in South Bend, Ind., in 1957. They had grown the company they founded into the largest producer of race tires in the world.

“The thoughts and prayers of Hoosier Tire employees and distributors are with Joyce’s family,” the company said in a statement.

Bob and Joyce Newton were great supporters of the community in numerous ways. The centerpiece of their giving was Newton Park ‘A Place for Kids’, a state-of-the-art sports complex started in 1999. Additionally, the Newton’s revitalized the old Lakeville High School turning it into a beautiful community center.

Joyce’s late husband, Bob Newton, died in 2012. Joyce continued to successfully lead the company until 2016 when the family sold Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. to Continental Tire. Joyce Newton’s desire was to put the ownership in the hands of Continental, who could continue to grow the business she loved and provide long-term success, according to Hoosier.

“The Newtons supported the World of Outlaws and DIRTcar Racing for many, many years. We were happy to call Joyce and her late husband Bob friends. They will truly be missed,” said World of Outlaws and DIRTcar Racing Chief Executive Officer Brian Carter.

The Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) officials have released the 2018 schedule for the 410 non-winged sprint car series, which features eighteen events at seven different dirt tracks in the US.  

A balanced MSCS schedule has a number of events each month beginning in April and ending in October.

Racing begins on Saturday, April 7, at the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, IN, during the annual Indiana Open Wheel Racin’ Fest that pays $3,000.

Two double-header weekends highlight the schedule, with back to back appearances at Daugherty Speedway and Kickapoo Speedway on June 29 and 30.

Finalizing the schedule is The Harvest Cup, set for Saturday, October 13 at the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN. The $5,000 to win event will feature 30 laps on a 1/4-mile track.

To view the complete schedule, along with prize money and laps, visit here.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) announced that Pat’s Auto Supply Motorsports Park in Canada has reached a multi-year agreement with the sanctioning body.

Pat’s Auto Supply Motorsports Park is located in Beaverlodge, Alberta and is run by the club members of the North Peace Bracket Racing Association (NPBRA).

Classes run on the 1/8-mile drag strip at Pat’s Auto Supply Motorsports Park include Box, No Box and Junior Dragsters, which are part of the IHRA Summit SuperSeries. The track also hosts Outlaw Street, Pure Street and a Bike/Sled division.

“The IHRA gives us a rule book where the rules and regulations fit well with our programs,” NPBRA President Jim Bailey said. “For the guys, it gives them a chance to go to Memphis and run for the (IHRA Summit) World Finals. It’s such a great opportunity to race against the best Sportsman racers from all over North America.”

The IHRA Summit SuperSeries, a $200,000 program, is the World Championship for over 8,000 Sportsman racers at nearly 100 IHRA-sanctioned tracks each season.

As stated by Bailey, participating track champions at Pat’s Auto Supply Motorsports Park will now have the opportunity to compete at the IHRA Summit World Finals on October 18–20, 2018, at Memphis International Raceway.

(Image of the 2018 car courtesy of INDYCAR).

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) announced that Leena Gade, who shepherded Audi to three overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has joined the team as race engineer for the No. 5 Arrow Electronics Honda and driver James Hinchcliffe.

The Briton’s appointment to SPM marks the first time a female will serve as a lead race engineer in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Diane Holl engineered drivers Adrian Fernandez, Tony Kanaan (Tasman Motorsports) and Richie Hearn (Della Penna Motorsports) in the CART series from 1996-2000.

“I’m really honored that I’ve got a chance to come across and work in INDYCAR. When I was a kid, I used to watch Indy car (racing), especially when Nigel Mansell first came over (in 1993), and I followed it quite a lot,” Gade said. “I’m quite honored to be given the chance. It is going to be something completely different to anything I’ve ever done before, so it’s a big learning curve, but it’s a challenge that I’m really relishing, so I’m looking forward to it.”

For more information on the appointment, visit here.

In related news, Verizon IndyCar officials have unveiled the new 2018 race car at the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center.

Verizon IndyCar Series teams recently commenced with testing the new car, which has a reshaped design that decreases the level of downforce and shifts the weight balance more toward the front of the car.

Changes to the “Coke bottle-shaped” car, among other things, less reliance on the front wing, moving the sidepods forward for increased driver protection and lowering the floor while removing about 35 pounds from the rear.

A panel including current drivers and legendary owner Roger Penske asserted the result should provide more entertaining racing in safer machines. Penske was quick to mention how the car will help teams contain costs.

“We can take our existing chassis and put this aero kit on it and, instead of spending $400,000 or $500,000 for a car, these kits are somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000, and it gives us the ability to go to the next step,” Penske said.

The new car and aero kit plan—which INDYCAR’s President of Competition and Operations Jay Frye said runs through 2020 with an option year in 2021—is also conducive to attracting other engine manufacturers. Honda and Chevrolet have been in engine competition since 2012, and each took on the added expense of competitive aero kit development the past three years before INDYCAR opted to move toward the universal kit for 2018.

“We’d like to thank Chevrolet and Honda for all their support; it's phenomenal,” Frye said.

For more information on the unveiling, visit here.

The Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series (UMSS) has announced its tentative 2018 wing division schedule, which is currently slated to be 20 events throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Leading the way as UMSS’ unofficial home track is the legendary Cedar Lake Speedway, which will see nine stops by the touring series over the 2018 season beginning on April 21 during the 2nd Annual Gale Patterson Memorial event. Near the end of the season is the 18th Annual Jerry Richert Memorial event, which will take place at the Speedway on September 8.

For the fourth year since its inception, several Midwest Power Series events will utilize UMSS dates. Those shows are reflected in the schedule below. The Midwest Power Series will also race three additional shows at the Jackson Motorplex in 2018 for a total of twelve dates. Several Midwest Power Series events will have bonus money available for teams who race both shows on certain weekends that feature a couple of events.

For more information, including an up-to-date schedule, visit here.

2018 UMSS Winged Sprint Schedule (Tentative):
April 21 - *Cedar Lake Speedway (2nd Annual Gale Patterson Memorial)
May 18 - Princeton Speedway (16th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial-Midwest Power Series)
May 19 - *Cedar Lake Speedway
May 26 - TBD (Tentatively Rice Lake Speedway)
May 27 - Eagle Valley Speedway
June 1 - Jackson Motorplex
June 2 - *Cedar Lake Speedway (Midwest Power Series)
June 9 - Ogilvie Raceway (Big O Showdown)
June 29 - Granite City Speedway
June 30 - *Cedar Lake Speedway
July 7 - Cedar Lake Speedway (Midwest Power Series)
July 13 - Jackson Motorplex (Midwest Power Series)
July 14 - *Cedar Lake Speedway (Midwest Power Series)
July 28 - *Cedar Lake Speedway
August 17 - Granite City Speedway
August 18 - Ogilvie Raceway (7th Annual Davey Tabor Memorial-Midwest Power Series)
August 25 - Cedar Lake Speedway
September 8 - Cedar Lake Speedway (18th Annual Jerry Richert Memorial-Midwest Power Series)
September 14 - Clay County Fair Speedway (Midwest Power Series)
September 15 - Deer Creek Speedway (Midwest Power Series)
*CLS Shootout event

JRi Shocks has recently announced Scott Evernham as the new JRi Shocks Short Track Technical Specialist. Evernham will represent JRi as a manufacturer’s representative at short track events while continuing to build short track shocks and provide technical support.

Evernham holds a passion for racing and has worked on sprint cars, UMP/ IMCA dirt modifieds, Dirt Late Models and Whelen Tour Modifieds to name a few.

In a concerted effort to better serve its customers, JRi Shocks has established partnerships with strategically placed distributors in the key geographic regions across North America—West Coast, Midwest and East Coast. The selected distributors will sell and service JRi products as well as provide weekly support at the tracks.

JRi’s Midwest Distributor is Allgaier Racing Shocks specializing in the Short Track Dirt, Sportscar/ Road Racing and Drag markets. JRi’s West Coast Distributor is Naake Suspension Specialists specializing in Sprint & Midget Cars, the Short Track Asphalt, Short Track Dirt, Harley Davidson Motorcycle, Sportscar/ Road Racing, Drag and Street Performance markets. For more information visit www.jrishocks.com.

NGK Spark Plugs (U.S.A), Inc. has announced the addition of Beth Skove to its aftermarket team as general manager of sales in the traditional channel. Skove will lead a large team of six regional sales managers and over 30 district sales managers across the US while reporting to Vice President of Sales Brian Norko.

“The NGK team and I are happy that Beth has joined us. She brings a solid aftermarket background, which will help with the continued growth of NGK Spark Plugs and NTK sensors,” Norko said.

Most recently Director of Marketing for Valeo, Skove managed all marketing-related efforts including brand management, market research, product launches, promotions, events and advertising.
 
From 2011 to 2015, Skove held the position of Director of Global Marketing for ITW Evercoat. There she expanded the Evercoat brand in key markets including China, Brazil, England, Japan, Western Europe and South Africa.
 
Prior to joining ITW, Skove was the Vice President of Ken-Tool, a hand-tool manufacturer in Ohio. At Ken-Tool, she was responsible for all sales growth and marketing efforts, as well as managing relationships with the industry’s most reputable sales agencies.
 
Skove is an active member of various industry associations, including Women in Auto Care, the Automotive Sales Council, and the ACA Research Committee. She graduated from Hiram College with a Bachelor’s Degree in English.