Watkins Glen International announced dates for its 2018 event schedule. The seven-event slate is again headlined by traditional returns from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The 2018 season will begin April 13–15 with Opening Weekend, designed to provide guests with a chance to drive Watkins Glen International for a good cause, with all event proceeds going to the track's R.A.C.E. Foundation, which benefits local youth-oriented organizations. In 2017, over 30,000 cars passed through the gates to experience the historic road course with their personal vehicle.

Racing gets underway in earnest during the SCCA Majors Super Tour weekend, coming to The Glen June 22–24, and bringing with it some of the best amateur drivers and teams in the country.

The facility’s pro racing schedule kicks off with the pinnacle of American sportscar racing when the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen rolls into town, set for June 28–July 1, featuring the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA. Additional IMSA companion series may be announced at a later date.

NASCAR will bring a tripleheader weekend of action during its only New York State stop, August 2–5. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR K&N Pro East Series will each take to the challenging twists and turns of the iconic circuit, with each driver trying to take home a coveted victory at The Glen as the race to the NASCAR playoffs hits a crucial stretch.

The 2018 spectator racing schedule will come to a close September 7–9 with the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix providing a celebration of motorsports past, paired with the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival which is held in the nearby village of Watkins Glen. The on-track action is highlighted by the Collier Cup MG race, Governor’s Cup, and races contested by the Trans-Am Championship and IGT series.

Additional events include the Finger Lakes Wine Festival presented by Yancey’s Fancy New York’s Artisan Cheese (July 13–15) and the Ticket Galaxy Beer Festival (October 20).

Not on the schedule this year is an IndyCar event. After a two year partnership, track officials said this about the part: This is a decision based purely on an inability to find a date that works for the fans, the series, and the track. Watkins Glen International and IndyCar will continue to maintain a positive working relationship and will keep the lines of communication open should opportunities become available in the future that work for everyone.

TOPP Performance Race Parts (TPRP) has announced the addition of John Allen and Allen Racing Engines to its growing portfolio of brands. Allen brings 20 years of industry and engine building experience to the company.

Since 1992, Allen has been working in the racing industry with a specialized focus on engine building in modified race cars. In 2009, Allen founded Allen Racing Engines and has been assembling award-winning engines for drivers year after year, according to TPRP.  

Allen also has built engines for two of the top five drivers in the nation for the UMP DIRTcar Series for years. Those drivers compete against an estimated 3000 drivers per season.

Allen has placed in the top five on the engine builders win list consistently on a national level, with numerous track championships on a local level. Currently, Allen has drivers running his engines in the UMP DIRTcar Series that have placed in the Northern Indiana region and Deep South region, as well as standing fourth in national points for South East Dirt Modified Series.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the TOPP Performance Race Parts team. Joining TOPP and bringing Allen Racing Engines with me is an exciting next step for the Allen Racing Engine brand,” Allen said.

The Professional Drag Racers Association will celebrate its world champions with a ceremony held in conjunction with the 2017 Performance Racing Industry Trade Show.

The 2017 PDRA Championship Awards will once again be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown on Saturday, December 9.

The Awards will be held in the Indiana Ballroom and feature a buffet dinner and awards program, followed by music and dancing to end the night.

New this year, the Championship Awards welcomes hit recording artist PJ North. North has been featured in Drag Illustrated and National Dragster, and regularly plays shows around the country, while also focusing on a strong songwriting career.  

Tickets for the 2017 PDRA Championship Awards can be purchased online for $65 per person at: https://tickets.thefoat.com/PDRA/PDRA+Championship+Awards+2017/tickets/event-34367




And don’t miss the PDRA at the 30th Annual PRI Show in booth #4453, December 7-9 at the Indiana Convention Center. 


The National Sprint League has acquired the Heartland Racing Association non-wing sprint car organization. The NSL non-wing series will make Jackson Motorplex its home track on Friday nights during the 2018 season with a 12- to 15-race schedule. An informational meeting for any interested drivers or race teams will be held October 18, at the American Legion in Jackson, Minnesota, beginning at 7 p.m. For more information, contact race director Chuck Zitterich at chuckzitterich@aol.com or 605/212-2408. (Photo by Jeff Bylsma)

Top business strategist Mike Brown will deliver a highly interactive presentation on sponsorship marketing on a budget at this year’s PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis.

Brown’s “Sponsorship Marketing On A Budget” seminar, set from 8–9 a.m. on Friday, December 8, 2017, in Meeting Room 243 of the Indiana Convention Center, focuses on how motorsports businesses can get the very best return on investment (ROI) from their sponsorship programs.

Indeed, sponsorship marketing (funding an event or entity in exchange for positive exposure) can have tremendous value as a marketing approach in business. Efficiently maximizing a sponsorship’s returns, however, depends on approaching it strategically, creating sponsorship messages relevant to all audiences, and aggressively tapping into all available activation tools.

This session, based on lessons from award winning sponsorship programs, will help attendees better link business and sponsorship strategies; identify their own set of innovative activation tools to make the most out of a sponsorship; develop metrics to track sponsorship ROI; and more.

There is no cost to attend but seating is limited, so attendees are advised to arrive early.

For more information on the 2017 PRI Trade Show, December 7–9, visit www.pri2017.com.

The 2018 IMSA racing season promises to be a classic, with a variety of new teams and race cars coming online across several of the sanctioning body’s platforms and series.

In a recent news conference at Road Atlanta, plans were unveiled for the Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore to be held at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida on the weekend of November 9 to 11.

The inaugural Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore will feature a four-hour race including LMP3, GT3, GT4 and TCR global specification race cars and Pro-Am driver lineups. The end-of-year non-points event will not be tied to any other series or championship, which positions the event as a free-standing opportunity to experience both IMSA and Sebring—and for some, their first taste of endurance racing.

LMP3 chassis from all ACO-homologated manufacturers will eligible to compete with the global Nissan-based V8 engine. GT3, GT4 and TCR homologated race cars from mainstream automotive manufacturers with established operations in the United States will be eligible to compete in the Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore. No Platinum-rated drivers may compete in the Michelin IMSA Encore. Every car in the field will ride on Michelin tires, which will mark the first event for the new Official Tire of IMSA ahead of their first full season in 2019.

The weekend schedule also includes a promoter test day on Friday, Nov. 9, with practice and qualifying for the Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore on Saturday, Nov. 10 ahead of Sunday’s feature race. Additional events, such as selected one- make series, are currently under discussion and consideration.

The 2017 WeatherTech Championship wraps up with Saturday’s 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans.

While NASCAR cannot control the weather on race day, they may well just have gotten one step closer. NASCAR and The Weather Company announced a multi-year agreement that will optimize the weather-related decision process for NASCAR as it incorporates hyper-local weather data and forecasts into their races to improve race-day operations and fan engagement.

As part of the agreement, The Weather Company, via The Weather Channel brand, becomes the Official Weather Partner of NASCAR.

In collaboration with Flagship Solutions Group, The Weather Company will integrate a weather insights dashboard into NASCAR’s racing operation and decision support system.

“There is an enormous amount of logistics and planning needed to support a NASCAR race, but the one thing we do not have control over is weather,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR vice president, officiating and technical inspection.

“This partnership with The Weather Company and Flagship Solutions Group will provide NASCAR access to critical information that can improve race operations and help minimize delays while improving the race-day experience for millions of our loyal fans.”

Through this partnership, NASCAR will now have access to The Weather Company’s world-renowned weather data, as well as direct input from an onsite personal weather station, at each race. The Weather Company is said to produce the most accurate forecast for more than 2 billion locations around the world every 15 minutes.

The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) has released the official specifications for the new Solo Spec Coupe (SSC) class concept for autocross competition, which was announced by the sanctioning body earlier in September.

The base platform selected by the Solo Events Board is the 2013 to 2016 Subaru BRZ or Scion FR-S, cars considered to be modestly priced, rear-wheel drive, late model enthusiast vehicles useful as both a "daily driver" and for autocross competition.

Official SSC vehicle specifications include a number of mandatory components and parts that must be used and are required to be installed for national competitions. Original equipment or equivalent components are not allowed at national events.
 
Some of the mandatory components include tires sized at P225/45-17 with a UTQG treadwear grade 200 or higher, wheels with diameter and width of 17x8, and specific suspension upgrade kits and packages from Koni, Eibach and SPC Performance available through Tire Rack.

All work on SSC cars must comply with factory-authorized methods and procedures, or industry standard methods.

For more information, please visit the SCCA Solo Spec Coupe specifications webpage.
 
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), Inc., founded in 1944, is a 67,500-member motorsports organization that incorporates all facets of autocross, rally and road racing at both club and professional levels with headquarters in Topeka, Kansas.

Roxboro Motorsports Park, a decades-old drag strip in Person County, North Carolina, is scheduled to go up for sale through a sealed-bid auction on Nov. 10. The seller is offering an owner-finance arrangement for qualified buyers.

The facility opened in 1959 as Person County Dragstrip and over the years has hosted some of the nation’s top cars and drivers – even Richard Petty during his brief stint in drag racing. Its name changed to Roxboro Dragway in the 1970s and then to Roxboro Motorsports Dragway after some improvements in 2006.

But it appears the track "went quiet" in the spring. The facility’s website still advertises its most famous annual event –“The Annual Easter Bash” – which took place April 14-16. At that time, the website also indicates the drag strip was for sale.

The Nov. 10 real estate auction for the 42-acre site includes a one-eighth-mile concrete strip that was ground and polished in 2014, electronic timing and sensors, and recently renovated restrooms.

Bidding for a separate, online-only auction for personal property opens Nov. 15 and closes Nov. 19. Several tractors and other items related to maintenance and operations are included on the property list.

For more information on the auctions, visit www.woltz.com/auctions/921/.

Consistency and stability, plus the return of a favored track in the Pacific Northwest, highlight INDYCAR’s announcement of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule that again contains 17 races.

Sixteen of the 17 races from this year’s season return in 2018, with most falling in the same spot on the calendar to further capitalize on their date equity. The newcomer to next year’s schedule is Portland International Raceway, which hosted Indy car races under CART and Champ Car sanctions from 1984-2007, including what is still the closest race finish in Indy car history on a road or street course. The Portland event is set for Labor Day weekend in 2018.

The 2018 season will feature the highly anticipated introduction of universal aero kits to be used by all teams. The new kits offer aerodynamics that is expected to make the competition even stronger by allowing cars to run closer together and provide more passing opportunities.

Indicative of its status as the most diverse and demanding racing series, the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule features a virtual even mix of road courses, street courses and ovals. Five temporary street-course races will be held, starting with the season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 11. Six races will be conducted on permanent road courses, including iconic tracks such as Road America and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the Sept. 16 season finale at Sonoma Raceway.

Three races will be held on short ovals, including the last race using the original start/finish line at Phoenix Raceway on April 7. Three will be held on superspeedways, including the centerpiece of the schedule, the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on May 27.

For the official announcement, visit the IndyCar website here. For the complete schedule, visit the IndyCar website here.