NASCAR announced that Brent Dewar has been promoted to the position of president of NASCAR, effective immediately.

Dewar, who joined NASCAR as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2014, becomes only the fourth person in the sport’s history to hold the designation of the president of NASCAR.
 
Dewar’s promotion to president is in following with NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France's vision for a more inclusive and strategic NASCAR. As COO, Dewar led several monumental initiatives and drove strategic development and opportunity at every turn, while developing a strong leadership team centered on industry collaboration and metric-driven results, according to a press release from NASCAR.  
 
“Brent has helped lead a cultural transformation at NASCAR,” said France. “From collaborating with team owners to building the charter framework; to partnering with tracks, auto manufacturers, entitlement sponsors, and broadcasters to deliver better racing and a more dynamic fan experience; he has spearheaded some of the most impactful enhancements NASCAR has implemented in its history. I couldn’t be more thrilled about the impact Brent has had on our industry and I am confident he will continue to help serve and grow our sport for many years to come.”
 
As president, Dewar will continue to serve on the NASCAR Board of Directors and will work closely with France, Lesa France Kennedy and Vice Chairman Mike Helton in setting the strategic course of the business in continued collaboration with key industry leaders. Steve Phelps, Executive Vice President and Chief Global Sales and Marketing Officer, Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer will continue to report into Dewar.
 
Prior to joining NASCAR, Dewar enjoyed a three-decade career as a global automotive executive, leading many successful initiatives, including assignments in Brazil, Europe, North and South America.
 
Dewar, who is active on Twitter (@brentdewar), currently resides with his family in Winter Park, Florida. 

SRI Performance has announced a grand opening celebration for its new facility set to open this month in Brownsburg, Indiana.

An open house tour from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 21 preludes the Grand Opening Party set for Saturday, July 22.

With live music by the Gene Deer Band and guest appearances by NASCAR stars, the event also features complimentary catered BBQ and beverages as well as a NASCAR XFINITY Series watch party from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The location of the new facility is 451 Southpoint Circle, Brownsburg, IN 46112.

SRI Performance is a supplier of new and used racing parts, from chassis parts like ball joints to complete race cars, headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina. For a complete schedule of the Grand Opening Party and more information on the opening, visit here.

Formula 1 will host a major event in London on Wednesday afternoon as part of Liberty Media's attempts to bring the sport closer to the fans.

F1 Live London will see a demonstration around Trafalgar Square and Whitehall in Central London, which owners Liberty Media say "will also mark the first time in Formula 1 history that all 10 teams have come together outside of a race weekend to put on a show for the public."

The event starts at midday with an F1 Schools and Innovation Showcase, including information regarding Formula Student and Dare To Be Different to educate young fans on the careers available in the motorsports industry. Then at 5:30 p.m., all 10 teams will be present with showcars and a demonstration run along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square and back.

The majority of drivers will be making appearances at F1 Live London as well as leading figures within the sport, with F1's managing director of commercial operations, Sean Bratches, saying it will demonstrate how Liberty intends to engage more with fans.

In related Formula 1 news, Sauber has named former Renault team boss Frederic Vasseur as its new team principal, replacing Monisha Kaltenborn.

Vasseur was appointed team principal of Renault upon its return to F1 in 2016, but left the role by mutual consent at the start of this year. Following Kaltenborn's departure from Sauber in June over a disagreement over the future of the team, Vasseur has now been named team principal, as well as taking on the roles of managing director and CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG.

Keystone Automotive Operations, Inc. has welcomed RJS Racing Equipment Inc. and GearWrench Tools to its Speed & Performance and Tools & Equipment line card, respectively.

RJS Racing manufactures safety equipment for various styles of motor racing, including drag, stock car, go-kart, quarter midget, monster truck, boat and off-road. It’s a reliable name in the areas of driving training, auto manufacturing and automobile testing, with most of its products developed in the US, of which Keystone is stocking fuel storage containers.

GearWrench Tools got its start back in 1995, with support from large retailers like Ace Hardware and Sears. It quickly became the go-to brand for industrial-grade tools—from the original Ratcheting Wrench to a full line of professional hand tools.

Keystone is one of the industry’s leading distributor and marketer of aftermarket automotive parts.

Brad Allen, who has been involved in weekly racing most of his adult life, has been named competition director at South Boston Speedway.

He will begin his duties this Saturday night in the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center NASCAR Late Model Twin 75s.

From Late Model Stock and Modified driver to race track general manager to series director, the 52-year-old Allen has built a solid racing reputation throughout the region, and is said to be involved in the sport at most every level.

Allen was the general manager of Ace Speedway near Burlington, N.C., from 2010 through 2015. He’s been the associate race director and safety coordinator with the CARS Tour since its inception in 2015 and is also the series director for both the USAC Eastern Midget Association and the 602 Limited Tour.

“My goal (at South Boston Speedway) is to bring consistency and fairness to one of the most competitive programs in this form of racing, but otherwise be invisible to allow the action and results on the track speak for themselves,” said Allen.

Allen raced late models and modifieds throughout the region as a driver for almost two decades. He scored almost 30 career modified wins at Ace Speedway and won three consecutive track championships there from 2006-2008.

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHOF) has announced the Class of 2017. For the first time in ORMHOF's 40-year history, two new inductees will join family members who have already been inducted.

The Class of 2017 includes motorcycle racing pioneer Dave Ekins, who will join his brother Bud Ekins in the Hall of Fame. Crandon International Off-Road Raceway founder Cliff Flannery will also be inducted this year, joining his brother Jack Flannery in the Hall of Fame. Also being honored with membership in the Hall of Fame this year is desert racing legend Bob Gordon and off-road innovator Bill Savage.

This year's inductees were chosen from a record number of nominations. An independent panel of twenty well-respected individuals from the off-road community reviewed the nomination packets and then cast their votes, independent from the other members of the committee. The Class of 2017 represents the nominees who received votes from at least two-thirds of the committee members. 

Dave Ekins, Cliff Flannery, Bob Gordon and Bill Savage bring the number of inductees in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame to 87. They will be inducted at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame 2017 Induction & Awards Ceremony, presented by SCORE International, on Monday, October 30 at the South Point in Las Vegas. Tickets are available through the Hall of Fame website at www.ormhof.org.

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame has been established to recognize and honor those individuals and organizations whose lifelong contributions to off-road motorsports have set a standard for others to follow, according to ORMHOF.  

For short biographies of each new ORMHOF member, visit here.

Acura Motorsports will join forces with Team Penske to field a prototype effort in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The program will include a pair of new Acura ARX-05 Daytona Prototype International (DPi) entries, fielded under the legendary Team Penske banner.

The official competition debut will take place at the season-opening Rolex 24 in January 2018. Testing of the Acura DPi will begin soon, with a formal unveiling of the ARX-05 slated for Monterey Car Week in August. The driver lineup will be announced at a future date.

The Acura ARX-05 [Acura Racing eXperimental, generation 5] is the latest in a line of endurance prototypes to be fielded by the company dating back to 1991, just five years after the 1986 launch of the Acura brand. Based on the successful ORECA 07 chassis, the new ARX-05 prototype features Acura-specific bodywork and utilizes the race-proven, production-based Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine.

The multi-year program will be administered by Honda Performance Development, the racing arm for both Acura Motorsports and Honda Racing in North America.

Richmond Raceway and International Speedway Corporation (ISC) announced a $30 million infield renovation plan, revealing a project intended to expand fan amenities, modernize other facilities and rebrand the track’s name and logos.

The project, called “Richmond Raceway Reimagined,” is expected to be completed by September 2018, in time for playoff races for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and XFINITY Series.

The majority of Richmond’s proposed facility enhancements are designed to improve fans’ access in the infield at the .75-mile track. A new garage area for NASCAR’s premier series is planned, with a fan viewing walkway, an inspection station overlook and two new garage suites to put fans closer to pre-race preparations.

Other fan conveniences include a new pedestrian tunnel, 80 new RV parking spaces and social engagement areas.

Additionally, Victory Lane will be moved from its current location behind the pit wall to a closer view of the track’s main grandstands. That portion of the project calls for a club level for 80 fans with rooftop access for a front-row seat to Victory Lane celebrations.

Construction on the project begins immediately after the Sept. 9 Monster Energy Series race.

The renovation will follow other recent ISC projects — the 2016 debut of Daytona International Speedway’s Daytona Rising motorsports stadium and ongoing construction at Phoenix Raceway. Like Phoenix, Richmond will drop the “International” designation from its name.

The surface at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be treated with PJ1 TrackBite in advance of this weekend’s NASCAR on-track action in the Granite State.

The PJ1 conditioning, previously called VHT, is a type of resin that will be applied to the very bottom of the track on the yellow lane—this is outside the racing groove, and should encourage drivers to explore running lower outside the main groove—and two lanes above the racing groove.

The expectation is that the additional grip will increase the number of driving lanes and produce more side-by-side racing. PJ1 was used previously this season at Bristol Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The strategy in where to put the traction compound came from both data collected and studied from past races and direct feedback from drivers.

On-track action starts on Friday for what is a quadruple-header. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and K&N Pro Series East will put on their annual summer show Saturday, with the NASCAR XFINITY Series race sandwiched in between at 4 p.m. ET (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, which officially kicks off the second half of the season, is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Audi will be the first German automobile manufacturer to race in Formula E, taking over for the ABT Sportsline team as a factory backed racing team for the 2017/2018 season. Audi joins an increasing number of car brands that are inking their name on the Formula E racing series, such as Renault, Jaguar and Mahindra.

The Allgäu-based ABT Schaeffler has worn the Audi badge since the electric racing series’ inception in 2014 and in the future will be taking care of Audi race cars on race weekends.

ABT has also enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) as a successful tuner of Audis and VWs and as a customer racing team in various European race series.

In December, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler will join the starting grid as the fourth Formula E season kicks off in Hong Kong.

Audi’s synergy with ABT in Formula E begin in 2014 and grew during the 2016/2017 season in the form of financial and technical support, in addition to the team testing and developing the race car at Audi’s purpose built Competence Center Motorsport in Neuburg.

Now, with taking over ABT Sportsline’s entry slot, the final step has been made toward a full-fledged factory commitment which will then be under the team name of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler.

The fourth Formula E season kicks off in Hong Kong on December 2 and will subsequently head to South and North America, Africa as well as the European cities of Rome and Paris.

Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport with its drivers Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi has clinched 23 podium places, including five victories, in the 29 races held to date and is the current runner-up in the 2016/2017 championship.