International Speedway Corporation (ISC) today announced that Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Daniel W. Houser will retire effective November 30, 2016.  Houser will be succeeded by Gregory S. Motto effective December 1, 2016.  Motto currently serves as the Company’s Vice President, Finance and Accounting and Controller.

Houser has served the company in several financial executive roles for 23 years, most recently as CFO since February 2009.  As CFO, HoExxecuuser oversees all financial, tax, treasury and investor relations functions at ISC.  Houser will remain as an advisor to the company through 2017.

Motto has been with ISC since 2000.  He was promoted to Vice President in April 2015 and has served as controller for the company since 2008, with direct responsibility over accounting operations, financial reporting, internal controls and integrated financial planning.  During his time with ISC, Motto has served in a number of roles of increasing responsibility within the finance and accounting functions including Financial Analyst, Assistant Controller and Director of Strategic Planning.

“We thank Dan for his many years of service to ISC, always working to help us maintain a strong balance sheet that enables us to execute our strategic initiatives” said ISC Chief Executive Officer Lesa Kennedy.  “We are very excited to have Greg Motto ready to take over the financial leadership role.  Dan and Greg have worked together for the last 18 months to achieve an efficient and effective transfer of duties.  Greg has the full confidence of Management and our Board of Directors as we move forward.”

International Speedway Corporation is a leading promoter of motorsports activities, currently promoting more than 100 racing events annually as well as numerous other motorsports-related activities.  The company owns and/or operates 13 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities, including Daytona International Speedway in Florida; Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama; Michigan International Speedway located outside Detroit; Richmond International Raceway in Virginia; Auto Club Speedway of Southern California near Los Angeles; Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas; Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona; Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway near Chicago, Illinois;  Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida; Martinsville Speedway in Virginia; Darlington Raceway in South Carolina; and Watkins Glen International in New York. 

For the first time in CARS Tour history, the season opener for the series will kick off at the Concord Speedway located in Concord, North Carolina. The 2017 season will take the green flag the afternoon of March 11 at the triangular shaped half mile track.
 
The race will mark the first of several sweeping changes for the tour as it heads into its third year of existence.  The March 11 date at Concord marks the earliest the tour has started its season and it will be the first time the season opener has been held during the day.  Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, North Carolina has played host to the inaugural CARS Tour race the previous two years.
 
“This is the first announcement regarding our 2017 schedule and provides a preview for what we’ve got coming in 2017. After two very successful years, we anticipate our third season will be even better with what we have coming,” explained an excited Series Director, Chris Ragle. “Concord Speedway is a great place to get things going on the CARS Tour in 2017. It’s a track that’s fast and challenging, but you can really race hard there if you’re not afraid to get up on the wheel.”
 
Additional details and a full release of the 2017 CARS Tour season schedule will be released in the coming days.    
 
Next up for the CARS Tour is the Cloer Construction 300 at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 29. The event will feature up to an additional $7,500 in lap money per division, making it said to be one of the biggest events of the season.

Interested in becoming a lap sponsor? Laps are just $50 per lap and for every six laps you sponsor you will receive your choice of a free pit pass or two free tickets to the event. Contact Chris Ragle at the CARS Tour office by calling 704.662.9212 or via email at chris@carsracingtour.com for more information. To see the upcoming schedule, check www.carsracingtour.com.

Five drivers, two car owners and a race organizer comprise the 2017 class of inductees for the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.

Alphabetically they are: Steve Cannon, Sim Clark, Jay Drake, Billy Garrett, Johnny Mantz, Mitch Miller, Wes Saegesser and Gary Zarounian. They will be officially inducted during ceremonies in Tulsa, OK. on January 14 during the week of the Chili Bowl Nationals Midget event.

Cannon, of Oakwood, Ill., was one of two brothers (Larry) who excelled in motorsports. Especially proficient on the small bullrings of the Midwest, Cannon racked up 21 USAC National Midget wins during his career. A licensed barber in Danville for 50 years, he also was a firefighter and was once named “Firefighter of the Year. He began racing modifieds in the early 1960s and in 1974 he won USAC’s Indoor Midget title. He succumbed to Parkinsons Disease in 2015.

Clark, after a stint with ARDC on the East coast in the pre and post-war era, moved to California and excelled as a car owner. In 1951 he won the Indoor BCRA Midget car owner title with Ed Normi as the driver. Later, he fielded title winning cars for Tommy Copp indoors in 1959 and 1961, plus full titles for Dick Atkins in 1964, Bob DeJong in 1969 and Hank Butcher in 1971 and 1972. One of his early hot-shoes was also Billy Vukovich, Jr.

Drake, another transplanted Californian, had tremendous success not only in USAC’s National Midget Series, where he scored 17 victories, but also in the Silver Crown cars (5 wins) and Sprint Cars (25 wins). USAC’s 1990 and 1991 TQ Midget Champ and 1996 Western States Midget king, he went on to claim the 2004 USAC Sprint Car crown. Named the USAC National Midget Most Improved driver, he won the 2000 Hut Hundred and the 2001 Chili Bowl. He also competed in the Infiniti Pro Series. In 2000 he was the USAC Indiana Sprint Week Champ

Garrett, born in Princeton, Ill. in 1933, won the 1954 and 1955 URA Midget Championship and graduated to Championship cars where he started the 1956 ad 1958 Indianapolis 500s He finished 16th in 1956 but encountered mechanical problems in 1958. He suffered critical injuries in the 1958 100-mile championship race at the Milwaukee Mile and never fully recovered. He passed away in 1999 in California.

Mantz, born in Hebron, Ind., earned reknown for his exploits in the National Championship and Stock Car series, although his expertise spanned several motorsports venues. A top-ranking URA Midget driver, he was second in the 1947 Blue (Offy) circuit and fourth in the Red (Non-Racing Engines) Circuit. He debuted in the Indianapolis 500 in 1948, then returned and finished seventh in the 1949 race. In 1956 he earned the inaugural championship of the very competitive USAC National Stock Car Series. In 1950 he became the first winner of the famous “Southern 500” NASCAR race at Darlington, S.C. He was fatally injured in a highway crash in 1972.

Miller, a Colorado motorsports icon, is credited with having founded the prestigious “Belleville Midget Nationals” in 1978, a race which continues to this day. He has long been associated with the sport, was heavily involved with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association (RMMS) and organized the Southwest Independent Midget Series (SWIMS) and the AIMS. Between 1966 and 1984 he served as a seven-time President of RMMRA as well as Competition Director and Business Manager. He is a member of the Colorado and Belleville High Banks Motorsports Halls of Fame.

Saegesser, who eventually took a post as the AAA Southwest Zone Supervisor in the 1940s, retired from driving in 1950 after a long and distinguished Midget racing career that included more than a hundred feature victories. He scored wins in 11 states and Canada and his first win came at Kansas City in 1937. He was the 1937 Southwest and Tulsa Midget Champion, then won the 1942 Texas/Oklahoma title and was the Houston Speed Bowl king in 1942. All this while competing with a shortened left arm which sported no hand!

Zarounian, whose family built car dealerships in central California, immersed himself in not only auto racing but also in numerous business ventures and in 1976 he competed in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Nev. The Zarounian team hired the best drivers in the business and their success was immense. In addition to eight USAC Silver Crown victories and 11 in the USAC National Midget wars, they fielded cars for drivers like Sleepy Tripp, who racked up two National and seven Western States titles. During the 1980s and 1990s the Tripp-Zarounian Western team was nearly unbeatable. In 1990 Jeff Gordon also posted a victory at Ascot Park in Gardena, Calif. driving a Zarounian Midget. George passed away in 2014 at the age of 93.

In other Hall of Fame news, Tommy Hunt and Kevin Triplett have been added to the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Board of Directors.

The COMP Performance Group (CPG) has recently announced a partnership with the inaugural Gateway Dirt Nationals to provide support and exposure during the unique event.

Scheduled for December 15-17 at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, the event will bring hundreds of Dirt Late Models and Modifieds under one roof in the Midwest. The best of the best in both classes plan to compete for both bragging rights and a big check. CPG’s COMP Cams, FAST and Quarter Master brands all will contribute to three-day affair’s success.

“We are always looking for new and unique ways to reach both automotive enthusiasts and the racers themselves,” said Chris Douglas, COMP Performance Group VP of Marketing.

“The Gateway Dirt Nationals will not only be a spectacle for fans, the vast majority of competitors will be utilizing parts from the COMP Performance Group family. Those are just a couple of the reasons why we’re proud to be associated with dirt racing’s latest marquee event.”

Among the entrants are defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Champion Jonathan Davenport, Dirt Late Model Hall of Famers Scott Bloomquist and Billy Moyer, and recent World 100 winner Bobby Pierce. On the Modified side, former NASCAR driver and current TV personality Kenny Wallacce tops the list of notable entrants.

For more information, a full entry list and tickets, visit www.gatewaydirt.com.

Andy Hoffman, founder of the Nebraska-based Team Jack Foundation dedicated to funding pediatric brain cancer research, was the recipient of The NASCAR Foundation’s sixth annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide on Tuesday night, during The Foundation’s inaugural Honors Gala at the Marriott Marquis.

This year’s award presentation is the highlight of the “10 Years of Giving” celebration for The NASCAR Foundation, which has donated approximately $25 million to impact the lives of children since its inception in 2006. The Honors Gala raised more than $1.6 million to benefit hospitalized children across the country through the recently established Speediatrics Children’s Fund.

The award is presented to a NASCAR fan who has done outstanding work on behalf of children in need in their community. The award honors the philanthropic ideals of the late Betty Jane France, who started The NASCAR Foundation in 2006.

The NASCAR Foundation will donate $100,000 to “Team Jack,” which was founded by Hoffman and his wife Brianna in 2013, two years after their son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Team Jack works to raise research funds and create national awareness of pediatric brain cancer.

Hoffman, from Atkinson, Nebraska, was chosen via an online fan vote on NASCAR.com.

“I am humbled to have won the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award,” Hoffman said. “Receiving this award is truly a reflection of all of those amazing people that helped support the Team Jack Foundation since day one. Winning this award, literally, could be the difference between life or death for a child someday. Our hope is that the $100,000 donation will provide the seed money for us to help fund yet another clinical trial.”

There were three other finalists for the award; each will receive $25,000 from The NASCAR Foundation for the charity they represent. Those finalists: Jim Giaccone of Bayville, New York, representing the New York-based Tuesday’s Children organization; Logan Houptley of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a founding member of the Mikayla’s Voice organization in Nazareth, Pennsylvania; and Parker White of Greensboro, North Carolina, founder of BackPack Beginnings.

Officials with VP Racing Fuels announced a retail branding partnership with Andre Hardy, owner and operator of Montauk Native Gas located in Mastic, New York.  

Effective with its reimaging, Hardy’s station will be the first on Long Island to brand with VP as well as the first to distribute VP’s race fuel blends on the island.  The station also co-sponsors an NHRA Funny Car and a Top Alcohol Funny Car team, both of which will provide marketing support for the station and the VP Racing Fuels brand.
 
“We look forward to making VP’s race fuels available to all the performance enthusiasts on Long Island who until now had a difficult time getting access to them.  With our location on the water, we also anticipate supplying a great number of the marinas and boating enthusiasts in the area.

“Our plans include adding a speed shop to our Montauk Native Gas site providing customers with a source for engines, parts and accessories, along with race fuels for their racing needs.  Over time we plan to brand additional stations on Long Island with VP as well,” Hardy said.
 
“We’re thrilled to partner with Andre and his team in what promises to be a perfect marriage of business models,” said Alan Cerwick, President of VP Racing Fuels.  “There are tremendous synergies between Montauk Native Gas, Andre’s racing program and our retail branding program, and by leveraging the strength of the VP Racing Fuels brand, all will benefit greatly.”


 

Electric vehicle racing began with Formula E and now there is another all-electric racing league about to hit the streets.

The Electric GT (EGT) Championship will field 10 different teams and a total of 20 drivers, all of which will use identically prepared Tesla Model S race cars, at least for the first season of racing. The race cars have been teased by the league a few times before, but now we can see the whole package, complete with a large spoiler in the back and some wide fender flares.

A series of four videos have been released to show the process that the cars go through to become race cars. Each one is tripped right down and built back up again with the latest OMP safety equipment and a set of customer Pirelli race tires.

The EGT will show off its new race car for the first time to the public on September 27 in Ibiza, Spain. The actual race championship will begin sometime in 2017 and will hit seven major European circuits including the Nürburgring and Circuit de Catalunya. There will be North American events, though they won’t be involved in the championship race.

Originally reported by Auto Guide.

Paris Drag Strip, located in Paris, TX, has renewed its long standing NHRA Member Track Network participation in advance of the 2017 season when the facility reopens under new management. The track is part of Division 4, the South Central division. 

 

Randy Boren, owner-operator of the Paris Drag Strip, is reopening the track which was originally opened in 1964. He is preparing the facility to host a wide range of events next year beginning in early March. Paris Drag Strip has been part of the NHRA Member Track Network in the past and their dedication to the sport of NHRA Drag Racing is a key reason the facility will again be part of the expansive network.

 

The family run facility is an eighth-mile track and he along with his wife Kristy, daughter Leah and son Drew is rapidly building towards the season. 

 

“We welcome Paris Drag Strip back to the NHRA Member Track family,” said Trey Capps, NHRA Division 4 Director. “The reopening of Paris Drag Strip will be an exciting time for the racers in East Texas and the surrounding areas.”

 

As an NHRA-sanctioned track, the facility will be eligible to offer racers a variety of NHRA racing opportunities, including the NHRA Summit Racing Series, the NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League, NHRA Jr. Street and the NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style presented by AAA.  Additionally, the track has the opportunity to host NHRA’s specialty events including the National Dragser Challenge, NHRA Summit King of the Track, and NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League Challenge, where racers compete for the coveted Wally trophy.

 

NHRA’s Division 4, the South Central Division, features tracks from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. Division 4 facilities host NHRA-sanctioned competitions throughout the year. For more information including schedules, point standings and more, go to the Division 4 website: www.nhradiv4.com.

 

One of the world’s most recognizable automotive companies, BMW, has announced that it will be joining the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2018.

As part of its global motorsport strategy, BMW will enter the LMGTE category alongside current prestigious manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford, and Porsche. Its entry in the world championship will also mark a return to the cornerstone of the WEC, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for the first time since 2011.

BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt commented: “Starting with the 2018 season, we want to further expand our activities in GT racing and compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship... This obviously also includes our return to Le Mans, which we are particularly looking forward to. The way the WEC has developed so well makes us confident that there is a big future for GT racing.”

Further details about the program will be announced at a future date. For more details, visit BMW Motorsport.

Quick Fuel Technology (QFT) announced that it was awarded the “2016 Manufacturer of the Year” by the Performance Warehouse Association (PWA). This is the 41st year that the PWA has made this award and the list of past recipients reads like an iconic who’s who of aftermarket companies.

A rewarding aspect of the PWA Manufacturer of the Year award is that ballots cast by aftermarket resellers decide the winner.

By industry standards, QFT is a relative newcomer, not quite 20 years old. But QFT founder Marvin Benoit and its loyal employees have pioneered huge innovations for both racers and street performance enthusiasts.

By keeping its dealer’s needs always at the forefront, QFT has delivered innovative products from its entry level Slayer Series of street carburetors, to its mammoth 1450cfm QFX race carbs.

Another possible factor to winning this award is that QFT has been a supporter of PWA’s initiatives to provide training seminars, both in person and online, and attends many shows and races across the country to familiarize enthusiasts with its products.

QFT Sales Director Mark Wells stated, “Quick Fuel Technology is thrilled to receive this award. I’m proud of our sales people and reps that deserve a lot of the credit, but it is the personal touch that emanates from the entire QFT team that sets our company apart. Everyone cares about the product quality and the end-user’s satisfaction”.