The Sports Car Club of America, in conjunction with the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States, has announced the arrival of FIA Formula 4 competition in the US, with SCCA Pro Racing to organize and sanction a five-venue, 15-race professional series starting in 2016.

SCCA Pro Racing will partner with chassis manufacturer Crawford Composites, engine supplier Honda Performance Development and Pirelli Tire North America to develop the spec chassis/engine/tire package to be utilized in the new series, which will be homologated in accordance with Federation International de l’Automobile Formula 4 specification.

“Along with the FIA, SCCA Pro Racing sees the cost of racing equipment and operations as significant limiting factors in open-wheel racing participation,” said Robert Clarke, President of SCCA Pro Racing. “The model for F4, based on a simple, yet contemporary vehicle, with strict price controls, is designed to entice new young drivers from karting into cars. We are excited about bringing this opportunity to the United States and the aspiring young racer.”

The F4 United States Championship will join FIA Formula 4 championships already established in Australia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Northern Europe and the United Kingdom; with other new championships soon to be launched in Mexico, Southeast Asia and Spain.

“Given the global reach of Formula 4, it is both natural and essential that the category arrives in the United States,” said Stefano Domenicali, president of the FIA Single Seater Commission. “By introducing Formula 4, the hope is that more Americans get experience that proves valuable as they look to develop their careers. On behalf of the FIA, I must thank everybody at ACCUS, SCCA Pro Racing, and their partners for bringing FIA Formula 4 to the United States.”

The series will utilize the new, American-built Crawford carbon-composite chassis and Honda K20 C1 2.0-liter engine, producing the FIA-mandated 160 PS (158 bhp). Pirelli PZero racing radial tires complete the package, now undergoing FIA homologation, which will meet the FIA price cap of US$45,000 for the chassis, including paddle shifters, data acquisition and camera. The Honda engine will carry a one-year lease price of US$6,600. Tires will be priced at approximately US$250 apiece, with a maximum allotment of six tires (three front, three rear) per race weekend.

“We are extremely honored to be selected as the United States F4 chassis manufacturer” said Max Crawford, President, Crawford Composites. “We have been designing and manufacturing carbon chassis components and complete carbon chassis for over 25 years for the highest level of motorsports. To be involved in this program, with partners like Honda and Pirelli, that focuses on attracting youthful energy and talent to open-wheel racing, is very exciting. We look forward to building a strong program together with SCCA Pro Racing and our partners.”

“We are pleased to partner with the FIA and SCCA on the launch of the United States F4 Championship series, which further reinforces Honda’s long standing commitment to open wheel racing in America,” said Steve Eriksen, vice president and COO of HPD. “The new Honda K20 engine will provide a fun, reliable, and cost-effective solution to power the dreams of racers honing their skills for a future in racing.”

“I would like to thank the SCCA and partners for their support in selecting us to supply the tires for this championship,” said Rafael Navarro, vice president, communications and motorsports, Pirelli Tire North America. “This series is a logical next step for Pirelli, and is consistent with the company’s philosophy of promoting young talent. We look forward to working with the partners to build a successful and visible program that helps develop and propel future generations of competitors.”

Intended as the “first step out of karting” for young racers, additional FIA requirements for Formula 4 include consistent organizational standards, technical fairness, stability and cost containment, with a full season of F4 United States Championship competition anticipated to cost approximately US$115,000 in 2016.

“Formula 4 and our continued FIA relationship represent our vision of the future for SCCA Pro Racing, one that will enable young drivers to become the top echelon of racers for tomorrow,” said Lisa Noble, SCCA president. “Embracing F4 and our dedicated Series partners gives SCCA Pro Racing the next step toward building that vision with a very exciting and modern race car package and the F4 United States Championship.”

The National Sprint League has announced plans to launch the GOMUDDY.COM 360 Sprint Car Series in 2016.

The series will boast a unique $500,000+ point fund called the Cash Bowl. Each driver competing in any GOMUDDY.COM NSL sanctioned events accumulates points and dollars based on their finishing position in features. The unique structure allows a competitor to race in any region and participate in any given scheduled NSL event and accumulate points and dollars to be paid out of the Cash Bowl.

The Cash Bowl point structure has been established for regional events and also national events. The GOMUDDY.COM National Sprint League is well on its way to scheduling more than 150 regional events and more than six National events. The National events will boast a $50,000 two-day purse and also triple Cash Bowl points.

Detailed information on the GOMUDDY.COM NSL 360 series is available at www.nationalsprintleague.com. Go to the Rules/Downloads page on the website for more information on minimum race purses, Cash Bowl awards and requirements.

“I think we have come up with a great concept for all racers that will run NSL events around the country,” said NSL National Director Tommie Estes.  “It’s going to be a very exciting year in 2016”

“We are super excited to announce our GOMUDDY.COM NSL 360 series for 2016,” said series founder Tod Quiring.  “We have put together an extremely unique program for this series that will allow every NSL competitor in the country to compete in as many of our NSL sanctioned events as they desire and accumulate points and money to be paid as a bonus from our $500,000+ Cash Bowl. The NSL events will also be extremely affordable for the promoter. Our NSL series is very financially strong and we are planning to continue to add programs that are fan friendly and also give back to our loyal competitors.  In our series the more you race the better you finish the more points you accumulate the more money you receive out of the Cash Bowl.  This has been long overdue.”

Stateline Motorsports Park, Inc. is officially the new owner of Stateline Speedway.

Former longtime racers Brian Horner and Jim Scott and Scott's wife, Jean, who had been operating under a lease deal they reached with Seamens Speedway Inc., in August, finalized the purchase agreement for the Busti, New York, dirt track this week.

Jean Scott called it an "overwhelming" and "humbling" moment.

The sale capped a tumultuous summer at the 59-year-old facility, which closed July 2 because of a lapse in insurance coverage under the previous leaseholder, Short Track Management, LLC, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and remained dormant until the first event under the new management team September 5.

Stateline ends its abbreviated season today with an event featuring a $3000-to-win Super Late Model race and $1000 top prize for the RUSH Crate Late Models. The go-kart season ends September 19.

Track officials next will begin plans to lay a new clay surface.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series events at Plymouth Speedway and Utica-Rome Speedway, originally scheduled for October, have been postponed to 2016.

Plymouth (Indiana) Speedway’s event was scheduled for Saturday, October 16. As Plymouth undergoes extensive construction to improve the facility, delays have made it impossible to go forward with the Outlaws event. Construction is expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year.

A number of factors and unforeseen circumstances have also led to the postponement until 2016 of the originally scheduled Sunday, October 25 event at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York.

Both events are expected to be rescheduled during the 2016 season. The schedule for the 2016 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season will be released during the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, December 10–12.

If there is one racing industry topic we should all be discussing, and sharing our best strategies, it is email marketing. Back in the primitive days before the internet, PRI magazine editorial profiles of the best racing retailers always contained a few paragraphs on their practices of collecting postal addresses for prospects and customers. It was no coincidence that the best collectors of customer contact information were also the best retailers of racing products. Technology has progressed, and now the email address is the marketing gold once represented by postal addresses.

Last year, the PRI Trade Show moved to a new registration process where we asked for an individual email address for every registrant. We promised to keep the email address confidential only to PRI, and we have done that. This summer, largely due to the change in registration last year, the number of racing industry members receiving PRI email messages has grown by 50%. Previously, we would promote attendance for the Show to just the owners of racing industry organizations. Now, we are working to promote the value of the PRI Trade Show to essentially everyone in the racing industry who has influence in the purchase of racing parts. If marketing is pictured as a megaphone, then our megaphone just grew from handheld to one bolted to a truck. (I should also mention here that print advertising still does the 'heavy lifting' in attendance development for the PRI Show, beginning with PRI magazine and including 30 other racing publications).

Developing the email list on a regular basis is important, but two other key elements are timing and content. For email marketing to function at a maximum level, you must also focus on the open rate. Bombard people with emails with content that lacks urgency or interest, and you will be shutting off the valve to this valuable pipeline. The e-newsletter is an effective way to batch messages, while also serving to strengthen the connection with customers by proving to be a valued source of information. PRI publishes one e-newsletter per month until about six months before the PRI Trade Show, when we add another e-newsletter per month that is strictly about the Show. The open rate remains strongly above 20%—far above accepted standards—and we cherish that fact, and feel great responsibility with every e-newsletter to deserve the interest and attention of industry folks.

We certainly don't know everything about email marketing at PRI. It is a subject on our 'to do' list when we participate in educational events for professionals in the business of trade shows. We have regular conversations with our marketing cousins on the SEMA side. And it's a conversation we'll have with racing industry marketers, too, at various gatherings, including the PRI Trade Show.

PRI currently uses Constant Contact for its email service. It's a big help in managing the email list, such as allowing individuals to opt out of being contacted in the future. It's fairly easy to design an interesting e-newsletter using Constant Contact, and then get an instant measurement of how effective the e-newsletter was in communicating its message.

If effective email marketing strategies interest you as much as they do me, then I'd like to invite you to join me in attending a seminar on Friday morning at the PRI Trade Show about email marketing, presented by Erin Bemis, a represented of Constant Contact. The seminar begins at 8 a.m., and is offered by PRI at no charge.

It's an exciting, changing area of marketing right now, with some severe penalties if you don't get it right. For the most part, email marketing today seems to begin with the measure of respect with which you hold the recipients. Give them their due when it comes to respect, and you should do fine.

Impact Racing has relocated its sales offices to its factory site, located between the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

The Impact Racing factory and sales offices encompass three buildings, totaling 50,000 square feet on four acres.

“Consolidating our sales and manufacturing onto one campus will provide Impact with improved efficiencies ultimately benefiting you, our valued customer, with a streamlined customer support experience,” according to a company release. “While our physical address may have changed, our customer sales and support phone numbers did not.”

The company’s new address is 7991 West 21st St., Indianapolis, IN 46214. This is also its new mailing address.

For more information, visit www.impactraceproducts.com.

Santa Ana, California-based National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) has announced the official schedule for its 2016 season.

"We're thrilled about this exciting schedule for next year," said National Event Director Rollie Miller. "We have a great group of track partners and host cities that are all excited about our lineup of events for the coming year."

NMCA is home to the "World's Fastest Street Cars" for some of the fastest and most competitive grassroots drag racing in the US. Each NMCA event also includes huge all-American car shows, giant manufacturers midways, vendors and burnout contests, as well as popular featured events such as the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series, Dave Duell Classic, Super Bowl Shootout and more.
 
March 10-13, 2016
14th ANNUAL NMCA MUSCLE CAR MAYHEM
* Bradenton Motorsports Park, Bradenton, FL
Special features include: Pro Mod Warm-Up, Cobra Jet Showdown and Outlaw 632 Shootout
 
April 7-10, 2016
8th ANNUAL NMRA/NMCA ALL-STAR NATIONALS
* Atlanta Dragway, Commerce, GA
Special features include: Sealed Stock Shootout for the Sealed Stock Manufacturers Cup and Open Comp Shootout
 
May 12-15, 2016
15th ANNUAL NMCA BLUEGRASS NATIONALS
* Beech Bend Raceway, Bowling Green, KY
Special features include: Dave Duell Nostalgia Super Stock Classic and Blue Grass Stick Shift Shootout (all makes)
 
June 23-26, 2016
15th ANNUAL NMCA ALL-AMERICAN NATIONALS FEATURING THE 10th ANNUAL CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE SHOOTOUT
* Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis, IN
Special features include: Nostalgia Super Stock Shootout and Class Eliminations at Indy
 
July 28-31, 2016
11th ANNUAL NMRA/NMCA SUPER BOWL OF STREET-LEGAL DRAG RACING
* Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, IL
Special features include: F.A.S.T. Shootout (Factory Appearing Stock Tire) and Super Bowl Shootout
 
August 25-28, 2016
14th ANNUAL NMCA WORLD STREET FINALS FEATURING THE CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE CHALLENGE SERIES
* Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, OH
Special features include: Cobra Jet Showdown - Warm Up for Indy and F.A.S.T. Shootout (Factory Appearing Stock Tire)
 
SPECIAL EVENT:
June 3-5, 2016
CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE NATIONALS PRESENTED BY SCOGGIN-DICKEY PARTS CENTER
* Atlanta Dragway, Commerce, GA
Special features include: Biggest All-GM 2-day Bracket Race with huge purses and prizes

For more information about the NMCA, visit www.NMCAdigital.com.

The addition of heat races and the announcement of Grand Marshal Ron Shuman are the latest developments for the 75th running of one of America’s most revered motorsports events—the “Turkey Night Grand Prix”—which unfolds November 26 at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.

For the first time since its inception in 1934, “Turkey Night” will incorporate a full normal Honda USAC National Midget Series racing program, with qualifying, heat races, semi-features and the 98-lap main event on the half-mile dirt Perris oval.

Tradition has always dictated that top qualifiers have “locked into” the feature and the rest have competed in preliminary races to complete the feature starting field. This year, however, all cars and drivers will compete in the preliminary races to format the starting field.

Eight-time race winner Ron Shuman of Tempe, Ariz. has agreed to serve as the Grand Marshal for this historic running of the race. He triumphed at Ascot Park Speedway in Gardena, Calif., in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984 and 1987 and also won at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway in 1992 and 1993. In 1986 Shuman led at the white-flag lap, but a flat tire in the final corner left him in second behind Warren Mockler at the checkered flag.

The November 26 race concludes the 2015 Honda USAC National and Western Midget calendars and will include the crowning of a pair of USAC champions.

For more, visit www.usacracing.com.

The Austin Hatcher Foundation is now under the umbrella of charities supported by SEMA Cares, a nonprofit organization that brings the performance and specialty equipment auto industry together to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Since the establishment of SEMA Cares in 2007, the 501[c](3) organization has raised more than $1 million for charities and nonprofits, including Childhelp, Victory Junction and the Aftermarket Foundation.

“Our industry has a strong sense of community, and charitable giving is the sort of community activity that joins us together,” said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. “SEMA Cares unites the industry for a great cause, and we look forward to working with the Austin Hatcher Foundation to further these efforts.”

Founded nearly 10 years ago, the Austin Hatcher Foundation provides programs and services to help children suffering from cancer. The organization is dedicated to setting new standards for creative collaboration in the fight against pediatric cancer and partners with many SEMA member and automotive-related companies.

“SEMA Cares is happy to support the Austin Hatcher Foundation,” said SEMA Cares Chairperson Luanne Brown. “The Austin Hatcher Foundation’s mission aligns perfectly with SEMA Cares’ goals, and they are already actively involved with the SEMA industry.”

SEMA Cares raises funds throughout the year through events such as the SEMA Pinewood Drag Races, various project vehicle builds and more. To learn more about SEMA Cares, visit sema.org/sema-cares.

Performance Racing Industry is owned by SEMA.

The International Speedway Corporation has declined to make a proposal on managing Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca according to Monterey County Supervisor Dave Potter.

The county, which owns Laguna Seca, had been in a 90-day due diligence phase with the Daytona Beach-based ISC, a precursor to any potential management agreement. The Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula has managed the track since it’s inception in 1957. But the nonprofit organization has struggled financially in recent years, losing its MotoGP motorcycle race.

County officials said SCRAMP had been managing the raceway on a monthly renewal basis since early last year while the county considered the facility’s long-term future.

Potter says he supports suggestion that a request for proposals be issued for the Laguna Seca raceway management/concession contract.