The third Dan Wheldon Memorial Pro-Am Karting Challenge will return to New Castle Motorsports Park, in New Castle, Indiana, on September 19, featuring Verizon IndyCar Series and Mazda Road to Indy drivers competing on the serpentine track.

Scott Dixon, Sarah Fisher, Ed Carpenter and Sebastian Saavedra are among the drivers who have committed to participating in the event, along with corporate partners Firestone, Comfort Revolution, Target, Machine of Awesome and Performance Service Tire Company.

The race is a fundraiser for The Dan Wheldon Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Association—a cause close to Wheldon’s heart after his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2008. She passed away in April 2014.

The event has raised over $165,000 to establish The Sue Wheldon Fund, which has supported a New Investigator Research Grant and early-stage programs of the Greater Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association as well as the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter’s care and support programs.

The event features 20 corporate-sponsored teams consisting of one professional driver and three amateur drivers in a timed two-hour race. Karts for the final stint will be driven by the professional racers. Fans are invited, with a driver autograph session a part of the day's activities.

“When we started this event in 2013, we did it to honor Dan’s legacy with support for charities that were near to his heart,” said his widow Susie Wheldon. “I’m amazed and humbled at what we’ve accomplished in just two short years and it is exciting to see the event grow and for everyone to have such a good time raising money for the Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Association. I really hope we can fill all 20 spots this year in order to raise the bar for 2016 and continue to touch lives through Dan’s legacy."

For more information, address inquiries to info@newcastleraceway.com.

NHRA and the Automobile Club of Southern California have announced an extension of their long-running partnership through 2020. The multitiered sponsorship package is a comprehensive program that touches many facets of NHRA’s business, including race entitlements and track sponsorships.

Highlighting the business relationship is an extension of Auto Club’s entitlement of Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and one of the storied venue’s two annual NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events—the season finale Auto Club NHRA Finals. The extended partnership also includes presenting sponsorship of the popular NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style program, designed to provide safe alternatives to illegal street racing, and continuing the Auto Club’s partnership with the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum.

“NHRA and the Automobile Club of Southern California have a long and proud relationship based on shared values,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA president. “Their deep involvement with the NHRA has a positive impact on nearly every part of our business from the grassroots level all the way to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Words simply can’t describe our appreciation for their support.”

“There is a close alignment between the objectives of the Auto Club and those of the NHRA,” said R. Wendy Sabins, senior vice president of marketing, product management, and publishing for the Auto Club. “We each place a premium on automotive safety on the track and in the community. We look forward to building on this synergy.” 
 
The Automobile Club of Southern California involvement with NHRA spans 21 years, beginning in 1994 as a sponsor of the national Jr. Dragster competition.

Motovicity Distribution, an automotive performance aftermarket distributor, formally launched a new industry first contingency sponsorship program earlier this year to support and recognize the racing efforts of its customers.

Since January 1, 2015, Motovicity has paid out more than $20,000 to customers with qualifying wins of 3rd place or better.

“We’ve invested a significant amount of time and money into this program by taking an inclusive approach that doesn’t favor one customer over another,” said Motovicity Marketing Manager Brett Kinsfather. “Everyone at Motovicity is proud of the success so many of our customers have at the track, and it’s rewarding to see them invest their winnings back into their business’ racing endeavors.”

The qualifying series for the contingency sponsorship cover all types of racing. The most qualifying finishes have come from Import Face Off, Sports Car Club of America, and National Auto Sport Association, but Motovicity has seen other podium finishes in Chumpcar, Redline Time Attack, Texas 2K, and other series as well.

When asked about Motovicity’s contingency program, Myles Kerr, of English Racing said, “The amount I spend on my car before or after a race can be a pretty large number. The contingency program is a great way to give back to their customers. All of our shop cars are signed up this year, and we have won a total of four events with over $2,500 in contingency already! Not many companies offer this, which is why we love it so much!”

Matthew Hurlbut, of SpeedFactory Tuning & Race Fabrication, has also taken advantage of the program. According to Hurlbut, “The Motovicity contingency program has worked great for us at SpeedFactory. We have won a few races this season and receiving credit on our account for those wins helps with our many purchases. This program is really easy to use. We just send in the required paperwork and follow the system to complete the process. It’s very smooth and the people at Motovicity that I have dealt with have been great.”

For more information on the Motovicity Contingency Sponsorship Program, Motovicity customers can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN-BDC7EWKE for a video explanation of the program or contact their MotoRep by calling 888.SPEED.16.

The Verizon IndyCar Series has informed its competitors of a new rule that could seriously impact the ability for drivers and team principals to speak candidly.

Series boss Mark Miles promised changes would be forthcoming after the Fontana oval race where members of the IndyCar paddock spoke out against the rules that produced 500 harrowing miles of racing, and with further comments criticizing the short IndyCar schedule and other aspects of the series, a new rule has been produced that could be interpreted as a gag order.

Rule 9.3.8, Detrimental Competitor Conduct, states:

Competitors must be respectful, professional, fair and courteous to others. At all times, Competitors must not, attempt to, or engage in conduct or statements that in the judgment of INDYCAR:

a) Threatens or denigrates any Official, fellow Competitor or the INDYCAR brand;

b) Calls into question the integrity or legitimacy of the Rules or their application, construction or interpretation;

c) Denigrates the IndyCar Series racing schedule or Event(s);

d) Threatens or denigrates any INDYCAR business relationship, including those with sponsors or broadcasters;

e) Otherwise threatens the integrity, reputation or public confidence of the sport, INDYCAR, or IndyCar Series.

With a set of guidelines that demands respect and courtesy and prohibits criticism of officials, competitors, the rules, how those rules are used, the schedule, sponsors, ABC and NBC, or diminishes an intangible like "public confidence of the sport," the series has apparently limited its paddock to answers that are neutral or positive.

Based upon the highly definitive list of offending comments produced by IndyCar, members of the media can also expect to work from a narrow scope of questions that would produce answers that comply with Rule 9.3.8.

No guidelines were provided for penalties if any portions of Rule 9.3.8 are violated.

Reached for comment on the new rule, one IndyCar team owner, who asked to remain anonymous, said "No comment."

Update:

Asked for clarification of its new rule, revealed earlier, that appeared to seriously impact the ability for drivers and team principals to speak candidly, IndyCar released the following statement from Hulman & Company CEO Mark Miles regarding INDYCAR Rule 9.3.8:

"This rule is not a gag order. We recognize that controversy, tension and drama all have a place in motorsport today. Our drivers are competitors and we have no interest in eliminating the emotion and passion that is an integral part of our sport—or limit the content for media covering INDYCAR.

"As an example, some have speculated that the exchange between Ed Carpenter and Sage Karam last Saturday at Iowa Speedway would result in penalty under this new rule—that is not the case. We feel exchanges of that manner do not cross the line and instead highlight the intensity of Verizon IndyCar Series competition. We feel it's our responsibility to distinguish between irresponsible statements that damage the sport or its competitors and the intense competitive nature of the series. This rule is to ensure we have authority to act when we feel it is required."

For the second year in a row, organizers of the time trials on the Bonneville Salt Flats have canceled Speed Week.

A statement circulated by the Southern California Timing Association said the condition of the salt flats limited the event to a single track of 2.5 miles. Organizers had said they needed at least one, 3-mile track in order to proceed.

Almost 600 people had pre-registered to race at this summer's event, which was scheduled to begin on August 8, according to Russ Eyers, a member of the SCTA. If it had gone forward, next month's event would have been one of the largest in its decades-long history.

Many of those racers and their teams had already paid for hotel reservations, and some overseas drivers had already shipped their vehicles to Utah for the event.

The decision—and a possible pattern of wet and muddy salt—left business owners and government leaders in Wendover worried about the future.

Wendover Mayor Mike Crawford, a life-long racing enthusiast and the owner of a local car parts store, said he's fielded questions from businesses.

Casinos in West Wendover, Nevada, will continue to draw traffic from Salt Lake City, Crawford said. But on the east side of the community, the revenue from Speed Week is what gets a lot of local hotels and businesses from one year to the next.

The mayor estimated that the city itself lost $25,000 in tax revenue after the 2014 Speed Week cancellation.

This year's reversal has locals even more worried—and not just because of the loss of revenue. Crawford said there is some concern about whether the racers will return to the salt flats if events continue to be called off.

Three other racing events are scheduled this season and have not been canceled, Crawford said, but Speed Week is the best known.

"This will make it three years since they've been able to race some of these cars," he said.

Crawford was with representatives of the timing association when they decided to cancel the races. Racers say the mud has covered 6 miles of the area they turn into a race track each year.

As a long-time Wendover resident, Crawford said he's seen that happen before. But in 40 years, he's never seen the mud flow on top of the salt flats last for an entire year.

The racers also are worried about dangerously thin salt. Last week, the BLM concluded there are areas on the flats where the salt is extremely thin or missing entirely, revealing the quick-sand gypsum mud that lies below the salt crust.

Some racers believe the mineral extraction industry—and the federal Bureau of Land Management engineers who sign off on their permits—are responsible for depleting salt concentrations over the course of several decades.

But Crawford said Wendover residents aren't as quick to complain about the extraction industry. For one thing, he said, they work for those mining companies.

"If they stop racing, nobody in their family is going to go hungry," Crawford said.
And Wendover isn't about to blame the BLM, either, he said.

A $5000 winner’s share of the purse and a $10,000 cash bonus posted by Shepherd Insurance will make this Saturday night’s inaugural Tony Stewart Midget Classic at the Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome a signature event as part of the activities surrounding this weekend’s Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Saluting the USAC Triple Crown Champion who was Rookie of the Year in the track’s 1991 USAC Regional Midget Series, this race hopes to spearhead a resurgence of pavement midget racing in America. The 100-lap feature race is slated for a 9 p.m. green flag following a full day of preliminary activities.

Also on the docket is the 2015 USAC Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m. on the track’s front stretch. Inductees among the fourth class to be honored this year are Clint Brawner, Jimmy Caruthers, Butch Hartman, Lindsey Hopkins, Jim Hurtubise, Don Kenyon, Sheldon Kinser, Fred Lorenzen, Roger Penske, Larry Rice, Shorty Templeman and Sleepy Tripp.

Kyle O’Gara and Kyle Hamilton are among early favorites for Saturday’s race. O’Gara, brother-in-law of Indianapolis 500 veteran Sarah Fisher, has won five times in the Kenyon Midget series so far this year, including two victories at the Speedrome. Hamilton, USAC’s 2012 Silver Crown Rookie of the Year, is also a pavement standout. Entries continue to be filed and Kenyon Midget point leader Dameron Taylor and USAC National Midget rookie Spencer Bayston are also pre-entered.

In addition to the sizable purse postings, Shepherd Insurance has created the Tail Gunner Bonus, a $10,000 award for a driver who elects, at the mandatory 75-lap intermission break, to restart last and win the 100-lap race. The offer will be made to the race leader at 75 laps, unless he declines. If so, the second place driver will receive the offer and if he declines the offer will go to the third-place driver, where the offer ends.

The Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome is USAC’s most active track in history. A total of 496 feature events have been conducted there in numerous disciplines. The track also produced Tony Stewart’s inaugural USAC victory, on Aug. 9, 1991.

Pocono Raceway and Microsoft announced the renaming of the annual August NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race held at Pocono Raceway as the Windows 10 400.

Windows 10 400 race weekend will take place from July 31 to August 2, just two days after the launch of Windows 10. For the first time ever, Microsoft’s popular operating system will be offered as a free upgrade to customers with qualified Windows 7 and Windows 8 devices.

“Today is an exciting day for us,” said Brandon Igdalsky, Pocono Raceway president/CEO. “Microsoft has been on the cutting edge of technology and innovation since its founding in 1975. The launch of their Windows 10 platform is something Pocono Raceway is extremely proud to promote during our final NASCAR race weekend of 2015. We look forward to celebrating with everyone from Microsoft, NASCAR and, most importantly, the race fans on Sunday, Aug. 2.”

Microsoft, an Official Technology Partner of NASCAR, will have device displays and interactive experiences in the Fan Fair and Paddock areas at Pocono Raceway during the Windows 10 400 race weekend. Race fans and members of the NASCAR industry will be able to relax and enjoy Windows 10 devices at these locations. Additionally, everyone is invited to interact on their social media channels using the official race hashtag, #Windows10_400.

Additionally, Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., the defending winner of the August NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, will drive the No. 88 Microsoft Chevrolet SS during the Windows 10 400 race weekend.

Fans are encouraged to visit the Windows 10 experience in the Fan Fair for unique giveaways, and to enter to win an upgraded race day in-field party experience for several fans. Four of those fans are scheduled to get a special VIP experience with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and an opportunity to watch part of the race from the No. 88 team’s pit box.

“We’re thrilled to build on our relationships with NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports by engaging race fans in unique ways,” said Jeremy Korst, GM of Windows Product Marketing at Microsoft. “We’re upgrading their experiences not only at the Pocono Windows 10 400 race, but also off the track with Windows 10. It’s the best Windows ever. In fact, we built it in collaboration with our fans—over 5.5 million Windows Insiders. And we’re excited to offer a free upgrade, so that people all over the world can use Windows 10 to do great things.”

Formula 1 will run only two tests in total throughout 2016, both at Barcelona and in preseason.

With a record-breaking 21-race calendar for next year on the cards, a decision has been taken to limit the overall number of test days over the course of the campaign.

In stark contrast to recent seasons when 3–4 four-day preseason tests have been held, the 10 existing teams and newcomer Haas will now have only eight days to prepare their cars before the season-opening grand prix in Australia on April 3.

Both tests will take place at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, with the first from March 1–4 and the second running from March 15–18.

In addition, and for the first time since 2011, there will be no in-season testing.

Teams have often used in-season tests over the past four years to give their reserve drivers a run out, or to run the rule over young up-and-coming names.

This year two two-day in-season tests took place at Barcelona, and also the Red Bull Ring in Austria, with a number of prospects given a chance.

But such an avenue for those looking to put themselves on the radar of F1's teams is blocked for next year.

The 2015 NAPA Super DIRT Week is going to be the biggest week of racing and celebration in the storied 44-year history of the event that runs from October 6–11.

Fans and competitors from 21 states and three countries are already making plans to descend on the New York State Fairgrounds for what’s become known as Racing’s Biggest Party, and with so many fans taking part of this event for nearly five decades it’s truly the most anticipated annual New York motorsports tradition.

It all kicks off on Tuesday, October 6, with a tech inspection day where all of the new and unique hot rods that will compete during the week are unveiled for officials to dissect. Cars hit the Moody Mile for the first time on Wednesday and qualify on Thursday. At night on Wednesday the racing shifts to Weedsport (New York) Speedway for DIRTcar 358-Modified and DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds, and on Thursday it’s the DIRTcar 358-Modified Hurricane 100 at Brewertown (New York) Speedway.

“Camping World Fast Friday” is now a jam-packed day with the Triple 20s for the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds, the Twin 20s for the DIRTcar 358-Modifieds and the Triple 10s for the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds running during the day along with USAC Silver Crown qualifying and DIRTcar Futures races. The Camping World Fast Friday action then shifts at night to “The Fast Track” Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, NY, where DIRTcar 358-Modifieds and ESS 360 Sprint Cars will put on a show at the monster 5/8-mile dirt oval.

The huge weekend kicks off on Saturday with the USAC Silver Crown Salt City 78 and DIRTcar 358-Modified Salute to the Troops 150. At night everything shifts back to Rolling Wheels Raceway Park for World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and “Win-and-You’re-In” DIRTcar Big-Block Modified features.

The massive week of racing wraps up on Sunday with DIRTcar Sportsman Modified 30-lap championship, the DIRTcar Pro Stock 25-lap event and the finale, the Super DIRTcar Series Syracuse 200.

Turn 14 Distribution, a performance warehouse distributor, announced the redesign and launch its company logo.

"The launch of our new brand logo kicks off a new era at Turn 14 Distribution that speaks to who we are as a progressive, innovative company while maintaining definite design cues from our previous logo that identify the motorsports background form which the company was started," said Jon Pulli, CEO, Turn 14 Distribution, Inc. "We are proud to be ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving industry, and our new brand identity illustrates how far Turn 14 Distribution has come in its short 8-ear history. We've evolved from a sport compact focused warehouse distributor to a full line distributor in the diesel, modern muscle and European markets."

The new logo blends elements of the company motto "There At Every Turn" into the letters T, U and R in Turn. It is a vibrant new take on Turn 14 Distribution's prior logo, which represented the company for 8 years when it was a single location warehouse distributor in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania.

Turn 14 Distribution's in-house marketing department developed the updated logo and new brand identity.