Pagenaud Joins Forces With de Ferran

BRASELTON, Ga. — Former Indy 500 winner and two-time CART champion Gil de Ferran on Monday unveiled further plans for de Ferran Motorsports and its competition in the American Le Mans Series this season.
Team owner and driver de Ferran will team up with 23-year-old ex-Champ Car Atlantic champion Simon Pagenaud for the remainder of the 2008 American Le Mans Series, starting at the fourth round of the championship, the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by Grand & Little Hotels.
De Ferran Motorsports also announced it is in the process of completing a sponsorship contract with Panasonic, which will utilize its association with the team to promote its relationship with Acura and the ELS Surround premium audio system.
“Considering this started as a conversation about a potential race team only a few months ago, it is quite emotional to witness what has happened and see it become reality,” said de Ferran.

Entries Rolling In For Midget Nationals

KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The field for the seventh-annual Knoxville Midget Nationals, which is scheduled for June 20-21 at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, continues to grow.
The latest entries include Chad Boat, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Bobby East, Aaron Fike, Scott Hatton, Tracy Hines and Levi Jones.
With these drivers, the field has grown to 16 entrants from six states. The event is sanctioned by the U.S. Auto Club (USAC), the Badger Midget Auto Racing Ass’n (BMARA), POWRi and the Southern Midget Racing Series.
Entry forms are available at www.knoxvilleraceway.com.

New Pilot Program Unveiled By USAC

SCHERERVILLE, Ind. — USAC Regional Pavement Sprint Car competition is set to debut its new pilot program on May 28.
Designed to develop sprint-car racing talent much like the Regional Midget Series has done for USAC National Midget Racing, the three-race slate has high expectations for success.
Each of the three races will be 30 laps in distance, and two will be run at Illiana Motor Speedway on May 26 and Aug. 6. The second race is scheduled for June 18 at Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway.

SportSouth To Carry ASA Southeast Tour

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The new RC Cola/MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour has signed a deal with SportSouth beginning this spring that will provide television coverage of at least 10 of its 18 races this season.
The first event to be aired is the Watermelon 100 from Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Ga., May 7 at 8 p.m. (EDT).
“Although we will have nationwide coverage, SportSouth will be the key component in our television package,” said Stan Narrison the promotions manager of ASA SAT. “This element is key to our strategy. Once fans and competitors get a taste of our brand of racing via our SportSouth coverage, they will want to join us in person.”
For the event and broadcast schedule, visit www.asasoutheast.com.

HARF Elects New Officers

GREENWOOD, Ind. — Hoosier Auto Racing Fans (HARF) held new officer elections March 22 at the Ray Skillman Auto Museum in Greenwood.
Elected as the new president and historian of HARF, Bob Black will serve with Vice Presidents Danny Laycock and Roger Hughes. Also elected were Vicki Black (membership secretary and treasurer); Dru Laycock (recording secretary); Sam Richey (sergeant-at-arms); George Seats (public relations) and Edie Richards (co-public relations).

NASCAR’s Mexican Series Gains Sponsor

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — MAHLE Clevite has signed a three-year deal to sponsor the NASCAR Corona Series in Mexico, expanding its involvement in grassroots racing.
MAHLE Clevite also sponsors the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series in addition to its grassroots sponsorship of the NASCAR Canadian Tire, Grand National Camping World Regional and Whelen All-American series.
“Our new agreement to sponsor Mexico’s most important stock-car racing series not only supports our existing relationship with NASCAR,” said Ted Hughes, brand and communications manager, MAHLE Clevite. “But it also gives us the opportunity to further our commitment to grassroots racing in North America.”

Knoxville Masters Classic List Grows

  KNOXVILLE, Iowa —  Low-buck veteran Rev. Mark Amenda, current American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Gulf South Region points runner-up Greg Rilat and 2008 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Kramer Williamson have all officially entered the 16th-annual Knoxville Masters Classic.
The Classic is scheduled to be run on May 30 at Knoxville Raceway.  Williamson, the runner-up in the inaugural McCroskey Chevrolet Tournament of Champions at Knoxville in 1997, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on May 31. 
In addition, Indy 500 veteran Johnny Parsons, Jr. and 1983 Eldora Nationals winner Gary Lynch are both seeking quality rides in the winged 360-cubic-inch sprint-car race for drivers age 50 and over.
 

Family Force Gets Road-Course Lessons

TOOELE, Utah — NHRA Funny Car point-leader Ashley Force along with John Force Racing teammates Robert Hight and Mike Neff completed the two-day Ford Racing High Performance Driving School at the state-of-the-art Miller Motorsports Park April 17.
All three drivers were put through a variety of driving courses as well as classroom review, making their laps behind the wheel of high performance Miller Mustang GTs, Mustang Challenge cars, and they even took some time to work on their handling skills inside the Ford Skid Car.
The goal of the two-day course was to give the drivers a new driving experience as well as expose them to the Mustang GT.