DETROIT, Mich. — Construction began last week on the Raceway at Belle Isle Park in preparaton for the 2008 Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Aug. 29-31.
The 2.07-mile, 14-turn street course will host the IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series and the SCCA Speed Worth Challenge GT class for this year’s grand prix.
In order to transform the island streets into a race course, workers must move into place about 2,000 concrete-barrier walls and assemble six massive grandstands around the circuit.

Penske Racing Mourns Loss Of Employee

JOLIET, Ill. — This past weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, all three Penske Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries carried a special decal in memory of Penske South employee Bill Passwater. The decal was also on Penske IndyCar Series entries at Nashville Superspeedway and the American Le Mans Series entries at Lime Rock.
Passwater, 33, passed away July 9. He is survived by his wife, Heather, and their baby daughter, Lyla Grace.
He had been employed at Penske Racing since 2005. He was the transportation coordinator for the NASCAR Cup Series teams.
“We lost a valued member of the Penske Racing family, Billy Passwater,” said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Racing. “Billy came to our organization in 2005 and we will miss him as we all appreciated his personable nature, sense of humor and his commitment to do the right thing.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Heather and Billy’s families.”

Hensley Joins BHR As Competition Director

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Veteran crew chief Jeff Hensley joined Bobby Hamilton Racing as the director of competition for the race team’s two-truck stable of Dodges Rams, including the No. 4 Dodge Dealers Dodge driven by Stacy Compton and the No. 18 Tahoe Dodge driven by Dennis Setzer.
Hensley takes over the role formerly filled by Charlie Wilson, who is moving into “a more hands-on-role” with Dodge Engineering and the No. 18 team.
Hensley is no stranger to the Dodge Research and Engineering team. Before making the jump to Bill Davis Racing in 2004, he spent two years as an engineer at Arrington Manufacturing, helping with the development of the Dodge NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series engine. In four short seasons at BDR, he served as crew chief of the No. 5 Toyota driven by Mike Skinner and led his team to eight NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victories, 28 pole awards and 37 top-five finishes.

Annual Women’s Luncheon Scheduled

INDIANAPOLIS — The sixth-annual Women in the Winner’s Circle Luncheon is scheduled for July 24 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A reception is to begin at 11:30 a.m. with lunch served at noon. The luncheon is hosted by former driver Lyn St. James and motorports television reporter Jamie Little. It is held each year in order to raise funds to sustain the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation programs, which support, educate and train aspiring young female drivers.
The recipients of the inaugural Leadership Awards will be announced and awarded to individuals who have shown support to women’s motorsports programs. Also, the Mildred Marcum Pioneer Award will be presented to two female drivers as well as the USAC Kara Hendrick Spirit Award and the Opportunity Award, which will be given to a race team or sponsor that created a significant opportunity for a female driver to excel in the industry.

Open Wheel Week Offers Up $20,000

LINCOLN, Neb. — Set for July 27-Aug. 3, SpeedwayMotors.com Open Wheel Week offers sprint-car and midget drivers a chance to win more than $20,000 in prizes and awards.
The week kicks off with four nights of racing in Nebraska. The Kornhusker Midget Klassic is set for July 27-28 at Eagle Raceway in Lincoln, Neb., and on July 28 at Butler County Motorplex in Rising City.  The Cornhusker Midget Challenge follows July 29-30 at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb. The finale is set for the Speedway Motors Belleville Midget Nationals in Belleville, Kan., Aug. 1-2.
Sprint-car action begins July 31 as the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions kicks off its Thunder Through the Plains series at the Belleville High Banks. From there, the 410 sprint cars head to Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kan., Eagle Raceway and South Dakota’s Huset’s Speedway.

ECO Racing Adds Three U.S. Races

ROCKINGHAM, England — The environmentally inspired British racing team, ECO Racing, is set to race its production-engined bio-diesel sports, prototype race car in three American Le Mans Series races, including the final two races of the season at Road America, Road Altanta and Laguna Seca.
Between the Road America and Atlanta events, the team will also race in the final round of the European Le Mans Series, the 1000k-classic at Silverstone Sept. 13-14.
The four-hour races at Road America and Laguna Seca, the six-hour test at Silverstone and the 10 hours of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta constitute a unique 24-hour challenge that will stretch Eco Racing’s LMP1 race car and production V10 engine to the limits of endurance.
The drivers of the ECO Racing Radical LMP1 sports prototype will be announced in the coming weeks.

Illinois Fall Nationals Returns To WoO Slate

LA SALLE, Ill. — The 17th-annual Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals Sept. 14 at La Salle Speedway will return to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series schedule this season.
A fixture on the dirt late-model scene in the “Land of Lincoln” for nearly two decades, the Illinois Fall Nationals will be run over a 40-lap distance and offer a $7,000 top prize.
The La Salle date will create a WoO LMS doubleheader with I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., which is scheduled to run its annual Pepsi Nationals under the national tour’s banner Sept. 13.