Global RallyCross to return to Charlotte Motor Speedway this fall

   Global RallyCross, one of the fastest-growing forms of motorsports and features aspects of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition, will return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 22. 

   The Charlotte event is one of a nine-race scheduled confirmed for the 2013 season.

    The series is made up of four Global X Games events and five GRC events to total nine rounds that will culminate in the crowning of both a driver's champion and manufacturer's champion.
 
   The 2013 championship features live broadcasts on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 available in over 198 countries. With more than 15 hours of primetime live content on major networks, the telecast package comprises the most expansive television coverage that the sport of rallycross has ever seen.
 
   The series' star drivers include Ken Block, Brian Deegan, Travis Pastrana, Scott Speed and 2011 and 2012 GRC Champion Tanner Foust.


The 2013 Global Rallycross schedule:

April 21	GRC at X Games: Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
May 19	GRC at X Games: Barcelona, Spain
June 29 & 30	GRC at X Games: Munich, Germany*
July 11	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon NH
July 20	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol TN
Aug 04	GRC at X Games: Irwindale Speedway, CA
Aug 10	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Atlanta, GA
Sept 22	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte, NC
Nov 07	Las Vegas, NV
*Barcelona rainout makeup race on June 29

ISC approves renovations to Daytona International Speedway

   International Speedway Corporation has approved funding to redevelop the frontstretch of Daytona International Speedway to enhance the overall experience for its fans, marketing partners and the motorsports industry. The multi-year project will break ground on July 5 and is targeted for completion in January 2016, in time for the 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 58th Daytona 500.

   “We are truly creating history with this unprecedented endeavor,” said ISC’s Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy. “I commend the board’s decision to move forward on our plan to redevelop the Company’s signature motorsports facility, thereby shaping the vision of Daytona for the next 50 years. 

   "This significant private investment is a strategic use of our capital that will ensure the long-term viability of the iconic speedway, and when completed, will contribute favorably to the Company's revenues, as well as to our community and the sport as a whole.”

   The redevelopment is expected to cost between $375 million to $400 million, excluding capitalized interest. Total expenditures incurred for the redevelopment through May 31, 2013 were approximately $15 million. The Company expects to fund the redevelopment from cash on hand, cash from its operations and may use borrowings on its credit facility for a limited period of time to even out cash flow. 

   The vision for the redevelopment of the Daytona International Speedway frontstretch places an emphasis on enhancing the complete fan experience, beginning with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances, or injectors, along International Speedway Boulevard. Each injector would lead directly to a series of escalators and elevators that would transport fans to any of three different concourse levels, each featuring spacious and strategically-placed social "neighborhoods" along the nearly mile-long frontstretch.

   A total of 11 neighborhoods, each measuring the size of a football field, will enable fans to meet and socialize during events without ever missing any on-track action, thanks to an open-sightline design throughout each concourse and dozens of added video screens in every neighborhood.

   Every seat in the Speedway frontstretch will be replaced with wider and more comfortable seating, with more restrooms and concession stands throughout the facility. At the conclusion of the redevelopment, DIS will be comprised of approximately 101,000 permanent seats with the potential to increase permanent seating to 125,000.  

   Following an unsuccessful bid for a public/private partnership with the State of Florida during the most recent legislative session, the company was forced to reduce the scale of its redevelopment plan. In 2014, the company intends to pursue incentives including those currently available to all other major sports venues in Florida. ISC will reevaluate additional potential amenities based on the outcome of those efforts. Construction for the redevelopment project will begin after the 2013 Coke Zero 400 NASCAR weekend. 

David Ragan is truckin' this week

  Before David Ragan climbs into his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car for Sunday's race at Sonoma Raceway, he's going to climb into the driver's seat of the 18-wheeler that will carry that race car 2,700 miles from North Carolina to California.

   The driver of the No. 34 Ford will be at the wheel of the team's 80-foot, 80,000-pound transporter early Tuesday morning when it pulls out of the Front Row Motorsports race shop for the cross-country trip. Team truck driver Mike Smith, the rig's primary operator throughout the season, will accompany Ragan and split the seat time during the 42-hour journey.

   "I've always had a fascination with big trucks," Ragan said. "I wanted to get my CDL (commercial driver's license), so I got that a little while ago. And I thought it would be fun to take a trip across the country on the open roads and see everything, and at the same time get to spend some time with my truck driver."
 
   Smith had his doubts when Ragan first told him he wanted to drive the hauler to one of the race venues, much less the farthest one on the Sprint Cup Series map.

   "At first, he didn't really believe me," Ragan said. "But I showed him my license and told him I'd been driving the transporter for my late model team a little. Now, I think he's excited.  It's going to be something different and something fun. Although he's probably going to sleep with one eye open just to make sure I'm not driving too crazy."

   The 27-year-old Ragan, who has been racing within NASCAR's top three series since he was 18, received his commercial learner's permit last year and earned his full provisional CDL several months ago.

   "I was surprised when he said he wanted to do it, but it should be neat," truck driver Smith said. "I think he's the first driver to ever do this. But we're going to have a good time and he's going to be just fine behind the wheel."

Jason Leffler funeral services, charity fund announced

   Charlie Dean Leffler Charity Fund Established
   Funeral Services for Jason Leffler Announced

   CORNELIUS, N.C. (June 15, 2013) - In honor of NASCAR driver Jason Leffler, who lost his life in a racing accident this week, a trust fund has been established for his five-year-old son, Charlie Dean. This trust will serve as the official Leffler Family fund, with all monies going directly to Charlie's needs. Turner Scott Motorsports co-owner Harry Scott Jr., former Braun Racing owner Todd Braun and Steve Overholser, CFO of Great Clips, will serve as trustees.

   Donations can be made to The Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Trust at:  
   The Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Trust
   c/o SunTrust Bank
   232 Williamson Road
   Mooresville, NC 28117

   A celebration of Jason Leffler's life will be held on Wednesday, June 19. The service will be at Grace Covenant Church, located at 17301 Statesville Road in Cornelius, N.C. at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Trust.

Tony Stewart talks about his relationship with Jason Leffler

   Three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart has known and raced with Jason Leffler for years, from dirt tracks to NASCAR. Stewart on Friday talked about his relationship with Leffler, who died in a racing accident on Wednesday night.

   "Yeah, I have known Jason for a long time obviously. We grew up racing together and followed the same paths racing-wise. So I mean he was a friend, he was a roommate, he was a teammate and I got to be around him a lot. He loved nothing more than being behind the wheel of a race car," Stewart said.

   "I was just shocked to hear what had happened and obviously it’s just a reminder of how dangerous our sport is, but we have had a lot of safety innovations over the last 15 years since I have been in Cup. It’s just proof that we will never get to the stage where everybody is immune to getting hurt in a race car. That is just the scenario that we are in and there isn’t anybody that gets behind the wheel that doesn’t understand that going into it, and Jason was that way as well. He just loved doing what he was doing and it was just a rough week there and obviously Charlie (Leffler's son) is the one that we are all thinking about the most right now."

   Asked what stood out most about Leffler, Stewart said:
  
   “We got to hang out a lot away from the race track as well as at the track. When he moved from California to Indiana to start racing USAC fulltime, he moved in with me and lived with us for a little under a year and I got to see a lot of things and he was just a lot of fun," he said. 

   "He was a racer and didn’t care what he raced, where he raced, when he raced, it was all he wanted to do was to drive a race car. It was fun to have a roommate like that who had the same passion and desire that I had."
 

Rick Hendrick responds to Brad Keselowski's accusations of employee poaching

   Reigning Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski told a group of reporters Thursday night in Dearborn, Mich., that the reason Penske Racing and Roush Fenway racing have been slow to share information on their Ford cars is due to the fact Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have made a habit of hiring employees away from their organization to "steal information."

 

   The charge didn't sit well with Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.

 

   "Roger Penske and I are great friends and have raced together for years. We’ve always competed with the utmost respect, and I have immense admiration for his organization. You won’t find anyone at Hendrick Motorsports who feels differently," he said.

  

   "The comments Brad reportedly made were misinformed. The truth is that we hired one tire changer, who was a backup for Penske and whose contract was up. We also brought over one mechanic from their Nationwide program and, when the Penske engine shop was closing, added a few of those people. What Brad left out was that his organization also hired one of our tire changers.

 

   “All of this was aboveboard and is part of doing business in a competitive environment. I take no issue with any of it, and I expect Roger would say the same.

 

   "Brad misrepresents the facts and spends a lot of time making insinuations and accusations about other teams when he should be focused on his own program and competing at a high level. I hope he figures that out and begins representing himself and the sport with more class.”

Leffler died of blunt neck force injury

Race car driver Jason Leffler's death was came from a blunt neck force injury, a spokesperson for the Delaware (Pa.) County Medical Examiner's office said Thursday night.

Leffler was killed Wednesday when his 410 sprint car crashed coming out of Turn 4 at a dirt track race heat at the Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey. -- David Scott