Racing News: IndyCar Makes Possible Return to New Hampshire in 2011

NEW HAMPSHIRE BOUND: The IZOD IndyCar Series is expected to formally announce later this week that it will return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway to race in 2011 for the first time since the 1998 season when Tony Stewart was the winner at the one-mile oval.

NO ACE HERE: Former Funny Car racer Ed “Ace” McCulloch, who has tuned the Flopper steered by Ron Capps for many years, will be replaced by former John Force Racing crew chief John Medlen, beginning this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio. Medlen joined the Don Schumacher Racing team several months ago. McCulloch will remain with the team in another capacity.

SFI/IMPACT UPDATE: The battle between Impact Racing, makers of safety equipment, and the SFI Foundation, which certifies such equipment, took another turn Monday (June 21) when a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Indiana, granted a ruling that will keep all Impact products manufactured in 2009 and 2010 certified at least for the time being.

GOODBYE RAYMOND: Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first championship-winning owner, died Sunday morning in his Atlanta home. He was 96.

SHARE THE CASH: Brad Kuhn and Tracy Hines each earned a share of the USAC Mopar National Midget Series Indiana Midget Week title after Kuhn won Sunday’s series finale at Kokomo (Indiana) Speedway. Kuhn, Hines, Steve Buckwalter, Brad Sweet and Shane Cottle all won features during the five-race series.

FOR SALE: Orange County Fair Speedway, located at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, New York, has been listed for sale. The track first played host to auto racing in 1919.

CANCELED: The USARacing Pro Cup Series has canceled two upcoming events in order to save teams money. The events at Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pennsylvania, Saturday (June 26) and Salem (Indiana) Speedway July 10 have been pulled from the series calendar.

CUP OF DIRT: Shane Stewart banked $25,000 with a victory in the 39th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup sprint-car event at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Washington, Saturday.

GETTING CLOSE: The ICONIC Advisory Committee is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks about the 2012 chassis manufacturer for the IZOD IndyCar Series. The committee had originally set a June 30 deadline, but IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard does not expect to make the deadline.

INJURED: Sprint-car racing veteran Danny Smith broke his back during a qualifying crash at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park Friday. The event was the first race in the annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek sanctioned by the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions.

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