Compiled by SEMA Editors
Flying Lizard Announces Changes for 2018
Flying Lizard Motorsports will return to the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) in 2018 for its second season of competition in the GTS class. For the first time since 2014, the team will field two full-season Audi R8 LMS GT4 entries, driven by Mike Hedlund and Adam Merzon. Ryan Eversley will join Merzon in the Case-it Racing by Flying Lizard Motorsports entry for the five SprintX race weekends.
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| Ryan Eversley | Mike Hedlund | Adam Merzon |
Hedlund first joined Flying Lizard at Sonoma Raceway in 2016. He has since been a re-occurring driver with the program, taking part in the 2016 overall win at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, and again the following year with the 2017 Toyo Tires GT Challenge class win. Hedlund will race the 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports liveried Audi R8 LMS GT4 for the entirety of the season.
Merzon joins Flying Lizard Motorsports fresh off winning the 2017 Pirelli Challenge SprintX GTS Pro/AM Driver Championship. Merzon has competed in the GRAND-AM Road Racing Association, American Le Mans Series, and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship, where he earned a second-place finish at the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona with BAR1 Motorsports.
IMSA and Pirelli World Challenge driver Eversley is slated to join Merzon for the SprintX events. Eversley won his debut PWC race in 2010, and most recently earned a second-place finish during the SprintX Round 8 at Utah Motorsports Campus with co-driver Tom Dyer. The team will take delivery of the new cars in February and will immediately get to work to make them race-ready in anticipation of the season opener in March. The 2018 Pirelli World Challenge championship battles begin March 9–11, at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. For more information, visit www.world-challenge.com.
"Terracross" Off-Road Series to Join MAVTV Lineup
 The first of the seven, one-hour TerraCross episodes will air Saturday, February 3, at 1:00 p.m. (EST), and re-air at 4:00 p.m. the same day. |
Terracross is an emerging, short-course off-road sport, best described as Supercross on four wheels. Terracross will join the MAVTV Motorsports Network lineup in February for a limited series of programs, highlighting the unique excitement of close quarter, side-by-side UTV racing. The first of the seven, one-hour episodes will air Saturday, February 3, at 1:00 p.m. (EST), and re-air at 4:00 p.m. the same day. Those air times will be in effect for the other programs in the series on February 10, February 24, March 10, March 24, April 7 and April 21. Hubert Rowland of Lascassas, Tennessee; Ross Robinson of Sisters, Oregon; Sarah Price of Canyon Lake, California; former Supercross champion Damon Bradshaw of McCall, Idaho; and Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series star Ronnie Anderson of Vallejo, California, are among the drivers competing.
Old Bridge Township Raceway Cancels Drag Racing Events
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, has informed the NHRA that it will no longer host any drag-racing events at its facility, effective immediately. This includes the 49th Annual NHRA Summernationals, which was scheduled to take place in June.
“NHRA drag-racing events have been held at the track in Englishtown for almost 50 years,” said NHRA president, Glen Cromwell. “The Summernationals have played an important part in our heritage and we hope that fans in the area will try to make it to another one of our events. Our focus remains on making the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series a memorable experience for our fans, racers, sponsors, partners and tracks.”
 Yokohama has assembled “Team Yokohama,” an all-star lineup of drivers, lifestyle athletes and influencers to be brand ambassadors and expand the tire maker’s connection to new audiences. |
Team Yokohama is Ready to “Go Strong”
Yokohama Tire’s “Go Strong” mantra now has several new voices. The tire maker has assembled “Team Yokohama,” an all-star lineup of drivers, lifestyle athletes and influencers to be brand ambassadors and expand Yokohama’s connection to new audiences. They include: Misty Diaz, adaptive athlete and motivational speaker; Beaver Fleming, pro skateboarder; James Foster, pro BMX athlete; Brian Godfrey, motorsports pro and off-road racer; Boyd Jaynes, pro photographer and off-road racer; Josh Kerr, pro surfer; Robert Killian, pro obstacle course racing (OCR) athlete; Jesse La Flair, pro freerunning and parkour athlete; Jonathan Lopez, adaptive athlete; Ally Mello, brand ambassador; Travis Pastrana, action sports star and co-founder of Nitro Circus; Jordan Pellegrino, off-road racer, GenRight Off Road; Laurel Shearer, OCR athlete; Faye Stenning, pro OCR athlete; and Blake “Bilko” Williams, pro FMX athlete.
LIQUI MOLY Enters IMSA Series With Turner Motorsport
LIQUI MOLY has entered the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Turner Motorsport. It is the German oil specialist’s largest sponsorship investment in the United States. The sponsorship agreement comes a couple weeks prior to the 24 Hours of Daytona. There, Turner Motorsport will start with a BMW M6 GT3 in LIQUI MOLY livery.