Compiled by SEMA Editors
Jill Gregory Named Executive Vice President and General Manager at Sonoma Raceway
NASCAR executive and sports marketer Jill Gregory has been named the new executive vice president and general manager at Sonoma Raceway, as announced by Speedway Motorsports President and Chief Executive Officer Marcus Smith. Named by Adweek as one of “The Most Powerful Women in Sports” for the past two years, Gregory assumes leadership of the historic 1,600-acre property. She will follow Steve Page, who announced his retirement last August after nearly three decades at the track’s helm. Gregory is currently the executive vice president and chief marketing and content officer at NASCAR and the managing executive of the company’s Charlotte-based operations.
Superstar Racing Experience Announces 2021 SRX Schedule
Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) and CBS Sports have announced the full 2021 schedule for the new six-race, short-track series set to debut on June 12 at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. After the inaugural race at Stafford, SRX will head to Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on June 19, before visiting Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Ohio the following week. In Indiana, Lucas Oil Raceway will kick off the holiday weekend in early July, before a race at Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin. The inaugural season’s final and championship race will take place at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on July 17. Races will air on six consecutive Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) on CBS Television Network and CBS All-Access throughout the summer of 2021. For more information and the complete schedule, visit www.srxracing.com.
ARCA Menards Series East, West Reveal 2021 Schedules
Officials have released the 2021 schedules for the West and East ARCA Menards Series. The 2021 season will mark the two series' second year on the ARCA Menards platform. The ARCA Menards Series West will mark the series’ 67th running season with a nine-race schedule featuring third-mile bullrings, one-mile ovals, and road courses. The West schedule will begin in March at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, with a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series. The West championship will be crowned back at Phoenix as part of the NASCAR Championship Weekend. For the complete ARCA Menards Series West 2021 schedule, visit the ARCA website.
The 2021 ARCA Menards Series East schedule will feature eight races over eight premier short tracks. The season will begin with a pair of Florida events in February and crown the East champion at Bristol Motor Speedway. The trip to “Thunder Valley” will be the third consecutive race run as a combination event ARCA Menards Series to close the East Series season. For the complete ARCA Menards Series East 2021 schedule, visit the ARCA website.
Jost Capito Joins Williams F1 as CEO
Williams Racing has announced the appointment of Jost Capito as its new chief executive officer. He will officially join the Formula 1 team on February 1. Capito has enjoyed a wide and varied career spanning over four decades in the automotive and motorsports industries. Reporting to Williams Chairman Matthew Savage, Capito will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. After beginning his motorsports career as a driver in the mid-’70s, Capito held positions with BMW M GmbH, Porsche to manage its racing programs, and Sauber Petronas Engineering’s executive committee. He subsequently joined Ford in 2001, where he was Ford Europe’s Motorsport Director. In this role, Capito helped to win the WRC manufacturers’ titles in both 2006 and 2007. In 2012, he joined Volkswagen as motorsport director, and, after a brief stint at McLaren, was chosen to lead Volkswagen R GmbH, the department in charge of the company’s performance cars. As part of the announcement, Williams Racing has also confirmed that Simon Roberts will officially take on Team Principal’s role, reporting to Capito.
Evan Bader Promoted to Track Manager at Summit Motorsports Park
Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, has announced that Evan Bader has been named track manager. Bader began working part-time at the famed family-owned facility when he was 10 years old and transitioned to full-time upon graduating in 2016 with a degree in sport management and public relations from Ohio Northern. He has held several roles throughout the years, including race operations, marketing, and announcing. As track manager, Bader will organize and oversee all on-track operations, including preparing the track surface, which underwent a $1.6 million reconstruction in 2018. He will ensure that supplies are available and equipment is accessible and work alongside a team to present a prepared track surface for all types of vehicles and all horsepower levels. Bader will also create new events, develop racer programs, expand the track rental side of live events, and marketing.
sponsor of the Spring Break Shootout category.
Ace Racing Sponsors Spring Break Shootout Class
The Holley NMRA Ford Nationals has announced Ace Racing has joined the national event series as the sponsor of the Spring Break Shootout category, to be held March 4–7, 2021 at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida. The Ace Racing Spring Break Shootout category features some of the quickest street-style Mustangs in the country, competing for the honor of Spring Break Shootout champion. The category typically attracts more than 140 QA1 True Street cars vying for a spot in the Quick 16 shootout. To be eligible for the Ace Racing Spring Break Shootout class, competitors must meet all QA1 True Street rules, compete in the True Street class on Saturday, and make all three True Street passes. The 16 competitors who have the quickest 3-pass averages on the final results will be placed on a sportsman ladder for Sunday’s heads-up eliminator. Visit www.NMRAdigital.com/FL for more information about the Spring Break Shootout’s online ticket sales, racing rules, payouts and spectator information.
Retired Sprint Car Driver Takes Ownership of Port City Raceway
In a partnership with car owner Kevin Rudeen, Shane Stewart is now the new owner of Port City Raceway. The micro sprint race track in Tulsa was first opened in 1974. Stewart, a veteran sprint car driver, will retire from competition to focus on the new role. The previous owners, the Ross and Eubanks families, will still be heavily involved with the day-to-day and race day operations to ensure a successful transition.