A former NASCAR employee filed a $225 million dollar sexual harassment, racial discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against NASCAR today. Mauricia Grant, a thirity-two year old African American Woman, worked for NASCAR from January 2005 to October 2007.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and lists twenty-three incidents of sexual harassment and thirty-four incidents of racial and gender discrimination.

Ft. Worth, Texas – Dan Wheldon crashed today at the Texas Motor Speedway during a practice run. He injured his right ankle after rolling his car on the infield grass.

Wheldon, who teams with Chip Ganassi Racing, is expected to enter Saturday evening in the Indy Car Bombardier LearJet 550 race.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is giving NASCAR and NHRA fans a chance to own pieces of racing history and rare collectibles that have never before been made available to the general public, while helping various charitable organizations in the process.

JGR has teamed with the online collectibles auction website GoMotorBids.com to auction one-of-a-kind pieces of race-used memorabilia as well as ultra-rare pre-production prototypes and samples of diecast collectibles. A portion of the proceeds will benefit charities of Joe Gibbs Racing and its drivers.

JGR owns and operates three teams in both the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and the NASCAR Busch Series with a driver lineup that includes two-time and reigning Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart and rookies Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley.

Collectors will now be able to bid on the ultimate collectibles for these drivers, as well as drivers and teams from JGR’s storied past, such as 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte, various JGR entries in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series, plus the NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car teams campaigned by JGR in the 1990s.

Some of these items have been warehoused within JGR for more than a decade, but now the vault has been opened to race fans and collectors who are clamoring for authentic race-used driver uniforms, crew uniforms, helmets, race car sheet metal, artwork and one-off prototypes of diecast collectibles that are truly unique and highly valuable.

Dave Alpern, vice president of marketing for JGR, said, “We are pleased to now be partnered with GoMotorBids.com. What excited us was the opportunity to raise money for charitable causes, while offering our fans legitimate collectibles from a trusted source.”

As with every auction on GoMotorBids.com, the JGR items will all start with a bid of $1 and have no reserve prices, assuring that the highest bidder wins. This “no reserve policy” is quite contrary to industry standards, where many online sellers try and protect high-profile items with reserve prices or high starting bids. However, that technique is not practiced by GoMotorBids.com, as illustrated by The Home Depot uniform worn by Stewart that GoMotorBids.com auctioned for more than $20,000 to benefit the Jeff Gordon Foundation.

“We couldn’t be happier about opening the Joe Gibbs Racing Online Auction House,” said GoMotorBids.com president Patrick Rainey. “JGR is known as an organization with a lot of integrity in everything they do, so we’re honored they chose us as an outlet for their race-used items and collectible prototypes. Plus it’s great for the collectors, as they get the opportunity to add something to their collection that very few people ever get the chance to own.” [PRWEB]

Racers of all kinds can now see their lap times and other critical data without taking their eyes off the track. The company that pioneered personal Heads Up displays is announcing the release of SportVue® LT1 Lap Timer with Performance Monitoring.

Created by former Indycar racer Dominic Dobson, SportVue LT1 will work on nearly any vehicle, including motorcycles, karts, road racing cars, dirt cars, autocross cars, boats – even snowmobiles. The display mounts onto any full-face racing helmet, and shows the racer’s last lap time and lap count - then compares the last lap with the racer’s session best.

The SportVue Heads Up display technology is similar to that used by Top Gun fighter pilots. Seattle’s Motion Research Corporation owns the patents that bring the technology to consumers. The display gives riders and drivers a constant view of critical data in an n easy-to-use display in the drivers’ peripheral vision, focused at infinity. The technology frees the rider from distracting glances at dash-mounted displays and pit boards, and saves the cost of radios and extra crew members.

Dobson created SportVue with the help of scientists at the University of Washington – and other racers. “I first envisioned this product as a way to boost performance when it matters the most – at 200 miles an hour!” says Dobson. [PRWEB]

Alltel, owner and operator of the nation’s largest wireless network, announced the launch of its innovative motorsports Podcast, which will be available weekly throughout the 2006 NASCAR season. Matt Borland, crew chief for the No.12 Alltel Dodge, will be featured on the weekly Podcast each Tuesday following a race. With Purdue University engineering graduate Ryan Newman at the wheel, the No.12 Alltel Dodge team has remained on the cutting edge of technology and is the first NASCAR Cup Series team to debut a team Podcast.

Podcasting, a method of publishing audio broadcasts via the Internet, allows users to subscribe to an online feed of mp3 audio files. Once registered, subscribers can receive Real Simple Syndication (RSS) reminders when a new Alltel Racing Podcast is available. Upon downloading the Podcast, subscribers can save the audio file and listen to it at their convenience on their computer, digital music player or mp3-enabled wireless device. The Alltel Racing RSS feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/alltelracingpodcast. [PRWEB]

A&J Racing Enterprises Inc. announced the premiere of Speed Talk Live a weekly syndicated NASCAR radio program that make its debut this week.

The show will be taped in front of a live audience at the ESPN Club on the Boardwalk at the Walt Disney World resort in Lake Buena Vista Florida; Tuesdays from 6:30 to 7:30.

Hosted by the editor of the Cup Scene Daily Website, Greg Engle, the show promises to be an action packed look at the world of NASCAR racing.

Engle a former stand-up comedian and currently a working NASCAR journalist looks forward to the weekly tapings in front of a live audience.

“I’m in my own element,” Engle said. “In front of 500-1000 people each week, preaching the gospel of NASCAR to the masses is an experience I’m excited about.”

The hour-long show will highlight the past weeks race, the news of the week from the track and rumors. In addition there will be Fantasy Racing news, a preview of the upcoming race and call in guests from around the world of NASCAR, along with Engle’s own unique brand of NASCAR humor. [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: nascar racing | nascar humor | nascar radio | walt disney world

Scott Mansell, one of Britain’s most promising young drivers, launched milliondollarmansell.com as a unique method of allowing his supporters to achieve a high profile coupled with low-cost advertising. “Companies and individuals are able to advertise from just fifty dollars, which includes an image and link on www.milliondollarmansell.com and an image on my racecar” say’s Mansell.

A hundred dollar ‘block’ allows supporters to display a 20 x 50 pixel image on Mansell’s homepage and also a 1 x 2.5 inch image on his racecar. Companies can purchase as many ‘blocks’ as required, to ensure greater visibility.

Mansell’s idea is similar to that of Alex Tew’s very successful Million Dollar Homepage, with a slight twist. “My idea is an evolution of the Million Dollar Homepage, with added benefits at a lower cost. There is a massive ‘buzz’ around the site and people are excited about getting their name on an actual high-profile race car. My website is getting lots of traffic and this will only grow with my career profile.”

The Indy Racing League are fully behind Mansell’s imaginative idea. The IRL’s Media Relations Coordinator, Tim Harms says, “Scott’s idea is very simple and the good ideas always are. We are giving him full support and everyone is talking about this radical idea. We wish Scott and his team the very best for this season.”

Motorsport sponsorship at this level costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and the young racer may well have hit on a great idea. Mansell is allowing any firm to advertise in a very large arena, at a very affordable price. With large amounts of traffic being directed from his site, Mansell is confident that companies will instantly see the benefit. “Once they have paid their initial fee, traffic directed at their site will cost them nothing.” [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: mansell | indy racing league | imaginative idea | radical idea | pixel image

Allied Steel Buildings Inc is taking a next step in their NASCAR involvement by joining Bill Davis Racing Teams during this year’s events.

As a Proud Sponsor and Exclusive Steel Building provider for both Nextel Cup and Craftsman Truck Series Racing teams, Allied is expanding its NASCAR involvement after serving as a part-time associate and primary sponsor of the No. 50 Arnold Motorsports car during the 2005 season.

“Allied Steel is still fairly new to this sport, so it is an honor the company has chosen to come on board with us. It’s also an honor to get to carry the Allied Steel banner. It is a great company with great standards,” said Bill Davis, team owner and president.

For Allied Steel, this will be the first full NASCAR season and the company is looking forward to the ride ahead.

“We are really thrilled to be a part of NASCAR as a full-time sponsor for the new 2006 season,” said Allied’s President, Michael Lassner. “We really enjoyed working with Arnold Motorsports last year and wanted to get involved even more this season. We have planned some great things and are expecting amazing success from all the members of Bill Davis’s racing teams.”

As one of world’s leading, most trusted brands of Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings, Allied Steel offers building solutions for a wide variety of industries, including Agriculture, Churches, Automotive, Lumber, Airline, Office, and many more. Allied Steel Buildings currently delivers commercial, industrial and residential buildings from its six primary factories throughout the United States, and delivers them not only nationally but also all around Canada, the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America. [PRWEB]

“It’s such an honor to be affiliated with Bill Davis and his racing teams. They plan to be one of the best on the race track this year and we will do everything that we can to help them make that happen,” said Lassner.

tagTRAX: steel building | pre engineered steel | steel | allied | bill davis

Related Stories:

• NASCAR Leilani Munter New Driver for Konica Minolta
• NASCAR Stuart Kirby and Competitive Edge Motorsports Part Ways

It’s no secret to anyone that Formula One is an expensive sport to participate in and the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Team is keeping up with the pace year after year on and off the race track. The question that everyone asks is simply “Where does this money come from?” For the Ferrari Formula One Team, since the year 2000 to where the team secured its first driver’s title in over 20 years, the total in depth listing of their sponsors is made up on the chart listed below up until the year 2005.

This chart provides each and every sponsor that provided Ferrari with both direct and/or trade support with their respective totals for the last six years. Obtaining sponsors, catering and bringing them satisfaction with the knowledge of having them obtain a return on their investment is not an easy task. The currency fluctuations of the US dollar declines with the Euro Dollar increasing spelled only trouble for the team, since, their costs are in Euro Dollars and their sponsorship revenue is in US dollars, with this, Ferrari have been faced with various new challenges outside the racing track to maintain and keep up against the competition in this new decade.

Ferrari’s President, Luca Di Montezemolo is always proactive, with suggestions of a Ferrari stock floatation that has yet to take off, but, meanwhile, found new solutions to keep the Ferrari team operating on a budget of more than 300 usd million a year season after season while obtaining nothing less than success on and off the track even when faced with various obstacles on his driving path.

Starting with the year 2000, Ferrari operated on a total budget of 239.60 usd million to where they received 65 usd million from the Phillip Morris company (Marlboro) playing a significant role in covering the driver’s salaries of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. During this year, Ferrari was 90% owned by Fiat and 10% by Pierro Ferrari. 55 usd million came from Ferrari SPA consisting of their merchandise sales to which was part of the high wave of Ferrari merchandise sales era. Fiat and Shell provided a total of 20 usd million each.

This was also the year to where the Ferrari sponsors were able to advertise with triumph status and obtain excellent returns for their association with the Scuderia and companies such as Fiat, Tic Tac, and, Federal Express did not hesitate to link their connection and increase their advertising budgets. [PRWEB]

Related Stories:

• Ferrari F2005 Unveiled

Techonrati Tags:

tagTRAX: ferrari formula | ferrari team | ferrari spa | scuderia ferrari marlboro | rubens barrichello

LFT Technologies, Inc., a privately-held corporation in Mooresville, NC, has released a new technologically-enhanced head and neck restraint system for the racing industry.

After years of research and hundreds of sled tests, in both the professional racing industry as well as the automotive industry, LFT Technologies Inc.’s President Trevor Ashline was able to develop a visionary safety product like the R3 Pro (rated SFI 38.1 and tested at 70 G’s). The automotive industry performance sled tests were performed with impacts on automobile safety devices at 30 G’s.

“The R3 Pro is the latest racing technology in head and neck restraint systems,” stated Ashline. “We were able to apply what we had learned from thousands of racers and develop a comfortable device that will protect the professional race driver without standing in the way of the racer’s ability to race.”

In the highly competitive sport of racing, the drivers need to protect themselves more today than ever before. LFT Technologies, Inc.’s mission is to provide superior technologically-enhanced safety solutions to keep the driver safe.

As new racing technology pushes the edge of the envelope and the audience for racing grows, drivers need to take every precaution to stay as safe as possible without loosing any competitive edge. “Racers who take advantage of the latest technologies will greatly reduce their risk of injury,” Ashline remarked. “Racers need to dress for the crash, not the ride.”

“The difference between the old technology and new technology is that the R3 works independently of the seat belt and out performs in side impacts,” stated LFT Technologies, Inc.’s President.

“The R3 Pro is a patented carbon fiber system that is easy to use and comfortable for the driver. The challenge was: how do we provide maximum comfort and ease of use without taking away from the safety integrity of the system? [PRWEB]

Safety Solutions, Inc. in Mooresville, NC, has a competing Head and Neck restraining system for the Racing Industry. Both systems are built to protect the driver from serious and often fatal neck injuries.

tagTRAX: sled tests | lft | drivers need | racing technology | automotive industry