Keep an eye on success of new events – Daily Local

Ernie Saxton | On Auto Racing

Having watched as NASCAR made a big splash, actually I was not impressed, in Chicago with its first street race, and Formula 1 continued to thrive in the U.S. with huge new events in Miami and Las Vegas.

Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles says the NTT IndyCar Series is looking to make a similar impact with a new and undisclosed venue as early as 2025. This according to respected RACER journalist Marshall Pruett.

Miles told RACER. “I want to go back and reiterate the move (in 2023) from Belle Isle to downtown [Detroit] around the Ren Center was that sort of major change and it definitely had a much bigger impact in Detroit than we had before. Taking over the city, lighting up the skyline, I thought it was a very important, very impactful improvement.

“Gracefully moving Nashville next year downtown and making it the finale, maybe that’s in between. And everybody’s anticipating (the return to) Milwaukee; we’re stoked about being back there. Saying that, we’re working on at least one that I think people would see as high impact, a very different opportunity for 2025 in the United States that it’s too early to talk about, but we’re certainly looking for big events and big partners in the process.”

IndyCar has one non-points event on its 2024 calendar in March at California’s Thermal Club, and the fate of a second in Argentina, intended to run after the season ends in September at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo road course, is nearing a decision.

While some team owners have expressed limited interest in making the trek to Argentina, others have been supportive of the concept. Miles says the event, if it moves forward, presents the possibility for its teams to earn a profit through subsidized travel costs and increased payments to those who’ve earned the 22 Leaders Circle contracts which provide almost $1 million in guaranteed prize money.

“(The) characterization of the reactions in the paddock are pretty good,” he said. “There’s a couple who say, ‘Well, the money doesn’t really move the needle for us.’ For most, they think that it’s quite helpful. It could be, in total, a meaningful increase in the Leaders Circle. For example, if we put $200,000 into the Leaders Circle per car, and if we only took 22 cars, for the Leaders Circle teams, it’s $4.4 million, which is a healthy increase in the total compensation.

“And I’m not saying that the money [will] be limited to 22. But I think it’s a meaningful amount of money, especially when you consider we wouldn’t do it if the organizer didn’t also pay for all the costs to get the cars, the freight, the teams, the people [there], the room and board. I’m not saying they’d have zero costs, because crashes and things happen, but the logistical and travel costs, all of that would be paid. So whatever is added to that Leaders Circle for an event like this, in our minds, it would be additive, and really quite helpful.”

I am not a big fan of IndyCar but I plan to keep an eye on what happens for 2024.

 Stewrt-Haas signs Noah Gragson long-term

Stewart-Haas Racing has signed driver Noah Gragson to a multiyear agreement that will see the 25-year-old Las Vegas native pilot the team’s No. 10 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2024. I think that is a good move by Tony Stewart and I think we will see Noah in the thick of the point chase.

Gragson is a 13-time winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and has made 39 Cup Series starts over the course of two seasons (2022-2023) with a best finish of fifth in the 2022 regular-season finale at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

In four fulltime seasons in the Xfinity Series (2019-2022), Gragson finished among the top-10 in points each year and made it to the Championship 4 twice, finishing third in 2021 and second in 2022 with a series-high eight victories.

Before joining the Xfinity Series fulltime in 2019, Gragson competed in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2017 and 2018. He won twice and finished second in the 2018 championship. Those Truck Series results were a continuation of the kind of talent Gragson showcased in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. In 2015 and 2016, Gragson raced in this developmental league, regionally split into two divisions – K&N Pro Series East and K&N Pro Series West. Gragson won six races between the two entities and narrowly missed out on the 2015 West title by a scant seven points. Gragson also owns victories in two of the United States’ most prestigious Late Model races – the 2017 Winchester 400 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway and the 2018 Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.

Paired with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, Gragson will make his debut in the No. 10 Ford Mustang during the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 4 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Danner has possibility of win in Allentown

Ever since the Indoor Auto Racing Series started running races inside the PPL Center in downtown Allentown the intriguing prospect of a hometown driver riding to a TQ Midget victory in a feature race has loomed large. This year, Allentown’s own Briggs Danner, 22, may be in a position to make that a reality.

The Allentown Indoor Races presented by Ironton Global Cloud Phone, will be held inside the PPL Center on Friday and Saturday, January 5 and 6. Thanks to a new format this year, the hometown racer will have two chances to get that win with a 30-lap main event planned for Friday and a 40 lap race on Saturday.

Danner, the 2023 USAC East Sprint Car Series champion, will be driving a new TQ Midget that has never been raced. In fact, it’s still under construction thanks to the help of Kevin Graver and Mark Janisch.

Danner credits Kevin Graver’s Wiz Fab, E Schneider & Sons, Ironton Auto Body, Ironton Telephone, Danner Paving, and Mark and Matt Janisch as fundamental elements that have contributed to putting together a last-minute team.

The stakes have been raised for all the TQ Midget racers competing in the event thanks to support from Ironton Auto Body. One driver has the potential to walk away with $10,000 with a sweep of both TQ Midget A-Mains.

To complete the challenge, Friday’s winner will be offered a guaranteed starting spot in Saturday night’s main event, with one caveat, it’s the tenth starting spot. As a bonus for agreeing to start tenth, and accepting the challenge Friday’s winner will be given $1,000.

Additional sponsorship support for the Allentown events is provided by Ironton Auto Body, BELFOR Property Restoration and Future Homes.

The eighth running of the Allentown event, will feature three divisions of racing: TQ Midgets, Slingshots and Champ Karts with qualifying races and main events both nights.

After the Allentown races, the chase for the 2024 Indoor Series championship will head to Atlantic City, NJ January 26 and 27 at Boardwalk Hall for the 22nd running of the NAPA Auto Parts Atlantic City Indoor Races.

Danner will also compete in the Boardwalk Hall events and will also be behind the wheel of a Micro Sprint for the BELFOR East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals at the Cure Insurance Arena for the February 23-24 weekend on dirt.

———

Ernie Saxton is an auto racing contributor for MediaNews Group. He co-founded the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, served as public relations director for Grandview Speedway for 47 years, and is in multiple halls of fame for his promotion and journalism related to the sport. He has announced races at more than 100 tracks, and he is the only person to have announced a race at Madison Square Garden. Email him at ESaxton144@aol.com.