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What to do if You Win Big on Wagers and Bets

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SM
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Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

Whether you’re making informed wagers on motorsports or spending a night out in the casino it’s important to have a plan if you do hit that jackpot. The amount of euphoria and shock alone could lead you into making bad decisions right out of the gate. Simply thinking about and writing a few things down could become even more invaluable to you than the jackpot itself.

Pay Taxes

Getting paid under the table is nice and sometimes it’s can also be easy to hide however, it is simply not worth the hassle trying to avoid the taxes you could be receiving on your winnings. Nothing will be worse than getting fixated by the IRS or other federal tax agencies as being audited is a tiresome process. If you’ve won enough, you could contact a tax attorney. It could also be equally worth spending some time learning and completely understanding taxes on your own as it isn’t that difficult, and that information could help you come tax period or dealing with new sources of income.

Hire Professionals

When dealing with newfound winnings, hiring your own ‘team’ will help ease the process. Having tax and financial advisors alone will save you a ton of time and help guide you through the process safely and securely. Having wealth is all about living the easy life, therefore it is paramount you hire the people necessary to make it a reality.

Stay Quiet

As you’ve probably heard this tip before: “If you win the lottery, don’t tell anyone.” It’s equally important to explain what it means. Letting the cat out of the bag way too soon could lead to a metric ton of unwanted attention, showcasing exactly why you need a plan. Don’t quit your job, only tell close integral family members, and do not post on social media or contact the news. So long as long as you remain anonymous, no bad actors or scammers will try and impede you while you’re busy making the best possible preparations. Remember, the fewer people that know the better.

How & Where

If you’re here to also learn how and where to win big, thankfully, you can look no further. Nowadays, you can win big via online casinos like Bet20 that offer games like slots, blackjack, poker, and roulette; or you can look into activities such as motorsports or sports wagering. Whatever you’re good at, there is undoubtedly a way to wager your skill and knowledge. Using search engines, asking friends or social media are all fantastic means to find online gambling websites similar to Bet20 to spend your and skill in.

Treat Yourself

The last piece of advice is to simply, treat yourself. You have all this new wealth to your name and it is finally time to spend it responsibly. Get that new computer you’ve been wanting. Get rid of your old vehicle and buy the car of your dreams (whilst no longer under stringent observation under the media of course). And finally, provide for your friends and family. Sharing, donating, and elevating those around you will lead to less stress and also an even more happy life full of new wealth and prosperity.

Transcript of Stewart-Haas Racing/Mahindra Announcement (12.10.2021)

By
Official Release
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Mahindra partners with Stewart-Haas Racing. ‘Official Tractor of Tough’ to serve as an anchor sponsor for NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe and No. 14 team. Mahindra also joins Briscoe for the 36th annual Chili Bowl Nationals.

Participants:

● Viren Popli, President and CEO, Mahindra Ag North America and Mahindra Automotive North America

● Tony Stewart, co-owner, Stewart-Haas Racing

● Chase Briscoe, driver, No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. It’s great to be here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I’m Mike Arning, and on behalf of everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing and Mahindra, we certainly appreciate you being here for today’s announcement. Before we get started, we do want to acknowledge Al Unser Sr. Al passed away late last night after a courageous 17-year battle with cancer. He’s a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, certainly made his mark here at the Speedway and in motorsports, in general. Our condolences go out to the Unser family and all of his friends. Al had an impressive five-decade career because he always pressed on, and as our thoughts and prayers are with his family, we will press on here today.

It is an important day in the history of Stewart-Haas Racing and Mahindra, and bringing us this news today, I want to introduce to you Viren Popli, the president and CEO of Mahindra Ag North America and Mahindra Automotive North America; Tony Stewart, the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing and a native of Columbus, Indiana; and Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, and the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

Tony, we’ll start with you. It’s always great to be back here. This is your home track. You’re a proud Hoosier. You’ve won here as a driver. You’ve won here as an owner. Now we’re talking about a win for 2022 when it’s still 2021. Tell us a little bit about why we’re here today.

TONY STEWART: Well, we have a great new partner with Mahindra, obviously, and then super excited. It gives me the opportunity to get behind the wheel again of a tractor, so super excited about it.

The Mahindra brand, obviously their slogan is the Official Tractor of Tough, and I had an opportunity through this partnership to get on one. The hard part is they had a hard time getting me off of it and getting it back in their possession. Viren has kept me under control and assured me that I’ll have a new vehicle down there to work on my ranch, which is super exciting.

It’s exciting for all of us to bring a new sponsor into the Cup Series, and Viren and his group have been amazing to work with. Got a lot of new people that we’re going to see throughout the year with Mahindra and through this partnership. We’re excited to represent their brand, as you’ll see when you see the car here in a little while. It brings back memories of 10 years ago for us with what we did in the 2011 championship run. I think their attitude and their view and focus of what they want to do with the Mahindra brand and what we can do at Stewart-Haas Racing to help promote them and help engage their customers and their owners is something that we’re extremely excited about.

And I can’t think of a better person to have it on his car than Chase and what he’s doing. To have a great rookie season, get to go to all these tracks and race with all these drivers before we go to a NextGen car next year I think was a great advantage for him, but I feel like he’s probably – it’s a level playing field for him, now. Nothing is new anymore other than the car, and it’s a new car for everybody, so I feel like this is a chance for Chase to shine with a new racecar and a new partner that is bringing a lot of excitement to the shop already.

We’re proud to have Viren and Mahindra with us and our group. Super excited to have a long relationship with these guys and a long relationship with Chase, as well, and hopefully we can win a lot of races and go forward.

THE MODERATOR: Viren, welcome to NASCAR. Welcome to Stewart-Haas Racing. What made this partnership with these personalities the right fit for Mahindra?

VIREN POPLI: Thanks, Mike. Firstly, we appreciate the warm welcome and are really pleased to be part of the whole NASCAR family through our partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing.

You know Tony, right? You know why it’s great to have a relationship with him. It’s always fun, and that’s there. But I think we are pleased to be partnering with Stewart-Haas Racing for a multiyear partnership for the championship-winning team that Tony has put together, and of course Gene Haas. Chase will be driving the legendary No. 14, which we will be sponsoring, legendary because of what Tony has done with it, and we’re sure it’s going to keep doing great things for us. We are looking forward to kicking off the 2022 race season with the Mahindra Tractors brand on the No. 14.

Just to give a little bit about Mahindra Tractors and Mahindra, itself, Mahindra Ag North America is a subsidiary of the India-based Mahindra Group. We’ve been in the U.S. now for about 27 years. We are the third largest farm tractor company selling tractors in the 20- to 110-horsepower (range) to largely rural lifestyle customers, and the overlap between our customer and NASCAR is almost 100 percent, so that made it a very obvious choice for us. When we were looking to grow our brand further in North America, NASCAR seemed like an obvious choice, especially for tractors and for the ROXOR off-road vehicle that we make. We currently have – we’re celebrating our 75th year globally. We have operated in 22 different industries. We have six businesses in the U.S., Ag and auto being two of them, which I head up. And when we were thinking about what we want to do and once we chose NASCAR, I think Tony and me spent an evening together, and I think it was almost, by the end of the day, we were very clear that we both wanted to work together, with each other, because we both see the vision and the values of both our organizations about hard work, about our values of integrity, growth, toughness, are all aligned and very strongly in place.

I believe that the energy and the tough attitude with which they come in and what we bring to the table, I think together we can make great things happen. Both the gentlemen have really worked their way to be where they are, starting from basically humble beginnings to being greats in their own rights. It’s almost like many of our dealers, our 500-plus dealers that we have in North America, which are single-family-owned businesses who are also making every day coming into work and making a difference and building a future for themselves. In a way many of our values and many of our ways of being work together.

Tony already is working his land with a 5145. I’m hoping to get him off that and hopefully send him one to try it out and we’re not getting it back, so I was going to send him a ROXOR – now I’m thinking twice, but I think I will. (Laughter.)

With that, thank you very much, Mike. Over to you.

THE MODERATOR: Chase, just like Tony, Indianapolis holds a very special place in your heart, it always has. You grew up in rural farm country in Mitchell, Indiana, where Mahindra Tractors are very common, and here you are at your home track introducing Mahindra Tractors as the primary partner for you and the No. 14 team. Just talk about this moment and being here and having this partnership with Mahindra.

CHASE BRISCOE: Yeah, it’s special. Any time you can come back to Indiana and Indianapolis, and to do it in the fashion we’re doing it, it’s special for me. Growing up in a small town in Indiana, and Viren hit on it, every single dealership is family-owned, and I think that goes a long way with Tony and I both, and just our upbringings and that humble beginnings. To have a family-owned backed business essentially is special.

Outside of that, I think it’s a great fit for the 14 car. Viren was talking about how it’s the official tractor of tough and the perseverance and the grit, I feel like that fits the 14 team so well. I feel like it’s a perfect fit. I’m excited for everybody to see the car, and I definitely can’t wait for 2022.

Q. How fitting of a market is it for Mahindra to have the sponsorship in Indianapolis? This is the Midwest. Farmland is very important in the Midwest. Just how fitting is it to be able to have that sponsorship in Indianapolis?

VIREN POPLI: For us, it’s a big deal to be here. So we also do automotive. We also have a Formula E race team. We have been in the motorsports arena but we never got to NASCAR in a big way. We did sponsor a vehicle once in a while. For us, this was the Holy Grail. It’s been something that we’ve been building toward for, I would say, 27 years because we started off as a small niche company. The first tractors that got sold here were basically by our first employee who used to import a tractor, put it on a trailer behind his pickup truck, and deliver it customer by customer. From there, to become the third-largest farm tractor company in the U.S. has been a journey. I think today we are at the right point in time to really take that big leap forward. If you look at the NASCAR viewer and fan, he’s highly committed to the sport. He’s committed to the brands that work with the sport, and we think that the sport, with the new car that’s coming in and the way things are happening, this will continue to be a premier sport in the country, and we are honored to be part of that journey.

Q. After this past year’s race (on the Indianapolis road course), with the way the protective turtles got torn up, are there applications where Mahindra might be able to be of use to the track repair group?

VIREN POPLI: Yeah, for sure. I hope so.

Q. How many races will Mahindra sponsor the No. 14 car?

THE MODERATOR: Specifically, it will be the majority of NASCAR races. They are an anchor partner of the No. 14.

Q. Tony, you’ve been in the sport more than 20 years as a driver. Now you’re here as an owner. How big are partnerships when it comes to what you guys need to do on the racetrack to perform? When it comes to everything that you guys have to do week in and week out, these partnerships are the lifeblood of the sport. How important are they for someone like Chase, to go out and race each weekend in that No. 14 Ford?

TONY STEWART: Oh, it’s absolutely crucial. It’s peace of mind, and the great thing with this partnership, like you mentioned, Mahindra is the anchor sponsor on the 14 car now, and to have that kind of face, it’s great for us as a company, it’s great for Chase as a driver because we really get to work and get traction with this program and really help Mahindra accomplish their goals. But it helps us at the end of the day accomplish our goals, so it does make it very crucial for us as a race team to have a partner on board that is committed to the commitment they’ve made to this team and to Chase and myself. It helps us worry about what we want to worry about first and foremost, which is winning races.

But at the same time, in motorsports and all around the world, it goes way deeper than that. As much as we all want to win races, it’s about making sure we take care of our partners that help us go to the track each weekend. As you’ve heard Viren and I joking around here a little bit, that’s the kind of relationship we’ve built in such a short amount of time already, and it really is fun to have a partner like that, that you know you’re going to be able to engage with and have fun with. To be able to introduce them to a new sport that they’ve not been a part of, or an avenue of the sport, is something we’re proud of, bringing new partners into NASCAR and making sure it’s an enjoyable experience for them, and us as a race team making sure we help them accomplish their goals. It’s going to be a lot of fun for us because we know every week when we get to the racetrack we have a partner there that believes in what we do as a company, believes in our drivers and our products. We want to make sure we do the same thing for them, as well.

Q. Chase, obviously it’s great to add a new sponsor to NASCAR, but it’s not just NASCAR, you’re taking a sponsor and you’re going to Tulsa for the Chili Bowl. How great is it to represent the same sponsor in NASCAR, but also to go to Tulsa and represent it on that kind of a stage in Midget racing at the Chili Bowl?

CHASE BRISCOE: Yeah, it’s huge. Any time you can have a partner in anything, it’s special, but to see what Mahindra is doing and going and giving back to grassroots racing, as well, I think this shows their commitment in motorsports and just in the sport in general. It’s really neat. I think obviously NASCAR is a huge demographic for them, but also at the grassroots. We’ve groomed the dirt tracks with tractors, so hopefully we can get a Mahindra tractor out there at the Chili Bowl. But hopefully I can do even more dirt racing with those guys. And it’s really cool, though, to start off a new year, second week of January, with a partner that’s going to be on the (Cup Series) car for the majority of the year, so it’s really special, for sure.

Q. Chase, you’re a young driver. You just finished your rookie season, but you’ve really had to grind to get to NASCAR, get the opportunities in Truck and Xfinity. How big a deal is this for you from a career standpoint, knowing that the next few years of your NASCAR career are set?

CHASE BRISCOE: Yeah, it’s huge. It gives you a huge confidence boost. Just helps you have security in the sport. I think that’s hard to find, and especially as a young guy. And like you were saying with the upbringing and trying to just find a way to get an opportunity to have somebody like Mahindra, now, come in for a large majority of the season, multiyear deal, it’s huge as a driver to have that confidence and just know going into the race weekend – every weekend we go to the racetrack wanting to win, but you’re going to have a bad weekend at some point throughout the year. To have that confidence and know that they’re still behind you is a huge thing as a young driver. It’s something I’m definitely thankful for and one I’m really looking forward to. Like Tony said, the small amount of time we’ve been with Viren and the entire Mahindra group, it already feels like a family, so it’s something really exciting.

Q. In a few moments, we’re going to take the covers off that 2022 No 14 Mahindra Ford Mustang. So it is a NextGen car. This next question is for you, Chase. What is the NextGen car like to drive so far? You’ve had a handful of tests with it, especially in comparison to what you’ve been used to racing.

CHASE BRISCOE: Yeah, I don’t have a ton of experience with the old car, but the new car definitely has some tendencies I feel like that are similar to the old car. But the biggest thing, that I think is kind of obvious, is you can drive the car way harder than the current car, but that kind of – that window you have of being on the edge is a lot smaller in the NextGen car versus the older car. It was just a way bigger window. You can drive that car way harder, but the potential to go over that edge is way smaller. It’s going to be very interesting. I think we’re still trying to figure out what the car is going to drive like. The package continually changes. I’ve been able to drive it once on a road course, once on the oval. I’ll drive it again next week on an oval. I’m excited for it. It’s something different. It looks really cool sitting there. I know the Mahindra car, like Tony was saying, brings back some 2011 vibes, so that’s cool for me as a Tony fan and something as a 14 fan. I think that’s something that a lot of the fans are really going to enjoy.

Q. Viren, you hit on it a little bit, this is Mahindra’s 75th anniversary, but can you talk more about the grassroots growth of Mahindra Tractors? You talked about that Houston dealer who hooked up a trailer, put a tractor on the back of it, and now here you are today at the pinnacle of racing in North America with Mahindra Tractors on a racecar.

VIREN POPLI: Yeah, it’s been quite a journey. Like I said, it’s been 27 years in the making. For us starting off, finding the right partners has always been the No. 1 thing that we work on. I think the most important thing for us in our business has always been about finding the right people to work with because we want people whose values, whose ways of working, work with us. That’s been – and then, once we build those relationships, they last forever. We’ve got people here who worked with us for many years. We’ve got our ad agency who has been with us for, I think, 20 years. So we’ve got these relationships that once we start and we like the partnership, we just keep going with it and keep building on it over time. That’s what’s allowed us to grow. We have a very unique way of doing business, I guess, where we just like to find the right people who want to work with us and we want to work with, and then we just don’t let them go.

What we like to see is to see our dealerships be multigenerational, so already at dinner last night we met the next generation of Chase, and that was a great evening, and of course we met Tony and Leah, and that was great. Our relationships and businesses, the same is true with the customers; the same is true with our dealers.

Q. Tony, there’s a lot of new coming in this year. One of the new components is that that number moved forward. Not necessarily from an esthetic standpoint, but being the car owner, does that help when it comes to these partnerships like Mahindra? You now have a whole lot more real estate on those racecars.

TONY STEWART: Yeah, I think it’s definitely different, and obviously when you’ve been around the sport, race fans are kind of finicky and picky about what they like and dislike. It took me a while to get used to it, but it does, it gives us a much better opportunity to do a better job for our partners and give them more real estate on the car that fits. So the placement of the number is definitely different, but I think as you’ll see here in a minute when we unveil the car, I really like the look of it.

I was very apprehensive about hearing that the number placements were changing and this and that. I wasn’t a big fan of it at first, but then once we saw – honestly, it was the Mahindra paint scheme that kind of changed my mind about it, of seeing how it laid out and how it gave it a new look and gave our partners a much better opportunity to have a more visible placement on the car, so I’m excited about it. I think it looks good.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. After we do the unveilings and pose for some photos, everyone here will be available for one-on-one interviews. We’ve got all the time in the world, so please take advantage of it, and thank you again very much for coming out. We certainly appreciate it.

DANNER LOOKING FOR WIN AT HOMETOWN PPL CENTER INDOOR RACES JANUARY 7-8

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Official Release
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ALLENTOWN.PA’S OWN BRIGGS DANNER SEEKS HOMETOWN INDOOR AUTO RACING SERIES VICTORY IN JAN. 7-8, 2022 RETURN TO PPL CENTER FOR IRONTON GLOBAL SPONSORED EVENTS

ALLENTOWN, PA. DECEMBER 10, 2021 . . . Coming off a career season, 19-year old Briggs Danner will be seeking his first TQ (Three Quarter) Midget Indoor Auto Racing Series win in front of hometown fans inside the PPL Center Arena in downtown Allentown. PA. The Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania native will be one of the pre-race favorites for the Ironton Global sponsored events on January 7th and 8th, 2022.

Danner has enjoyed an outstanding 2021 season. The teenager won a SpeedSTR championship at the nearby Kutztown Action Track and nine wins on the USAC East Coast Sprint circuit. He ended the season with his first TQ feature win in late November outdoors at Wall Stadium.

At Wall’s prestigious Turkey Derby, Danner drove a No. 48 owned by Matt Janisch of Nazareth, PA. For the two-day event in Allenton and the two series races that follow he will drive a similar No. 48. Janisch will be competing against Danner and his own car behind the wheel of Roger Mahan’s No. 2 TQ Midget.

The Indoor Series will be restarting after the last four events dating back to March of 2020 were cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions on fans.

“I missed running indoors last year,” Danner admitted. “It’s something I have always enjoyed doing. I think it keeps you sharp, makes you a better race car driver,” Danner offered.

After Allentown’s the series moves to Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on January 28th and 29th and the New York State Fairgrounds Exposition Center in Syracuse, NY on March 11th and 12th.

All three 2022 events will be presented by BELFOR Property Restoration Services, provider of professional 24/7 residential and commercial restoration services.

Ironton Global and Ironton Telephone & Internet are the title sponsors of the Allentown event. Ironton Global, the leading international provider of cloud-based communication services, is headquartered in Coplay, PA.

Future Homes of Kunkletown, PA, a home construction company, specializing in residential, multi-family, and energy efficient buildings, has also returned as the presenting sponsor for the Saturday night card of racing.

Danner’s racing horizons will be broadening dramatically in 2022 as he has signed to drive for Sprint Car owner Mike Heffner, also of the Lehigh Valley.

To achieve his goal of hometown victory, Danner will to have to outrun the likes of Andy Jankowiak, Tonawanda, NY, defending Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled By VP champion and Ryan Flores of Mooresville, NC the defending winner of the Indoor Series event at the PPL Center in January of 2020.

The TQ entry list is filled with other Greater Lehigh Valley, PA area drivers.

Earl Paules of Lehighton. PA, a perennial favorite who races Modifieds weekly at Mahoning Valley Speedway, is entered in a TQ sponsored in part by E. Schneider & Sons Scrap of Allentown, PA. Mike Bednar of Lehighton, PA, who drove a second TQ owned by Paulus in 2020 will be driving Mike Murray’s highly regarded No. 12 TQ Midget this year.

Kyle Lick of Lehighton, PA returns to the PPL Center driving a car owned by his father. Lick was injured this summer in a crash at Big Diamond Speedway in a USAC East Coast Wingless Sprint race. He was out of action for a month before returning late in the year.

Big Diamond Modified race winner and track champion Tim Buckwalter of Douglasville, PA will be a contender back behind the wheel of the Pippard No. 74.

Tyler Lindsay, Micro Sprint dirt track specialist at Shellhammers Speedway, riding out of Slatington, PA, will compete driving a family owned car.

Tickets for the two days of racing in Allentown are on sale now. To order online visit www.pplcenter.com. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the arena box office, open only during events hosted at the arena including Lehigh Valley Phantoms games

Additional entries are currently being accepted by the Indoor Auto Racing Series for its trio of 2022 races.

TQ Midget race cars will headline all the programs with high-speed excitement competing on speedways set up on the concrete floors of three arenas. Slingshots and Champ Karts will complete the tripleheader programs.

Bonus awards for all divisions are starting to roll in with Dan Kapuscinski Motorsports Promotions stepping up to reward the fast qualifier in the Champ Kart division at all three series with a $100 cash bonus.

The Allentown schedule calls for doors opening at 6:00 PM with racing getting underway at 7:30 PM on Friday. On Saturday, doors open and Fan Fest begins at 5 PM with racing starting at 7:00 PM sharp.

The on-track Fan Fest is available at no extra charge to ticket holders who chose the option when making their purchase. This allows access to the speedway where the cars competing will be on display for photos and drivers available for free autographs.

Series information including links for purchasing tickets, hotel rooms and racer entry forms are available on the series website: www.indoorautoracing.com.

Sponsorship opportunities remain for all Indoor Auto Racing Series races. Corporate sponsorship packages are available to fit every budget. For more information, contact Danny Sammons at danny@aarn.com or call 609-888-3618.

Mahindra Partners with Stewart-Haas Racing

By
Official Release
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‘Official Tractor of Tough’ To Serve as an Anchor Sponsor for NASCAR Cup Series Driver Chase Briscoe and No. 14 Team

Mahindra Also Joins Briscoe for 36th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (Dec. 10, 2021) – Mahindra Ag North America has joined Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) as an anchor sponsor for its No. 14 NASCAR Cup Series team and driver Chase Briscoe beginning with the 2022 season.

The multiyear partnership with the championship-winning NASCAR team co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and industrialist Gene Haas will feature Mahindra Tractors, a brand of Mahindra Ag North America, on Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Mustang for the majority of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. The red-and-black No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang will debut in the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Feb. 5-6 in Los Angeles before returning to action for the traditional start of the season with the 64th running of the Daytona 500 Feb. 20 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America is part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, the No. 1 selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra offers a range of tractor models from 20-125 horsepower, implements and the ROXOR side-by-side. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra Tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort at a great value. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“NASCAR, Stewart-Haas Racing and Mahindra’s shared values form a strong platform for us to connect with existing and potential customers. Our partnership with SHR provides an opportunity to tell our story to the wide audience of NASCAR fans who enjoy the outdoors and working their land,” said Viren Popli, President and CEO, Mahindra Ag North America and Mahindra Automotive North America.

“Chase Briscoe and Tony Stewart are relatable men of great character who have worked hard to get where they are today. Like our dealers, they have a tough work ethic and the drive to be successful. We are proud to have them representing the brand. In fact, Tony is already a Mahindra owner and has been putting his 5145 tractor to good use on his ranch in Indiana,” Popli added.

Briscoe just completed his first year in the NASCAR Cup Series and the 26-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, handily won the rookie-of-the-year title driving the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for SHR.

“The NASCAR Cup Series is the toughest racing I’ve ever been a part of. It’s so competitive,” Briscoe said. “I learned so much this year and I really can’t wait to apply it all next season.

“I’m incredibly honored to represent Mahindra Tractors and all of its dealers. We both want to continue to grow and perform – me on the racetrack and Mahindra in the marketplace. It’s a true partnership that’s valuable to both of us.”

Prior to being promoted to the NASCAR Cup Series, Briscoe competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he won a series-high nine races in 2020.

“Chase has earned his spot in the Cup Series,” said Stewart, a fellow Hoosier from Columbus, Indiana, who lives on a 414-acre spread. “He was relentless. Anytime he was challenged, he never backed down, and that’s the way you to have to be at this level.

“Chase is just a really hard worker. He’s earned everything that’s come his way and then made the most of each opportunity. That’s what has always impressed me about him, and I think that’s what impressed Mahindra Tractors. They’re a really good fit. This is a very rewarding partnership and I’m proud to be a Mahindra customer.”

Briscoe is a third-generation racer whose career began on dirt tracks in and around Indiana. Stewart raced with Briscoe’s dad, Kevin, in USAC sprint cars and in non-wing cars, and he watched Chase come up through the open-wheel ranks of sprint cars and midgets on his way to NASCAR, just as Stewart did in the mid-1990s on his way to INDYCAR and then NASCAR.

“When it comes to the 14 car, I obviously have a passion for having dirt drivers behind the wheel,” Stewart said. “It’s special, but also practical. With the lower horsepower package they have in the Cup Series, you have to run these cars a lot freer, and I think that suits a driver with a dirt background.”

Briscoe will return to his dirt-track roots Jan. 10-15 during the 36th annual Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway inside the SageNet Center. Mahindra Tractors will be the primary sponsor of Briscoe’s No. 5 midget.

“Dirt-track racing makes me a better Cup Series driver,” said Briscoe, who will make his eighth Chili Bowl appearance in 2022. “It forces you to adapt. You have to run different lines to get the most out of your car and you have to do it quickly.

“When I won my first Xfinity Series race on the Roval at Charlotte, I drove it like a dirt track. I made sure to not spin the rear tires to where I was good at the end of a run. Running the Chili Bowl is fun, but it also keeps you sharp. It’ll be a great way to kick off our first season with Mahindra Tractors.”

Briscoe’s first time behind the wheel of a racecar came in 2001. Driving a quarter midget, he won his first heat race and then won the feature event later that evening. Briscoe moved on to mini sprints and when he was 13, stepped into a 410 sprint car where, in his first race, finished 10th in a 40-car field. In a rookie season that saw 37 starts, Briscoe racked up eight top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, including a win in the last race of the season where he broke NASCAR Hall of Famer and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon’s record as the youngest person to win a 410 sprint car race.

Briscoe continued to race 410 sprint cars in the Midwest and people began to take notice. Soon, the switch from sprint cars to stock cars was on. Cunningham Motorsports hired Briscoe in 2016 to pilot its No. 77 Ford for a full-time drive in ARCA. Briscoe responded by winning six races and the championship by a whopping 535 points.

Briscoe has thrived in his transition to NASCAR, which was boosted by that ARCA title. He advanced to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2017, earning four poles and winning the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ten top-five and 14 top-10s allowed Briscoe to make the playoffs, finish sixth in points and score the series’ rookie-of-the-year and most-popular-driver awards.

Briscoe parlayed a limited Xfinity Series schedule in 2018 where he drove for both SHR and Roush-Fenway Racing into a full-time drive in 2019 for SHR where he won the rookie-of-the-year title. His stout, nine-win season in 2020 earned Briscoe a well-deserved promotion to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021.

About Mahindra Ag North America:

Mahindra Ag North America (MAgNA) is part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, the No. 1 selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes and the only tractor manufacturer in the world to win the industry’s top two quality awards – the Deming Application Prize and the Japan Quality Medal, care of Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers. Mahindra serves the agricultural and rural lifestyle customers in the United States and Canada by partnering with a network of independently owned dealerships. Houston, Texas, based, MAgNA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and began selling tractors in the USA in 1994. To learn more about Mahindra Ag North America, please visit us online at MahindraUSA.com and on social at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About Stewart-Haas Racing:

Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR team co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America. The Kannapolis, North Carolina-based organization has won two NASCAR Cup Series titles, one NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and more than 90 NASCAR races, including such crown-jewel events as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. For more information, please visit us online at StewartHaasRacing.com and on social at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Corvette Racing Entering Two C8.Rs for Daytona

By
Official Release
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Marco Sorensen to join Milner, Tandy in second GTD PRO Corvette for Rolex 24

DETROIT (December 10, 2021) – Corvette Racing will enter two Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs for the 2022 Rolex 24 At Daytona in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s new GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category.

For the Rolex 24, Marco Sorensen will join the driving roster and share the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy, who will race at Daytona ahead of their full program in the FIA World Endurance Championship. As previously announced, Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg will pilot the No. 3 Corvette as they go for their second straight class victory at Daytona to start another full-season push for an IMSA championship.

The 31-year-old Sorensen has competed at the highest levels of GT racing with two titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s GTE Pro category to his credit. He also placed third in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2020 and was the fastest GTE Pro qualifier in 2019.

The appearance in the Rolex 24 will be Sorensen’s second in the race and in the WeatherTech Championship. He raced in the GTD category in 2017 and was third in qualifying for the race. Sorensen also has a strong background in single-seater racing with victories in GP2, Formula Renault 3.5 and the German F3 series.

Corvette Racing returns to the Daytona after a 1-2 finish in 2021 for the mid-engine Corvette C8.R as part of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category, which ended at the end of the 2021 season. The GTD-PRO Corvette C8.R will look similar to the GTLM trim. A revised wing profile will mean a slightly different level of downforce at the rear of the Corvette. The C8.R will run on customer Michelin tires, per GTD regulations.

Under the skin, the GTD-PRO Corvette will retain the same 5.5-liter, flat-plane V8 with a slightly decreased power output over the GTLM rules package. An anti-lock braking system (ABS), tested by Corvette Racing at Belle Isle’s race in June, also will be featured on the IMSA C8.R along with other driver aids that are mandated by the class regulations.

Corvette Racing will open the 2022 season with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 27-31 from Daytona International Speedway. The week prior, the team will participate in the three-day Roar Before the 24, which will include a 100-minute qualifying race to set the grid for the Rolex 24.
MARCO SORENSEN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m super happy to join Corvette Racing. It’s a great opportunity for me personally to be with this team and try to achieve together the result that everyone is wanting – that’s of course winning! I love the mentality of Corvette Racing. It has a great car and from what I know, there are some really great people that I will team up with. So I’m really looking forward to this. Corvette Racing has always been a standout team to me because of the way they go racing. They go race and they race hard. They have been around for a very long time so to have the opportunity to go with the team to Daytona is a great one.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Castroneves Thrilled To See Indy 500 Ticket Celebrating Fourth Win

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Official Release
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PRI-2021

INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021) – This time, Helio Castroneves vows to collect a souvenir Race Day ticket to the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge just like the fans who will cheer him on in the 106th Running on Sunday, May 29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Surprisingly, the reigning winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” said he has never received – or at least kept – a souvenir ticket bearing his likeness in the year following his victories in 2001, 2002 and 2009. But now as a rare four-time winner, he figures it is time to showcase one of the most coveted keepsakes in sports.

“I know how much it means to the fans to have that small piece of history for that year,” said Castroneves, who said he has signed many of those race tickets over the years. “That’s part of why Indianapolis is so incredible because everyone has a chance to be part of it.”

The honor of the winning driver featured on the next year’s “500” ticket dates to Mauri Rose’s appearance in 1948.

Castroneves was presented Thursday with tickets from each of the previous three years he was featured as part of the official 2022 ticket unveiling at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The tickets were provided by the IMS Ticket Office and longtime “500” fan Matt Converset of Decatur, Indiana.

Thursday’s 2022 ticket unveiling was held in front of a live audience at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show. Castroneves, who won this year’s race driving the pink-and-black No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing, got his first look at the design of IMS Art Director Mandy Walsh.

“Thank you to everyone,” Castroneves said. “This is so special, so much a part of history.”

The artistic shot taken by IMS Photo Operations Manager Chris Owens shows Castroneves with the symbols of his record-tying “500” victory: Four fingers raised, the traditional winner’s wreath, the Borg-Warner Trophy and a portion of his winning car in the background. In his previous images, Castroneves is raising the ceremonial bottle of milk in victory lane.

“Every time you (see the ticket), it brings you memories that we did something remarkable,” Castroneves said.

Tickets featuring the historic image will be mailed soon to fans in all 50 states and countries worldwide as IMS prepares to welcome a full capacity of fans “Back Home Again” next May.

The unveiling of the ticket is one of many upcoming reminders that the homecoming is coming quickly – in just 171 days. Castroneves is still to see his likeness on the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy, which he considers a chance to evaluate “how I am looking now,” he said, laughing.

Castroneves said his favorite Indy tradition is receiving the winner’s ring, made by Jostens.

“That’s something that I look at every day,” he said. “It makes me wake up with a smile on my face and (reminding me I’m going) back again to fight for it.

“As soon as they put that ring on my finger, I say it’s never coming off. In fact, this year I told (team co-owner) Mike Shank, ‘Mike, the only way you’re getting this ring is if you cut off my finger, and I don’t think you want a driver with four fingers driving next year.’

“It fits perfectly. No adjustments.”

Tickets for the 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and all Month of May activities are on sale at IMS.com, by calling the IMS Ticket Office at 317-492-6700 or by visiting the Ticket Office.

Four-Time Indianapolis 500 Winner Al Unser Dies at 82

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Official Release
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INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Dec. 10, 2021) – Alfred “Al” Unser, the second member of the Unser auto racing dynasty to win the Indianapolis 500 and the second INDYCAR SERIES driver in history to win four times at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, died Dec. 9 at his home in Chama, New Mexico, after a 17-year battle with cancer. He was 82.

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 29, 1939, Unser followed his three older brothers and the generation of Unser brothers before them into auto racing. He was known as a quiet sponge, absorbing the lessons learned by his family members.

Initially, the Unsers were known for their prowess of the famed Pikes Peak Hill Climb, with Unser’s uncle, Louis Jr., the first to race up the Colorado mountain in 1926. Louis went on to win the sprint to the top a record nine times, and the family’s win total stands at 25, including two wins by Al Unser (1964-65).

The first generation of racing Unsers had been pointed toward competing at Indianapolis, but the pursuit was abandoned when Joe, the middle of three brothers, died testing a car in Colorado in 1929. Twenty-nine years later, in 1958, Unser’s oldest brother, Jerry Jr., finally got the family to the “500.”

Third son Bobby earned his first chance at Indy in 1963, with Al following him in 1965 as part of the decorated rookie class that included fellow future winners Mario Andretti and Gordon Johncock, plus Formula One veteran Masten Gregory and motorcycle ace Joe Leonard, who won Indy’s pole in 1968.

Unser won his first “500” in 1970, two years after Bobby won his first. Unser then became the fourth driver to repeat as Indy’s champion, something no other member of his family achieved.

Unser added Indy victories in 1978 and 1987 to join A.J. Foyt as a four-time winner. Rick Mears became the third member of the exclusive club with his 1991 victory. Helio Castroneves became the fourth in 2021.

In 1992, Unser finished third in the “500,” but that’s not what defined the day. The race winner was his son, 30-year-old Al Unser Jr., making Unser the only driver in history to have a sibling and a son win Indy. Unser Jr. won his second “500” in 1994, pushing the family’s total to nine IMS victories. No other family has won more than four.

Combined, the Unsers have made 73 career starts in the “500,” a figure eclipsed only by the 76 of the Andrettis. The Unser participation: Al (27 races), Bobby (19), Al Jr. (19), Johnny (five), Robby (two) and Jerry (one).

While Unser was known for his driving patience, he also holds the record for the most laps led in the “500.” Leading the final lap of the 1987 race allowed him to tie Ralph DePalma’s 75-year-old record (612). Unser led 31 more laps over his final five IMS starts to push the all-time mark to 644.

Unser made 27 starts in the race, third-most in history behind only Foyt (35) and Andretti (29), and his final victory allowed him to break brother Bobby’s mark as the oldest race winner – 47 years, 350 days.

Unser won three INDYCAR SERIES season championships – in 1970, 1983 and 1985 – and eight 500-mile races. In 1978, he won the INDYCAR SERIES “Triple Crown” of 500-mile races (Indianapolis, Pocono and Ontario), a feat that remains unmatched.

Unser’s career begin in 1957 by racing modified roadsters, midgets and sprint cars. He made his championship dirt car debut in 1964 at Milwaukee driving for J.C. Agajanian, but that was his only start that season, and it lasted only 51 laps before the engine failed.

Coincidently, it had been at Foyt’s urging that car owners began to consider Unser for the sport’s better rides. Foyt had seen how smooth Unser had driven on the nation’s dirt tracks, and he praised Unser’s quiet, easygoing and disciplined style.

“He was a very smart race car driver,” Foyt said.

Unser’s first full INDYCAR season was in 1967, when he finished second to Foyt in the “500,” and the next year started a dominant period in the sport’s history. After winning five races for car owner Al Retzloff, Unser joined Vel’s Parnell Racing for the 1969 season, where he won five additional races with ace mechanic George Bignotti at the controls. The pairing might have won more often if not for Unser breaking his leg at IMS ahead of that year’s race.

In 1970, Unser added 10 more victories, including five in a row and eight of nine in a single stretch. Over a two-season stretch he won 11 of 13 and 13 of 16 races — 25 wins over four years.

Unser’s first “500” victory came in the No. 2 Johnny Lightning Special, a Colt/Ford that led 190 of the 200 laps from the pole. The margin of victory over Penske Racing’s Mark Donohue was 32.19 seconds.

“Al was the class of the field,” Johnny Rutherford said.

Unser’s second Indy win was with a similar car, but its path to victory was not as smooth. Unser started in the fifth position and only led 103 laps, including the final 83. McLaren’s Peter Revson finished second, 22.48 seconds behind the winner.

Unser nearly became the first and only “500” driver to three-peat. He finished second to Donohue in 1972.

In 1978, Unser drove for the Chaparral team in what was considered a second-tier ride. Yet, he was competitive throughout the race, dueling with Danny Ongais until Ongais retired with engine failure to hand Unser a commanding 35-second lead. Unser might have finished with that margin but, in a rare miscue, he struck a tire on his final pit stop. Tom Sneva tried to capitalize, but he came up eight seconds short.

Unser and Sneva were locked in a much closer battle in the 1983 “500,” and this one included Al Jr. in his first IMS race. Unser had his son protecting him from the charging Sneva, who eventually worked past both to take his only Indy win. After the race, USAC penalized Al Jr. two laps for interference.

The Speedway’s first father-son pairing was a preview of things to come. In 1985, the Unsers battled each other all the way to CART’s final race, with the father passing Roberto Moreno for fourth place in the closing laps on Miami’s Tamiami Park road course to beat his son for the season title by a single point.

Unser fought back tears describing the “empty feeling” of having to beat Al Jr. for the championship.

Unser won three races for Penske Racing, but the last one wasn’t scheduled. In 1987, the team needed a replacement for Ongais, who had suffered a concussion in a first-week crash in Turn 4 during practice. Unser, who was unemployed and still in Indianapolis to help his son’s struggling car, had been unhappy with Penske for releasing him at the end of the previous season, but he knew this was too good of a car to turn down.

Unser signed on the condition he would receive a new Cosworth engine to go with a year-old March which had been retrieved from a hotel lobby near the team’s headquarters in Reading, Pennsylvania. On the second weekend of qualifying, Unser earned the 20th starting position, his second-lowest effort since becoming an Indy winner.

Andretti dominated the race, leading 170 of the first 178 laps, even lapping Unser, who couldn’t believe he had been driving so slowly.

“After that, I stood up in that car and started driving it like I should have to start with,” Unser said.

When Andretti’s car suddenly slowed with ignition issues, Roberto Guerrero assumed the lead. But Guerrero still had to pit one more time, and he had been nursing a troublesome clutch. Sure enough, he had trouble getting the car to leave the pit box, and the engine stalled. As Guerrero’s crew pushed him back to re-fire the engine, Unser sailed past on the front straightaway. Eighteen laps later, victory was again his.

“Everybody said, ‘I can’t believe he won the race,’” Unser said. “I said, ‘I can’t, either!’”

In 1992, Unser replaced the injured Nelson Piquet at Team Menard. He finished third to give John Menard’s organization and the Buick engine their best “500” finishes.

Unser drove for eight different teams in the late stage of his career between 1987 and 1994, finally deciding to retire on May 17, 1994 when he couldn’t get the underfunded car he was driving at the Speedway up to speed. Al Jr. won the race 12 days later from the pole on his father’s 55th birthday.

Unser finished with 39 INDYCAR wins, sixth on the all-time list. He won the prestigious Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds four consecutive years (1970-73).

“Al was one of the smartest drivers I ever raced against,” Andretti said. “I often said that I wished I could have had some of his patience.”

Unser illustrated his versatility by finishing fourth in the 1968 Daytona 500, one of his five NASCAR Cup Series races. He also finished fourth in a Cup road race in Riverside, California. He was USAC’s Stock Car Rookie of the Year in 1967 and captured the International Race of Champions title in 1978.

Unser was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1986 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998. His collection of trophies and cars is housed at the Unser Racing Museum in Albuquerque.

Unser is survived by wife, Susan, and son, Al Jr. He was preceded in death by daughters Mary and Deborah. Bobby Unser died May 2, 2021 at age 87. The brothers had long been neighbors in Albuquerque.

Winning Life’s Drag Race: Taking Your Vehicle to the Finish Line

By
SM
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Photo by Samuele Errico Piccarini on Unsplash

While few people have dreamt of getting a new car at some point, that dream gets easily tainted by the intrusion of reality: going to a sales lot, getting harassed by salespeople, shelling out thousands of dollars in cash (or worse, going into more debt or being talked into an extended payment plan), and driving away with a lighter wallet. Unless you have a rich relative from a mysterious land who leaves a fortune, or you win the lottery, few of us can afford to buy a brand new car as soon as our current automobile starts showing some signs of wear and tear. 

Some of the wear and tear signs can range from just minor inconveniences, like our stereos crackling and popping while playing music, or to more major things and potentially life-threatening incidents, like our tires slipping whenever a deluge of rain slips through our area. Fortunately, instead of springing for a brand new model car, you can instead trick out your current vehicle to make it competitive with even the most recent models from the most popular manufacturers while staying cost-effective… After all, you aren’t trying to race in NASCAR, just get to your work safe and sound each morning. 

With that in mind, here are some easy improvements you can make to your vehicle that will increase your overall quality of life and make it easier for you to take your current car as close as you can to its personal finish line. 

Replace Your Tires

The importance of replacing your tires regularly cannot be understated, as failing to purchase new tires every so often can lead to unsafe driving conditions, leaving your tires susceptible to punctures and making it easier for your car to lose traction on the road. If you haven’t replaced your tires in a while, this essential routine for all drivers might be the best place to start to make your car feel brand new. 

New tires will help your car drive like a new model, making your overall driving experience smoother and helping push back its eventual expiry date. Make sure you don’t go cheap on tires, as while quality tires are expensive, they tend to wear down slower and draw out your investment for a longer period of time. 

Install New, Top-of-the-Line Tech

Most newer models of cars, much like devices in other industries, are being made to integrate seamlessly with other devices we regularly use, like smartphones and tablets. If your car does not have Bluetooth connectivity or an interactive receiver, you may want to consider swapping out your factory-default receiver for something new. This simple change will make it possible for your car to connect to your phone, play music from your streaming library, and make hands-free calling possible, as well as allowing you to access online radio channels through services like SiriusXM.

You may also want to consider installing a backup camera in your vehicle, as most models of backup cameras tend to work well with interactive interfaces to ensure that when you back out of a parking space, you do so safely. Installing these two pieces of interconnected smart tech will make your car feel much newer, enabling it to compete with newer models from prominent manufacturers who have these features installed as a default. 

Consider Upgrading Your Audio Systems

As mentioned above, default factory speakers tend to be unreliable, fizzling out and popping after a given amount of time passes. They aren’t made to be durable or produce quality audio, with most manufacturers providing them to check off a box they know all automobile shoppers are looking for. As such, you may want to consider replacing your speakers, looking for a model that fits your car and serves your needs, and installing additional complementary pieces of tech like a subwoofer or an amplifier. 

These two speaker mods can give you sound that is both louder and deeper, crafting a more immersive listening experience of such power and clarity that you will be able to isolate each instrument as your favorite band plays.

While the idea of shelling out money is hardly ever-appealing, savvy car owners will know that choosing to upgrade their current vehicle now will ensure that their investment lasts as long as humanly possible. Take the initiative, assess your needs as a driver and where your car may be lacking, and spring for that new upgrade… Whether it’s a bones day or not, your car will thank you for treating it.

OPTIMA Batteries Joins Trans Am and SVRA as The Official Battery

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Official Release
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OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car series will join select SpeedTour events

INDIANAPOLIS (December 9, 2021) – OPTIMA Batteries has been announced as the newest partner to join the SpeedTour family. The agreement not only establishes OPTIMA Batteries as the “Official Battery of Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA)” and the “Official Battery of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli,” but will also involve OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car national points championship series in select SpeedTour events throughout 2022.

The incorporation of OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car into select SpeedTour events will be the most visible representation of the partnership. Formed as a safe, fun and high-profile national championship event for street legal performance vehicles, OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car incorporates five key components—autocross, speed/stop challenge, design and engineering, a road rally and a road course time attack. OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car will join six SpeedTour events in 2022, including Charlotte Motor Speedway (March 17-20), Sonoma Raceway (April 28-May 1), Road America (May 19-22), Portland International Raceway (July 14-17), VIRginia International Raceway (October 6-9) and Utah Motorsports Campus (October 14-16).

“When you think of the ultimate quality and innovation in the battery market, no company sticks out more than OPTIMA Batteries,” said Tony Parella, owner of Trans Am and SVRA. “I’m thrilled to have them as a partner, and even more excited to have them be part of our SpeedTour events. Our team has spent the last several years developing the infrastructure for our motorsports festivals, and OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car will be the perfect complement to that. It will be a thrilling experience for both our fans and drivers.”

The SpeedTour provides partners with value through a unique B2B ecosystem, located in a paddock filled with business owners and corporate executives. With highly-visible branding opportunities available during SpeedTour event weekends, in SpeedTour Quarterly Magazine and on the various SpeedTour websites and social media platforms. The list of partners from top brands and companies involved with the SpeedTour continues to grow.

“We are thrilled to become a part of the Trans Am and SVRA families,” said Cam Douglass, director of marketing at OPTIMA Batteries. “This partnership provides us with the perfect opportunity to connect on a B2B and B2C level, both with competitors so they can experience OPTIMA and with SpeedTour fans through Search for the Ultimate Street Car events. One of OPTIMA’s core values is innovation, so it’s exciting to become a part of the SpeedTour as it revolutionizes the modern-day motorsports event with its festivals.”

About SpeedTour: The SpeedTour hosts motorsports festivals encompassing America’s top road racing series at the most prestigious race tracks across the country. Competition ranges from the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli (Trans Am), Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA), Formula Regional Americas powered by Honda (FR Americas), Formula 4 United States Championship powered by Honda (F4 U.S.), to International GT (IGT) and more. Trans Am, FR Americas and F4 U.S. are all sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, which is also related to the SpeedTour through a long-term agreement to the commercial rights to brand and operate SCCA Pro Racing. With 21 events on the 2022 schedule, the SpeedTour will exceed 5,500 entries. Between racing, concerts and car shows, SpeedTour events often attract more than 25,000 spectators. Additional marketing and promotional opportunities for the SpeedTour are available through SpeedTour Quarterly Magazine, a quarterly magazine delivered in both print and digital formats, and SpeedTour TV, a live streaming platform. Several marquee SpeedTour events will be live streamed at SpeedTourTV.com.

About the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli: The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is the longest-running professional road race series in the United States. The Trans Am Series was founded by racing factory pony cars in the late 1960s. More than 50 years after their launch, Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers continue to be sold today, with Trans Am racing credited as playing a major role in their success and longevity. The SpeedTour will host the professional race series at 16 events nationwide in 2022. For more on The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli, visit GoTransAm.com or follow @GoTransAm on social media.

About Sportscar Vintage Racing Association: SVRA is the largest vintage racing organization in the world. A typical event has several hundred vintage race cars representing over 100 years of automotive history on the track. The drivers of these race cars are high net-worth, prominent professionals. In 2022, SVRA will host 22 events at some of the most iconic race tracks in North America, including Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Sonoma Raceway and Circuit of The Americas, among others. This nationwide footprint has over 312,000,000 Americans living within 200 miles of our events. For more on SVRA, visit SVRA.com or follow @SVRAlife on social media.

About OPTIMA® Batteries: OPTIMA high-performance automotive, marine and heavy-duty AGM batteries are manufactured by Clarios, the world’s largest manufacturer of automotive batteries. OPTIMA REDTOP®, YELLOWTOP® and BLUETOP® batteries feature state-of-the-art SPIRALCELL TECHNOLOGY®. This patented design allows OPTIMA batteries to deliver superior performance in both starting and deep cycling applications. The OPTIMA product family also includes a line of Digital Chargers, with advanced multi-stage charging to charge and maintain a variety of vehicle batteries, maximizing battery life and performance. To learn more or to purchase OPTIMA products, please visit optimabatteries.com, call 1-888-8OPTIMA (1-888-867-8462) or find @OPTIMABatteries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

NASCAR & Next Gen Vision of the Future

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SM
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Now the 2021 NASCAR season has concluded, aside from being a thrilling campaign that elevated Kyle Larson to the Cup Series Championship, this was also the end of the sixth-generation era. From 2022, the Next Gen car will introduce a completely new chassis design, along with paving the way for a bright future of other NASCAR innovations.

The birth of a new NASCAR era

“We’ve made no bones about we want to attract some new fans and new teams, and that starts with the car,” NASCAR senior vice president for racing innovation explained, as part of an insightful glance at the future published in October by the New York Times. Indeed, while NASCAR hopes to restore the appeal of classic stock car events, following a decade of declining interest, underpinning the Next Gen revolution is a keener focus on diversity.

Changing and evolving demographics have inspired the need for greater diversity, as NASCAR seeks to reach a much larger and more culturally varied audience. The biggest challenge comes from doing this without alienating the established, more traditional fanbase. But rather than taking a scattergun approach, NASCAR appears to be going down the right path, focusing on what will engage and entertain a much larger overall audience.

For the NASCAR purists, the Next Gen car promises the “Rebirth of Stock” and greater competitiveness, returning to the roots of racing vehicles more akin to their production-car counterparts. Cars on the racetracks will boast the iconic American muscular looks, resembling something fans could aspire to have in their own driveways, albeit with technical modifications including bigger wheels and lesser dependence on aerodynamics.

The body materials have also changed in the Cup Series cars, switching from sheet metals to durable composites, already introduced to the Xfinity Series in 2017. This brings the prospect of more aggressive racing, largely thanks to each car being more resilient and robust, less prone to taking damage that might otherwise end races for competitors. Overall, the Next Gen car should be less expensive, which potentially makes NASCAR more accessible to new teams.

By lowering costs, NASCAR is attracting new team owners and that will also lead to increased management diversity. Encouraging more teams like 23XI Racing or Trackhouse Racing owned by the entertainer Pitbull. Greater diversity of team ownership and of drivers behind the wheel, hailing from varied social and cultural backgrounds, could be the key to NASCAR earning reach within broader demographics.

The quest for wider international appeal

One thing that’s truly unmistakable, NASCAR is intrinsically a part of American sporting culture. While that may be a huge plus when it comes to selling the brand at home, it can also be a hindrance when attempting to gain a wider audience elsewhere around the world. The NFL has encountered similar difficulties, given that viewership beyond North American audiences is minimal on the global scale when stacked against comparable sports like rugby.

According to statistical data from 2019, the global TV audience watching Formula One surpassed 470 million, excluding the United States audience. By comparison, NASCAR attracted fewer than 3 million viewers globally. Time zone differences are obviously a hindrance, especially regarding live TV broadcasts and internet streams. However, broadcasting times alone don’t prevent people from watching, elsewhere around the world.

Interestingly, when it comes to online sportsbooks, NASCAR now features prominently leading international betting sites, many of which live stream the sporting events they cover. Given that NASCAR actually encompasses over 1,500 events over the course of each year, as highlighted in the dedicated NASCAR guide published by SBO recently, this means a huge array of betting possibilities and markets will surround every race.

Importantly, this growing interest in NASCAR wagering provides a foot in the door for the organization itself. If more people are watching NASCAR events at safe and secure betting sites, there is an ideal opportunity for increased international engagement. Using the successful NASCAR Whelen Euro series as an example, further collaborations with the FIA might help, as they are the organization who sanction Formula One events.

NASCAR could also take hints from the NFL marketing playbook, such as hosting events in the NASCAR Cup calendar in other countries. The Middle East and Asia have a massive appetite for motorsports and bringing NASCAR to those regions could provide a massive boost. Brand imaging is undoubtedly important, although there’s no better attraction for fans than the chance to watch events in their own backyard.

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