RACING News & notes

Fans to be celebrated: Most of the time, the crowd at NASCAR races waits impatiently for the traditional “Gentlemen, start your engines” announcement that gets things going on track. This fall at Martinsville Speedway, it will be the fans that get things started at the TUMS Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Clay Campbell, president of the Virginia track, and Darren Singer, vice president of marketing for TUMS, said earlier this week that all of the fans who attend the Oct. 25 race will act as Grand Marshal for the event. “Fans have been our top priority since Martinsville Speedway opened more than 60 years ago,” Campbell said. “Fans have always come first with us and what better way to show that than making them all the Grand Marshal.” He said the track and the NASCAR community will recognize the fans throughout the prerace ceremonies. The Martinsville race will be the sixth of the 10 races that make up NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Off-road racer: Robby Gordon is having a so-so season in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series, but the versatile driver is the man to beat off the pavement. Owner-driver Gordon, who began his racing career in the desert, drove his trophy truck to a victory last weekend in the SCORE Baja 500 and holds a solid lead in the desert series championship. “I am really excited with the way that the Toyo Tires performed in the Baja 500,” Gordon said. “We had zero flat tires and very good wear management.” Gordon won the SCORE season-opener at the Laughlin Desert Challenge and then finished second at the San Felipe 250. He was also third overall in the 2009 Dakar rally.

New class: There will be a new class of sports cars on track at Watkins Glen International in August. SCCA Pro Racing and WC Vision have announced the introduction of Touring Car 2 (TC2), which will run as a separate class within SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car races. The new class is intended to provide a more cost-effective point of entry into the series. TC2 vehicles will have fewer modifications than the current Touring Cars, including tight limitations on engine and drive-train modifications and the prohibition of non-factory aerodynamic devices such as wings and splitters. “We recognize that not everyone is in the position to develop a car to the same level as our front-running World Challenge Touring Car teams,” said Bob Wildberger, president and CEO of SCCA Pro Racing. “The rules being developed will include a number of cars that can race with World Challenge as soon as Round Five at Watkins Glen next month.” TC2 will retain the same basic premise of Touring Car, a class designed for four-seat automobiles.

Associated Press