Toyota Racing Development (TRD) is honored to announce its latest official partnership with Endava, a global provider of digital transformation, agile development and intelligent automation services. This multi-year deal will see Endava endowed as the Official IT Consulting Partner of TRD and the Toyota GR Cup. With this relationship, Endava will receive primary branding on two GR Cup cars.  

“We are truly excited to become an official partner of Toyota Racing. TRD’s winning track record, creative innovation, and accelerated adoption of progressive technologies align seamlessly with Endava’s ethos and next-generation technology capabilities. Together, we will be able to deliver the best experiences possible to Toyota Racing teams, partners, and fans,” said Justin Marcucci, Endava’s Chief Digital Officer. 

Founded in 2000, Endava strives to help companies take advantage of new business models and market opportunities by ideating and delivering new products, enterprise platforms, and intelligent digital experiences. Endava, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DAVA), is truly a world-wide company with nearly 12,000 employees around the globe. Endava joins Segra and Starkey as new TRD partnerships announced this year, joining an impressive list of official TRD partners that include ExxonMobil, HARMAN Automotive, Safelite AutoGlass, Apex Tool Group, Yahoo, Stratasys, GF Machining Solutions and Racing Force Group. 

“We are excited to announce the official relationship between Endava and Toyota Racing,” said Jonny Elliott, Chief Information Officer, TRD. “Endava’s industry leading expertise in information technology will help us achieve at the highest levels on and off the race track. We look forward to building this partnership with Endava and reaching our goals of success together.”  

The latest global brand to join the Formula DRIFT family is GoPro, maker of the world’s most versatile camera. This collaboration is the perfect synergy, bringing together the most extreme motorsports series with the best cameras to capture the action.

“We’re extremely happy to welcome GoPro to the Formula DRIFT family,” said Ryan Sage, Formula DRIFT President. “Almost since our inception, GoPro cameras have been used to capture some of the most exciting action in our sport. So, we’re delighted to make this collaboration official and be able to capture and share even more of what makes Formula DRIFT unique.”

Currently, the latest GoPro cameras, including HERO11 Black and the 360° GoPro MAX, are being used by the series to capture footage for its very popular and free-to-view event livestream. So, the next logical step was to create a dedicated new video series. Called GoPro Chase for the Championship, it commenced at the St Louis Round last month and will continue to the end of the season. Each episode will follow the top drivers chasing the championship title and will be filmed entirely on GoPro. The videos will air over the Formula DRIFT livestream on YouTube and appear on FD’s social media pages for each of the remaining rounds. The GoPro video series will explore how the leading drivers reached their position in the standings and the challenges they face. 

While GoPro Chase for the Championship will focus on the FD PRO teams, the partnership will also feature FD Experience Presented by GoPro. Hosted by a roaming reporter, the series will drop into FD PRO and PROSPEC competition to capture the action and personalities behind the scenes as well as the fan experience as both Championships ramp up to their Final Rounds.

As an additional opportunity for fans, GoPro will attend one of the final rounds to share the latest GoPro technology with attendees, including hands-on workshops with the industry-leading HERO11 Black, plus the mobile-friendly GoPro Quik app, and GoPro Subscription ecosystem. Information about the specific round will be available shortly.

A month ago, fresh off her 16th birthday, Katie Hettinger earned her Michigan driver’s license. Unbeknownst to the DMV official riding shotgun in her car, Hettinger was atop the CARS Pro Late Model Tour championship standings by leading the series in top-fives, top-10s, laps completed, average start and average finish.

If there ever was a teenager ready for the road, it was Hettinger. The Dryden native is the only CARS Pro Late Model Tour racer to have a lap completion rate of 100 percent in the eight races run this season, and she is the only driver to have finished among the top-10 in every race. As a result, Hettinger has an 11-point lead over Caden Kvapil in the title chase and a stout 71-point advantage in the rookie-of-the-year standings with five races remaining.

The only thing missing from Hettinger’s CARS Pro Late Model Tour resume is a win, but with the series slated to compete Saturday night at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, that could very well change. Hettinger is the winningest female racer in Hickory’s 73-year history.

“I think it’s just from working with Matt Piercy the last three years,” said Hettinger about her success at Hickory. “That was his track. He won the championship there in 2015 and he knows it really well. I just have a ton of laps around there with him. Hickory is a fun place with a ton of history. It’s pretty rough, but it’s one of the things that makes the racing fun.”

In the span of two weeks in September 2021, Hettinger became the youngest female race winner at Hickory when she won the 50-lap Limited Late Model feature on Sept. 4 as part of the Bobby Isaac Memorial event. She then became Hickory’s youngest female Late Model race winner on Sept. 18 when she won the track’s 75-lap feature, further burnishing Hickory’s moniker as the Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars. Hettinger then won four more Late Model races at Hickory in 2022.

She committed to the full CARS Pro Late Model Tour in 2023 knowing that running up front in deep fields would yield a few more upward rungs on the racing ladder.

“We’ve had a really good season so far. We’ve had a lot of second places and third places, and I feel like we should’ve had a win already,” Hettinger said. “We’ve had decent qualifying efforts, but I need to get a pole here to advance that points lead and, of course, get that win.

“Everyone always says consistency wins championships, and I think that’s true, but winning is why we race. I think we’re super close, especially going to Hickory.”

Hettinger is racing for Anthony Campi Racing, driving the No. 81 Chevrolet. In preparation for her first full season on the CARS Pro Late Model Tour, Hettinger spent February in Florida with Campi competing in the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. On Feb. 17 – night seven of the acclaimed event – Hettinger won with a late-race pass, becoming the first female to win a Pro Late Model feature during the World Series and the first driver from Michigan to win a Pro Late Model race.

“Driving for Anthony Campi has helped me a bunch since he was a driver himself,” Hettinger said. “He knows a lot of the tracks. And my teammates, Casey Roderick and William Byron, they’ve helped me a bunch this year. And Matt Piercy too.”

That collective guidance has proven incredibly valuable, as the competitiveness of the CARS Pro Late Model Tour is as high as it has ever been.

“The CARS Tour has upped its game this year,” Hettinger said. “We’re doing more races in conjunction with the Late Model Stock, just on different tracks, and there’s just more competition among drivers, some younger, some older, and it’s definitely helped me build. I feel that in every race we compete, I learn more and more, and each time out I’m a better driver than I was the last time.

“Hickory will be a pretty big race for the Late Model Stocks, and some guys who don’t have Late Model Stocks but have Pro Late Models that race in Florida or Alabama, they usually come over to race at Hickory. The car counts have been up pretty good this year, and I’d say at Hickory this weekend we’ll have over 20 Pro Late Models.

“It’s definitely going to be a big race, so winning it would mean even more. And Hickory is kind of my adopted home track.”

Since turning 14 in June 2021 and getting her NASCAR license, Hettinger began commuting from Michigan to race in the southeastern hotbed of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, with the .363-mile Hickory oval being one of Hettinger’s more frequented tracks.

“I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish at Hickory, but I didn’t go there to become the winningest female racer. I went there to win races, just like all the other guys,” said Hettinger, who as a 13-year-old won the 2020 Champion Racing Association (CRA) Junior Late Model Series title, spurring her to scrap the “Junior” tag from her Late Model and race in and around the Carolinas.

No matter what happens Saturday night at Hickory, four races still remain on CARS Pro Late Model Tour – Aug. 19 at Tri-County Speedway in Granite Falls, North Carolina, Oct. 7 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway, Oct. 21 at Tri-County, and the season finale Nov. 4 at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, North Carolina.

“I’ve just got to keep staying smart and using my head,” Hettinger said. “The last race at Wake County got a little crazy and it did get aggravating a couple of times because we can’t afford to wreck a racecar or spin or have a bad finish. So we just have to be smart.

“Everyone respects each other out on the racetrack, but we race hard, too. I’m giving it my best every time we go out. I know I have a good racecar from Anthony Campi with a great team preparing it, and it’s up to me to make the most of it.”

The CARS Pro Late Model Tour race at Hickory begins with three practice sessions on Friday. Qualifying is at 4:15 p.m. EDT on Saturday and the 100-lap feature gets underway at 7 p.m. The race will be streamed live on FloRacing and sign up is HERE. FloRacing is also available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV.

With one of the most diverse careers in motorsports, spanning everything from INDYCAR/Indy 500, IMSA/SportsCar, NASCAR and testing at F1 car, Katherine Legge will return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series for four races this season, beginning with this weekend’s race at Road America. She will also be entered in races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, and Charlotte Motor Speedway, all with SS Greenlight in the #07 Chevrolet. 

“The Indy 500 made me realize that life and racing careers are too short not to go for it,” said Legge. “My interest and passion is to continue to break new ground in motorsports. I’ve been proactive over the last year in thinking about what I want to do in my career and how I can accomplish those things. I’m so thankful to Bobby Dotter for the opportunity and to Wayne Auton, Mike Helton, and Jim France, for welcoming me back to NASCAR especially at one of my favorite tracks, Road America.”

In May 2023, Legge made history with her Indy 500 qualifying run, turning the fastest single qualifying lap and four-lap qualifying average by a female driver in the 107-year history of the Indianapolis 500. Her four-lap average of 231.070 eclipsed the mark of 229.439 set in 2002. Legge became the ninth woman to ever compete in the Indy 500 in 2012, and in 2023, was the only woman in the race, generating 50 million media impressions for her third start in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” 

“Female athletes are the rarest of birds because they are able to transcend audiences in a way that their male counterparts cannot, said Klint Briney, Legge’s Agent. “At Indy 500 this year, we saw unprecedented demand around Katherine from media outlets and major advertisers. It signals a sea change in our sport and highlights a new and emerging audience for figures like Katherine. We’re very optimistic about her future, as she’s racing now more than ever before and see great potential in maximizing her opportunities on and off the racetrack.”

Legge currently competes full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series driving the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22. She has scored four top-10 finishes this season, including finishing fourth in the 24 Hours of Daytona. She also brought NSX its first ever win worldwide in Detroit in 2017.

The springboard to her professional career was winning the Toyota Atlantic series season opener in Long Beach in 2005, in her first career start to become the first woman to win a developmental open-wheel race in North America. She also won that season at Edmonton and San Jose, finishing the season 3rd in the points championship and subsequently turning pro and moving up to Champ Car, which later became INDYCAR. She spent three seasons in Europe driving for Audi in their premier series DTM and was a key part of the dames DeltaWing project. Formula One offered her a test in 2005 at Vallelunga Circuit in Italy after she beat former F1 driver Kimi Räikkönen's lap record.

In 2018, Legge competed in four NASCAR Xfinity Series races: Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course, Richmond Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Road America, where she had her best finish of 14th out of 40 entries. For her return, her 

#07 machine will carry sponsorship from ref-ology + Blast Equality Collab (BEQ), Team Schuler of Compass Real Estate and the Women’s Premier Basketball Association (WPBA). 

Blast Equality Collab, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded by Shelley Russi is a leadership collaboration taught through the lens of diverse sports experiences. Blast Equality Collab aims to help members and partners learn how to put people first while making decisions with a higher degree of integrity and accuracy by having to do it in real-world game/event situations. We partner with, and receive donations from, entities where our members are provided opportunities to put into practice Embodied Leadership at the intersection of Sports + Officiating, and beyond.

“Katherine Legge and SS Greenlight Racing embody the Blast Equality Collab (BEQ) Mission,” said Russi. “This opportunity to collaborate with Katherine, who trail blazes throughout the world, makes her the perfect fit to drive the SS Greenlight 07 at Road America. Katherine is a powerful sports figure who aligns with the BEQ Embodied Leadership vision. Alongside Team Schuler, we are supporting the first Black Woman-owned, FIBA certified league in California where the WPBA is generating opportunity for WPBA players to land contracts internationally/domestically, in a playing capacity or in leadership roles impacting corporate culture.”

Following this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Road America 180 on July 22 (NBC, 3:00 PM ET), she will also enter:

• Road America IMSA SportsCar Weekend August 6 (USA Network, 11:00 AM ET).

• NASCAR Xfinity Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Sports on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on August 12 (USA Network, 5:30 PM ET).

• NASCAR Xfinity Shriners Children’s 200 at Watkins Glen International on August 19 (USA Network, 3:30 PM ET).

• IMSA SportsCar Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway on August 27 (USA Network, 2:00 PM ET).

• IMSA SportsCar Battle on The Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on September 17 (NBC, 1:00 PM ET).

• NASCAR Xfinity Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina on October 7 (NBC, 3:00 PM ET).

• IMSA SportsCar Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 14 (USA Network, 6:30 PM ET).

Practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Road America 180 will begin on Friday, July 28 at 5:05 PM, with qualifications following at 6:05 PM, and the race on Saturday, July 29 at 3:00 PM ET. All on-track action can be seen on NBC or NBC’s Peacock Premium streaming service.

For more on Katherine Legge, please visit katherinelegge.com, and for more on ref-ology + Blast Equality Collab, please visit shelleyrussi.com. Join the Blast Quality Collab Team in our campaign with HundredX and give without spending. Every piece of feedback you share supports our mission to support embodied leadership education through diverse sports experiences. Text ‘Blast’ to 90412, join the NASCAR affiliation and have your voice heard! 

SOURCE: BRANDed Management, Inc.

Progressive American Flat Track is excited to announce that the City of Sturgis, South Dakota, and Black Hills Harley-Davidson will serve as the title sponsor and presenting sponsor, respectively, for The City of Sturgis Black Hills Half-Mile presented by Black Hills Harley-Davidson at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Sunday, August 6.

Despite a population of around 7,000 residents, the City of Sturgis is known worldwide for hosting and staging the largest motorcycle rally in the world on an annual basis. The 83rd City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which will take place from August 4-13, is expected to draw some 600,000 motorcycle enthusiasts, and inject approximately $800 million into the state’s economy.

Black Hills Harley-Davidson is home to the largest selection of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parts, accessories, and apparel in the Midwest. Black Hills Harley-Davidson is also a long-time supporter of Progressive AFT and has fielded its own race-winning teams in recent seasons. Every year during the City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Black Hills Harley-Davidson plays host to over 100 of the industry’s top brands on its 40-acre layout in what it known as “The Rally at Exit 55.”

General Admission Grandstand tickets for the The City of Sturgis Black Hills Half-Mile presented by Black Hills Harley-Davidson are just $25 (kids 12 and under $5), with Premium General Admission Grandstand tickets only $10 more. VIP tickets, which offer access to an exclusive indoor viewing area and include food and beverage, are $125.

Pit Pass Upgrades are also available for purchase, which provide all-day access to the pits where fans can scope out the world’s fastest dirt track motorcycles and get up close and personal with the stars of the sport.

Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/black-hills-half-mile-73564 to reserve your seats today.

For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FansChoice.tv is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of on-track action starting with Practice & Qualifying and ending with the Victory Podium at the end of the night at https://www.fanschoice.tv.

For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com.

Jim Beaver eSports driver Garrett Lowe delivered the team its first-ever eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory on Tuesday night, scoring a statement win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in overtime in the #15 Big Green Egg Ford Mustang. Two weeks after being denied a win at Nashville Superspeedway while a driver on older tires put him into the wall, Lowe led 32 laps and survived multiple late-race restarts for wrecks in the back of the pack to lock himself into the 2023 playoffs.

Upset by the level of aggression in the finish at Nashville, both Lowe and teammate Malik Ray carried protest paint schemes in the race that harkened back to a moment in the 1996 NASCAR Cup Series. After driver Kyle Petty received a five-lap penalty for rough driving for an accident in Charlotte, SABCO Racing owner Felix Sabates, who felt that Dale Earnhardt wouldn’t have been penalized for the same move, reskinned Petty’s car for the next race at Dover to match Earnhardt’s colors. He also added the message “TODO ES JUSTO EN AMOR Y CARRERAS” (roughly, “all is fair in love and racing”) to the car.

Sabates’ refusal to feel pushed around sent a message throughout the sport, and the new look was just as impactful for JBE for the same reasons. Lowe was a factor all race long, finally taking the lead on Lap 74. While a flurry of late cautions kept the field bunched up, Lowe was masterful on restarts, always pulling out to a clear lead and leaving the field behind him. That was no more apparent than on the final restart, when the driver starting directly behind him had fresher tires—just as Lowe had in Nashville—but couldn’t come close to challenging for the victory.

“Congratulations to Garrett for earning the win that he deserved two weeks earlier and getting us into the playoffs for the first time,” said team owner Jim Beaver. “We made our statement to the eNASCAR community: it’s possible to get people talking a lot about a big win without having to put somebody in the wall to do it. It’s great to finally have an eNASCAR win under our belt after four years of trying, but I’m happiest that we did it by racing in a way that we as a team can be proud of. Now, we’re looking forward to trying to put Malik into the playoffs too at Pocono.”

Lowe is locked into the playoffs with his victory and a certain top-20 spot in points at the end of the regular season, while Ray and the #7 Jim Beaver’s Misadventure IPA Ford Mustang are fighting for one of the final remaining playoff spots. After a wreck late in the running at NHMS, Ray is ninth in the current standings with five top-fives and seven top-10s, but ranks third among drivers who have yet to win, and with eight winners so far, is currently the first driver on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Always a threat on big, fast tracks, he’ll look to make the most of the fixed-setup regular season finale at the wide-open Pocono Raceway next week. That race will air on Tuesday, August 1 at 9PM ET on eNASCAR.com/live.

Image via Nate Stewart/Apex Action Photography

• Enhanced battery power output of 400kW, up from 350kW in the GEN3, through the activation of the front powertrain kit in traction, delivering all-wheel drive for the first time in a Formula E car. The battery was charged by ABB, the title partner and official charging partner of the Championship.
• New, softer iON Race tire compound allowing faster warm-up and better peak grip, developed by Hankook Tire, official tire supplier of Formula E.
• 3D printed front wing endplates, wheel fins and a wind deflector with circular, more sustainable thermoplastic solutions developed by SABIC, principal partner of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, to optimize aerodynamics for enhanced straight line speed of the GENBETA.

• Battery: The 350kW power output of the current GEN3 has been enhanced to 400kW. The combined power output of 400kW with all-wheel drive is the result of the dynamic power balance of 50kW available in the front motor and 350kW in the rear-axle motor. The GEN3 and GENBETA batteries are charged by ABB, the title partner and official charging partner of the Championship.
• Tires: Hankook, together with Formula E and the FIA, created a new specification to maximize the GENBETA’s power output to maximize grip in the bid to set the new world record. The iON Race Formula E Development tire incorporates a new compound which is relatively much softer than the specification tires used by a GEN3 in races. This allows for a faster warm-up time and as a result gives better peak grip to the driver to maximise the performance and hit the speed target.
• Bodywork: enhancing the aerodynamics of the GENBETA focused on maximizing the straight line speed of the car to achieve the maximum possible speed in the record-breaking test zone. To achieve this, Formula E Principal Partner SABIC contributed circular, more sustainable thermoplastics for three key innovations in the bodywork: new front wing endplates, wheel fins and a wind deflector. The advanced thermoplastics from SABIC come from its TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio, designed to accelerate the change towards a circular economy with solutions targeted at preventing valuable plastics from becoming waste and helping reduce carbon emissions.
  • Front wing endplates: these components, mounted on the outboard extremities of the vehicle’s front wing, are integral to redirection of airflow around the front wheels to help reduce drag, while contributing to the car’s downforce and stability. The front wing endplates on the GENBETA were produced by additive manufacturing or 3D printing process known as fused deposition modelling. The SABIC thermoplastic material employed makes possible the construction of endplates with high stiffness and strength combined with a low weight. 3D printing of the parts also contributes to less material waste, energy use and emissions.
  • Wheel fins: these components, mounted onto the wheel rims in a radial, spoke-like pattern, are intended to help optimize airflow and reduce aerodynamic drag for higher acceleration and speed performance. As an additional benefit, the fins can increase the car’s overall efficiency and aid in cooling the brakes to improve stopping power. The fins are manufactured through injection moulding with a mechanically-recycled thermoplastic from SABIC.
  • Wind deflector: This clear transparent part is attached to the front of the cockpit ahead of the driver and supports optimization of airflow for decreased drag, contributing to improved speed performance. The deflector is thermoplastic sheet product, which is manufactured through an extrusion process using a certified renewable low-carbon thermoplastic from SABIC.