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.
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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. The overall power-to-weight ratio of the class will be lower than the current World Challenge Touring Car series and, while the cars are expected to have outstanding handling with aftermarket racing shocks, sway bars and springs, they will lack the overall aerodynamic grip created by the devices permitted in Touring Car.
Eligible cars include, but are not limited to, the Acura RSX, BMW 328 and 330 (E36, 46), Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Dodge SRT-4, Honda Civic Si, Lexus IS, Mazda RX-8, MINI Cooper S, Saturn Ion, Scion tC, Subaru Legacy, and Volkswagen GTI and Jetta.
