Shawn Courchesne | Auto Racing

Steve Park Returning To His Roots

It seems an old familiar face in these parts will be making a return to local touring racing this season.

An announcement on Steve Park’s official website said the former Whelen Modified Tour standout will compete this season full time in the Camping World East Series for NDS Motorsports.

Rough Rolex 24 Hours Of Daytona For Ted Christopher And Southard Motorsports

Ted Christopher’s second foray into the world of 24 hour endurance racing proved to be a night of nightmares for his Southard Motorsports team in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Christopher and his teammates with Southard Motorsports saw their race end midmorning Sunday when driver Shane Lewis finally finished off the team’s Daytona Prototype class Lexus in a wreck.

The team of Christopher, Lewis, Bill Lester and Alex Barron ended up 42nd of 66 cars entered in the event and 17th of the 25 cars in the Daytona Prototype class.

NASCAR New England From Stafford Returns To NESN In 2008

New England Sports Network will again be the home base this racing season for NASCAR New England, the Stafford Motor Speedway produced show highlighting racing from the half-mile oval.

“We’re happy to be back on NESN for a third consecutive season,” Stafford Motor Speedway president and NASCAR New England host Jack Arute Jr. said in a release. “NESN is certainly the number one sports network in New England and partnering with NESN gives us the ability to be seen in homes throughout New England as well as nationwide via satellite.”

ESPN To Debut 5-Part Dale Earnhardt Jr. Series

Not getting enough Dale Earnhardt Jr. in your television watching regimen? ESPN is ready to make sure that the insatiable appetites of Junior nation are met this season.

The network will premier "Dale Jr. – Shifting Gears" Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

The 5-part series will give fans a behind the scenes look at Earnhardt’s move from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports. The series was produced by Hammerhead Entertainment, a division of Earnhardt’s own JR Motorsports. The new program is part of an exclusive, multimedia agreement between ESPN and Hammerhead.

Sunoco Signs On As SpeedwayEXPO Title Sponsor

Sunoco was named Wednesday as the presenting Sponsor of SpeedwayEXPO, which runs Feb. 29 – March 2 at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass.

The show is produced by Performance Media, which publishes Speedway Illustrated. 

“We are absolutely thrilled that Sunoco has signed on as the title sponsor,” Speedway Illustrated founder Dick Berggren said. “Through their New England Racing Fuels and its Sunoco products, [owners] Mike Joy and John Holland have supported local level auto racing in the Northeast on many levels. Whenever they’ve seen an opportunity to grow the sport, they have been on board so we’re delighted that  they are now a big part of Speedway EXPO.”

Scott Sharp Joins Homestate Team For America LeMans Series Run In 2008

Home is where the race shop is now for Scott Sharp.

The Norwalk driver who has spent the last 12 years competing in the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series is switching gears this season.

Danbury based Highcroft Racing announced Tuesday that Sharp will partner with David Brabham this season in the organization's American LeMans Series entry.

IndyCar Star Alex Barron Joins Ted Christopher, Shane Lewis And Bill Lester For Rolex 24 Hours Of Daytona

Southard Motorsports on Tuesday announced its completed driver lineup for the Daytona Prototype the team will enter in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona Saturday and Sunday.

The last piece of the puzzle was revealed when the team announced that IndyCar veteran Alex Barron would join Plainville’s Ted Christopher in the car along with Shane Lewis and Bill Lester.

Barron, the 2002 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year, has started 5 Indy 500’s

Does This Count As Racing?

Sometimes “persistence” pays off.

As in persistently sending e-mails over and over again about a certain subject.

So here’s my Maine knowledge in a nutshell: Cold, smelts, Johnny Clark, LL Bean, Kittery, cold, Cassius Clark and cold.

Oh yeah, a few years ago I read this great book called “The Lobster Coast.” Best purchase I ever made at the Kittery Trading Post, well, besides that Columbia polo shirt that I wore out.

NASCAR Makes A "Fine" Change To Its Punishment Procedures

NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France announced Monday that starting with the 2008 season, all money collected from fines issued to drivers will go to the NASCAR Foundation for charitable interests.

“Now that the NASCAR Foundation is well established and supporting dozens of charitable organizations it is the logical place for fine money to be distributed,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.

Tom Fox Sheds Fire Suit For Officials' Shirt At Waterford

So nobody is quite sure who will be in charge of the Waterford Speedbowl in 2008, but it seems it's known who will be in charge of overseeing the cars that will be racing.

Longtime Speedbowl competitor Tom Fox will go from trying to find the loopholes in the rulebook to policing the rulebook this season. Fox has been named chief technical inspector at Waterford.

“Right around the time of the annual Speedbowl Christmas party, race director Steve Harraka and I were discussing the open-slot left by our departing Chief Technical Inspector,” Fox said in a release from the track. “For the first time in many years my plans didn’t include racing [in 2008], but I still had an interest in staying involved. It’s hard to completely pull-away from a sport you’ve been associated with for so long and I want be a part of the Speedbowl’s success. After all, I virtually grew-up there.”