NASCAR announced today that it has purchased oval motor racing track Iowa Speedway.

The agreement, denture finalized today under a wholly-owned subsidiary, pills | Iowa Speedway, order LLC, is effective immediately. 

“Iowa Speedway is a great entertainment facility with a very bright future,” said Eric Nyquist, NASCAR vice president, strategic development. “The facility has the support of the region, it’s positioned well in the heart of the Midwest, and year in and year out it provides great short-track racing action for motorsports fans.

“NASCAR ownership will allow us to draw on the entire resources of our company. It also provides us with the opportunity to execute first-hand a number of entertainment ideas and engagement opportunities with fans – much of which we have outlined repeatedly as the core of our Industry Action Plan.” 

The facility, located 30 miles east of Des Moines in Newton, features a fast, .875-mile asphalt paved tri-oval designed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. The Speedway released its 2014 schedule earlier this month, encompassing three weekends, one each in May, July and August. The schedule will include two NASCAR Nationwide Series races, a combination NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and IndyCar Series weekend, plus two additional NASCAR K&N Pro Series support races. NASCAR has no plans for Iowa Speedway to host a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race next year or in the immediate future. 

The 2014 Iowa Speedway season opens May 17-18, with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East versus West Challenge on Saturday night. The stars and cars of the NASCAR Nationwide Series then will battle on Sunday in a 250-lap, high-speed contest. The race marks the only Sunday afternoon event of the season at Iowa Speedway.

Organisers of a potential Formula 1 GP remain optimistic that the event will be able to go ahead for 2014 despite the inaugural race in 2013 having been cancelled.

The New Jersey event had been due to run this year before the decision was taken to delay it by twelve months, although Bernie Ecclestone has now suggested the event could ‘be another Donington Park’ in reference to the failed plans to move the British Grand Prix away from Silverstone.

Further speculation has suggested that Ecclestone is working on a Mexican raceto replace New Jersey next year, although Grand Prix of America organiser Leo Hindery Jr said his team was confident that it could be ready in time for next year. 

“Yeah, we are,” he told GPUpdate. “The only obstacles in front of us now are execution, they’re not structural. The course never changed its configuration from the time we first identified it. It’s been clearly and frequently vetted by Charlie and his colleagues on behalf of the teams. The support we’ve gotten early on from [Hermann] Tilke and Peter Wahl has really held things stable. It’s not exactly the budget that we anticipated back in 2011, 2012, but it’s stayed close enough that we’ve now been able to get them to again sign the agreement.

“I think if we’d have had this conversation a couple of months ago I would have suggested that we hadn’t yet made permanent the paddock and pits. But that’s now substantially along and about two thirds of that construction is behind us. The rest of it is a street course and that hasn’t changed. The permits and the approvals from the various regulatory authorities are all in hand, so I don’t see any impediment other than actual execution. We have 37 vendor contracts for everything from beverage to paving.”

Despite the fact that the New Jersey event is due to run on a street circuit, Hindery added that the layout of the venue was such that work could push ahead on preparing for the race without causing issues to those living nearby.

“What’s good about the course is that half of it is along the river and the other half is across the top of what is called the Palisades, which are these glacial formed cliffs,” he said. “There’s nobody living in the circumference of the course, and boy has that been a blessing! You contrast it with Singapore and Shanghai. It’s made it much easier because nobody has been inconvenienced and nobody will be inconvenienced by the course. Everybody who lives on the exterior could access his or her home as we’re racing the cars, let alone during this period when we’re doing some construction.

“With a lot of support and frankly more patience than Bernie Ecclestone needed to give us, we had several more months to get it back on-track. We know that with his blessing we now have a 15-year executed sanctioning agreement that will allow us to race some time each June. Were it not for similar support from the Tilke organisation, specifically Peter Wahl and no less from Charlie Whiting, I think I’d be pulling out what little hair I have left!”

Lancashire County Cricket Club are still positive about the future despite making a loss of £1.5m in 2012.

Ongoing building work at Old Trafford means the ground has hosted just one Test match since 2008, apoplectic but the redevelopment is almost complete and Ashes cricket will return to Manchester this summer.

Lancashire expect those sell-out crowds and a recently-struck sponsorship deal with Emirates Airline to herald “a return to profitability in the next financial year”.

A club statement read: “From the outset of the project a lengthy period of poor trading results was always anticipated.

“The club believes this was a key and necessary price to pay as part of the development of the new £45m Emirates Old Trafford which will safeguard the future of both the club and of international cricket in the region for many years to come.

“Despite the loss incurred in year, symptoms net debt was reduced by more than £3.1m and, even though there has been significant investment in the ground, the underlying level of debt will only represent a very manageable 30% of the cost of the new stadium.”

SportAccord, discount the organisation representing Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federations and organisations, medic has announced an exclusive partnership with the global communications firm Burson-Marsteller.

The new strategic alliance, abortion the first of its kind for the sports body, means Burson-Marsteller will become SportAccord’s exclusive communications advisor, and will support the strengthening of the SportAccord brand and offerings including SportAccord Multi-Sports Games and .sport.  The firm will also be the recommended service provider to SportAccord’s 107 member organisations.

Vincent Gaillard, Director General of SportAccord, said: “We are delighted to announce this new strategic communications partnership. We have a number of very exciting global projects that we will be developing over the coming months, such as our SportAccord Multi-Sports Games, and we look forward to working with Burson-Marsteller to ensure their success.

“As our mission has grown, it has become clear that it was time to engage a global firm to ensure that our work on behalf of our members is properly communicated.”

Donald A. Baer, Worldwide Chair and Chief Executive Officer for Burson-Marsteller said: “At Burson-Marsteller, we are passionate about the sports industry and proud of our rapidly growing sports communications capabilities, so it is a great opportunity to work with SportAccord and its members.”

Jeremy Galbraith, Global Vice Chairman of Strategy and CEO of Burson-Marsteller in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, added: “Burson-Marsteller’s track record in sports marketing and working with sports administrators at the highest levels has been built on a thorough understanding of their needs and objectives – from maximising the value of sponsorships, to communicating the goals and principles behind staging the world’s most significant sporting events.

“It is a great privilege to bring our expertise to SportAccord and its members, who collectively form the beating heart of the world of sports.”

Leading the partnership for Burson-Marsteller are Dennis Landsbert-Noon, Chairman of Burson-Marsteller’s Sport Practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, located in Brussels, and Rhonda Brauer, Managing Director Global Marketing Team, based in Los Angeles, Calif.

SportAccord partnership leads are Vincent Gaillard, Director General, and Nathalie Smeeman, Manager Marketing and Communications.

The Buffalo Bills and Rogers Media announced a new agreement Friday that will keep Rogers Centre in Toronto as the team’s second home.

Buffalo will play one regular-season game at the home of the Toronto Blue Jays for the next five years, and the new contract also includes one preseason game in 2015.

The existing five-year deal — which was worth $78 million — expired when Seattle posted a 50-17 win over Buffalo Dec. 16. But an extension had long been expected despite lingering attendance problems. Only 40,770 fans attended the Seahawks’ win, far short of a sellout. Some 53,000 fans had been expected.

Defensive tackle Kyle Williams said: “It’s very similar to a road game, but also I understand the business side of things,” Williams said then. “I don’t think you’d find a guy in here that wouldn’t agree that they would much rather be in Ralph Wilson Stadium.”

The Bills recently extended their lease at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., for 10 years, which should solidify the franchise’s short-term future.

Athletics Australia (AA) will restructure its high-performance department, following the team’s results at the London Games, where it fell short of its medals target .”

AA Chairman, Rob Fildes said: “We will review the high-performance department in entirety, which is normal after the Olympic Games.”

Fildes said AA had decided to split head coach Eric Hollingsworth’s job into two roles. A new administrator will manage the high-performance program, with Hollingsworth continuing in the coaching role.

AA is also negotiating with the Australian Institute of Sport to establish performance centres for distance running and sprinting.

Hollingsworth is contracted until the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.{jcomments on}