Kentucky Speedway June Nationwide Series race to promote program encouraging use of designated drivers - MotorSportsTalk

It’s rare that someone is happy to get or pay a traffic ticket from a state trooper.

But thousands of NASCAR fans will gladly fork out their hard-earned money for a different kind of ticket, yet one that carries the same kind of meaning as many of the tickets that police across the U.S. issue countless times each day.

The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, which includes the Kentucky State Police, will be the title sponsor of the June 27 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway, track officials announced Wednesday.

The John R. Elliott HERO Campaign 300 will continue a partnership between the track and the highway safety department’s HERO program, which promotes the use of designated drivers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly a third of the more than 10,000 U.S. traffic-related deaths involve alcohol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elliott was a Navy Ensign and U.S. Naval Academy graduate who was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in July 2000 while traveling home to New Jersey from Annapolis, Md., to celebrate his mother Muriel’s birthday.

The driver of the car that struck Elliott’s had previously been arrested on another DUI charge, and was killed in the same wreck that took Ensign Elliott’s life.

Elliott’s parents, Bill and Muriel, established the national HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers. It’s motto is: “Our goal is to end drunk driving by making the use of designated drivers be as automatic as wearing a seatbelt.”

“Kentucky Speedway has been a long time partner with the Office of Highway Safety. Together we saved lives with the seatbelt campaign and we are excited to save even more by reminding people to drive sober, and be a HERO,” Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger said in a media release. “It’s good to know that people’s lives are being saved with this program.”

The Friday night (June 27) race will be part of a NASCAR tripleheader weekend at the 1.5-mile track, with the Camping World Truck Series having at it on Thursday, June 26, and the main event, the Sprint Cup Series event on Saturday, June 28.

To learn more about the HERO program, click on the video below.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”