Canandaigua Motorsports Park cancels Wednesday’s races

By Aug 11, 2014, 12:24 PM EDT
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Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, the site of Saturday night’s fatal racing incident that involved NASCAR superstar Tony Stewart and took the life of sprint car racer Kevin Ward Jr., has announced that it will cancel its slate of races for this Wednesday.

The announcement came in a statement from track promoter Jeremie Corcoran.

In the statement, Corcoran offered his condolences to the family of Ward, the 20-year-old competitor that was struck by Stewart’s car after walking down the racing surface to confront the three-time Sprint Cup champion following an on-track incident.

Corcoran also asked the fans to “hold on to your integrity and have compassion for everyone involved in this,” likely referring to the many opinions that have been lodged since the tragedy took place.

He also thanked the track’s medical staff for their efforts on Saturday and explained why the track’s Facebook page was taken down for a short time on Sunday.

Here is the full statement in its entirety:

Meanwhile, another short track, Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway, has announced on its Twitter account that a planned race by Stewart scheduled for this coming Saturday will not occur.

Yesterday, Stewart did not compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International and was replaced in the No. 14 car by Regan Smith.

During the race, Stewart released a statement expressing his sadness over Saturday’s events at Canandaigua.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
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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.”