N.H. Motor Speedway to become home of North East Motor Sports Museum - MotorSportsTalk

New Hampshire Motor Speedway will serve as the home of a new complex that will display New England’s rich motorsports heritage.

Over the weekend, the board of directors of Racing History Preservation Group voted to build a 10,000-square foot “North East Motor Sports Museum” on two acres of land leased from the track that lies on New Hampshire Route 106.

The lease terms are quite generous, with a duration of nearly 100 years and a cost of $1 per year.

According to a release from the group, the museum will be a single-floor structure with garage doors at each end. It will feature amenities such as a small office, enclosed library, video theater, and of course, plenty of cars, cycles and other artifacts that will represent the region’s racing heritage.

The RHPG’s Board features longtime auto racing journalist and TV reporter Dick Berggren as its president. Berggren confirmed news of the lease’s signing on his Twitter account:

By vote of its Board and through the kindness of the track's management the North East Motor Sports Museum will be built @ NHMS.

— Dick Berggren (@DickBerggren) October 26, 2014

Also among those involved with the Board are figures such as former NASCAR Sprint Cup race winners Ricky Craven and Ron Bouchard.

While the majority of funds needed to construct and complete the building is on hand, the RHPG is asking for additional donations to begin the process.

Contributions can be made payable to the North East Motor Sports Museum and sent to the following address: 7 Bayview Rd., Ipswich, MA, 01938.

Follow @estradawriting

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.”