NASCAR: Chad Little, Elton Sawyer named to new competition roles - MotorSportsTalk

Chad Little and Elton Sawyer have been named to new roles within NASCAR’s competition department, and will start on both immediately.

Little will become Managing Director, Technical Inspection/Officiating, with Sawyer now Managing Director, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Little, a former Sprint Cup and Xfinity driver earlier in his career, has moved into the competition and officiating side, most recently serving as Series Director in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Weekly/Touring Series.

Sawyer joins NASCAR after serving as Director of Team Operations for Action Express Racing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship governed by IMSA. Prior to that role, he held competition roles at Red Bull Racing and Evernham Motorsports.

“NASCAR recently has made significant investments in both the technical inspection and officiating areas of our sport,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer said in a release. “Those areas have become flagship examples of innovation, keeping NASCAR as a premier sport. Chad is an ideal candidate to provide oversight and lead us to further evolve in those critical areas.

“Similarly, we’re fortunate to have a professional in Elton, who has substantial experience across the racing industry, to direct the popular NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.”

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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.”