Leah Sander, InkFreeNews

Warsaw’s Sparc Engineers wants to support the orthopedic industry and not compete with it.
It’s why the business at 715 Orthopedic Drive, mainly focuses on work for the motorsports and aerospace industries, said CEO Matthew Townsend.
The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon-cutting for Sparc on Tuesday.
Sparc started and moved into its 18,000-square-foot space last year, with half of it for manufacturing.
Townsend said the company’s seven employees have done work for Dallara.
“They make all of the IndyCar chassis, and we’ve done work for Penske racing (and) AJ Foyt Racing and for aerospace for Vast and York Space Systems,” he said.
Townsend added Sparc, named after a Disney World attraction, does “provide manufacturing engineering services and also automation integrations for the orthopedic industry.”
He and others at Sparc previously worked in the orthopedic industry.
Townsend said Sparc is different from its competitors in that it’s focused on “transparency.”
“A lot of contract manufacturers hold things close to the vest, and we are very open to communication and using technology to do so,” he said.
Plans are continued growth, with Townsend mentioning half of the building’s manufacturing space isn’t being utilized yet.
“We only have four machines, but we’re working on deals where we might have to quadruple in size quickly,” he said.
Townsend said he hopes to bring in several motorsports companies to work out of Sparc’s building and “(have) us run their facility for them, so it’s their product, so dedicated equipment, dedicated people for them, and we’d have everything.”
People may learn more about Sparc at sparcengineers.com. Sparc should have an open house in the next month for people to view the facility, which they will announce on LinkedIn and Facebook, said Townsend.

Any long-time NASCAR fans know the name Larry McClure, as he was the co-owner at Morgan-McClure Motorsports alongside Tim Morgan and brother Jerry McClure, which operated a NASCAR team from 1983 through 2012. Larry’s family confirmed that he passed away on Wednesday at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Virginia.

McClure’s race team won 14 Cup races including three Daytona 500s. They earned their first 500 win with Ernie Irvan in 1991, and then two more with Sterling Marlin in 1994 and 1995. They are one of just ten teams to ever won three or more Daytona 500s. They utilized the No. 4 car, which became iconic with its Kodak paint scheme.

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While most of their race wins came at the superspeedway tracks, they also earned wins at Bristol, Watkins Glen, Sonoma, Darlington, and Martinsville. Bobby Hamilton earned their final win in 1998, winning from pole at Martinsville and leading 378 of 500 laps — their most dominant victory.

They also finished as high as third in the championship standings, courtesy of Marlin in 1995. The team’s first driver in 1983 was NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, but it wasn’t until Irvan’s arrival in 1990 when they finally reached Victory Lane.

Larry’s nephew Eric McClure competed as a driver for many years, running almost 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, and he tragically passed away a few years ago at the age of 42.

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The latest development in the antitrust lawsuit brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR came on Wednesday, with the ruling that certain discovery will be turned over. This was a small victory for NASCAR, which sought financial information and records from the teams not involved in the lawsuit. The teams, meanwhile, wanted the scope of what could be released to be limited.

23XI Racing and Front Row filed the joint lawsuit on October 2 in the Western District of North Carolina. It accuses NASCAR of using anticompetitive practices and being a monopoly.

“We share a passion for racing, the thrill of competition, and winning,” said a joint statement from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports when the lawsuit was filed. “Off the racetrack, we share a belief that change is necessary for the sport we love. Together, we brought this antitrust case so that racing can thrive and become a more competitive and fair sport in ways that will benefit teams, drivers, sponsors, and most importantly, fans.”

NASCAR filed a counterclaim against 23XI Racing, co-owner Curtis Polk, and Front Row on March 5. It alleges conspiracy and Sherman Act violations.

“Beginning no later than June 2022, Counterclaim Defendants engaged in a conspiracy and agreement in unreasonable restraint of interstate trade and commerce, constituting a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act,” the claim states. “Curtis Polk knowingly and actively orchestrated and participated in this illegal conspiracy, while working as a member of the (Team Negotiating Committee) on behalf of the RTA and aiding 23XI’s and Front Row’s participation in the scheme, also continuing a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.”

A trial date is set for December 1. All indications point toward the battle going the distance.

There has been mudslinging and numerous motions granted and dismissed over the last eight months. Here is where things currently stand:

· U.S. District Court Kenneth Bell has ordered (June 25) that NASCAR will be given certain financial information and records from the 12 teams not involved in the lawsuit. Kaulig Racing had previously provided the information requested in NASCAR’s subpoena.

· 23XI Racing and Front Row had their motion to dismiss NASCAR’s counterclaim denied (June 23).

· IndyCar filed a motion in a Southern District of Indiana court “to quash” a deposition served by NASCAR on Doug Boles, the president of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The motion cites that it is “burdensome” and that it would disclose sensitive and confidential financial and commercial information of IndyCar operations. IndyCar was one of multiple sports leagues that NASCAR subpoenaed in February for information on their operations. IndyCar produced over 650 pages of documents for NASCAR. The deposition of Boles is set for Friday, June 27.

· 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have requested (June 20) a rehearing on the decision to remove the injunction allowing them to compete as charter teams. It has not yet been determined whether the teams will get the rehearing. As for the status of the charters, 23XI and Front Row continue to race as charter teams while this is finalized. If there is no rehearing and the decision stands, the charters will be vacated seven days after the decision. And if a rehearing is granted, the teams will remain racing as charter members until a final decision is made.

· A three-judge panel in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the preliminary injunction granted to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports that allows them to compete as charter teams this season (June 5). The preliminary injunction had been granted in December.

So far, the docket for the near future includes a June 30 close of fact discovery deadline, a September 19 completion of discovery deadline, and a September 24 mediation report deadline. A filing of dispositive motions had a deadline of October 1. As previously mentioned, the trial date is December 1.

The Trackhouse Racing teammates will compete head-to-head in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course in July. Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch will both be driving for JR Motorsports that weekend, running the same sponsors but with inverse paint schemes.

SVG and Zilisch are both Red Bull athletes, but this will be the first time Red Bull has appeared on a JRM car. Zilisch competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series while Van Gisbergen is contesting his rookie season as a NASCAR Cup driver, recently winning the inaugural Cup race in Mexico City.

Chicago will be the New Zealander’s first Xfinity start of the year, but he is the defending winner of the Chicago NXS race, winning from pole with Kaulig Racing in 2024. He is scheduled to drive the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet at Chicago, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen.

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Zilisch, who has a run a handful of Cup races this year with Red Bull sponsorship in every start, just won his first oval race as a Xfinity driver at Pocono. JRM team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was atop the pit box as the interim crew chief.

SVG have only competed against each other four times before in the Xfinity Series during the 2024 season. Zilisch won on debut at Watkins Glen while Van Gisbergen finished fifth. They also raced each other at Kansas, Homestead, and Phoenix, but aside from the Cup Series where they both compete for Trackhouse, this will be their first time in NXS as true teammates.

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