Both Rob Cassar and Rob Dekert went all the way to the finals at South Coast Raceway in their respective brackets at last weekend’s South Coast Nationals, round four of the Australian 2018/19 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series.

While both would walk away with runners-up plaques at the end of the day, they each also wrote their names into the record books with their performances at the Portland venue.

For Cassar, it was more of a re-write, with the Hillside (Victoria) racer bettering his own AA/CBN 660ft speed record which he set at September’s Sunset Strip Nationals (139.15 mph) to see it now stand at 140.46 mph.

Dekert now lays claim to the C/AP speed record at 139.54 mph thanks to the Melbourne racer’s efforts aboard his Super Stock Pontiac GXP machine.

Round five of the 18/19 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series, the Goldenstates, will be held at the Perth Motorplex on Saturday, Dec. 1. (Automotive Event Images) [11/16/18]

Don Schumacher Racing wasn’t the only casualty of the U.S. Army this year. Advertising magazine Adweek reports that the Army’s ad agency, McCann Worldgroup, has been dropped after 12 years.

In an internal memo sent to all staff, McCann CEO Harris Diamond wrote: “After 12 productive years of helping the Army achieve its recruitment mission goals, this is an email I hoped I would not have to write,” stating that the agency had been eliminated by the contracting officer rather than the client organization itself and that the elimination was “based solely on a technical issue related to a missing disk.”

According to parties close to the matter, the agency failed to include certain required materials in its final pitch for the business over the summer.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied a protest filed by McCann Worldgroup in August over its elimination from the U.S. Army review, but a McCann spokesperson confirmed that the agency plans to take its objections to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.   [11/16/18]

Ford and Walmart have teamed up to launch a new self-driving delivery service pilot with the help of Postmates. The automaker announced Wednesday, Nov. 14, that Walmart and Postmates will help carry out the program, which intends to deliver a variety of goods to Walmart shoppers at their homes. The new program follows Ford's self-driving pizza delivery service.

Both companies said the new service will run alongside Walmart's newly launched delivery option. Personal shoppers gather a customer's items, while a Postmates driver delivers the goods. Only here, Ford tasks the self-driving car with the delivery.

Ford said it will use the pilot program to understand what the self-driving cars are capable of delivering, and what may not be a good match at this time.

The automaker has continuously expanded its self-driving operations, too, and plans to be the first automaker to bring the technology to the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. The city will join Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Miami to host Ford self-driving cars.   [11/16/18]

BONINFANTE FRICTION, INC., clutch manufacturer for NHRA Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car, has taken their indestructible nitro transmission shaft technology and made it available to the Ford world with the Boninfante Friction Ford 6R80 Intermediate Shaft. Boninfante’s high-strength shaft is made specifically for the Ford 6R80 6-speed automatic transmission used in 2009 and up Ford F150 pickup trucks and 2011-2017 Ford Mustangs. Born from top fuel technology, the Boninfante Ford 6R80 Intermediate Shaft is manufactured in-house in Pennsylvania, to the same high standards as Boninfante’s 10,000 horsepower nitro shafts and feature industry-leading materials and processing. Made from high-strength alloy to Boninfante’s exacting tolerances; Three-step heat treatment; and Proprietary anti-fatigue finishing process.   [11/16/18]