Leading motorsports companies are sending a clear message that they support our community’s yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

For the third installment of our PRI Founding Members series, you’ll read the stories of four companies you likely know. They’re high profile, respected, and betting on the growth of the industry they’ve supported and helped build for decades. 

Recently, all PRI Founding Members received a special status update on the RPM Act, a PRI/SEMA-backed bill that clarifies the motorsports-parts industry’s ability to sell products that allow racers to compete, and protects Americans’ right to convert street vehicles into dedicated race cars. The bipartisan bill, which included more than 75 cosponsors at press time, was Introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year by Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Raul Ruiz (D-CA).

PRI’s State Government Affairs Director Christian Robinson explained, “Our conference call provided a behind-the-scenes look at the steps PRI is taking to ensure the RPM Act becomes law in 2021. We also reviewed potential legislative pathways to victory, how the campaign will be promoted, and the role each business can take.” Founding Members are not just leaders in the industry, they are the tip of the spear when it comes to protecting its future.

PRI exists because we—together—are strongest when we are united. By stepping up to Founding Member status, companies send a clear message that they support our industry’s yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And they’re showing they stand with you. Our industry’s collective political voice and economic power carries more punch than any single company’s attempt to navigate today’s complex legislative and economic challenges.

PRI Founding Member status remains available for a limited time for $25,000 (with a payment option of $2,500 per year over 10 years). In other words, for the cost of printing show flyers or a few display banners, your company could position itself at the forefront of the racing industry. And Founding Member status also comes with exclusive benefits, including invitations to private networking events with other industry leaders. The first official Founding Members’ event will be held at this year’s PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis in December. 

Your involvement in PRI allows our team to continue to build, promote, and protect your livelihood, as well as the prosperity of the entire racing and aftermarket community. 

The performance industry is driven by competitive people who want to succeed both on and off the track. JEGS is there to help with a staff of more than 400 who can source and ship thousands of parts to worldwide customers overnight. 

Celebrating 60-plus years in the performance and racing industry, JEGS began as a storefront business. In the late 1950s, Jeg Coughlin Sr. was a typical Ohio hot rodder. He wanted lower ETs and higher trap speeds, so he built his first drag cars with parts sourced from West Coast vendors. Coughlin’s on-track dominance won him attention and seeded the idea that he could get in the high-performance parts business. 

Jeg Sr. opened his first speed shop in Columbus, Ohio, in 1960, and the third generation of the Coughlin family is now involved, with Jeg’s sons—John, Troy, Mike, and Jeg Jr.—overseeing operations today. JEGS operates a state-of-the-art 225,000-square-foot facility in Delaware, Ohio. Parts are stacked and sorted to the warehouse’s 50-foot ceiling, and automated systems assist with the parts picking and shipping.

Team JEGS wants our industry to continue to grow for generations to come, and its Founding Member status recognizes the need for the industry to monitor and influence the ever-changing regulatory environment and the impact it has.

“It’s been a phenomenal ride,” said Jeg Coughlin Sr., who turned 83 this year. “When you think about starting out as a little project all those years back and then look at our facilities now, it humbles you. I credit the boys with much of our success. I ran the thing for 27 years and then sold it to them, and they’ve since increased annual sales from about $20-million-a-year to a several-hundred-million-a-year. That speaks volumes to the work they’ve done.” The choice to become a Founding Member was a family decision that the Coughlins know will help their extended family. 

Formed in 2006, Mast Motorsports focuses on engine controls and fuel injection systems for late model engines. Mast recognized that the popular GM LS small block V8 (Generations III and IV) benefited greatly from improved breathing, and the need quickly surfaced for better heads and performance combinations. In response, Mast launched its first “Black Label” LS cylinder heads circa 2008, and also began offering custom engine building.

With true made-in-the-USA pride, Mast is one of those rare industry players that is fully vertically integrated. From design through production, Mast completes the engineering, computational-fluid-dynamic analysis, casting, and finished machining on its heads in-house. 

Specializing in GM late model engines, Mast has built and supplied over 1,000 engines since its inception, with builds for select customers dynoing at 1,500 hp.

Mast operates in two facilities in Nacogdoches, Texas, staffed by a team of dedicated employees. Its engineering facility benefits from having the latest development and testing equipment, including five dyno cells (four engine, one chassis) and a Spintron valvetrain system, plus all of the tools needed for engine assembly and cylinder head manufacturing.

Mast recently expanded with the opening of its new comprehensive cylinder head R&D and finishing facility, and also added a large warehouse to serve its customers better. With growing market demand, Mast offers comprehensive private label cylinder head design and manufacturing through which it offers turnkey cylinder heads custom-tailored to their specific needs.

Mast’s expanding product offerings now include the more affordable “Factory Mast” line that focuses on GM LS (Generation III and IV GM small block), GM LT (Generation V GM small block), and the recently released Ford Godzilla platform.

The company’s complete product line services customers across multiple communities, including street performance enthusiasts, airboats, and industrial engines, as well as competitors in circle track and off-road. Mast Motorsports’ commitment to PRI and Founding Member status demonstrates the company’s support of the racing family and its belief in the future of the industry.

For the family behind Forgeline Motorsports, making wheels for the racing community is more than just a job; it’s the culmination of a lifetime effort. After literally growing up working in their father’s Dayton Wire Wheel factory and spending weekends at the race track with the family’s amateur road racing team, twin brothers Steve and Dave Schardt developed a passion for motorsports and an obsession with making high-quality wheels.

These interests collided in 1994, when the brothers recognized the need for a US-based (Ohio) manufacturer of custom-made-to-order forged racing wheels, and Forgeline came to be. The company has since grown to become a key member of the racing and performance industry. And its customer base has grown well beyond its initial group of elite road racers. 

Throughout the decades, Forgeline’s in-house design and manufacturing have expanded to include products for all types of racing, street cars, trucks, and custom-built vehicles. The company’s current product line meets the modern demands of powertrain, chassis, and tire technology with more than 140 different wheel models of various construction types, including modular aluminum three-piece wheels, one-piece forged monoblock wheels, flow-formed wheels, and a line of modular hybrid two-piece wheels comprised of forged aluminum centers combined with high-tech carbon fiber composite barrels. 

As it was back in the 1990s, Forgeline wheels are still used at the highest levels of road racing, and are even the spec wheels on Ford’s Mustang GT4, Chevrolet’s Camaro GT4.R, and the Glickenhaus SCG004. 

PRI has always been an important part of Forgeline’s effort to serve the global racing community. One way Forgeline accomplished this was via participation in the annual PRI Trade Show. Through PRI, Forgeline is able to keep tabs on the evolving needs of the racing market, as well as the technologies and people who drive racing innovation. 

Forgeline publicly recognized the value of its partnership with PRI when the company signed on as a PRI Founding Member.

In 1977, sitting at his apartment kitchen table, Bill Wood drew up his first brake caliper designs. With borrowed time at a local machine shop, he made his first few sets. Just months later, Wilwood Brakes were helping Richard Petty burn off speed at the end of Riverside’s intimidating downhill back straight.

Wilwood Engineering got its start in stock car racing, but quickly expanded into drag racing, road racing, sprint cars, midgets, off-road, motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats, and more. The kitchen table-designed Dynalite and Superlite calipers evolved and improved with each generation, and they remain among the company’s most popular products to this day.

From pedal to pad, Wilwood has continually improved the design and manufacture of everything brake related. As tires, wheels, suspension, and chassis components have evolved and significantly expanded the performance envelope, braking requirements have dramatically increased. Wilwood Engineering’s particular skills make them an in-demand supplier for racers, enthusiasts, and beyond. In addition to being on the world’s fastest piston-driven vehicle, the 480-mph Speed Demon, the US military uses the Wilwood Grand National caliper on the HMMWV (popularly known as the Humvee).

From humble beginnings with the weekly racers of Saugus Speedway in Santa Clarita, California, to its facility in Camarillo, Wilwood continues to offer products that touch nearly every type of racing, including the most prestigious pro levels. Brake designs have transitioned from kitchen-table drawings to the latest computer-aided design systems that feed sophisticated manufacturing processes.

Recognizing the benefits of supporting the community that supports them, Wilwood Engineering has been involved with PRI since the beginning. “No other organization allows us to connect with so many of the people who build and race cars,” said Wilwood’s John Grieco. 

He continued, “PRI helps bring drivers, builders, dealers, and suppliers together, and keeps us informed.” This simple truth explains why Wilwood Engineering became a PRI Founding Member.