Michigan International Speedway will implement additional safety measures to the two-mile superspeedway prior to the June NASCAR weekend.

Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers will be added to pit in/out walls, and tire pack barriers will be installed at the angled wall inside Turn 1. The infield at the exit of pit road will be paved to function as a skid pad and pace car entry and exit.

MIS will also add SAFER barriers to the outside wall of the frontstretch, backstretch, and pit tri-oval wall following the August NASCAR weekend, in preparation for the 2016 racing season.

MIS hosts the Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 on June 14, and the Pure Michigan 400 on Aug. 16.

The upgrades come after a review of the facility by NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation, which owns the track. ISC president John Saunders said in a statement that ISC is reviewing the 12 NASCAR tracks it owns, and the review will prioritize each track’s most critical areas first.

ISC is developing a plan to install additional impact-absorbing technologies at its tracks, including SAFER barriers.

The announcement of safety upgrades at MIS comes nearly six weeks after Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch was injured in a crash during the Xfinity Series race Feb. 21 at Daytona International Speedway, which ISC owns. Busch’s car was involved in a multi-car wreck late in the race and crashed into an inside wall that did not have a SAFER barrier. Busch sustained a broken right leg and a broken left foot.

Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway have also announced safety upgrades in preparation for upcoming NASCAR races.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway and long-standing partner Chevrolet have agreed to a multi-year extension of their partnership agreement.

Among the key elements of their partnership, Chevrolet will continue its role as an Official Sponsor of the Verizon IndyCar Series Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis 500 and the Crown Royal presents the “Your Hero’s Name Here 400″ at the Brickyard NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Chevrolet will provide the official cars and trucks along with the official safety vehicles for those three world-class IMS events, and will also provide the Official Pace Car for each race. The 2014 Indianapolis 500 marked the 25th time a Chevrolet has paced the “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

A Chevrolet has also served as the official pace car for the NASCAR Brickyard 400 since 1994, leading the field to the green flag 21 times. At the inaugural Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, a 2014 Corvette Stingray convertible served as the official pace car for the first ever IndyCar road course race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Chevrolet have over a century of history together and we’re delighted with the opportunity to continue that rich heritage,” said J. Douglas Boles, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president. “Race fans will see Chevrolets all over IMS during the Month of May and also in July, where Chevy will continue to be the only car to ever lead the field at the Brickyard 400.”

“Chevrolet is extremely pleased to have the opportunity to continue its longstanding partnership with Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Jeff Chew, Chevrolet Racing’s Manager of Strategic Planning and Operations. “IMS has been a key partner of Chevrolet for many years. In addition to having a strong history of on-track achievement at IMS, Chevrolet has enjoyed significant off-track success interacting with the many passionate fans that visit the Speedway every year. For all of our Chevy teams and drivers, the strong Chevrolet presence at IMS makes a trip to Victory Lane even more special.”

The National Auto Sport Association announces Bryan Cohn as its new Technical Director of Competition. Cohn has been involved in virtually every position required within motorsports since 1983, and the wealth of knowledge and experience he brings to the table will be crucial as he takes on his new role within NASA. He will help guide the development of class rules, manage series leaders, and ensure the rule revision process happens as quickly as possible.

“We are thrilled to have Bryan return to such a pivotal position within NASA after helping to spearhead the challenge of implementing the first NASA Championship event back in early 2006”, said Jeremy Croiset, NASA’s Director of Business Development. “Bryan should prove a valuable addition to the NASA team as our program continues to grow and expand.”

"I am really excited to rejoin the NASA team,” said Cohn. “When I made the move back in 2006, little did I know it was going to be a life changing opportunity. I look forward to serving NASA drivers again and enjoying motorsports with all the membership."

Cohn began racing in 1986 and has competed in over 50 different types of cars in 38 different classes, including everything from entry-level single seaters, production cars, sports racers, formula cars, and he now currently races a Mazda Miata in the NASA Performance Touring E class. He has also run a successful automotive prep shop specializing in single seater and sports car preparation. His experience in the world of automobile racing is exemplary, which will provide him with the tools required to get the job done.

Officials of WISSOTA Auto Racing and the newly named PolyDome Dirt Track Series announce that the Sheridan Speedway in Sheridan, Wyoming, will re-open in 2015 and will sanction WISSOTA Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks and Mod Fours weekly during its 2015 season.

Sheridan Speedway last hosted weekly racing action in 2006 as a WISSOTA-sanctioned facility, and the midwest sanctioning body, which emphasizes track promoter ownership and decision-making, is ecstatic to have the speedway back open.

WISSOTA Executive Director Terry Voeltz said, "It’s great for our western region to have another track available for racers and fans and it’s also great to see Sheridan re-open for the simple fact that it was a nice, well-attended facility back in the early 2000s and should be again in 2015 and beyond.”

Sheridan’s new owner, Craig Draper, purchased the real estate last fall and has been busy working on resurrecting the facility, which has sat dormant for the last nine seasons. Draper has hired Cary Berry-Smith to promote Sheridan Speedway, which will open on May 8 and will run weekly events throughout the end of August this season.

Lira Motorsports officially announces its acquisition of 18,000-square-feet of race shop and office space in Mooresville, North Carolina.

The new facility will be the home of the team's current ARCA Racing Series operations, consisting of the Michael Lira No. 58 and David Levine No. 59 racing teams. The North Carolina space will supplement the organizations current race shop in Port Orange, Florida.

“Our new race shop gives us the capability to field additional cars in the ARCA Series, as well as expand into additional series,” said team owner Carlos Lira. “Having a location in Mooresville, home to so many of NASCAR’s most prominent teams, will be a key factor moving forward in our commitment to present a professional and competitive race team at every event we compete in, in every series we compete in.”

The team will keep their Florida location, which will be utilized as the base of operations for its NASCAR Late Model team and growing Late Model Driver Development program.  

“This is the next step in the evolution of our team, and we expect it to have a substantial impact on our potential and performance, both on and off the track,” Lira said.

* 50 Years Of Specialists: Universally revered for his skills, his innovation, his character and, most of all, his race-day success, Keith Dorton is a legendary figure among modern race engine builders. The owner/founder of Automotive Specialists in Concord, North Carolina, is responsible for propelling countless vehicles to victory lane in ARCA, ASA, CARS Pro Cup, NASCAR’s touring divisions and many others over the past five decades.

Yes, 2015 marks 50 years in business for the shop whose roots extend to the famed Holman-Moody racing operations, where Dorton cut his teeth and honed his craft. But beyond the wins—including the Daytona 500, Snowball Derby and Copper Classic—Keith and son Jeff are some of the most generous, genuine people you’ll ever meet. They’ve opened their doors to PRI on multiple occasions; they’ve given us countless hours of insights and opinions for articles on oval track cylinder heads, coatings, the stock car market (naturally) and others; and they’ve served as expert panelists for more than a few business and technical seminars at the annual PRI Trade Show.

In short, Automotive Specialists gives back in a major way. But none of that would matter much if the company wasn’t producing race-winning engines year after year after year. In fact, when asked for his thoughts on Automotive Specialists’ recent milestone, PRI Publisher John Kilroy offered a spot-on analysis: “What they’ve been able to accomplish is nothing short of extraordinary,” he said. “It’s one thing to win races over a span of several years, but to keep doing what they’ve done for 50 years is just remarkable. I’m speechless.”

* ‘Life’ In The Fast Lane: Not a huge reality TV fan, but there is one new show I’m keeping an eye on. ‘Kart Life,’ which airs on TruTV, tracks the “careers” and family dynamics of several promising young karters as they compete for wheel-to-wheel glory and enough prize money to move out and get their own place. OK, maybe not. But the competition is legit, and while some of the track-side drama may be touched-up for television, the premise is compelling.

There’s good action, slick production, and overzealous parents who won’t hesitate to drop six figures on equipment, tuners, cross-country travel and so forth.

But the question remains, in the make-believe land of reality TV, is the show good for karting? “There’s mixed feelings within the sport,” said Rob Howden, editor/publisher of eKartingNews.com. “We know it’s potentially exposing new people to karting, but the majority of us are a little concerned that the image that’s being portrayed isn’t what karting is really about.”

Certainly understandable. Still, he told me, the hope is that folks with little prior knowledge of the sport will take note of its positive attributes and see karting as the affordable, accessible, family-friendly activity it truly is.
 
* SAFER Crossover: It’s worth noting when popular stick-and-ball sports take a cue from auto racing. In this case it relates to the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers that line the walls at most IndyCar and NASCAR tracks. Indeed, this “soft wall” technology has been a hot topic of debate in NASCAR circles—namely, why it doesn’t cover every stretch of wall at every track on the schedule.

But while officials and stakeholders sort out their issues, the man behind the technology wants to make a similar impact on the gridiron. Dr. Dean Sicking led the team of engineers that designed the SAFER barriers for race tracks; he’s also credited with reshaping guardrails and other roadside barriers across much of the nation’s highways. Sicking, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is now testing football helmets in a bid to help reduce the incidence of concussions.

True, helmets and road/track walls are quite different. But the concepts are related: Both rely on maximizing energy absorption to lessen impact.

At any rate, Sicking’s helmet designs are fairly far along—they’re set for live testing by a handful of smaller colleges in late fall. We’ll be interested to see where this goes.               

TI Automotive, a global supplier of automotive fluid systems technology, has announced the addition of Michael Grimes to its aftermarket team as sales manager. Grimes reports directly to Doug Thomson, director, North American aftermarket. Grimes is responsible for raising the visibility of TI Automotive in the high performance aftermarket segment.

Grimes joins TI Automotive from Cleveland, Ohio-based Accel Performance Group where he was director of retail sales. Thomson says Grimes brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to TI Automotive from his aftermarket career working for Tenneco Automotive, Dorman Products, and Nissens, A/S where he was general manager for Nissens North America.

“With our expanded portfolio of high-performance fuel systems, Mike joins our team to help high-performance distributors understand the unique characteristics of our product portfolio and to help us service their needs,” said Thomson. “Mike’s background and experience will help us expand in this important product segment as he takes on this new and exciting challenge.”

Grimes earned a Bachelor of Science degree in management from Indiana University and a certificate in executive management from the University of Texas.

TI Automotive’s complete line of high-performance fuel pumps and modules are developed and built specifically to meet the demands of today’s high-pressure, high-flow engines with efficient and robust performance.

For more information, visit www.tiautomotive.com/aftermarket.

IRG Sports + Entertainment and the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) announce the owners of Walla Walla Drag Strip have signed a multi-year sanctioning agreement to join the IHRA as a member track.
 
Originally known as Bonanza Raceway when it was constructed in 1970, Walla Walla Drag Strip is located at 12121 Middle Waitburg Road in Walla Walla, Washington. The track became Walla Walla Drag Strip in 2009 when its present owners purchased the 1/8-mile facility.
 
“We are pleased to welcome Walla Walla Drag Strip to our growing IHRA family,” said IHRA President Scott Gardner. “Walla Walla has been in operation for 45 years and is one of the most respected tracks in the Northwest.”
 
Now a member of IHRA Division 6, Walla Walla Drag Strip will host a double (two complete races in one weekend) Summit Racing Pro-Am Series event on June 12–14. The track also will field a team to compete at the Division 6 Summit Racing Team Finals at Spokane (Wash.) County Raceway on August 21–23.

“Walla Walla Drag Strip is happy to welcome IHRA to our track,” said Walla Walla track manager Kasey Kelty. “We made the switch to IHRA to attempt to make our track a better place for all of our sportsman racers to compete. We look forward to a new chapter in our track’s mission to become the best place it can be for both spectators and racers.”

For more information on Walla Walla Drag Strip, please call (509) 301-9243 or visit www.wwdragstrip.com.

In its first acquisition since August 2014 when it purchased Engine Rebuilders Warehouse in Dania Beach, Florida, Miami-based National Performance Warehouse (NPW) has purchased one of the Northeast’s premier performance parts businesses.
 
Racer’s Equipment Warehouse (REW) has been in business for more than 50 years, serving all varieties of automotive enterprises in the New England area. Racer’s is the regional wholesale specialist in marketing and selling brand name lines for Jeeps, trucks, SUVs, off-roading, hot rods, muscle cars, drag and circle track cars and street performance. Racer's also is a longstanding member of The AAM Group and has a large number of Parts Pro & Total Truck Jobbers in the Northeast.

Larry Pacey, president and CEO of NPW, said, “Since we started our [strategy of] expansion by acquisition, we constantly seek the right opportunity that is a fit for our company. We want to be in the right areas to service customers the same or next day and Racer’s helps us fill the New England corridor. I have known Ralph Accinno, Racer’s founder, for many years and I feel our involvement here is good succession plan for the future growth of Racer’s. We constantly search for opportunities to enhance our three major categories we cater to. Whenever we find traditional, engine or performance and accessory companies that are available, we investigate for the fit and Racer’s is a good fit.”

In response to the transaction, Accinno added, “When you build something from the foundation on up, you want to see it continue on and I am confident that the company will be in good hands. With all of NPW’s acquisitions, customers, employees and vendors have all prospered."

National Performance Warehouse now operates nine distribution centers in the US and Canada. Facilities are located in Florida; Ajax, Ontario Canada; Warwick, Rhode Island; and Vernon, Sacramento and San Jose, California.

VIRginia International Raceway is hosting its annual Spring Open House and Charity Laps event April 3 to benefit Victory Junction, a moving nonprofit that enriches the lives of children with serious illnesses by providing life-changing camp experiences at no cost to their families. In addition, VIR will hold a special ceremony memorializing the track’s iconic oak tree with the replanting of a descendant of the original tree.
 
The iconic oak tree, which stood for more than 200 years and fell in the summer of 2013, served as a prominent feature, symbol and welcome shade to the track’s south end. Last year, VIR discovered “the son of oak tree,” which had been planted from an acorn taken from the original tree about ten years ago by a former VIR employee. Through consultation with the Virginia Department of Forestry, the tree will be transported and replanted near the spot of the old oak tree. The new location will be outside the track, approximately 150 feet from the original location, providing more stable ground and accommodating modern racing safety regulations.
 
The tree replanting ceremony will take place from about noon to 1 p.m. during the April 3 Open House event. The ceremony will also unveil a memorial marker made from the tree’s wood and which will be placed on the ground where the old oak tree once stood. Connie Nyholm, owner and CEO of VIR, will speak and photo opportunities will be available.
 
“We’re honored to welcome the community to the Spring Open House, a day of reflection, transformation and new beginnings,” said Nyholm. “For fans like me who felt a great loss with the falling of the original oak tree, the replanting is really a meaningful, welcome addition to our track. The whole day will be a great chance to celebrate VIR, check out all of the wonderful amenities and live out racing dreams to support a deserving cause.” 
 
During the Spring Open House and Charity Laps event, guests can drive their own cars on VIR’s historic 3.27-mile full course for 15 minutes with a donation of just $25, all benefiting Victory Junction. Special guest Austin Petty, grandson of racing legend Richard Petty and brother of Adam Petty, will be keeping his brother’s dream alive offering ride-alongs in Adam’s No. 45 race car for a minimum donation of $45. Additionally, Richard Petty’s signature mustang will be on display at the event. Guests also have the chance to take ride-alongs around the track in one of the world’s quickest and most unique supercars, the Ariel Atom, for a $15 donation.

Throughout the family-friendly event, guests can also enjoy VIR amenities free of charge, including the kart track and shooting courses. The property will be open to the public April 3 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on VIR, visit www.virnow.com.