Chevrolet has unveiled its next generation NASCAR Sprint Cup car—the new SS model—which, while tested extensively with Ford’s Fusion and Toyota’s Camry, had its configuration obscured in camouflage.

Four teams and their drivers recently displayed their next generation Chevrolets—the No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and Jamie McMurray; No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing and Tony Stewart; the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing and Kevin Harvick and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports and Jimmie Johnson.
 
“We've both been focusing on a number of important initiatives to build a stronger connection with our fans by incorporating relevant technologies that we're using on today's high-performance Chevrolets, while also creating designs that help our fans make the link between what they see on the track, on the streets and in Chevy showrooms,” said Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America, comparing the SS passenger car with its competition-prepared counterpart.
 
“The new SS won’t be mistaken for any other car on the track. It bears a striking resemblance to our production car, the 2014 SS, and that will be in showrooms here next fall.”
 
“This thing looks amazing. It looks fantastic,” said Gordon.
 
NASCAR President Mike Helton thanked Chevrolet, as well as the sport’s other manufacturers, for their collaborative efforts to move NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition forward.
 
“The anticipation going into 2013 is building, it will build over the off season and it'll be, we feel, one of the milestones that we'll look back as we celebrate our history in the future; we'll look back and see 2013 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup car as a very significant milestone for us,” said Helton.

Officials from the American Drag Racing League unveiled their 2013 tour schedule last week during a press conference at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Orlando, Florida.

The most notable change is a switch to events being held on Saturdays and Sundays versus the ADRL’s traditional Friday–Saturday format.

“After careful consideration and discussions with our racers and track partners, everyone agreed that holding our events on Saturday and Sunday was our best option going forward,” said ADRL President Kenny Nowling.

Fight Hard MMA, whose president, Jessica Nowling, is Kenny Nowling’s wife, recently acquired the ADRL from Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani of Qatar.  

Meantime, the 2013 season will launch March 9-10 with Dragpalooza IX at historic Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, N.C.

The tour will then head to South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Ga. on April 13-14 for the Georgia Drags VII.

The U.S. Drags VI will take place on June 8-9 at Virginia Motorsports Park located just outside of Richmond, Va., followed by the Summer Drags IX at US 131 Motorsports in Martin, Mich., on June 29-30. 

The ADRL will round out the summer at Memphis International Raceway with the running of the Memphis Drags IV on August 3-4.

The tour will then head back to Rockingham Dragway for its most prestigious event, Dragstock X, on September 7-8.

For the ninth straight year the season will wrap up in Texas with the ADRL World Finals IX at beautiful Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, on October 19-20.

Two additional dates are still being considered.

For more information, visit www.adrl.us.

Even as buyers were still walking the aisles of the 2012 PRI Trade Show in Orlando, talk of the much-anticipated 2013 Show and its relocation to the Indiana Convention Center was already well underway.

It was apparent that show goers would miss the Orlando sunshine and fine restaurants, but when it comes to doing business, the return to Indianapolis should make the “three busiest business days in racing” even busier.

“I’m loving it,” said Jon Kaase, owner of Jon Kaase Racing Engines, which builds engines for drag racing, as well as hot rods and street performance. “I love Orlando—you won’t find any better restaurants—but in reality it’s not a vacation. PRI is a place to meet people in the industry and show your product. There are just so many more people in Indianapolis and in that part of the country that buy our product, and not everyone can come here (Orlando). I think you’re going to find a lot more people who can make it to Indianapolis and I think the attendance will be huge up there.”

In addition to the increased attendance, many exhibitors spoke of greatly reduced costs from not having to send crews to both PRI and the IMIS show after the latter was recently acquired by SEMA and consolidated with the PRI Show.

“Having the two shows combine together makes all the sense in the world,” relayed Safety Kleen’s Drew Pate. “Cost savings on a dollar basis are probably well north of $50,000 when you consider man hours, travel and accommodations.”

That sentiment was echoed over and over again throughout the PRI Show.

“We’re thrilled about going to Indianapolis next year,” said Scott MacDonald, of Bilstein Shocks. “To have all of our customers in one place is a great thing. Logistically it’s outstanding, as it’s always been a challenge to try to do both shows.”

“I think it’s great,” added Ashley Garrett, of U.S. Legends Cars. “We go to both shows, so it’s been really tough. You get home for a day, and then you’re right back out, so the consolidation is great. It’s good for everyone and helps avoid burnout. Just in fuel alone it will be a big savings.”

“We’re absolutely looking forward to next year in Indianapolis,” said Travis Thirkettle, of SuperFlow. “We’ll save a lot of money and tons of labor and time away from home. For us, it’s a treat to have everything in one show.”

When asked about the return to Indianapolis, Scott Wahlstrom, of Motor State Distributing, which currently has as many as 45 employees shuttling between their home office in Michigan and the two current shows, summed it up succinctly: “Hallelujah.”

Expectations for next year’s show are already high, but there will be some sadness in leaving Orlando behind.

“I can't say enough about the city of Orlando and the Orange County Convention Center," said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show producer. "They've been terrific partners. Yet, this is a fantastic opportunity to bring the industry back together in Indianapolis, the epicenter of racing in America. With as well as this year’s show went and with all of the activity around the show, we believe it will be even bigger and better next year. We expect even more activity during Race Industry Week, and I believe that our relocation will be well-received throughout the industry.”

Approximately 37,500 racing business people from all 50 states and 72 countries attended this year’s show to get current with the latest in racing technology courtesy of the 1000 motorsports companies introducing new lines in racing products, machining equipment, motorsport engineering solutions and more.

Preparations are already underway for the 2013 PRI Trade Show, which will run at the Indiana Convention Center, December 12-14.

A successful week-long run of motorsports business activity concluded December 1 with the final day of the 2012 PRI Trade Show at the Orange County Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Approximately 37,500 racing business people from all 50 states and 70 countries attended this year’s show to get up-to-date with the latest in racing technology courtesy of the 1000 motorsports companies introducing new lines in racing products, machining equipment, motorsport engineering solutions and more. 

“A lot of racing people throughout the world look at the PRI Trade Show as a place where they can take a measurement of the racing industry right now,” said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show producer. “Anyone that participated in this show, as an exhibitor or a buyer, has to be impressed with the amount of business that went on here. That says something very good about the state of the racing industry today.”

An expanded Race Industry Week led into this year’s PRI Trade Show, as several major events were among 35 conferences and seminars that ran in conjunction with the show November 26. 

The Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC), Claude Rouelle’s Optimum G Advanced Vehicle Dynamics Seminar, The Race Track Business Conference, the International Council of Motorsport Sciences (ICMS) annual Congress, the Winning The eRace Digital Marketing Conference, Winning Setup Strategies for Dirt Late Models, and the FAST EFI University training course on electronic fuel injection in racing applications all took place during this year’s Race Industry Week.

Scores of attendees took advantage of both the conferences and the show under one roof during the week.

“There’s enough information to be gained at the AETC and then at the PRI Show in three or four days that would take you a year to get on your own,” said Jud Masingill, of the School of Automotive Machinists. “All of the people that need to be here are here—all the suppliers, all the new parts are brought out. We build hardcore race engines and PRI’s Machinery Row is our Disneyland, it’s just incredible. The new guys come in here and see equipment they didn’t know existed. All the newest stuff is here—it’s just awesome."

Activity continued well into day three of the show on December 1.
           
“It was a very busy three days—the show went very well,” said Cliff Cohen, of GM Performance. “We’re happy with the turnout we had. We upped our floor space this year and we introduced a number of new products and it was very well received. We had a great mix of buyers all across the board.”

Despite it being a transitional year for the show, it proved to be business as usual for Race Industry Week and the PRI Show, known as the three biggest business days in racing.

"I like the fact that even with SEMA buying PRI that it’s still the same show that’s been built up over the last 25 years,” said SPEED TV personality Robin Miller. “I love all the innovation, and the energy in this place is great. You can see that for a lot of these people, racing is their life.”

In the end, show exhibitor Phil Rasmussen, of Premier Performance, may have phrased it best: “We’re all enthusiasts and we all want to go fast, and PRI is where you find the products to go fast.”
           
Preparation is already underway for the 2013 PRI Trade Show, which will see the event return to the Indiana Convention Center, December 12-14.

Friday is traditionally the biggest sales day of the three-day PRI Trade Show, and this year’s 25th rendition was true to form as sales swelled throughout the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.  

Attendees arrived early on Friday morning and remained consistent throughout the day.

“We’ve had a great show at PRI,” said Jeff Clark, of Roush Yates. “It’s always been a great showcase for us and again in 2013 with the new season ahead of us. The new products we’re bringing out have been well-received at the show. We’ve seen people come with checks in hand for deposits on engines where sometimes they may get a business card and call you two or three times and the business wasn’t confirmed. PRI has given us that ability to showcase a true sale and we’re very, very happy with it.”

Similar reports were common throughout the show.
    
“The show’s been going wonderfully,” relayed Shanna Whitley, of T & S Machines and Tools. “Thursday was a great day with very consistent traffic, and the people that are coming in today are closing things. We have buyers and that’s been wonderful for us. We’ve been coming to PRI for 17 years. This is our largest exhibit so far with six booths and it’s paying off.”

“We’ve had a lot of excellent traffic to the booth today with some serious buyers,” said Travis Thirkettle, of SuperFlow Technologies. “We generated some real solid leads. We are very happy with our productivity and the interest we’ve seen. We’ve been coming to the show for 25 years and we’re happy to support PRI.”

While exhibitors were overjoyed about the brisk sales, consumers were just as happy with the quality of exhibitors, as well as the technology and product they’re finding on the show floor. The end result is they’re ready and willing to spend.

“This is an annual trip for us,” said Frank Honsowetz, of Ed Pink Racing Engines. “I’ve been coming since the show was in Columbus. It gives us a chance to see all of our vendors and suppliers, as well as find out about all the new products. Annually, we might buy close to half a million dollars of product from the vendors in this building.”

The initial two days have exceeded expectations for this year’s show.
    
“It was another great day for the PRI Trade Show,” said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show producer. “Exhibit aisles were jammed, but most important was that throughout the hall there were all manners of business being conducted. The serious buyers were here.”

The 25th Annual PRI Trade Show features the latest product lines of over 1000 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment. Approximately 38,000 racing business people from all over the United States, and more than 70 countries are expected to attend.

For more information, go to www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow.

The 2012 PRI Trade Show is well on the way to being one of the most successful in the Show’s 25-year history, as big crowds and enthusiastic buyers and exhibitors were on display at the Orange County Convention in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.

The event is widely viewed as the three biggest business days in auto racing.

The day began with a packed opening day breakfast as SPEED’s Dave Despain opened the show with a live version of the popular Wind Tunnel program.  

John Force, the 15-time NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car Champion and driver of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford, headlined the show along with SPEED television personality Robin Miller.

“We had a very good opening today,” said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show producer. “John Force and Dave Despain kicked off the day with a great live edition of Wind Tunnel. We had lots of buyers in the aisles. Everyone is talking and doing business. We couldn’t have asked for a better opening day.”

Attendees arrived early and were prepared to buy as companies looked to grow their businesses and introduce new product.
 
“It’s been a really good show,” said Cheralyn Smith, of Honda Performance, which is featuring their Honda Fit B spec rally car. “You could tell when the doors opened this morning because it was a pretty steady stampede. Then you looked down at your watch and it was 2 o’clock already. You don’t get that very often at shows.”
 
Those thoughts were echoed around the show floor.

“Things are going great,” said Ron Celendano of CV, which produces valve train components for everything from local short tracks to Formula 1. “We’ve had a lot of people come through and we’re very excited. We’re showcasing a lot of new products to people and a lot of new programs.”

“We’ve had a good crowd today especially for being opening day,” relayed Andrew Casselberry of Ford Racing, which had a variety of cars on display. “It started off a little slow, but then for three or four hours we were really busy. We’re happy and tomorrow should be even busier. We’re able to display some of our crate engines here, where other shows we really haven’t had the opportunity to do that. We’re really excited to get our hardcore parts out.”

Attendees were just as pleased as the exhibitors.

“We came to buy,” said Hank Moore, of Advanced Auto Fabrications, who traveled almost 3,000 miles from Spokane, Wash. “We’ll spend the whole time here, look at everything and try to get our hands around what’s here, what’s coming and what we need to work with. This is our first time here at the PRI Show and we found product here that we didn’t know existed. We spent time on Machinery Row and time with some engine management companies. We also met with suppliers that we had never actually met, so it’s nice to be able to get face-to-face interaction.”

In addition to the action on the show floor, Aston Martin Racing and The Racer’s Group used the PRI Trade Show to announce the formation of a multi-faceted factory-supported effort in North America in 2013, encompassing the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, the American Le Mans Series and the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

The 25th Annual PRI Trade Show features the latest product lines of over 1000 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment. It will be attended by approximately 38,000 racing business people from all over the United States, and more than 70 countries. For more information, go to www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow.

In addition to hosting previously announced press conferences by Mazda Motorsports and Shell Racing Fuels, the PRI Show on Friday will provide news from the American Drag Racing League, the Panam GP Series and One Lap Of America.

The FIA Nacam Panam GP Series will announce its arrival in the United States for the 2013 Winter Series and to kick off its 2013 regular season.

“After racing all over Latin America we are very proud to confirm that the Panam GP Series will hold its inaugural Winter Series with four races in two rounds at Homestead and Palm Beach. This will be a great opportunity for young talented drivers to race in F-3 like open wheel racing cars that have the latest in cutting edge motorsports technology,” commented Alfonso Toledano, promoter of the championship.

Currently, the Panam GP Series feature the fastest open wheel racing cars in Latin America, with 1.4-liter turbo Fiat engines, slick tires and carbon fiber monocoque in identical cars.
 
“We are also confirming that the start of the 2013 regular season of the Panam GP Series will start in April 7 in Homestead, and from there will go to Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and other interesting Latin American venues,” said Toledano about growth of the series for 2013.

The final race of the 2012 season will be in Chile on December 9.

For its 30th anniversary, One Lap Of America, which features nearly 24 hours a day driving with competition taking place as time trials on race tracks throughout the country, will announce on Friday the 2013 OLOA Route.  

The Cannonball Run-like event, as it always has been, is one of endurance and vehicle preparation.

But first, the American Drag Racing League will kick off the slate of Friday press conferences with the introduction of its new owners, as well as rules changes and 2013 schedule information.

The current list of Friday press conferences taking place in the PRI Show Media Center is as follows:

10 a.m. – ADRL

11 a.m. – One Lap Of America

11:30 a.m. – Mazda Motorsports

1 p.m. – Panam GP Series

4 p.m. – Shell Racing Fuels

For more information on the 2012 PRI Show, visit www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow.

The Racer’s Group (TRG) and Aston Martin Racing announced at the PRI Trade Show on Thursday the formation of a partnership to bring a factory-supported, multi-faceted Aston Martin Racing program to North America starting in 2013.

The move encompasses the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge as well as plans to launch a single-make support series featuring Aston Martin Vantage GT4 race cars.

The new, multi-level partnership—TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America, LLC—commenced with TRG-AMR North America’s acquisition of 10 brand new race cars to compete in varying North American sports car series.

The Aston Martin Vantage GTE will be unveiled at the American Le Mans Series’ annual Winter Test on Feb. 7-8 in preparation for the March 16 running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. In the GRAND-AM Rolex Series and Pirelli World Challenge, the highly competitive Vantage GT3 is in its final homologation stages and will be ready to race for new customers after the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The new Vantage GT4, running in the Continental Tire Challenge, will debut at the January test days and will be ready to race in support of and alongside the highly successful Multimatic team already running in the championship.



In addition to managing its own race program and customer programs, TRG-AMR North America also has started the development of a one-make series with the Aston Martin GT4 Vantage. This series will race identically prepared Aston Martin GT4s against one another in a sprint race format at select venues throughout North America beginning as early as the fall of 2013.

For more, visit www.alms.com.

Each year hundreds of automotive technology students from high schools across the country take part in regional competitions to determine which teams can disassemble and reassemble a small-block Chevrolet engine with aftermarket components in the fastest time, with the top scorers advancing to the National Championship.


This December, as part of the 25th Annual Performance Racing Industry Show, the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow will be holding their second exhibition engine build competition featuring high school students that just participated in the 2012 National Championship "Showdown at SEMA."

Thirteen schools competed in the four-day event, held just outside the front door to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Each team competed in four rounds with the worst time thrown out and the average of the other three used to determine the standings.

Five of the finalists will be competing for bragging rights and scholarships at this year's PRI Show. They are:

Team Mr. Gasket - East Ridge High School, Chattanooga, Tenn. - SEMA average time-  22:19
Team Proform - Peach County High School, Fort Valley, Ga.  - SEMA average time-  26:14
Team Thermo-Tec - Thomas County Central HS, Thomasville, Ga.- SEMA  average time-  27:40
Team Hedman Hedders - Belvidere North HS, Belvidere, Ill. - SEMA average time-  31:04
Team Painless Perf. - Sequoyah High School, Soddy Daisy, Tenn. - SEMA average time-  33:46

 
"I absolutely love this event," said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. "It is amazing to me that Jim's activity has impacted so many young members of our industry over the years. We're pleased to be a part of the event and support this effort."

Along with being dubbed “champion,” these student engine builders are eligible for prizes, sponsorships and support from select companies as well as scholarship money to aid in future education and training. To date more than $6 million in scholarship money has been awarded.

Thus far, monetary commitments have been made by the University of Northwest Ohio in Lima, Ohio, Ohio Technical College in Cleveland, Ohio, and SAM, the School of Automotive Machinists, located in Houston, Texas.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge began in 2008 as an exhibition with just five schools, and has grown into a national competition for high school students. In 2011, more than 70 teams have competed nationwide.

The event serves as a forum for the future development of today’s youth for the race and performance industry. During each regional qualifying competition, students must properly disassemble small block Chevy engines using only hand tools and follow proper disassembly and reassembly procedures. This is a competition against the clock, so time added penalties may be issued.

"This industry that we're in and love is turning gray. It's getting older year after year," said Jim Bingham, chairman of Hot Rodders Of Tomorrow and president/CEO of Winner's Circle Speed & Custom, Joliet, Illinois. "This is designed to be a program to bring young people inside this industry. This is about bringing them in, showing them that they can enjoy making a living in the high performance field, and, as a result, we get youth and talent inside our industry every year.


"This is just what our industry needed," added Vic Edelbrock, president of Edelbrock Corp. "It involves our youth, and gives them a focus that will help prepare them for careers in the performance automotive aftermarket."


The 26th Annual Performance Racing Industry Trade Show, December 12-14, 2013, in Indianapolis, Indiana, will host the 2013 Hot Rodders of Tomorrow National Championship—the final round of the nation's premier engine build competition for young automotive talent.

To date, Hot Rodders of Tomorrow has had a total of 328 auto-tech teams consisting of 1675 students participating in the competition, and has been seen by more than 760,000+ people at Divisional and Championships.

Its judges are a group of highly committed volunteers, and it is sponsored by the best companies in the Race & Performance Business.

For more information, visit www.hotroddersoftomorrow.com or contact Rodney Bingham at 815/722-5460, rbingham@hotroddersoftomorrow.com.

Four major conferences and seminars began Wednesday, while two others finished up their three-day schedule as a flurry of Race Industry Week activity hit the Orange County Convention Center in anticipation of the opening day of the PRI Trade Show on Thursday in Orlando, Florida.

The International Council of Motorsport Sciences (ICMS), the Winning the eRace Digital Marketing Conference for Racing Businesses, the Race Track Business Conference and the first of two EFI University seminars began Wednesday in Orlando, joining the ongoing Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC) and Claude Roelle’s Optimum G Advanced Vehicle Dynamics Seminar to make up the busiest day in Race Industry Week history, which is run in conjunction with the PRI Trade Show, Nov. 29-Dec. 1.

“It’s very important for us to have events co-locate with us to have everyone in the racing industry together all at one place, all at one time,” said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show Producer. “We think it’s invaluable to have PRI buyers not only attend the PRI Trade Show to see all the newest parts and technology for the 2013 season, but also to have the opportunity to attend an engine building conference or go to a vehicle dynamics seminar or a racing business seminar. Add in that we have some of the most brilliant minds in the world when it comes to race safety right here with the ICMS. We’re standing here seeing race professionals from all around the industry. It’s more than we imagined when we first began Race Industry Week.”

Attendance was strong across all events, and the conferences addressed some of the most pressing issues in the motorsports industry today.

“One of our focuses with this year’s ICMS has been looking at head injuries and the return to competition, with emphasis on young people,” said Dr. Stephen Olvey, M.D. “The top groups are very cognizant of it, but we’re trying to reinforce the importance at lower levels. Years ago you may have thought, ‘Oh he just had a concussion, that’s not such a bad deal’. Now we know that repeated concussions can ruin the rest of your life and actually shorten it.

"Conferences like this are really important because the attendees here will go back to people they work with in motorsports events from around the world and spread the word," he added. "This is a really good forum for dissemination of information related to safety in motorsports.”  
    
Legendary promoter Humpy Wheeler headlined the day’s activities at the Race Track Business Conference (RTBC).  
    
“It’s good to see people get together in the racing business as we’re all fighting the same battle with an economy that hasn’t come back yet,” said Wheeler. “That’s when the real promoters come out and you have to do things different. Creativity comes from the exchange of ideas you have at a conference like this. It’s a great setting with PRI, which is just a tremendous show. You can sense how big the racing industry is when you come down here.”

According to Tim Frost, RTBC promoter, the first-year conference exceeded projections: “The event has been beyond our expectations. PRI has been great. The entire team has been just fantastic for us. From an event standpoint, we’re very excited to be a part of this team.”

The first-ever Winning the eRace conference also addressed pressing topics in the ever-changing digital marketing world.

“We have a tech heavy staff, but our marketing staff is smaller,” said Lisa Holly of Crane Cams. “With a smaller staff, social media and digital media can be pretty overwhelming and extremely time-consuming. Coming here gives us an idea of what direction we need to go and where we may be lacking and what we need to change.”

The 25th Annual PRI Trade Show features the latest product lines of over 1000 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment. It will be attended by approximately 38,000 racing business people from all over the United States, and more than 70 countries. For more information, go to www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow.