President Trump has announced new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, two important raw materials used in the manufacturing of motor vehicles, parts and accessories.

The 25% tariffs impact all steel and aluminum imported into the United States and are on top of existing metals duties. PRI and SEMA continue to monitor this situation and will convey to the Trump administration and lawmakers in Congress the impact of tariffs on the automotive aftermarket industry. PRI welcomes feedback from its members on the impact of these tariffs. 

Trump also announced plans to implement reciprocal tariffs on countries that tax United States imports. China recently announced retaliatory tariffs in response to the 10% tariff the United States placed on the country's exports to the United States. China intends to implement tariffs on $14 billion worth of American exports.  

SEMA, in its recent "SEMA 2025 Future Trends Report" market research study, noted that tariffs have the potential to increase costs for OEMs, part manufacturers and consumers. The report notes that: 

• Most of the tariff exposure is likely to small- and mid-sized parts manufacturers, particularly those who rely on international supply chains for some of their components and materials.  
• Tariffs disproportionately impact businesses that pay upfront for goods and services, with small- and medium-sized companies potentially experiencing cash-flow issues, delayed payments, and reduced capacity and inventory.
• Competition to secure supplies of domestic steel, and thus lower costs, may be intense. 

It should be noted that President Trump prefers to employ tariffs as chips at the bargaining table. During Trump's first term, he imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, only to later grant duty-free exceptions to several trading partners, including Canada and Mexico. Argentina, Australia, Brazil and South Korea were excluded from the 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs. 

PRI and SEMA recently announced an upcoming webinar to hear attorneys discuss the evolving landscape of U.S. trade policy, recent tariff announcements and proposed reciprocal tariffs by President Trump on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. EST, alongside additional resources available for motorsports businesses. Find out more details here.

For more information, contact Eric Snyder, PRI and SEMA's senior director of federal government affairs, at erics@sema.org. 

Chevrolet has announced the Corvette ZR1 has secured five new production car lap records during a U.S. track tour with four different General Motors drivers behind the wheel.

Below are the five tracks and the Corvette ZR1's lap times:

• Watkins Glen Int'l (Schuyler County, New York) Long Course: 1:52.7. Driver: Bill Wise, lead performance engineer, Chassis Controls.
• Road America (Sheboygan County, Wisconsin): 2:08.6. Driver: Brian Wallace, lead vehicle dynamics engineer.
• Road Atlanta (Braselton, Georgia): 1:22.8. Driver: Chris Barber, lead development engineer.
• VIRginia International Raceway (Alton, Virginia) Full Course: 1:47.7. Driver: Aaron Link, global vehicle performance manager.
• VIRginia International Raceway Grand Course: 2:32.3. Driver: Link.

The drivers set out with a pre-production Corvette ZR1 equipped with the optional ZTK Performance Package, which is designed to add an aggressive, high-downforce rear wing, front dive planes, and a tall hood Gurney lip – all constructed from woven carbon fiber. Underneath, underbody strakes replace the standard front underwing stall Gurney to increase front downforce substantially, according to Chevrolet. The suspension tuning included in the ZTK package also incorporates stiffer springs and adds Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R ZP tires.

Corvette ZR1 with the ZTK Package boasts a top speed of 233 mph on the race track, 0-60 mph time of 2.3 seconds*, and a quarter-mile time of 9.6 seconds. With these figures, no current production car under $1 million rivals Corvette ZR1, Chevrolet stated.

“Corvette ZR1 continues to showcase how this nameplate elevates at every corner,” Corvette executive chief engineer Tony Roma said. “From design, engineering, development, validation, to driving and setting incredible lap records like these – we do it all in house.”

For more information, read the Chevrolet press release here.

Photo courtesy of Chevrolet

*On a closed course. Based on initial vehicle movement.

Skyview Drags, the Tioga Center, New York, dragstrip, will have a new name and management team in 2025.

Now known as Skyline Motorsports Park, the facility will continue under World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) sanction following a new, multi-year agreement, and will be under the management of James Robinson, George Coleman and Dave Gennett.

Robinson brings 35 years of track management experience to the role, according to the WDRA.

Skyline Motorsports Park will open under its new name on April 11. Points programs will be held on Sundays, the track said, and will also host car shows, tractor pulls, diesel races and more throughout the season, as well as Wednesday night grudge racing.

For more information, visit racewdra.com.

Formula DRIFT officials have established an enhanced route for amateur drivers to reach the series and gain a full Formula DRIFT license.

There are currently multiple routes to obtaining a Formula DRIFT license:

• Win one of seven affiliated, regional, multi-round drift series. The winner of each 2025 series is guaranteed a Formula DRIFT PROSPEC license for the 2026 season.
• New for 2025, the winning driver of California's HOTPIT Autofest drift series will be eligible for a Formula DRIFT PRO license.
• Winning two shoot-out events organized by Evergreen Drift in Washington.
• Enter the Formula DRIFT Scouting Program, which allows affiliate programs to petition for a license. Klutch Kickers Pro-Am drift series, Drift Buffet and Drift School USA have been added to the Scouting Program for 2025. Entrants can be submitted to receive a PROSPEC license.

Full details on how to earn a Formula DRIFT competition license can be found at formulad.com/pro-am.

Carl Edwards, Ricky Rudd and Ralph Moody have been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Class of 2025. Dr. Dean Sicking, a safety innovator, and Mike Harris, a longtime reporter for the Associated Press (AP), were also honored for their contributions to the sport.

In a 13-year Cup Series career, Edwards won 28 races, including the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He was a two-time Cup Series championship runner-up. In all, Edwards earned 72 victories across the three national series, including the 2007 Xfinity Series championship. In 2005, he competed full-time in both the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series.

Rudd, a native of Chesapeake, Virginia, made his first-ever NASCAR start of any kind in the Cup Series, finishing 11th in that 1975 debut at Rockingham, North Carolina, as an 18-year-old and earning his first of 374 career top-10s the following week at Bristol, Tennessee. In 1983, at the age of 24, he became the youngest pole winner in Daytona 500 history.

Rudd would go on to earn 23 career Cup Series victories, including the 1997 Brickyard 400 as an owner-driver and the 1992 International Race of Champions (IROC) title in his first year in the series.

He is also known for his 16 consecutive years (1983-98) with a victory at the sport's highest level, and his string of 788 straight starts that was a record until 2015. His 905 total starts in a career that spanned four decades is second only to the seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty (1,185 starts).

Ralph Moody, who passed away in 2004, served under General George Patton in World War II before becoming a full-time driver and winning five times in NASCAR's premier division in 1956-57. In 1957, he partnered with John Holman to form the Holman-Moody Racing company--building cars and creating innovations that produced 96 Cup wins between 1957-72 and winning the 1968-69 Cup Series championships with driver David Pearson.

Sicking was given the Landmark Award for his outstanding contributions to NASCAR, including his work alongside the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in creating the SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barrier.

The long-time racing journalist Harris was awarded the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence for his four decades of work as the lead motorsports writer for the AP before retiring in 2009.

For more on the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025 induction ceremony, visit nascar.com.

Chris Pook, the founder of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, will be presented with the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) Bob Russo Heritage Award and serve as the honorary chair of the induction ceremony, scheduled for March 11 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In addition to Pook, the Class of 2025 includes Skip Barber, Miguel Duhamel, Carl Haas, Ed Iskenderian, Dale Jarrett, Tony Schumacher, Bill Stroppe, Louie Unser and William K. Vanderbilt.

The MSHFA's highest honor next to induction, the Bob Russo Heritage Award is named in recognition of the longtime motorsports journalist and historian and is presented only by the recommendation of the MSHFA Board of Directors in recognition of the recipient's contributions to motorsports, museum officials said.

For more information, visit mshf.com.

Photo courtesy of MSHFA

Parella Motorsports Holdings (PMH), the producer of the SpeedTour racing event series, has partnered with Green Bay, Wisconsin-based LiveRaceMedia and Ralph Sheheen to produce live coverage of 20 SpeedTour events in 2025.

Sheheen will host two full days of coverage from each event weekend, which will include racing from the Trans Am Series, SVRA, Formula Regional Americas, Formula 4, International GT and more.

Coverage of SpeedTour's 2025 season will begin on February 22 at Sebring Raceway in Florida.

For more information, visit speedtour.net.

Penske Entertainment, the Indianapolis-based parent company of INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), has named Doug Boles as president of both INDYCAR and IMS, succeeding Jay Frye.

Boles has served as president of the speedway since 2013, overseeing the sellout of the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016, the first full-capacity crowd in the event's history. He has also managed more than $150 million in strategic investments at IMS. Including his previous positions as a founding partner and COO of former NTT INDYCAR SERIES team Panther Racing, and as former INDYCAR and IMS owner Hulman & Company's vice president of communications, Boles brings more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in motorsports to the position.

Boles will report to Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles and will manage strategic vision and priorities across both INDYCAR and IMS.

Frye is departing INDYCAR after 10 years in the role, during which he oversaw two entitlement sponsorships, the development of the AK18 aero kit, the implementation of the aeroscreen and the introduction of hybrid technology to the series.

The sanctioning body has also announced several other organizational changes in addition to Boles' appointment as president.

Mark Sibla has been named senior vice president of INDYCAR competition and operations. He has been a senior member of INDYCAR’s management team for more than a decade and will lead general operations and special initiatives such as development of the new car.

Kyle Novak begins an enhanced role as vice president of officiating and race control and will lead both the race control and race tech teams at INDYCAR. He has served as INDYCAR's race director since 2018.

In addition, Alex Damron has been named chief marketing officer, charged with fully implementing a maximized and unified promotional plan for the sport. In this role, he will lead the marketing and communications teams at INDYCAR. He will also continue as vice president of corporate communications for Penske Entertainment, responsible for overseeing IMS PR efforts and Penske Entertainment’s photo and editorial operations.

Lastly, Louis Kissinger has been named general manager, IMS operations, leading teams responsible for suite/hospitality sales, track operations and event operations.

For more information, visit indycar.com.

At the recent PRI Show in downtown Indianapolis, PRI General Manager Jim Liaw sat down with The Creative Drive, the podcast hosted by Racer's Creator Network President Taro Koki and dedicated to exploring the world of creativity within the automotive industry. Liaw and Koki discuss where the racing industry is heading, Liaw's transition from helping to run Formula DRIFT, the popular drifting series he co-founded with Ryan Sage in 2003, to joining the PRI team in 2021.

The pair also chat about Liaw's participation in the FIA Drifting Commission, a role he helped to give back to the industry while also learning a lot about what's coming down the pipeline in motorsports, among several other topics, such as why drifting has really taken off in the U.S.

"Of course, you know, [drifting] originated in Japan, but you guys have taken the sport to a whole new level in the past 22 years," Koki said, when asking what Liaw thought made drifting so popular in the United States.

"I think Formula Drift was able to kind of jump to that global level quickly and [we were one of] the first to do that. The U.S. is a hugely mature sports marketing motorsports environment, and it's got the population and the finances to be able to support something in the continental United States... that gave us the fuel to grow faster because the fans were more engaged and more vocal and proactive," Liaw said.

Catch the entire interview on The Creative Drive's YouTube below.

In a groundbreaking move for the world of drag racing, the World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) and the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) have announced their first-ever collaboration, a partnership that marks a new era where both sanctioning bodies join forces to elevate the experience for racers and racing venues alike.

The IHRA and WDRA are now united in their mission to manage sanctioned facilities, ensuring insurance compliance, licensing, and organizing dynamic bracket racing programs and events. "We have a unique opportunity to combine the strengths of both IHRA and WDRA to help our collective facilities and provide opportunities and stability for our bracket racing members," said WDRA's Don Scott. "WDRA's expertise is on the member track, licensing and bracket racing side of the sport. As IHRA launches new pro racing programs and events, there is a need for making sure the IHRA tracks and bracket racers get taken care of. The WDRA team is going to make sure that we are there to support the IHRA facilities and bracket programs because this arrangement is simply good for our sport."

IHRA's Darryl Cuttell shared this enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, ""Both groups have the best interests of the tracks and racers at heart. We all agree that we will make our sport better by working together, and each group complements each other perfectly. Anyone that has been around me or our group knows that we are going to make it happen."

Together, these organizations oversee 110 sanctioned facilities (not including upcoming agreements) and host fifteen bracket racing events annually.

"This collaboration is not just an agreement but a promise to racers that their passion and dedication will be met with enhanced opportunities and a robust racing environment. Immediate implementation of this partnership will see further announcements as both groups work tirelessly to forge a new pathway for member tracks and bracket racers, propelling drag racing into a bright, inclusive future," an announcement stated.

It appears to be business as usual for each sanctioning body for the foreseeable future, according to comments under the WDRA announcement on Facebook.

For more information, visit racewdra.com and ihra.com.

In related IHRA news, Christian Byrd has been named the vice president of Strategic Partnerships for the IHRA. The 47-year-old Byrd has served as General Manager for zMax Dragway. He is the son of the late Jeff Byrd, who was a senior executive for the R.J. Reynolds (Winston) group and a 2017 inductee into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. The elder Byrd served as the president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway and Bristol Dragway from 1996-2010. More details here.