Photo courtesy of Road America

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin-based Road America—one of the world’s fastest permanent road racing tracks—has announced the addition of Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) Team Owner Mike Shank to its Board of Directors. Shank comes into the position with over two decades of motorsports experience as a professional IMSA and the NTT IndyCar Series Team Owner. 

“We are excited to have Mike join our Board of Directors and share his vast insight and motorsports expertise as we continue into the future,” said Ron Pace, Chairman of the Board of Road America.

Shank and Meyer Shank Racing most recently added “Indianapolis 500 winners” to its resume following a historic Indy 500 victory in 2021, which saw Helio Castroneves race to a record-tying fourth Indy 500 win in his first race start with the team. MSR, which welcomed Jim Meyer as a co-owner in 2018, will contest the 2023 IndyCar season with Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud. 

“I’m honored to be selected to be on the Board of Directors for Road America,” said Shank.

For more information, visit the announcement here or visit roadamerica.com.

Holley—the platform for performance automotive enthusiasts based in Bowling Green, Kentucky—has announced the appointment of Jesse Weaver as the chief financial officer (CFO). Weaver will succeed Stephen Trussell, who has served as the company’s interim CFO since September 30. Trussell will continue as the company’s vice president of Finance, a role he has held since 2009.

Weaver, who has nearly 20 years of experience in finance, strategy, and data analytics, will serve as a member of the executive leadership team and report directly to President and CEO Tom Tomlinson. 

Most recently, Weaver served as senior vice president of Finance at SmileDirectClub, a teledentistry company and direct-to-consumer provider of dental and orthodontics products. Prior, he was vice president of Financial Planning and Analysis at Dollar General and before then, he held multiple leadership positions in finance at Yum! Brands U.S. Pizza Hut division.

“We are very pleased to welcome Jesse as our CFO,” said Tomlinson.

For more information, visit holley.com.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship format is undergoing a major overhaul in 2023.

Officials have announced the new model will be an elimination-style format designed to reward the worthiest, battle-tested driver at the end of the season. In addition, more than $470,000 has been added to the championship point fund, bringing the grand total for the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP to just over $1,000,000.

The field will be whittled down to a final four drivers through four rounds of eliminations. The remaining four drivers will go into the season finale at Eldora Speedway (New Weston, Ohio) with an equal chance to win the championship. 

After the first round, there will be 15 drivers. After the second round, the field will drop to twelve, and following the third round eight drivers will remain. The final round of eliminations will leave only four drivers in championship contention.

The four rounds of eliminations are:

• Round of 15: Sunoco Road to Wheatland: May 27 at Lucas Oil Speedway; 31st Annual Show-Me 100
• Round of 12: Summit Racing Equipment Super Twelve: July 15 at Lucas Oil Speedway; 17th Annual Diamond Nationals
• Round of 8: UNOH Great Eight: August 26 at Port Royal Speedway; The Rumble by the River
• Round of 4: Big River Steel Big Four: September 30 at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway; 35th Annual Pittsburgher

Following each round of eliminations, the teams advancing to the next round will be awarded the following cash bonuses:

• Sunoco Road to Wheatland: 1. $2,500, 2. $1,500, 3. $1,500, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,500, 6. $1,000, 7. $1,000, 8. $1,000, 9. $1,000, 10. $1,000, 11. $500, 12. $500, 13. $500, 14. $500, 15. $500 = $16,000
• Summit Racing Equipment Super Twelve: 1. $5,000, 2. $1,000, 3. $1,000, 4. $1,000, 5. $1,000, 6. $1,000, 7. $1,000, 8. $1,000, 9. $1,000, 10. $1,000, 11. $1,000, 12. $1,000 = $16,000
• UNOH Great Eight: 1. $7,500, 2. $1,500, 3. $1,500, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,500, 6. $1,500, 7. $1,500, 8. $1,500 = $18,000
• Big River Steel Big Four: 1. $10,000, 2. $2,000, 3. $2,000, 4. $2,000 = $16,000

Drivers will continue to earn points at every event throughout the season based on the traditional championship point structure. At the season finale, points for the Big River Steel Big Four drivers will be consolidated. The first of the four drivers to cross the finish line in the 43rd Annual Dirt Track World Championship will be crowned the 2023 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion. 

2023 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Fund:

1. $200,000

2. $150,000

3. $125,000

4. $100,000

5. $75,000

6. $60,000

7. $50,000

8. $45,000

9. $40,000

10. $35,000

11. $30,000

12. $25,000

Chase Bonuses: $66,000

Point Fund: $935,000

Total: $1,001,000

“The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has seen tremendous growth throughout its history,” said Rick Schwallie, Series Director. 

The Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP kicks off at Golden Isles Speedway with the Super Bowl of Racing on January 25–28.

For more information, visit lucasdirt.com. 

Hemmings—the Bennington, Vermont-based monthly publication for antique classic, vintage, muscle, street rod, and special interest vehicles—has announced Kathryn Reinhardt as senior vice president of Marketing and Events. 

“I am thrilled to be joining this high-performance team,” said Reinhardt. “The Hemmings brand is so much more than a publication. It is a single resource for automotive research, vehicle trading, and consumer events, and [it] has a vast online community. Since 1954, the Hemmings brand has been the bible for automotive enthusiasts. I am delighted to continue this legacy and extend the brand to new audiences.”

Reinhardt, an automotive industry veteran, has held leadership roles at 4 Wheel Parts, Pilot, and MagnaFlow, where she successfully helped magnify brands with targeted programs that created extensive market infiltration.

“We are excited to welcome Kathryn to Team Hemmings,” said Hemmings President Jonathan Shaw. “Her proven audience development and consumer engagement strategies will empower an already transforming Hemmings across its marketplace, media, and relaunched events businesses. Kathryn understands how to communicate and connect to modern automotive enthusiasts because she is one herself. She knows exactly where and how Hemmings needs to engage consumers of all demographics to gain scale and audience diversification for the coming decades.”

Reinhardt is a member of the SEMA Board of Directors, is the IPC of SEMA Cares, and holds many accolades from the SEMA association.

For more information, visit hemmings.com.

Photo courtesy of IHRA 

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) has announced a new motorcycle class has been added to the 2023 IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals at Holly Springs Motorsports in Holly Springs, Missouri. 

The World Championship will now include the ET Motorcycle alongside Top (Box), Mod (No Box), Sportsman, and Junior Dragster classes.

“There are so many great motorcycle drag racers at our member tracks throughout North America. It’s time they’re recognized properly and have their own opportunity to compete against each other for an IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Championship and a prestigious IHRA Ironman trophy,” IHRA Owner and CEO Larry Jeffers said.

Additional details will be announced at a later date. For more information, visit ihra.com.

During the 2022 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, thousands rallied to “Save our Racecars” at Lucas Oil Stadium to show their support for the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act and Performance Racing’s Political Action Committee (PAC).

The 2022 Save our Racecars Rally—emceed by Johnny D, “the Motivational Cowboy”—featured appearances by members of the Street Outlaws, Sage “Donkmaster” Thomas, Brent Leivestad from PFI Speed, and more. Nearly $40,000 was raised for Performance Racing’s PAC, including proceeds from a live auction featuring ticket packages to racing events, memorabilia signed by the Street Outlaws, and ride along experiences.

The Performance Racing PAC allows individual PRI Members to contribute personal funds to help elect lawmakers who support the racing industry’s positions and priorities, such as the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act. The RPM Act is common-sense, bi-partisan legislation to protect Americans’ right to convert street vehicles into dedicated race cars and the motorsports-parts industry’s ability to sell products that enable racers to compete. The bill clarifies that it is legal to make emissions-related changes to a street vehicle for the purpose of converting it into a race car used exclusively in competition. It also confirms that it is legal to produce, market and install racing equipment.

For more information, contact Christian Robinson at christianr@sema.org.

At what point do you need to use a steel rocker? Steel rockers are best suited for applications where extreme cylinder pressures are obtained, such as turbocharged, supercharged, or nitrous builds, and are also ideal for endurance applications such as circle track, road racing, and marine use.

Choosing the correct rocker system goes a long way with engine performance and longevity. A “mild” naturally aspirated purpose-built street engine will need a significantly different rocker arm than an all-out boosted drag race engine. Spring pressures, max RPM, lift, and cylinder pressure all play a part to which rocker system is best. A naturally aspirated street engine maxing out at 8000 rpm with open spring pressure of 800lbs would be fine running Jesel’s aluminum-bodied Sportsman Series rockers, but on the other side of the spectrum, an all-out drag race engine turning 9500 rpm with 30lbs of boost would need something significantly stronger like the Jesel Sportsman Steel rocker system.

For the Sportsman Steel series, Jesel Engineers have combined all of the features of its aluminum rockers with the durability of its Pro Steel Rockers. Jesel Sportsman Steel Rockers provide engine builders with the option of a high strength steel rocker at an extremely affordable price. Jesel Sportsman Steel rockers can be ordered as a complete kit or as replacement rockers that can be used with your current Jesel rocker stand.

The Jesel Sportsman Steel rockers are assembled with all of the proven components used in its Pro Aluminum rockers and are machined from a premium steel .625” wide body with an ultralight slot to reduce weight and moment of inertia. A through-hardened heat treating process along with a black oxide coating will provide for years of dependable service and corrosion resistance. The valves are guided opened using a clip-pin retained .360” wide non-needle valve tip roller and can be optioned up to a needle bearing valve tip roller for higher spring pressure applications. Lash adjustment is achieved by a 3/8-24 cup style adjuster, which is manufactured from H-13 tool and nitride coated for additional wear protection. The rocker geometry is designed to minimize roller movement on the valve tip, and the rocker rotates on a tool steel rocker shaft using a full complement needle bearing. The rockers are secured to the head and stand using grade 8 Torx mounting hardware with optional ARP fasteners available for high-load applications.

Jesel offers its Sportsman Steel rocker assemblies for most popular cylinder heads, including but not limited to 13°-23° Small Block Chevy, 18°-26° Big Block Chevy, GM LS heads, inline and canted Small Block, and Big Block Ford heads. They can be built in various ratios, and as with its popular Pro Aluminum rocker kit, the stands can be custom ordered to accommodate longer than stock valves.

Once the season is over, Jesel’s Certified Performance Rebuild department can inspect, update and rebuild your rockers to their precise tolerances, giving you the confidence you need for your next season of championship-winning racing. Jesel will fully disassemble, clean, and thoroughly inspect all components for wear before rebuilding them. All shaft bearings, retaining clips, and alignment spacers are replaced, and all steel components such as shafts, adjusters, and rollers are replaced as needed.

If you would like to get more information on Jesel’s Sportsman Steel rockers or any of its other products, go to jesel.com or call 732-901-1800.

Chris Douglas has been named president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Edelbrock Group.

Douglas, who was most recently chief commercial officer for the Olive Branch, Mississippi-based company, also has served in various capacities with the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), including on its Board of Directors. 

Prior to Edelbrock, Douglas held a number of executive positions at COMP Performance Group from 2009 to 2020, including vice president of marketing, chief operating officer, and finally president.

The Edelbrock Group was established in 2020 with the merger of performance aftermarket businesses Edelbrock LLC and COMP Performance Group. It is owned by private equity firm Industrial Opportunity Partners (IOP).

For more information, visit edelbrockgroup.com.

Lenexa, Kansas-based Accessible Technologies, the parent company of ProCharger and Inovair, has added Kyle Fickler to the ProCharger Motorsports and Sales team. 

Fickler previously served as the director of Sales and Business Development at Driven Racing Oil. Prior, he held leadership roles at Aeromotive and Weld Racing. He is also a member of the SEMA Board of Directors and will become Chairman of the SEMA Board this summer. 

“This is a natural next step for me, and I am very excited to have this opportunity with the industry leader in both hardcore motorsports and 50-state legal supercharger systems. We are going to have fun,” Fickler said.

For more information, visit procharger.com.

During a press conference at the 2022 PRI Trade Show, Belmont Abbey College—the private Catholic baccalaureate and liberal arts institution in Belmont, North Carolina—announced the addition of a new Master’s degree concentration in Motorsports Management. 

Under the direction of the Business and Motorsport Management departments, the new degree concentration is designed for completion within 12 months. It will focus on management, finance, marketing, law, analytics, and business strategy, with courses including Revenue Generation in Motorsport, Event Management in Motorsport, and Motorsport Marketing and Communications. 

“As a Catholic academic institution, we believe in providing quality education with a moral foundation that will help solve societal problems. We are thrilled to offer a specialized degree that is dedicated to producing organizational leaders in the motorsport industry,” said Dr. Travis Feezell, Provost of Belmont Abbey College.

For more information, visit bac.edu/mba.