Photo of Novelis Supermodifieds at Oswego Speedway courtesy of Oswego Speedway
Race tracks and facilities in the state of New York can now operate at 20% capacity after a recent announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo easing certain restrictions related to COVID-19.
The move comes ahead of season-opening races at several tracks in New York, including Oswego Speedway, the 5/8-mile asphalt oval home to the Novelis Supermodifieds.
“We are very excited to have finally gotten the green light to open and are looking forward to welcoming back our teams and amazing fans,” Oswego’s Camden Proud said. “This means we will be fully operational every week with fans in attendance. The announcement was vital to being able to hold racing of any kind this season.”
Still, Proud hopes to eventually open at 100% capacity. “It is so hard to predict what is going to happen with the restrictions. Things are still very fluid and changing every week. We will continue to hope for the best,” he stated. “Being able to get to 100% would be huge for the industry after so many tracks were heavily impacted last year.”
Oswego’s 70th annual season kickoff, set for May 8, will mark the first time racing will take place at “The Steel Palace” since its Classic Weekend event in September 2019. Previously, Oswego had been a continuously run weekly race track since it was established in 1951 but was unable to open in 2020.
Along with typical COVID-19 protocols requiring face masks, social distancing, and increased sanitation, new track procedures include a new online ticketing system.
“[This will] allow fans to order tickers and get them right on their phone, avoiding lines at the track and aiding in social distancing,” Proud said.
Other race tracks in the state include Albany-Saratoga Speedway, which hosted its season opener on April 16, headlined by the $5,600-to-win modified race along with sportsman and pro stock features. Fulton Speedway, the 3/8-mile, high-banked clay oval opens its season on May 1 with modifieds, sportsman, late models, and novice classes. Its partner track, the 1/3-mile Brewerton Speedway, is set to host its season opener on May 7, with modifieds, sportsman, ModLites, and 4-cylinders.
Holley, the Bowling Green, Kentucky-based performance automotive enthusiast platform, has announced the acquisition of AEM Performance Electronics, the developer and supplier of electronic control and monitoring systems.
“We are very excited to have the vast resources that an industry-leading company like Holley provides to help us accelerate the development of our products, particularly in the EV conversion space,” AEM Division President Greg Neuwirth said. “Additionally, AEM and Holley each possess unique skillsets which will undoubtedly complement each other’s development.”
AEM joins the Holley portfolio of brands, including Holley EFI, APR, Earl’s Performance Plumbing, Flowmaster, GearFX Driveline, HANS, Hooker, Hilborn Fuel Injection, MSD, Nitrous Oxide Systems, Racepak, Simpson, Stilo, STS Turbo, Tremec, and more.
“We’re excited to welcome even more aficionados of import and other sport compact cars into our growing community of gearheads. The AEM brand is iconic in its space and represents a great addition to our already large family of legendary brands that resonate deeply with our customers,” said Tom Tomlinson, president and CEO of Holley, in a company release.
The move aligns with AEM’s recent launch of EV conversion products, or electronic control systems that support the conversion of vehicles originally equipped with internal combustion engines to electric power.
“We’re very excited about the work AEM is doing to bring cost-effective and easy-to-use electronic control systems to enthusiasts that are passionate about EV conversions,” Tomlinson said.
There will be no changes in leadership or the operation of AEM, as everything is “business as usual” for the company. “We will continue to operate as we have in the past, and there is no change for AEM customers. We will continue our tradition of providing cutting-edge products and the highest level of customer service,” Neuwirth said.
In related news, AEM is set to release its VCU200 vehicle control unit and inverter control board support for the Telsa base large drive unit (LDU). The company is also in the process of validating its battery management system, which uses a master/satellite configuration with 16 cell taps and three thermistors per unit, supporting up to 216 cells with the VCU300 and 108 cells with the VCU200 by daisy-chaining a master with satellite units.
“All configuration is done in the VCU software, and these will not be standalone BMS systems. Rather, they will be integrated into the controls in AEMcal software for our VCUs, allowing the VCU to supervise all operations,” Neuwirth said.
Holley had previously announced in March an agreement to become a public company through a business combination with Empower Ltd., a publicly traded, special purpose acquisition company.
Casper Speedway, the ½-mile dirt oval based in Casper, Wyoming, has a new management team for the 2021 season. Casper Mountain Racers Association has signed a three-year lease (with the option to renew) with The City of Casper, the current owners of the facility.
Headed by the new track president and promoter, Chris McAuley, the group also includes five other board members: Jerry Chavez (vice president), Dalene Asmus (secretary), Danielle Reed (treasurer), Mike Oakley (marketing), and Benji Bayne (member/liaison). The association will run the facility as a non-profit, which means all revenue goes back into running the race track.
“Being a non-profit means that it’s for the racers, by the racers. Anything that comes in will help support our local racing community and hopefully help it grow bigger,” McAuley said. “[This is] alongside helping to improve the track to where we have people from other states that want to compete here just because of the facility. [We want] to give our guys the option to race against people they usually don’t to be a little more competitive.“
Plans for the track include introducing wingless sprint cars for the first time on Sunday, June 13. The event will be headlined by the ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprint Car Series and also feature Mini Stocks, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Mod Fours, and Non-Winged 360 Sprints.
“I think we’ve got seven or eight local racers here in town that will take their wings off their car just to race,” McAuley told PRI.
The special event will be followed by a winged sprint car race on Friday, June 18, featuring the ASCS Frontier Region Winged 360 Sprints.
“We’re bringing back essentially the same cars but with wings on them. We’ll have back-to-back sprint races,” McAuley said about the race, which will also feature the Rocky Mountain Hard Tops, WISSOTA Mod Fours, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks. “Wing racing is growing in the region, and more and more people are slowly getting into it.”
Renovations are set to take place after the season closes this August. Plans include a new track surface, which involves tearing the current track up, moving walls, and dumping nearly 200 truckloads of clay, which is about 30 tons per load.
“Our last race is July 30. Starting in August, we start ripping up the track,” McAuley said.
Management has also announced changes to its staff, including the appointment of JR Mechanics’ Jordan Farley as the 2021 head tech inspector. His primary duty will be “the safety of the cars, making sure it won’t put the driver or others in harm’s way,” along with the enforcement of sanctioning body rules for specific classes.
The season opener is set for May 1, and will feature Mini Stocks, Dwarfs, Rocky Mountain Hard Tops, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Mod Fours, IMCA Modifieds, and IMCA Hobby Stocks. Standout events in 2021 also include the High Plains Late Model Series Bob Schierkolk Memorial Race on Sunday, July 25, followed by the championship night on July 31.
The Boninfante Group has hired Tom Kundrik as ProTorque’s director of motorsports and sales.
“ProTorque has added an industry icon to our team,” ProTorque President Joe Rivera said. “Tommy is joining us to handle what we believe will be an overwhelming response to the new, patent-pending technology [a new stator inside a torque converter] we have in development and which has already set records.”
In addition to fielding customer service calls and offering technical support over the phone for ProTorque, Kundrik will also travel the country to attend drag racing events and provide on-site service and support for customers. He will also facilitate the launch of several new product lines, including supercharger-specific torque converters for ProTorque.
Kundrik comes from Mickey Thompson Performance Wheels & Tires as the motorsports manager. Joining the company in 2006, Kundrik was part of a team that spearheaded the development and advancement of radial tire performance. His duties included product development and deployment.
In February 2020, Rivera and ProTorque had announced an agreement with the Boninfante Group and moved to its state-of-the-art facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
MyRacePace (MRP) has announced auto industry veteran Jim Sweener as the director of advertising sales and business development for the MRP Digital Ads network.
Sweener joins the company with years of mechanical, product development, sales, and marketing experience. He got his start handing wrenches to his father in the garage and at the track. After several years of trade show coordination, product development, and sales management in the department store and mail order catalog industry, Sweener spent the last 12 years as an account executive and director of sales and business development for the Internet Brands AutoClassifieds group, including its flagship website, RacingJunk.com.
In his new position, Sweener will help grow connections between race and performance industry manufacturers, retailers, and consumers via the MRP Digital Ads network.
“We are all very proud and excited to have Mr. Sweener part of the team,” MyRacePass Co-Owner and Co-Founder Josh Hold said.
Universal Technical Institute Inc., the provider of transportation technician training, has announced plans to open a new campus in Austin, Texas, in 2022. The new location will mark its thirteenth nationwide and the third in the state, along with Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
“We are excited to be expanding in Texas, where UTI has a 38-year history of supporting students and graduating them with the skills employers want so they can be employed in good jobs,” said Jerome Grant, chief executive officer of UTI. “An Austin campus will offer a convenient solution for students to train while living and working at home in a market where our proven evaluation criteria shows extremely strong prospective student interest in our programs and employer demand for skilled technicians.”
The Austin campus will help provide convenient, flexible, and industry-aligned training opportunities to students and deliver the skilled technicians UTI's industry and employer partners need.
UTI has leased approximately 100,000 square feet in the CM Techridge facility in North Austin. The campus will be designed with an efficient layout to support UTI's new blended-learning curriculum, providing digital and hands-on training elements. The expected initial offerings at the campus include UTI's Automotive, Diesel, and Welding Technology programs, with the capacity for additional programs to be added in the future.
UTI aims to open the Austin campus during the second quarter of 2022, subject to obtaining necessary regulatory approvals and completing the campus build-out. Implementation will begin during the second half of fiscal 2021.
School officials also announced plans to open another new campus, with additional details and location to be provided at a later date.
As engineer and driver, this SRO TC America Series road racing competitor remains “very hands-on with the car, both on and off track.”
I compete in the SRO TC America Series with DXDT and CrowdStrike Racing. In 2020, I drove a 2019 HPD turnkey Honda Civic Si in the TCA class and won the Driver and Team Championship, as well as the Rookie of the Year award. For the 2021 season, I have moved up to the TC class and am driving a 2018 HPD turnkey Honda Civic Type R. This car was fully developed in the US, doesn’t require much prep to race in the TC America Series, and is fully homologated. This does not allow much room to make changes to the car beyond your typical tweaks to the suspension.
Preparation for the 2021 season started a little before the 2020 season ended, and the first event this year was in the beginning of March at Sonoma Raceway. The 2021 SRO TC America calendar races at some of the best tracks in the US, including Circuit of The Americas, Virginia International Raceway, Road America, Watkins Glen, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
At the season opener, I tried to guess a setup on the car to give it a starting point. This car is somewhat related to the car I raced last year, and they share a lot of parts, but they also have a lot of differences. So, I based my setup on last year’s experience. The first session on the track at Sonoma wasn’t great. It definitely took the whole event to get the car to where it was raceable. Essentially, the car was way too stable. As we went through the weekend, I kept making changes focused on the rear of the car to try and balance the grip. I specifically was trying to make the front have to do a little bit less of the steering. Trying to help the car steer from the rear was the priority for the whole weekend.
That being said, in the first race I was able to finish on the podium—in third place. And then, in Sunday’s race of that event, I actually led every lap and won the race. So overall, the weekend was more successful than I expected. However, I didn’t get to the perfect setup yet, and still think there’s a lot of fine tuning to be done.
The results from Sonoma came from hard work and a bit of luck. I don’t expect to be lucky at any of my events, however, so I look forward to working hard for podiums for the rest of the season.
I’m fairly unique in this series because I’m not only the driver, but also the engineer for my car. I’m very hands-on with the car, both on and off track. I think I approach any issues with the race car a bit differently than a lot of my peers.
When you’re racing at this level, most teams have a driver in the car whose main goal is to push the car to the limit. And then once that limit is found, he normally describes to the engineer what’s holding him back from going faster. The engineer’s job is to ask questions for the purpose of translating what the driver is saying into a more technical description of the problem, so they can then start solving it.
The hard part when you have two people doing that is, it’s really difficult for the engineer to not have confirmation bias. As an engineer it’s easy, based on a few pieces of information from the driver, to get an idea in your head of what the solution might be. And, if you’re not careful, you can ask questions that might corner the driver into just agreeing with your opinion. That’s a subconscious thing, and something that engineers might not even know they’re doing. So, things getting lost in translation between two people is fairly common.
For me, I’m the same person, so the driver and engineer are both inside my head. Whenever I’m driving and I feel like I’ve gotten to the limit of the car, I can feel it as a driver, but then also feel it from a very technical mindset, from the engineering side of my brain. I don’t have to go back to the garage and have a debrief with another person; I can be doing it live while I’m driving on the track. That is a huge time saver, and it eliminates that possibility of confirmation bias, as well as getting rid of the “lost in translation” problem.
I definitely feel like I’ve accomplished a lot throughout my career: I’ve been able to win four SCCA National Championships, and last year managed to win my first professional championship in SRO.
In the future I would really love to make the jump to GT cars, and I would like to do some of the world-famous endurance races like Daytona and Sebring and Road Atlanta, and then even the 24 Hours of Spa and Le Mans. That’s the ultimate goal, and I’m willing to put in the work to see if I can make it happen.
ATI Performance Products, based near Baltimore, Maryland, has announced the appointment of Vince Fourcade as Chief Transmission Technology Officer (CTTO).
Fourcade brings three decades of performance racing and automatic transmission building expertise to this new position.
Fourcade has raced in the Pro Stock, Pro Rear Wheel Drive, Top Sportsman, and Top Dragster categories in the 80s. Later in that decade, Fourcade joined Montgomery Transmissions, where he worked with Bobby Edwards and Jim Beattie. Later, he went on to win the Bracket Finals at Maple Grove while using an ATI transmission and converter.
Fourcade opened his own transmission shop in 1998 and continued racing. He later joined ATI in a part-time capacity, working with the team to advance the science of high-performance automatic transmissions. Five years later, he joined ATI in a full-time capacity.
“There are only a handful of really good builders in the country,“ JC Beattie, Jr. said, “and Vince is one of them. We are extremely lucky and thankful to have him join our team.”
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) has purchased a 45,000-square-foot building in the Detroit, Michigan, area to be used as a second SEMA Garage where manufacturers will have access to advanced product-development tools and equipment, a state-of-the-art emissions testing lab, an ADAS research and development center, and expert technicians who will help bring products to market.
Like the high-tech SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, Calif., the Detroit facility will give aftermarket parts manufacturers access to sophisticated resources that are typically accessible only to large-scale manufacturers. In addition to exclusive OEM measuring sessions, scanning services, advanced tools and equipment, a CARB-recognized emissions lab, and a modern training center, the Detroit facility will include expanded services and offer new SEMA benefits through the ADAS Research and Development Center. The ADAS Center represents a new venture for SEMA, where manufacturers will be able to obtain static calibration of on-board vehicle ADAS systems (radars and cameras). With access to OEM-quality equipment and procedures, manufacturers will be able to easily troubleshoot software/hardware obstacles, as well as work on dynamic testing in conjunction with local facilities.
“The SEMA Garage Detroit facility opens up new doors and opportunities,” said Mike Spagnola, SEMA vice president of OEM relations and product development. “We will be able to take our current offerings to a whole new level by making the services accessible to new members, incorporating new technology, and collaborating with key partners in the area.”
Located in Plymouth, Michigan, less than 30 miles from the heart of Detroit, the SEMA Garage Detroit facility is ideally located near several major automakers and is in close proximity to many Tier One suppliers, SEMA member companies, test tracks, automotive technology, and aftermarket suppliers. The Detroit facility is three times larger than the SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, which opened in 2013 and has provided more than 1,000 SEMA manufacturers exclusive access to new vehicles and CAD files, facilitated rapid prototyping, and assisted in obtaining CARB EOs.
SEMA Garage Detroit will undergo extensive facilities improvements and include new equipment, such as emissions and horsepower testing for all-wheel-drive and diesel vehicles, vehicle lifts, full sets of tools, fabrication equipment, an alignment rack, 3D scanning tools, and engineering software. The lab will be purpose-built to accommodate a 48-inch all-wheel-drive chassis dynamometer and include a new emissions test bench. With equipment that meets CARB’s new 1066 testing requirement standards, SEMA Garage Detroit will be able to perform all required CARB and EPA test procedures.
“The SEMA Garage is a game changer for manufacturers,” said Spagnola. “By utilizing the tools and resources in the SEMA Garage, manufacturers no longer rely on trial and error for their product development. They are also able to navigate the complex process of obtaining required certifications and meet compliance.”
Through the SEMA Garage’s resources, manufacturers are often able to develop fully functional prototypes in as little as two weeks, and obtain CARB EOs in as little as 12 weeks. The SEMA Garage Detroit facility is scheduled to be open for members in early 2022. For more information, visit semagarage.com.
Consider a manufacturer’s rep as another tool in the proverbial tool chest. One rep explained, “We’re only as good and as useful as how many times you grab us and use us. And the more you use us, the more we can help you.” Pictured here is Jeff Bates of Bob Cook Sales assisting a customer.
Offering a suite of services, these “outside sales forces” can help identify opportunities, move product faster, and manage customer relationships.
A manufacturer’s rep can be an invaluable conduit between performance racing manufacturers and the customers who move their parts, from the largest warehouse distributors to the smallest speed shop. Yet there are manufacturers that don’t make use of these firms, and others who may want to use them more effectively. We polled several manufacturer’s reps—Jessica Chance of Ballard Allen Marketing in Costa Mesa, California; Jim Morehouse of All-Midwest Sales, Strongsville, Ohio; Juan-Jose Rebaza of ASAP Trading, San Diego, California; and Les Rudd of Bob Cook Sales, Germantown, Tennessee—to find out what a rep firm can do for its customers and how to improve those working relationships.
Manufacturer’s reps serve as the eyes, ears, and feet on the street for their partners. Not only do they act as an outside sales force for suppliers, they can work trade shows and car shows on their behalf, too.
What can a manufacturer’s rep do for me?
“Our manufacturers are our customers, and we take care of their customers for them,” said Rudd. “We are their eyes and ears and feet on the street. We take the manufacturer’s strategic vision and, of course, their products, and relay those downstream to their customers. We also take all of their challenges, concerns, needs, and complaints back upstream to the manufacturer.”
“We are basically an outside sales force for a manufacturer,” said Chance. “Those are the basics, but we do much more. We work trade shows and car shows on their behalf. We bring them opportunities and manage all the wholesale as well. If someone calls the manufacturer and wants to be a distributor or dealer for them, we call that person, interview them, and make sure our business models fit.”
“Customer relationships are probably among our biggest attributes,” said Morehouse. “We have proven, knowledgeable, trusted salespeople out there helping the manufacturers convey their message, and at little to minimal cost to the manufacturer.”
What can a rep do that a racing retailer may not be aware of?
“We can be instrumental at helping at a retail level,” Chance said. “Because of our large customer base, we have knowledge of what’s working in the market that a retailer may not. We can go to a retailer and say, ‘You don’t have X in your store, but I have 55 customers I sell it to direct. You may be missing the boat.’”
Chance’s agency has also helped set up “POPs for huge chains. They say, ‘I have four feet. Can you make this look great?’ I say, ‘Sure, but instead of just looking great, let’s put up something that’s going to move. Why don’t you give me the top numbers that you’ve sold in two years, I’ll give you the top numbers we’ve done nationally, and I’ll put together something that should work for you.’”
“When the racing retailer cannot get what he needs from the manufacturer because he can’t get to the right person, he has someone in his backyard, his local rep, who can get him where he needs to be,” said Rudd. “We have contacts with every section of every manufacturer, from the CEO and the sales manager to shipping and warehousing.”
How can a manufacturer form more effective relationships with reps?
“Utilize us for what we are, that connection between the manufacturer and the customer,” said Morehouse. “Nine times out of 10 we end up doing things that aren’t related to a particular problem at hand, whether it’s an accounting question, a concern that a customer has with a particular manufacturer, or it could be a marketing or merchandising issue. What we do is the very definition of a relationship: a collective effort among parties.”
“I don’t like to take on manufacturers where I’m just a paycheck for them,” said Chance. “I want to be a part of their team. If we all have the same goal, and we have the resources to act on opportunities—marketing budget, for example, and advertising budget—to really market a brand, we can do really well.”
“We are a tool just like a tool in your tool chest,” said Rudd. “We’re only as good and as useful as how many times you grab us and use us. And the more you use us, the more we can help you.”
The Latin American Connection —
ASAP Trading USA has a different role than other rep companies, explained Juan-Jose Rebaza. “Basically, our job is to bring importers from Latin America and put them in front of US companies that want to sell their products.” Some of Rebaza’s clients sell direct to Latin America, while others utilize his firm “as a virtual distributor. They ask us to handle the orders, customer service, and the payments. Instead of 50 accounts, they have one—us. We make it easy for them.”
Juan-Jose Rebaza, ASAP Trading USA
Doing business in Latin America has its own rhythm and pace, Rebaza said. “People in Latin America want that personal touch. Sometimes you need to be willing to be on the phone or in person (before COVID-19) for an hour and a half, speaking about their pets, hobbies, their family, and then they talk business. The more you know them, the more time they want to spend with you and you with them.
“People do business with people they like. If people are buying from you just because you have a good price, you’re not building a strong business foundation. I always say, our job is not to sell, we create relationships. As a result of that, we get the sales. Sales is a consequence, not the action. The action is to invest in the relationships.” —Drew Hardin
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