Nashville Superspeedway, owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc., will host a NASCAR Cup Series race in 2021. This will be the first competition at the track in nearly a decade, which has hosted testing sessions since 2012.

“We were energized to see how excited Nashville was to host the NASCAR Cup Series banquet last December,” Dover Motorsports, Inc. President & CEO Denis McGlynn said. “When we built Nashville Superspeedway in 2001 our goal was to one day secure a NASCAR Cup Series race for the venue. Nashville, central Tennessee, and the surrounding market area are filled with passionate race fans. We are thrilled that we were able to collaborate with NASCAR and our television partners to get this done and we can’t wait to put on a great show there in 2021.”

“While we have been in discussions with NASCAR for some time about the possibility of bringing the NASCAR Cup Series back to Nashville Superspeedway, plans really just became solidified in recent weeks. We will have many more announcements and exciting updates to share regarding plans for the facility shortly.”

The 1.33-mile concrete track was built in 2001 by Dover Motorsports, Inc. and hosted events sanctioned by NASCAR and IRL, the parent company of INDYCAR, from 2001 to 2011. The property also played host to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and other racing series in its history.

Current NASCAR Cup Series competitors who have secured wins at Nashville Superspeedway include Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, and Austin Dillon.

“Thanks to the collaboration of Dover Motorsports and our broadcast partners, we are excited to bring NASCAR racing back to Nashville, a place where the passion for our sport runs deep,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. “The Nashville market is a vital one for our sport, and bringing NASCAR Cup Series racing to Nashville Superspeedway will be an integral building block in helping us further deliver on our promise in creating a dynamic schedule for 2021.”

Dover International Speedway, in turn, will host a single NASCAR Cup Series race weekend in 2021.

“Our company is excited about the terrific opportunity to not only host a NASCAR Cup Series race weekend but opening our Nashville facility will enable us to host other exciting forms of racing and entertainment options,” said Mike Tatoian, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Dover Motorsports, Inc.

“We are also proud that our long history with NASCAR will continue at the Monster Mile in 2021, and we also look forward to hosting the ninth Firefly Music Festival next summer.”

More information about the 2021 Dover and Nashville events will be made available in the coming months. For more information, visit nascar.com or contact info@doverspeedway.com.

Photo of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Speedway courtesy of NASCAR

IMCA will respond to the challenges of a unique race season with one-year adaptations to national and regional point structures, as well as the awarding of track championship bonus points.

National standings for all eight IMCA divisions, as well as regional Modified, Stock Car and Hobby Stock standings, will be based on drivers’ best 20 finishes out of their first 40 home region starts.

Championships that are earned at tracks scheduling and holding a minimum of six weekly events will be worth as many as 15 bonus points; bonus points will be prorated at tracks holding four or five of six scheduled events.

“The changes we are making for the current point season were made necessary by the pandemic and cancellation of approximately two months of racing,” IMCA President Brett Root said. “These changes are in the best interest of our members and sanctioned tracks.”

“We have no intention of reducing national or regional point funds, or the contingency award programs in place at this time,” Root said.

Modified, Stock Car, Hobby Stock, Northern and Southern SportMod, and Sport Compact drivers can earn bonus points for as many as two track championships. Late Model and Sprint Car driv­ers earn bonus points for a single track title.

“These adaptations are only for 2020 and will be reviewed at the end of the season,” Root said.

No change will be made for Lady Eagle or Junior National Champion standings as both were already determined by drivers’ best 20 of their first 40 starts.

For more information, visit imca.com.

The NMRA/NMCA All-American Nationals will be contested at US 131 Motorsports Park (Martin, MI) on August 27-30, 2020. The change in venue for the event, originally scheduled for Summit Motorsports Park, is due to the track's decision to remain closed until 2021.

“It has been a crazy year but one that is rewarding as we made new friends with Jason Peterson and his staff at US 131 Motorsports Park. The facility is ready for us as we bring one of the most action-packed events of the year to Michigan. Not only will the NMRA and NMCA championship series and our line-up for street-legal categories be on the property, [but] we are also hosting the Ford Performance Cobra Jet Showdown presented by Watson Racing and Chevrolet Performance COPO Camaro Shootout presented by COPO Parts Direct,” Holley NMRA Ford Nationals and NMCA Muscle Car Nationals General Manager and National Event Director Rollie Miller said.

“We are excited to host one of the top traveling series in the drag racing industry. This is a series that we have admired and tried to procure for many years,” US 131 Motorsports Park Vice President of Operations Jason Peterson said. “We are thrilled to get this event, as we are competing against other major markets such as Chicago, Memphis, and Indianapolis. This will be a great addition to our schedule at The Fastest Track in Michigan.”

For more information about the NMRA/NMCA All-American Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park over the weekend of August 27-30, 2020, visit NMCAdigital.com/MI or NMRAdigital.com/MI.

NASCAR has announced the next installment of events in its return to racing, featuring races at Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

FOX will close out its NASCAR Cup Series season with the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Wednesday, July 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1), while the NASCAR Xfinity Series season on FOX platforms will conclude at Kentucky Speedway (Friday, July 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1).

In turn, NASCAR welcomes back NBC for its sixth consecutive year of coverage when the NASCAR Xfinity Series (Saturday, July 4 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC) and NASCAR Cup Series (Sunday, July 5 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC) return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the Fourth of July weekend.

NBC will carry coverage of the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series through the balance of the season, including the new and highly-anticipated Playoffs schedule that is currently scheduled to culminate with the crowning of three NASCAR national series champions at Phoenix Raceway in November.

The third installment of the 2020 schedule can be found on NASCAR's website here.

NASCAR’s modified event procedures and protocols have been finalized in accordance with public health officials, medical experts and local, state and federal officials. Further national series dates will be announced at a later date.

The NASCAR Cup Series will return to racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway this Sunday, June 7, with a 500-mile event scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET, live on FOX, FOX Deportes, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

More details on the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race will be announced at a later date.

For more information, visit nascar.com.

INDYCAR and Andersen Promotions announced that Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires competition will be deferred until 2021 following a joint meeting to address several variables affecting the 2020 calendar. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and modifications to the INDYCAR race calendar as a result, multiple companion events were canceled for the series, rendering the 2020 season no longer viable.

“The effects of the global pandemic on businesses, including racing, have been severe,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “The changes to our overall calendar of races as well as each event weekend’s scheduling and the ability for some of our drivers to compete has impacted the Indy Lights series far more harshly than our other two championships. With less of a cushion to begin with, it became increasingly apparent that the 2020 season was in jeopardy and the best plan was to take a pause, reconstitute for 2021, and do our best to enhance the Indy Lights championship for next season.

“After discussions with INDYCAR and understanding of their firm commitment to Indy Lights going forward, we, together, decided to suspend the 2020 Indy Lights season. We recognize that this will cause some hardships, but we hope all participants will realize the necessity of this decision and we look ahead to 2021 with a promise of better things to come.”

Indy Lights has a long history as the essential ladder series of INDYCAR with 23 of the 33 starters in the 2019 Indianapolis 500 as Road to Indy graduates, including nine Indy Lights champions. Dating back to 1986, more than 150 drivers have made the step from Indy Lights to INDYCAR.

“The Road to Indy is extremely important to INDYCAR,” said Jay Frye, President of INDYCAR. “This was a difficult decision, knowing the impact it would have on the competitors and how disappointing it would be for the fans. However, it became clear, that we needed to focus our collective efforts on preparing for a strong 2021 Indy Lights season.”  

The two junior levels of the Road to Indy – the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – will continue with a full season of competition in 2020. Complete details will be finalized shortly.

For more information, visit indylights.com.

NHRA Drag Racing will return to the world stage in mid-July, relaunching its Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and associated programs with events on back-to-back weekends at the famed Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

The two events will be run on consecutive weeks, July 11-12 and July 18-19, and serve as the launch point for 15 more NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events that will follow, beginning with a visit to Seattle. The season will conclude with the crowning of the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series champions November 13-15, at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

“We’re excited for our Mello Yello Series to return to action, not just for the racers and fans but also for everyone who loves and supports NHRA Drag Racing,” NHRA President Glen Cromwell said. “Because we are an outdoor sport, we feel comfortable opening these Indianapolis events to a limited number of fans who are the lifeblood of our sport and following the guidance of the state of Indiana to resume racing.”

The Indianapolis events, both of which will be televised on the FOX Broadcast Network, will be open to a limited number of spectators, with offers being extended via email to NHRA members and 2020 U.S. Nationals ticket holders. The first event, July 11-12, will feature all four Mello Yello classes – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle – while the second event, July 18-19, will feature Top Fuel and Funny Car along with the E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod Series presented by J&A Service, Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley Series, and the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown. Neither event will include Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition.

The revised 2020 schedule will consist of 19 total events, with 17 of those events being contested when the series resumes in July. The first four events – both Indianapolis events as well as the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle and the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil – will be broadcast on the FOX Broadcast Network.

Sixteen of the events on the revised schedule will be condensed to two-day competition schedules for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series classes due to economic and logistical factors. This will entail one day of qualifications (two rounds) on Saturday and Final Eliminations on Sunday. Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes will begin racing on Friday.

The events in Chicago; Norwalk, Ohio; Richmond, Va.; Epping, N.H.; and Sonoma, Calif., and the spring events in Las Vegas and Charlotte, N.C. that were originally scheduled for the 2020 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season had to be canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta, previously canceled, has been returned to the 2020 schedule in late August.

The JEGS Allstars competition, originally scheduled as part of the Chicago event, and the Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle, originally scheduled as part of the Sonoma event, will both be contested at the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals.

As previously announced, due to the compressed schedule, points will not be reset after the Denso Spark Plugs U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

REVISED 2020 MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES SCHEDULE (subject to change)
July 11 - 12 | NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing at Lucas Oil Raceway (PSC/PSM) | Indianapolis
July 18 -19 | NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing at Lucas Oil Raceway | Indianapolis
July 31-Aug. 2 | Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals (PSC/PSM) | Seattle
Aug. 7-9 | Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals (PSM) | Denver
Aug. 14-16 | Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals | Brainerd, Minn.
Aug. 21-23 | Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals (PSC) | Topeka, Kan.
Aug. 28-30 | NHRA Southern Nationals | Atlanta
Sept. 3-6 | Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals (PSC/PSM) | Indianapolis
Sept. 11-13 | Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals (PSC/PSM) | Reading, Pa.
Sept. 18-20 | NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals (PSC/PSM) | Charlotte
Sept. 25-27 | Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals (PSC/PSM) | Gainesville, Fla.
Oct. 2-4 | AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals PSC/PSM | St. Louis
Oct. 9-11 | NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals (PSC/PSM) | Bristol, Tenn.
Oct. 16-18 | AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals (PSC/PSM) | Dallas
Oct. 23-25 | Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals (PSC/PSM) | Houston
Oct. 30-Nov. 1 | Dodge NHRA Nationals (PSC/PSM) | Las Vegas
Nov. 13-15 | Auto Club NHRA Finals (PSC/PSM) | Pomona, Calif.

For more information, visit nhra.com.

Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN) will now host two events on back-to-back nights during the 16th edition of Indiana Midget Week, which is set for June 16-21.

One of the Lincoln Park Speedway events, set for June 18-19, replaces the visit to Bloomington Speedway, which was canceled due to Monroe County guidelines.

All tickets purchased for the canceled Bloomington Indiana Midget Week event may be refunded or can be honored on June 19, at Lincoln Park Speedway.

For more information, visit usacracing.com.

2020 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE
Tue., June 16: Paragon Speedway – Paragon, Indiana
Wed., June 17: Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Indiana
Thu., June 18: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Indiana
Fri., June 19: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Indiana
Sat., June 20: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Sun., June 21: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Indiana

Photo courtesy of Al Steinberg, USAC Racing

Formula 1 confirmed the 2020 season will begin in Austria next month and revealed details on the first eight races of a new calendar.

F1 chief executive Chase Carey outlined the first part of a revised calendar of races after working with officials, teams, and the FIA on a plan to allow the season to begin safely.

The revised F1 season is set to kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race at the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that before a break. Then, there will be two back-to-back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona. The Belgian Grand Prix will follow, along with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

All the races will be supported by Formula 2 and Formula 3.

F1 will be finalizing the details of its complete 2020 calendar, announcing an expectation of having a total of 15-18 races before completing the season in December.

"In the past weeks we have been working tirelessly with all our partners, the FIA and the teams to create a revised opening 2020 calendar allowing us to restart racing in the safest possible way," Chairman and CEO of Formula 1 Carey said.

"We are pleased to be able to set out our opening eight-race calendar today and look forward to publishing our full calendar in the coming weeks.

"I want to thank every promoter and partner for their support and ongoing commitment to Formula 1.

"While we currently expect the season to commence without fans at our races we hope that over the coming months the situation will allow us to welcome them back once it is safe to do, but we know the return of Formula 1 will be a welcome boost to sports fans around the world."

For more information, visit formula1.com.

Transforming challenges into opportunities is the foundation of success for Automotive Specialists, whose owner and founder offers words of wisdom and inspiration culled from 55 years at the apex of motorsports.

On a fateful day in late 1963, 18-year-old Keith Dorton reported for his first day of employment at the legendary North Carolina racing shop of Holman & Moody. A self-described “hot rodder,” Dorton was at the threshold of a lifelong interest in all things related to horsepower.

Across the span of the next six decades, Dorton would emerge as one of the most respected and influential engine builders in the performance industry. His engines have powered NASCAR winners, and he has served as an important mentor to three generations of engine experts.

It is also why Dorton is the ideal guest for this month’s Industry Insights. When this interview was conducted in April, the COVID-19 crisis had plunged our industry into the shadows of uncertainty. So we deemed it fitting to hear from a man who has persevered through more than his share of adversity. Despite the hardships, Dorton’s Concord, North Carolina-based company, Automotive Specialists, celebrates 55 years of operation in 2020.

Along the way Dorton endured several economic recessions, the fuel crisis of 1974, significant health challenges, and various other upheavals. He was also forced to reinvent his business as an evolving motorsports landscape—rule changes, economic fluctuations, and shifting markets—prevailed. Above and beyond, Keith Dorton has proven to be a survivor.

PRI: At the moment, our industry has been rocked by forces beyond our control. You’ve seen a great many challenges come and go, but the COVID-19 crisis seems different than anything we’ve faced before. Would you agree?

Dorton: It is different. But speaking just for ourselves, we’re not going to throw in the towel. During our time in business, which is 55 years now, we’ve seen similar challenges, but not as disastrous as this. The one that comes to mind is the gas crisis in the 1970s. Racing, for a short while, just stopped. Motorsports pretty much came to a halt, and we were at a loss as to what to do.

When that hit, I got to thinking about what our business could do to survive, and also help the current situation. One of the things we thought of was to utilize the knowledge we had gained in racing, particularly with engines, to make an engine more efficient. So we took a conventional street engine and started making changes. We invested in equipment to test for hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, and began testing and adjusting, and we made substantial improvements in mileage, while also reducing emissions. From that we started building engines for fleets and other applications. Guys who used two-ton trucks to haul scrap metal or whatever, they came back and said those engines paid for themselves in just two months based on the fuel savings. So that’s one thing we did to get through the fuel crisis.

PRI: That’s a good example of turning a crisis into an opportunity. Sometimes people might think that’s a corny view, but it’s relevant.

Dorton: I wish there was something in my profession that I could do to help our current (coronavirus) situation. Other people in our industry are using things like 3D printers to build ventilators and things like that, and that’s great. And they’re giving the tools to the medical people so they can do their own. It isn’t about monetary gain in that situation, it’s about giving back.

PRI: You were hired on at Holman & Moody during one of the most dynamic eras in the history of the performance industry. You were awfully young, Keith, and it’s like you were thrown into the deep end of the pool. I suspect one of the first things you discovered was that this industry could hardly be described as “calm and steady.”

Dorton: No, those words don’t describe our industry very well. (Laughing.) But gosh, it’s been great. We don’t realize how good we have it during the good times. And this is one of those times when it’s like a slap in the face, reminding us how good we had it before.

You know, things just escalated so fast back in those days. So many innovative people were involved, and it was very interesting. That era, in my opinion, wasn’t about making money. It was about kicking your competitor’s butt. It was fun, oh, yes. That’s exactly why I love the land speed racing industry today; it’s like backing up in time 40 years. People are there to have fun. Big-time racing has evolved into how much money you can make, and that’s sad to me.

PRI: In 1965, you left Holman & Moody and started your business, at just 21 years old. Looking back, are you amazed that you were in business for yourself at such a young age?

Dorton: Oh, yes. If I was 21 now and wanted to get started, I don’t know how I would do it. In February 1965, I got married, was called for the (selective service) draft, and I lost my job at Holman & Moody. That’s a lot within a couple of weeks! They put my butt on a bus to Charlotte and told us not to plan on coming back. But (the military) turned me down because I had torn my rotator cuff and needed surgery, so they classified me as 4-F and sent me back home. Fortunately, my wife Patsy had a job. We had used all our savings to buy a house, and I borrowed $100 from my dad to start a checking account. So from that I started our business in a little garage, not really sure what we would be doing.

PRI: What was the biggest challenge in the very beginning? Acquiring equipment, or finding customers? Or was it something else?

Dorton: I had made a lot of connections in racing, and I was drag racing myself. So I had some racing work lined up. But the biggest challenge was money, and just keeping things going. I did a lot of brake jobs and tune-ups (on street cars) that first year to pay the bills. A good friend let me have a two-bay garage at no charge to work from, and that was a big help.

PRI: You ended up getting heavily involved in NASCAR racing, but you continued to work with drag racers for many years as well. How did you balance that? Those are two very different customer bases.

Dorton: I didn’t think about it, really. They are more similar than they are different. If you look at a Top Fuel car to a stock car, they are different, yes. But the principles are the same. And you know, I had a little bit of both of those things in me, and both felt natural to me. I think that helped us, and I never thought about them being different.

PRI: At one point you made the decision to scale back your overall volume, because you felt like it was reaching a place where you couldn’t be personally involved as much and that wasn’t acceptable. Let’s talk about that a little bit.

Dorton: There was a point, especially in the heyday when we were doing so many NASCAR engines, we had 14, 15 really good guys in the shop, many of whom went on to become top engine builders for the big teams today. But I felt I was not as hands-on as I wanted to be. I’ve always been out on the shop floor versus sitting in an office. And you reach a point where your volume is beyond you being able to oversee it at the level you want. That was uncomfortable for me. Today, every engine that goes out of here, I’ve touched it. For most engines, I assembled it. I feel like, even though we didn’t have many failures when we had more people and more volume, it was still uncomfortable.

PRI: Along the way, NASCAR racing started to change. The rules tightened up, and some of the knowledge and parts and pieces you had worked very hard to develop were no longer allowed. Was that a frustrating experience?

Dorton: Oh, yes. It was, and it still is. When we ran big blocks in NASCAR, they put some restrictor plates on them one year, I think, then went back to the 358-inch small block. When the restrictor plates knocked the power down by a lot, we were doing a lot of work in that area. Anyway, we were all told when they did the restrictor plates, “Don’t cheat.” They were adamant. If they found (your engine) was sucking air anywhere, they would take almost everything except your first-born child. We were told very bluntly, don’t cheat. And we didn’t; that first year in 1989, we showed up at Daytona and our engines were legal. Well, we got our butt handed to us; I’ve never been so embarrassed. But we went home and went to work. That next year (1990) we came back with a vengeance and won the (Daytona 500). We had something like 20-some engines down there. We stayed pretty heavily involved until sometime in the 1990s.

PRI: It looks like that’s when things really started to change. The rules continued to tighten up, and many of the big teams began to bring their engine programs in-house. Was there a point, Keith, when it became apparent that you were going to have to develop some new markets? Was it hard to face the fact that after all those years in NASCAR racing you had to look elsewhere for business?

Dorton: Yes, but going back to what I said earlier: We don’t know how good we have it until something goes away. But yes, it was tough. And we’ll always face this in the engine business; you have to adapt to the times.

The thing that has changed our business model the most over the years has been the way racing has changed. Starting with the manufacturers getting involved in crate engines, and the rules we’ve had to contend with. And the escalation in costs. So at some point we had to just think about survival. We’ve had to work on a variety of projects.

But I’m doing some things today that only came about because we had to change our business model. When the NASCAR work was no longer there, we found some pretty cool projects to get involved in. I have one project that, for the past couple of months working on it, I found myself very excited. My mind is racing with possibilities and ideas with the project, almost to where I have a hard time falling asleep because my mind is thinking about the project. It’s an excitement, and it’s nice to have that in your business. It’s a variety of projects: vintage engines, muscle cars, land speed engines…it has definitely kept the brain cells active.

We got to a point a few years ago that I realized I didn’t want to just stuff pistons in a hole and put the oil pan on. I wanted to continue to learn and do things that make what I’m doing better. I could never have dreamed of the interesting projects that have come around in recent years, but they have. And I’m happy with it. I don’t dread coming to work, and there was a point when it looked like someday that might become the situation.

PRI: One interesting wrinkle to the engine business is that it’s about more than simply how much power you can make. Is that what helps keep it interesting?

Dorton: Oh, yes. No matter how much power you make, it’s got to live. So there is a lot to that. I’m very fortunate, with my son Jeff involved in the business—he’s 51—it’s been a saving grace for our company. With the new electronic age we’re in, Jeff has really been on top of this. That was a new element for me, and it wasn’t easy to tackle that. Jeff has been a lifesaver, and it’s helped our company keep up with the times.

PRI: In 1980, you were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That was 40 years ago, Keith, and it obviously did not stop you. But at the time that was surely a scary thing, to hear that diagnosis. How did you work through the fear of that reality, and what it might mean?

Dorton: I was very fortunate…Jeff was 10 years old, and I had a couple of really good guys working for me. I was stopped for a few months, where nothing was happening. I wasn’t able to work. But those guys kept things going, and I’m forever grateful. It was a tough time financially, there is no doubt. From every respect, it was a tough time. I fought that (MS), off and on, for a long, long time. I put my faith in God the whole time. Now, I doubted a lot during the hard times, but I managed to stay with it.

Today, I’m very thankful. This June, it will be three years since I’ve needed crutches to stay upright. How many people can say they are in better physical condition at age 75 than they were at age 55? I can say that, because it’s true. I give thanks every day for that. Really, I have to pinch myself sometimes: Am I really doing this well?

There is more to life than building engines, and I found that out. I didn’t realize it for a long time, but I realize it now.

PRI: You have been involved in raising money to fight MS. I’m sure that’s a very personal project for you.

Dorton: I’m not involved currently, but I was involved for many years. With MS, you can go through periods when it’s less devastating. During one of those periods, I got involved in a bicycle ride, the MS 150. It was maybe 20 years ago, and I was able to get to a good place physically for a while. During that time I—after too many beers one night, I think—accepted the challenge of participating in this 150-mile bicycle ride. You know how it goes: “I’ll bet you can’t do that.” I hadn’t ridden a bicycle in probably 20 years. Well, one of the things for everybody in our industry is that we don’t show up looking for second place. We go to win. So I didn’t set out to finish second, and I didn’t; I finished something like 320th. But from that first year I had the idea of selling advertisement on my bike and my jersey, to raise money to fight MS. I challenged people to sponsor me. I put them on a guilt trip about helping poor ol’ Keith, because I wanted to raise money for this cause. And I also got to know the people in the MS society very well. So I ended up selling something like $35,000, maybe $40,000 worth of sponsorship that first year. After that, I had the number 1 on my jersey because I had raised the most money. I was very proud of that. Over the next six years I raised just over $250,000 total. Later on my MS knocked me down again, and couldn’t do the ride anymore.

Right now, I do okay, but I don’t have much balance. I got a recumbent bicycle to ride, but those are too dangerous to ride on the street because they’re so low. But I’m grateful that I’m able to get around without crutches and come to work every day.

PRI: Give us a quick synopsis on some of the things you’re involved in today.

Dorton: We’ve got some road race customers Down Under, in New Zealand and Australia. We are doing a lot of vintage engines, and hot rod engines. I was a hot rodder from the get-go; my first car was a 1932 Ford five-window (coupe) with a flathead. I’ve got three flatheads in the shop right now—two of them are for hot rods and one is for Bonneville. One of the flatheads is the project I’ve been so excited about.

Right now, in our assembly room I’ve got what looks like a period-correct (Chevy) 327 with four two-barrel carbs that’s going into a 1940 Willys coupe. We’ve also got a flathead going in a 1932 roadster that the guy will run up in New Jersey at The Race of Gentlemen. I’ve got an SB2 road race engine, a super late model type of engine that runs on dirt. Really, we hardly have any two projects that are alike. We do a lot of LS engine projects as well. I fell behind on that market at first, but we’re doing a fair amount of it now.

PRI: You brought your son, Jeff, into the business some years ago. What’s the key to making a family-based business work?

Dorton: Gosh, I’m not sure how to explain that. Jeff, he’s worked with me since the beginning. My wife Patsy has worked with me since we got married. In the early days she also had to work another job so I could do what I wanted to do. Our daughter Camille has worked with us, but she’s moved to part-time because she took a job at our church. But she still works with us a couple of days doing payroll and administrative work. Patsy came out of semi-retirement when Camille went to part-time. So it’s a family operation, still today.

PRI: You’ve got a milestone coming up for Automotive Specialists this year: 55 years in business. That’s quite an accomplishment, Keith. What are you most proud of in those 55 years?

Dorton: Businesswise, I’m proud to have done things the way we wanted, with our ideas. Some of it worked, some didn’t. Honestly, that’s a hard question. You would think that winning the Daytona 500 would be one of my proudest moments, but it wasn’t. Not really, not in the big picture. But there is not any one thing that stands out over those years.

One thing I am proud of is being involved with so many people, especially the younger guys that have come along through the years. I’ve spent a lot of time answering questions and trying to help guide any young guy who is interested in engines. And many of those guys have had a great career in their own right and done very well. I’m proud of that.

PRI: We’ll wrap it up with this, Keith. All of us in the performance business are facing a very serious challenge with the coronavirus. It’s only natural that people are a little scared at the moment. What advice would you give the people who are trying to figure out how to lead their business through this and continue on?

Dorton: Like I said earlier, speaking just for us, we’re not going to throw in the towel. We’re going to get through this. To begin with, we need to use this time productively. For example, while we’re down, I’m thinking of how we can improve the flow of our business. This is a great time to step back and evaluate everything. How can we work better? How can we be more efficient? This has opened my eyes that we maybe were in a rut. We don’t want to be in a rut; we want to keep climbing that mountain. How can we do it better? It’s about a lot more than just wiping everything down with sanitizer and cleaning the floor. We have to face the reality that we’ve got to pay our bills.

I don’t think you can act like nothing is wrong, and I’m not going to do that. But I’m not just stopping, either. I want to press forward. I want to stay healthy, and I want my family and employees to stay healthy.

I’ll tell you one thing that might really come out good in the future from this virus: getting back to racing parts being made in Southern California, and Nevada, and North Carolina, all over the country, instead of overseas, because it’s obvious we currently have a problem.

But just like we did during the fuel crisis (of 1974), you’ve got to cinch up those belts and be ready to work really hard when things open back up. We don’t know what things will be next week, 30 days from now, or next year. This is something we haven’t seen before.

It’s kind of a wake-up call. You know, the people in our industry are some of the most innovative people you’ll ever find—mechanically and otherwise. They can improvise. We don’t have to have a CAD system to make something work; they will figure things out. So we can do this. We might have to make some sacrifices—and we already have—but we can do this. We have to share ideas and hardships and work together. If we come up with an idea and share it, good things could happen.

PRI: Keith, we really appreciate your voice of experience. And we congratulate you and everyone at Automotive Specialists on your 55th year in business. Thanks for sharing some time with us.

Dorton: Thank you, Dave. And we wish all the best for everyone in our industry over the next few months.

 

Venturing beyond its oval track roots, this leading race parts and service provider has teamed up with a drag racing powerhouse.

For a company that’s well-established within a specific niche of a given market, brand perception can prove to be an invaluable asset in one context, and something of a double-edged sword in another.

SRI Performance and sister company Stock Car Steel in Mooresville, North Carolina, have been supplying parts and services for racers across the country and beyond for more than two decades, serving as a one-stop-shop for NASCAR and NHRA teams alike. Earning the trust of competitors in top-tier series is certainly no small accomplishment, but they also represent just a fraction of the overall market within these racing disciplines.

With the massive growth in Pro Mod and no prep-style drag racing in recent years, the companies saw an opportunity to serve a larger swath of competitors, but they needed a way to get the word out to a new subset of teams who weren’t as familiar with the brands. Fortunately for SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel, Musi Racing has become a force to be reckoned with in the Street Outlaws scene, and they also happen to be Mooresville locals.

Between Pat Musi’s long history of building race-winning power plants and Lizzy Musi’s success competing in PDRA and No Prep Kings, the Musis are certainly no strangers to the spotlight. But they’re also not competitors who’re willing to rest on their laurels, so sponsorship support plays a big role in the team’s efforts to stay at the top of their game. And to that end, the recently announced partnership between the parties has the makings of a truly symbiotic alliance. To get a better sense of what this new agreement will bring for the future, we sat down with Pat Musi and the folks from SRI Performance to score all the details.

PRI: How did this partnership come about? Who approached whom?

Pat Musi, Musi Racing: I had this idea and decided to run it by them at the 2019 PRI Show. We’ve done business with SRI for a long time, and the more we talked about it the more it seemed like something that could really work. They wanted to expand beyond NASCAR and get more into drag racing, so it was a really natural fit. I think they saw the potential with “Street Outlaws” and the TV presence—they want to break out into the national market.

PRI: What made this partnership attractive from a business standpoint?

Chad Elliott, SRI Performance: We have developed a relationship with Pat and the Musi team over the years at the race track, so when he brought this idea to us last year at the PRI Show, that really got the conversation started. It was the perfect timing to get this inked up—we’ve been looking to get more involved in the no prep and some of the other grassroots-style racing markets, and we couldn’t think of a better team to be lined up with than Lizzy and Pat Musi.

Between Lizzy’s popularity and Pat’s reputation in the business, we felt like they could help us break the ice and bring some awareness to the brand in that type of racing. SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel have been entrenched in NASCAR and pro-level short track racing for years, and now what we want to do is bring more attention to the fact that we can support the drag racers who’re working out of their own garages, too.

Musi: I think they see the benefit of “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday,” and that’s really beneficial for everybody. We had some problems with Lizzy’s car last year—we were able to get it to the point where she was able to do well with it and win some races, but that really came as a result of her driving. Meanwhile, everyone else has been really stepping up their program, so what we want to do now is build her a new car.

When we started shopping around, we discovered that everyone wanted to get on board with us for the project, so we figure we may be able to get this new car together without having to sell the other one, and the agreement with SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel has played a significant part in that.

PRI: Is there a new demographic or fan base you hope to capture through this agreement?

Musi: They need to get the word out there about the products, so I think they see the potential with Lizzy as a spokesperson in that capacity. You can stick a decal on a car, and maybe someone will notice it, and maybe they won’t. But with social media, you can go out and say, “We exclusively use this bearing, we exclusively use this kind of tubing,” and I think there’s a lot of value in that.

Elliott: Brand awareness in no prep and street race-style drag racing is the main goal here, and we’re already seeing a significant uptick in engagement on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter just from the announcement of the partnership. There’s a lot out there beyond NASCAR and pro-level NHRA teams, and I think this partnership helps bring some awareness to the racers who’re connecting with brands through social media and the web.

We’re really known for the work we do with professional engine builders who are selling very high-end components for top-tier series. If you think of performance as a pyramid, series like NASCAR and NHRA are sitting at the very top of that, but there’s another 80% that comprises the rest of that pyramid. We’re hoping the agreement will allow us to venture more into the mainstream world—the guy wrenching on his Mustang on Saturday morning to get it ready for the track, the folks who are normally turning to sources like Jegs and the box stores for what they need. We want them to know that they can pick up the phone, call SRI, and speak to an expert to help get them what they need.

PRI: How long is the duration of the agreement? What initiatives or programs do you envision developing out of this partnership?

Elliott: The agreement currently runs through the 2021 season. Right now, SRI Performance is really investing in the people, the software, and the internal changes required to modernize our business, and this partnership is part of that. We’re looking to do an advertising campaign that will include the Musi name—some of that may be social media and web-based, some print ads, and we might even do a commercial, or something along those lines.

We’re also in the process of expanding our drag racing offerings from Edelbrock through Musi Racing—there’s a special project going on behind the scenes that we can’t divulge the details of just yet. All I can say right now is that it’s a big part of the agreement, and that it will be a substantial element of our presence at the 2020 PRI Show.