Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show exhibitors looking to make a splash with the global racing industry media are invited to host a press conference at the 2019 PRI Trade Show taking place December 12-14, in Indianapolis.

Each year, hundreds of motorsports journalists come to the PRI Show to report on the latest products, trends and breaking industry news from all corners of the racing world. Exhibitors with important news to publicize—including recent acquisitions, expansions, partnerships and related company announcements—are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to host a complimentary 30-minute press conference.

Sessions may be held in PRI’s new dedicated press conference center (across from the Media Center in the Green Hall) or directly from the exhibiting company's booth.

Prior to the Show, PRI will notify registered motorsports press members of the Show’s Press Conference Schedule (if scheduled by November 29), which includes times, dates, locations and the provided description of the announcement.

And while it’s the responsibility of each exhibitor to promote their press conference, PRI can provide best practice tips and a list of attending media outlets to assist with outreach efforts.


If you’d like more information on scheduling a press conference at the 2019 PRI Trade Show, contact PRI Associate Editor Laura Pitts at laurap@performanceracing.com or 949/373-9210.

For more information or to register for the 2019 PRI Trade Show, visit pri2019.com.

The Board of Directors of Elkhart Lake's Road America Inc. have announced that Chairman of the Board Jonathan Laun will retire his position at the end of 2019.

The directors unanimously appointed Ron Pace as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the track, while appointing Laun as Treasurer. Pace, who has served on the Road America Board of Directors since 2005, will serve as Chairman Elect until January 1, 2020.

An avid sports car enthusiast, Pace is a Road America shareholder and a member of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). He has been a member of the Porsche Club of America for over 20 years and previously served as President of the Milwaukee region.

With over thirty years of career growth at Fortune 100 companies, Pace possesses a diversified background in both industrial and consumer markets with assignments in general management, operations, marketing and finance. Pace holds an MBA in Finance/Marketing and a BA in Economics/Chemistry, both from the University of Connecticut and served as an Adjunct Professor for Marquette University.

For more information, visit roadamerica.com.

Custom Automotive Network (CAN), formerly known as Performance Warehouse Association, presented its top awards during the annual CAN Connect event.

Person of the Year was awarded to Bob West of Westin Automotive Products; Manufacturer of the Year was awarded to Westin Automotive Products; Reseller of the Year was awarded to Premier Performance; and Sales Rep of the Year was awarded to Michael Kunzman and Associates.

The awards are voted on by CAN membership and recognizes those who have made a significant contribution for the benefit of the custom automotive distribution system. The awards were presented by Custom Automotive Network's President, Tracie Nunez, CAN's Chairman of the Board, Andy McJannett of Performance Improvements, and CAN's Chairman-Elect Scott Wahlstrom of Motor State Distributing at the 46th annual CAN Connect Conference in Frisco, Texas.

"I am completely humbled and honored to have received this award from CAN. Although my name is on it, it is really a testament to the hard work and dedication of our customers towards our products, and by all of the employees at Westin who made it possible," West, who won Person of the Year, said.

Custom Automotive Network, which was founded in 1970 as Performance Warehouse Association, is a trade association that consists of about 400 member companies. CAN hosts an annual three-day conference where distributors meet with manufacturers in a private setting, and also publishes a bi-monthly publication called The Supply Channel.

For more information, visit customautomotivenetwork.com.

Photo of Westin Automotive Performance memebrs courtesy of CAN

Museums must limit viewing of priceless artifacts to secure and preserve them, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is giving a limited number of fans unprecedented access to the rarest of race cars at “Over the Ropes/Under the Hood” from 6-8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 15.

The first 75 registrants (first-come, first-served basis) will get a detailed look—visually and via conversation with notable experts—at the Marmon “Wasp,” which won the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911; the 1928 Miller driven by Louis Meyer to his first “500” victory; the 1939/40 Boyle Special Maserati driven by Wilbur Shaw; the Chip Ganassi Racing “Cutaway Car,” a modern NTT IndyCar Series car sliced in half to reveal its internal components; and another notable Indy car from circa 2000, to be determined.

The experts accompanying each car will share its fascinating history and explain the unique design cues and engineering innovations that made it successful, including:

• The 1928 Miller: Louis “Sonny” Meyer Jr. (son of the three-time Indy 500 winner) and IMS Historian Donald Davidson
• The 1939/40 Maserati: Bill Shaw, son of Wilbur Shaw, and Johnny Pappas, Boyle Racing Headquarters Foundation co-founder
• The Marmon Wasp: Jason Vansickle, IMS Museum curator of vehicles
• The Chip Ganassi Racing Cutaway Car: Robbie Fast, race and testing spotter for Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon
• The circa-2000 IndyCar: Mike Devin, longtime IndyCar racing chief mechanic and technical director for the United States Auto Club (USAC)

Tickets begin at $20 for IMS Museum members and $25 for non-members. For tickets and additional information, please contact Kelly Hartman at 317/492-6568 or khartman@brickyard.com. For more information, visit indyracingmuseum.org.

NASCAR announced today that Tracey Lesetar-Smith has been named Senior Vice President, General Counsel. In her new role, Lesetar-Smith will lead day-to-day operations of the sanctioning body’s legal and public affairs operations at company headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida.

After more than two decades of service, longtime NASCAR executive Karen Leetzow will step down from her role as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at year end. Leetzow, who announced her intention to depart last year but agreed to remain to facilitate the merger between NASCAR and ISC, has guided NASCAR’s overarching legal strategy across key business areas such as intellectual property, litigation, antitrust and general corporate law. 

“What an incredible experience it has been to work at NASCAR and with the France family over the past two decades. I am very proud of what we have collectively achieved and feel thankful to have led one of the best legal teams in all of sports,” Leetzow said. “This decision did not come easy, but it’s time for me to explore new challenges and I am excited for what the future holds.”

Lesetar-Smith has spent the past eight years as General Counsel and Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for Bellator MMA, building and leading the legal team and expanding her oversight to additional sports properties within the Viacom portfolio over the past five years. She was responsible for Bellator’s global content distribution rights and oversaw contracts, international property expansion, litigation, production, and intellectual property rights, among other key business operations. Prior to Bellator, she was an attorney at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Lesetar-Smith’s first day will be October 14 and she will assume the full responsibilities of General Counsel upon Leetzow’s departure.

For more information, visit nascar.com.

Holley Performance Products—the manufacturer of high-performance carburetors, manifolds, superchargers, water pumps, throttle body fuel injection and fuel pumps for street and race applications—will be hosting seminars focusing on Time Trials at the NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Thursday, September 26.

The sessions will be held in conjunction with the 2019 Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals presented by Hagerty, set for September 26-29.

Set to be livestreamed by Grassroots Motorsports, the tips, seminar and coaching sessions will also feature motorsports experts such as KONI, Hawk Performance, APEX Pro, Racers360, and the staff of NCM Motorsports Park.

The current schedule is below.

11:00 a.m. - Virtual Course Walk with Andy Pilgrim and Matt Busby (NCM)
Noon - Shock Absorber Tech 101: Function, Tuning & More (KONI)
1:00 p.m. - Brake talk (HAWK)
2:00 p.m. - "How to have a successful Time Trials" with the SCCA team
3:00 p.m. - #TrustTheLights On NCM with APEX Pro (APEX Pro)
4:00 p.m. - Coaching using data and video (RACERS360)
5:30 p.m. - SCCA Time Trials Town Hall

To watch sessions, visit facebook.com/grassrootsmotorsports or youtube.com/grassrootsmotorsports.

The NMRA Technical Department has made a rule clarification in the NMRA Advanced Fuel Dynamics Limited Street Class.

All TVS 2300 (2.3L) and TVS 2650 (2.65L) superchargers must have factory location mounted throttle body. Rear-mounted throttle bodies are prohibited.

All other permitted combinations in the NMRA Advanced Fuel Dynamics Limited Street class will remain unchanged. This rule clarification will go into effect immediately.

All 2019 NMRA Rulebook Amendments and Clarifications can be found under the 2019 Rules Revisions & Clarifications here. For more information on NMRA, visit nmradigital.com.

Image courtesy of NMRA

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) has announced a job opening for the position of Facilities & Race Track Superintendent. The new hire will be responsible for the supervision of two California-based NHRA facilities—the corporate office in Glendora and the Auto Club Raceway drag strip in Pomona.

Office responsibilities will include expertise in security and safety policies, facility maintenance, vendor negotiation, inventory, budgets and more. Track responsibilities will include ensuring scheduled maintenance of assets and equipment required for racing events throughout the year.

NHRA is looking for candidates with a minimum of five years of related experience.

For more information and to apply, visit the NHRA job listing here. For more information on the NHRA, visit nhra.com.

Legendary NASCAR crew chief and Charlotte, North Carolina, native Jeff Hammond will be presented with Charlotte Motor Speedway's prestigious Smokey Yunick Award prior to Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400.

Presented annually since 1997 to honor famed mechanic Henry "Smokey" Yunick, the award recognizes an individual who rose from humble beginnings to make a major impact on the motorsports industry.

Known to many fans as a gregarious NASCAR on FOX personality, Hammond's motorsports legacy began as a tire changer and jackman before he took the reins as crew chief for Darrell Waltrip at Junior Johnson's team in 1982. In a star-studded career that lasted nearly 20 years, Hammond amassed 43 NASCAR Cup Series wins and two championships while atop the pit box for superstar drivers including Waltrip, Terry Labonte and Kurt Busch.

"This is a total shock and honor," Hammond said. "Smokey Yunick was a hero of mine. I always admired him and could never believe all of the accomplishments he had throughout his career and how he helped grow the sport. To be given this award and see people before me who've won it, like Ray Evernham, Dale Inman and Waddell Wilson—all friends of mine—it means a lot. This is right up there with winning championships in my book."

Hammond's cars won three points-paying races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including back-to-back Coca-Cola 600s in 1988 and 1989 with Waltrip.

For more information, visit charlottemotorspeedway.com.

Photo courtesy of FOX Sports

The European Le Mans Series (ELMS) has unveiled its calendar for the 2020 season.

The series will once again feature six four-hour races, with three classes of cars competing—LMP2, LMP3 and LMGTE.  The 2020 ELMS will also see the new generation LMP3 cars take to the track for the first time.

“With six world-class venues on the calendar, we keep trying to deliver on our promise to provide the very best stage and challenge for the top endurance teams and drivers that choose to race in the ELMS. We are proud of the high quality of the teams on the ELMS grids which guarantee the success of the series,” ELMS CEO Gérard Neveu said. “The European Le Mans Series is a friendly championship where competition and fun can put Motorsport in the heart of the action. Let us recall that the 2020 ELMS events will offer no less than three different championships with the European Le Mans Series, the Michelin Le Mans Cup and the brand new Ligier European Series.”

For more information, visit europeanlemansseries.com.

2020 ELMS Schedule
Official Test in Barcelona, March 30–31
4 Hours Of Barcelona, April 3–5
4 Hours Of Monza, May 8–10
4 Hours Of Le Castellet, July 17–19
4 Hours Of Silverstone,  September 4–5
4 Hours Of Spa-Francorchamps, September 18–20
4 Hours Of Portimao, October 23–25

Image courtesy of the European Le Mans Series