International Hot Rod Association member track Beaver Springs Dragway has been named the IHRA Division 3 (North Stars) Track of the Year.

The Central Pennsylvania-based facility, which features a quarter-mile drag strip, first opened in 1971.

The track’s motto “Nobody Does It Better” was even true this year, which saw one of the wettest spring and summer on record to date.

“After a season full of weather, scheduling turmoil and equipment breakage, Mike McCracken and the team at Beaver Springs can look back with pride and a never-say-die attitude,” IHRA Division Director Jon O’Neal said. “The Beaver Springs team finished out the season with the same excitement that they started with. That’s a big testament to the Beaver Springs ownership and management.”

Points leaders for the IHRA Summit SuperSeries program at the beginning of September include Justin Badman (Top), Bob Klock (Mod), Mike Fornwalt (Street) and Alex Maturo (Junior).

For more information, visit beaversprings.com.

The FIA has revealed further details for the inaugural FIA Motorsports Games, set for November 1–3 in Rome, where competitors from around the world will prove their skills during the Drifting Cup.

Drivers will be judged on a range of criteria, such as the line they take through each corner and their driving style. The event will be staged under the lights on Friday and Saturday evening, utilizing part of Vallelunga Circuit’s main straight and the complex between turns 10 and 14.

Each Drifting Cup contender will complete two solo runs, with the higher-scoring run counting towards a final qualifying classification. The top-16 competitors will proceed to the Final Battle stage where the event becomes head-to-head.

Competitors from Switzerland, France, Denmark, Latvia, Russia, Georgia, the Czech Republic and Portugal have all been confirmed.

The Drifting Cup will be one of six categories featured at the FIA Motorsport Games, joining the GT Cup, Formula 4 Cup, Touring Car Cup, Karting Slalom Cup and Digital Cup.

For more information, visit fiamotorsportgames.com.

Mast Motorsports, the performance parts provider based in Nacogdoches, Texas, has announced the addition of Darin Morgan to its team. Morgan, who has a 30-year motorsports career, will help launch the company’s newly formed Race Cylinder Head Services division.

Morgan is perhaps best known for his efforts in heading Reher-Morrison’s R&D department and has built his career around developing advanced cylinder heads and induction systems for applications ranging from NHRA and IHRA Pro Stock, to IndyCar, to NASCAR Cup Series, to land speed cars and more.  

“Developing cylinder heads is the only thing I’ve done since I was a teenager. I look forward to working with Horace Mast, Larry Widmer, and the entire Mast engineering team to accomplish things I could have only dreamed of before,” Morgan said. “When I first visited Mast Motorsports, I was blown away by how innovative, automated and efficient the entire operation was. Being able to work with a team of engineers and designers to perform CAD work, 3D printing and make custom tooling all in-house is a dream come true. It allows us to digitize prototype ports and update existing port designs with very little effort. We can get twice as much done in half the time.”   


Mast’s new Race Cylinder Head Services division operates out of a 22,000-square-foot facility in Nacogdoches and will provide service for the GM LS, Chevy, Ford and Mopar platforms.

In addition to his duties at Mast, Morgan will continue his well-known A.I.S.T seminars, covering topics such as wet-flow dynamics, cylinder head and induction system design, and induction system tuning.

For more information, visit mastmotorsports.com.

The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship has announced its plans to improve the aerodynamic homologation testing next season when downforce will also be reduced on all rides.

These plans will work in conjunction with the in-season changes made in 2019 for parity.

The new aero rules will see downforce reduced by nearly 15 percent in a bid to improve race quality. All competing models will also be retested with an improved process during the upcoming offseason.

The 2020 VCAT homologation test will measure downforce at various car heights and will utilize an active suspension system developed by the series’ technical department and technology partner D2H to measure downforce with active dampers.

The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship has also confirmed its 2020 revised engine rules, which are aimed at reducing costs and improving longevity.

Mandated parts include a control ring and revised rocker ratio, with rebuilds capped at three per season. Supercars will also adjust its overall horsepower limit, referred to as Accumulated Engine Power.

"There wasn't a single team doing under four rebuilds and it was a sort of easy objective for us to try and get that down to three. The easiest way for us to do that equally for everybody was to change the rocker and ring package. That will lose approximately 14, 15 horsepower equally for everybody. And it'll just de-stress the engine a little bit,” Supercars’ Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess explained to supercars.com. “Part of the thing the teams were doing, they all migrated to a really expensive ring package that gave them two horsepower. But it actually degraded a lot quicker. We're not re-inventing the wheel or anything, we are going back to an older ring package for everybody. It's $390 as opposed to $2,000 a set.”

In addition, drive-by-wire throttle activation will remain optional in 2020. Currently, all teams use mechanical cables.

For more information, visit supercars.com.

Photo courtesy of Supercars

Formula E is set to race in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta for the first time this coming season, adding to the list of iconic cities featured on the 2019-20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship calendar.

Jakarta joins Seoul and London as a new venue in season six, with the race in Indonesia scheduled to take place on June 6.

A full grid of 24 cars, including rides by new manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, will navigate their way around the National Monument in Merdeka Square in the center of the city (subject to circuit homologation and approval of the FIA World Motor Sport Council).

As the fourth most populated country on the planet—behind only China, India and the USA—Indonesia is an important strategic market for Formula E, helping to inspire future generations to embrace clean energy and in turn tackle the devastating effects of air pollution.

The track layout and circuit configuration will be revealed at a later date, along with the updated calendar and full list of dates and destinations for season six following the next FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in October.

For more information, visit fiaformulae.com.

Image courtesy of Formula E

Mac’s Tie Downs, the tie-down equipment manufacturer based in Sagle, Idaho, has announced a job opening for a sales representative position based in its Idaho office.

The small and family-oriented business is looking for a candidate that is a natural team leader, works well with all types of personalities, leads by example, manages areas of responsibility efficiently and accurately and “is happy to jump in wherever the help is needed with a smile,” according to the job listing.

The candidate’s main responsibility will be sales and trade show support, among other duties.

For more information, visit the SEMA Career Center job listing or visit macscustomtiedowns.com.

Steve Rolenc Enterprises (SRE Racing Engines) of Tucson, Arizona, has announced the recent acquisition of Gaerte Engines.

“We are here to honor the proud legacy of Earl's name, by building the best racing engines, using time-honored techniques and just plain doing it right, including doing right by our customers and suppliers. In addition to decades of our own experience, we have Gaerte's customer build sheets, notes, engineering specs and drawings,” a company release said on the Gaerte Engines social media page.

Gaerte Engines will utilize a one year “unconditional guarantee” warranty on all new dyno-tuned race engines.

For more information, visit gaerteengines.com or sre-engines.com.

Auburn Gear, the designer and manufacturer of custom-engineered wheel drives, axle drive components and specialty drives, has announced the retirement of President and CEO Marty Palmer after almost 11 years of leadership.

The manufacturer also announced the addition of a Shane Terblanche as the company’s new president and CEO. Before joining Auburn Gear, Terblanche served as the president and CEO of Screen Machine.

Previously, he was general manager of the Hybrids Drives Systems Division at Parker Hannifin Corporation, and before that, led Navistar’s global introduction of electric vehicles, which included relocating all manufacturing operations to the US from the United Kingdom.

Terblanche has a diverse background with extensive experience in engineering, lean manufacturing, and global sales and marketing.

For more information, visit auburngear.com.

Jake Wegner has been named the vice president of sales for Brake Parts Inc LLC (BPI).

“Jake is an experienced and innovative sales management executive who will make a positive impact with our customers,” BPI Chief Commercial Officer Paul Ferrandino said. “Jake has been very successful in helping increase sales in his previous positions, while at the same, implementing new tactics and training that have assisted his sales teams in meeting their goals and objectives. We are excited to add Jake to our sales team and welcome him to the BPI family.”

Wegner joins BPI from Magid Safety, where he held multiple positions with increasing responsibility, including his most recent role as regional vice president of sales. At Magid, he developed and implemented innovative sales strategies that helped increase sales across all product lines. Wegner managed and directed sales teams in the Ohio Valley/Southeast and Great Lakes/Upper Midwest regions for Magid.

Prior to Magid, Wegner served as a regional account manager with Sonoco and spent time with Hayes Manufacturing.

For more information, visit brakepartsinc.com.

NHRA officials announced the 2020 schedule for the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown Drag Racing Series, which will compete at eight of the 24 events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

This category features a heads-up contest showcasing drag-racing ready, factory-built vehicles including Ford Mustang Cobra Jets, Dodge Challenger Drag Paks and Chevrolet COPO Camaros.

NHRA’s two nitro categories—Funny Car and Top Fuel—will participate at all 24 national events in the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

For more information, visit the NHRA website here.

Image courtesy of NHRA