Clay Campbell, the president of Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, has appointed Tim Southers as the track’s new director of communications.

Previously, Southers served as the NASCAR Public Relations Manager for Motorsport Network and 704Games for nearly three years. He also has experience in the Public Relations and Integrated Marketing Communication Departments with NASCAR’s touring series.

The announcement comes ahead of next month’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series ValleyStar Credit Union 300, set for October 5.

Also set in October, the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series will take Martinsville for the NASCAR First Data 500, while the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will take part in the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 on October 25-27. Both events serve as part of the NASCAR playoffs, where winners can advance to the Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

For more information, visit martinsvillespeedway.com.

Promoter Carl Short recently announced that the 39th edition of the Dirt Track World Championship—set for October 18-19 at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Portsmouth, Ohio—will return to a Time Trial format for Super Late Models.
 
Since 2015, a double-heat race format with a passing-points system has transferred drivers into the main event. This year, Friday night will include Time Trials and a single set of 15-lap heat races with a six-car invert. Competitors will earn points based on Time Trials and heat race finishing results. The total points accumulated by a specific driver will be added together to create Saturday's B-Main and A-Main lineups.
 
Saturday's on-track action for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will include B-Mains, followed by a non-qualifier race where the winner has the choice of keeping their $3,000 winnings or forfeiting their earnings to start tail of the main event. The 100-lap Dirt Track World Championship finale will cap off the weekend.
 
To purchase tickets or for more information, visit thedtwc.com or call 740/858-4972.

What’s the climate like where you work?

Not whether it’s hot, or rains a lot, or snows too much.

No, I’m curious about the overall business climate there. Is yours the only racing company in the area, or are there others nearby that play in the same sandbox? And how does that square with your local government and/or chamber of commerce? Are they supportive? Do they take an active interest in what you do?

Do you get the feeling they’re happy you’re around, or does it seem like they’d rather have another CVS there instead?   

These were some of the questions we set out to answer in this month’s feature on Motorsports Business-Friendly Zones, which begins on page 80 and turned out to be a really interesting, insightful report.

In it, writer Steve Statham explored several commercial areas across the country in order to uncover why and how they’ve become so appealing—and accommodating—to racing-related businesses.

Some make perfect sense: As home to the Indy 500, Indianapolis and surrounding areas like Brownsburg will naturally attract like-minded operators. But for others, factors like the availability of skilled local labor can make a world of difference.

As Samantha Grass with Cabarrus Economic Development in Kannapolis, North Carolina, explained, “There is a steady pipeline of talent, from high school career academies all the way up to engineering programs at UNCC and the community colleges, that make it easy for our race shops to hire the folks they need. When we talk to HR at places like Hendrick and Stewart-Haas and NASCAR, they are not having the kind of staffing problems we hear about in other communities, even in the tight labor market.”              

Similar accounts were shared by our contacts from the City of Delaware, Ohio, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in Richmond, Virginia.

But it doesn’t end there—not by a long shot. City of Delaware’s Sean Hughes, for example, detailed several programs and incentives his group offers to help promote development, from tax abatements to performance-based economic grants to assistance with infrastructure.

“We manage every project like it’s our own,” Hughes told us. “We call ourselves ‘business concierges.’ So we’ll sit down with that company or developer and work all the way through the process from beginning to end, until they get their occupancy permit to open the doors.”

This article was an eye-opener, no question about it, and I encourage you to give it a close look as you review this September issue. Even if you’re not in position right now to pack up your tent and head for greener pastures, it’s helpful to know that such pastures do exist, as well as what’s being done there to actively improve the climate for businesses like yours.

“Rapid Response,” the new motorsports documentary that tells the story of the medical and safety professionals who refused to accept the high mortality rate among American race car drivers, will open in select theaters (below) on Friday, September 6.

In 1966, medical student and racing fan Stephen Olvey got the opportunity of a lifetime when he is asked to volunteer for the medical team at the Indianapolis 500. The insider view of a sport he loved quickly changed as he saw the inadequate medical support and life-saving capabilities.

Dr. Olvey was soon joined by longtime colleague and friend Dr. Terry Trammell as they set off on a mission to apply science to transform motorsports from the most deadly form of sports to one of the safest.

The movie is based on the book "Rapid Response - My Life as a Motorsports Life Saver" by Dr. Olvey, which features direct commentary by both Dr. Olvey and Dr. Trammell.

The film highlights the new era safety teams, especially at the Indianapolis 500—the forefront of today's motorsports safety programs. It also features interviews with drivers Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Parnelli Jones, Rick Mears and more.

For more information and to watch the trailer, visit rapidresponsemovie.com.

USA Theaters - Friday, Sept. 6:
·     AMC River East 21 in Chicago, IL
·     AMC Barrington 24 in South Barrington, IL
·     AMC Indianapolis 17 in Indianapolis, IN
·     AMC Dine-In Studio 28 in Kansas City, KS
·     AMC Barrywoods 24 in Kansas City, MO
·     AMC Dine-In Thoroughbred 20 in Franklin, TN
·     AMC Studio 30 in Houston, TX
·     AMC Gulf Pointe 30 in Houston, TX
 
USA Theaters - Friday, Sept. 13:
·     REGAL Long Beach Stadium 26 in Long Beach, CA
·     REGAL Ontario Palace Stadium 22 in Ontario, CA
·     REGAL Stadium 22 in Brea, CA
·     REGAL Parkway Plaza Stadium 18 in El Cajon, CA
·     REGAL Belltower 20 in Fort Myers, FL
·     REGAL Fox Tower Stadium 10 in Portland, OR
·     REGAL Hollywood Stadium 27 in Nashville, TN
 
UNITED KINGDOM Theater - Friday, Sept 6:
·     PRINCE CHARLES Theater in London's West End, London, United Kingdom
 
CANADA Theater - Friday, Sept. 20
·     CINEPLEX Scotiabank Theater in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

DEI, the manufacturer and supplier of heat and sound control products for the automotive aftermarket, has introduced Rosana Del Rio as the company’s International Account Manager. Del Rio, in the all-new position for DEI, will be tasked with helping ensure that DEI becomes the global leader in thermal and acoustic control products, according to a company release.

Del Rio joined DEI in May and has a diverse background in account management and sales. In her new position, she will be tasked with working with existing clients and growing new international sales with a primary focus on Latin America and the Middle East. She will also report directly to DEI’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Tom Miller.

Before joining DEI, she served as a relationship and personal banker for Key Bank and Huntington National Bank and also worked as a Major Account Executive for Ricoh USA and Sales Manager and Account Executive for Konica Minolta.

“Rosana is incredibly talented, organized and disciplined in her approach to developing sales. In a short period of time, she has opened up new doors and provided creative ideas that we feel confident will produce positive results for our international division. As a new member of the SEMA Business Women’s Network, Rosana has quickly taken the initiative to expand her industry relationships and will be invaluable this year at the 2019 SEMA Show,” Miller said.

For more information, visit designengineering.com.

The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is highlighted by a return to Richmond Raceway and eight of the 17 races featured on NBC, INDYCAR officials recently announced.

Richmond Raceway will return to the NTT IndyCar Series schedule for the first time since 2009 and will be the only new addition on the 2020 schedule. The three-quarter-mile Virginia oval will play host under the lights on Saturday, June 27, and be the 11th race on the season.

“We are pleased to return to the Mid-Atlantic region, one we know to be full of INDYCAR fans,” INDYCAR CEO Mark Miles said. “We’re also excited to return to historic Richmond Raceway, which was recently reimagined with a $30 million redevelopment project that modernized the infield for a better fan experience.”

The 2020 season marks the second full season with the NBC Sports Group, which will air the races live on NBC and NBCSN in addition to programming on NBC Sports Gold. The coverage will feature eight races on NBC and nine races on NBCSN.

For the 10th consecutive year, the NTT IndyCar Series season will again kick off on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, on Sunday, March 15. The season will conclude for the second consecutive year at the historic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca road course, where the championship-deciding race will be held Sunday, Sept. 20.

For the complete 2020 schedule, visit here. For more information, visit indycar.com.

Image courtesy of INDYCAR

Goodridge Ltd, a global fluid transfer systems manufacturer supplying OEM, performance, motorsports and defense markets, has announced the appointment of Thinh Pho as the new CEO of the organization’s three North American operations.  
 
Pho, who was formerly the Executive Vice President of Dynacast, will take up his new position in the headquarters of Goodridge USA’s Original Equipment Manufacturing division in Torrance, California.
 
With a proven track record of driving profitability and sustaining growth supplying automotive, EV, industrial, aerospace and military sectors, Pho will be focusing on strengthening and building upon Goodridge’s strong customer base in North America.
 
Pho will work closely alongside Goodridge Global CEO Charles Bolton.

“We are very excited to have Thinh join our global executive team and look forward to the ongoing success and growth of our Americas business under his care,” Bolton said.

For more information, visit us.goodridge.com.

The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and Raceway Venray signed a three-year extension to bring the European NASCAR Series to the Netherlands through at least 2022.

The contract extension was agreed upon between NWES President and CEO Jerome Galpin and track owner Harry Maessen following the 2019 event on July 13-14.

“We had some really good races at Raceway Venray this year with cars racing at [over 99 mph] average speed on this [half-mile] high-banked race track. This is totally unique in Europe and our teams and drivers really enjoyed it,” Galpin said. “Adding this unique oval makes the Euro NASCAR one of the biggest challenges in European racing.”

In 2019 Raceway Venray hosted the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for the fourth time and thousands of fans enjoyed pure NASCAR short-track racing at the high-banked half-mile oval.

For more information, visit euronascar.com.

Photo courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series

Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) drivers Antron Brown, Leah Pritchett, Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan, and Tommy Johnson Jr. will help kick off the 2019 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show as special guests for the Grand Opening Breakfast on Thursday, December 12.

Offered exclusively for PRI Show attendees, the event features a live talk show-style program served up alongside a catered breakfast to some 3,000 industry professionals in the Indiana Convention Center’s Sagamore Ballroom just prior to the start of the three-day trade-only Show.

Emcee Ralph Sheheen of SPEED SPORT will lead a lively and entertaining discussion with the DSR team that is expected to include personal stories and accomplishments on and off the race track.

"It is an honor to have Don Schumacher Racing drivers join us at the Breakfast and help kick off another amazing PRI Show," said Karin Davidson, PRI Trade Show Director. "The drivers, along with new host Ralph Sheheen, will make for a very entertaining and unique Breakfast."

DSR team members scheduled to appear at PRI are among the most accomplished drivers in drag racing today:

• Antron Brown: The three-time Top Fuel world champion has scored 66 wins in 123 finals rounds during a professional career that began with a successful stint in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

• Leah Pritchett: The talented competitor closed out her second full season as a DSR driver in 2018 with the Factory Stock Showdown Series championship and a top-five finish in the Top Fuel class.

• Ron Capps: The 2016 Funny Car champion ranks second in the class with 63 event wins. He has also scored a victory in Top Fuel, becoming one of only 16 drivers in history to win in both classes.

• Jack Beckman: The Funny Car racer scored a Super Comp championship before moving up to the professional classes, where he has 28 wins and earned the 2012 Funny Car championship.

• Matt Hagan: A two-time Funny Car world champion (2011, 2014), he has 31 career victories in 58 final rounds. He also was the first Funny Car racer to break the 3.8-second barrier and reach 335 mph.

• Tommy Johnson Jr.: He has competed in seven NHRA categories, including Top Fuel and Funny Car, recording 19 wins in 52 career final rounds.

Doors to the Sagamore Ballroom will open at 7 a.m., and the program will begin at 7:45 a.m. PRI attendees are admitted to the Breakfast free of charge, but guests are advised to arrive early, as seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Held December 12–14 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, the 2019 PRI Trade Show will feature over 1,100 companies exhibiting in more than 3,300 booths and showcasing the latest products, services, machinery, simulation and testing technologies, and trailers for the racing industry in a single location. Now in its 32nd year, PRI encompasses all forms of racing and attracts attendees from all 50 states and all over the world, including professional race teams, retail shops, warehouse distributors, engine builders, fabricators, dealers, installers, jobbers and media.

Known as Race Industry Week, the days leading up to and including the Show will offer a range of motorsports-related activities in and around the Indiana Convention Center beginning on Monday, December 9. Numerous conferences and seminars, among them the Race Track Business Conference and International Council of Motorsport Sciences’ Annual Congress, offer unlimited business opportunities and provide invaluable insight on the latest technologies and how to apply them throughout the racing world.

To register for the 2019 PRI Trade Show, secure hotel reservations, and sign up for free business seminars, log on to prishow.com.

HOT ROD Drag Week engine builders have made the switch to the EZ Roll Bushing lifters and you should too!

Drag Week is, without a doubt, the most grueling and toughest test on roller lifters. Five straight days of mid-six second passes at 200 miles per hour followed by a couple of hundred miles in traffic is torture on the engines as a whole—but especially the valvetrain. For years, top drivers were breaking roller lifters, and it was the cause of poor runs or going home. A few years ago, Dave Schroeder and John Ens made the switch to EZ Roll Bushing lifters after years of failures. What they noticed right away was the lifter problems disappeared, the lash never changed and the valve springs lasted longer.

They went on to become the 2017 Drag Week winners with a nitrous engine and finished second last year. Their Reher-Morrison 872 ci also won the 2018 Masters of Motors Best Nitrous Engine award.

Drag Week is one thing—but what about performance? Top engine builders have been running the EZ Roll Bushing lifters for well over a decade. From Jim Oddy setting Pro Mod records and winning championships with the lifters before anyone knew they were out there to very early adopters like Pro Stock engine builder Steve Schmidt, many have become believers over the years. Dave Adkins recently set the LSX World Record in the 1/8-mile at 3.75 seconds and 199.7 mph using a Baker Engineering twin turbo LS Camaro with the EZ Roll Helix, Isky’s latest version which features two grooves on the inside of the bushing that allow extra oil flow at low and high rpm.

Isky has supplied several of the Street Outlaws No Prep Kings racers with its new EZHelix Bushing lifters. As Mike Murillo, Scott Taylor and Bobby Ducote are forced to step up their programs to keep pace, failures started coming along with the extra boost and higher pressures. They have each made the switch and are running up front again.

Why a bushing lifter? Isky visited Richard Childress to see the first running Spintron and the information it could provide and immediately bought the third Spintron off the line to use while testing new spring designs made by partner PSI Springs. (A little-known fact, Isky was the first customer and partner with PSI). During early Spintron testing of the new Gold Stripe Springs, testers kept losing needle-bearing lifters as they pushed the limit higher and higher. With the Spintron and laser system, however, they were able to really see the amount of distortion the roller needle bearing goes through. They were also able to see the difference in the designed cam motion and the true valve motion at high rpm’s and loads. Isky reps were shocked to see how much the lifter distorted going up the ramp, as well as the rebound effect as the valve closed. This was translating bad harmonics throughout the whole system, limiting performance and breaking parts.

Isky found that as testers pushed the combinations, the needles actually spread apart from each other so much that the main pin would contact the outer race wheel, breaking it and sending needles through the engines. The frustration of losing needle bearing after needle bearing is what led Isky to start work on a bushing lifter, which had been tried many times before but not quite right.

When Isky got the right material mix, testers found a lifter that lasted three to four times longer than any needle bearing lifters tested. The benefits were undeniable, you could now have a lifter that lasted longer, did not distort under the most aggressive cam profiles and pressures, dampened valvetrain harmonics and actually gained horsepower!

Now for the how. The real key is in the material, and Isky is actually on its fifth version of bushing material. Not satisfied with the EZMax version, they kept testing and says it would be hard to ever top its latest EZHelix version, which features new material and double helix grooving. A bushing lifter works off of the simple concept that there is no metal-to-metal contact, and the outer wheel or bushing rotates around the pin on a bed of oil.

We all understand how strong hydraulic pressure can be and if you simply get the oil to stay in place the roller would rotate without wear and low friction. Sounds simple until you add in rotating mass, pressures and heat. What happened in earlier attempts is that the pressures would squish out the oil and the wheel would contact the pin. After testing, Isky finally found a material that would hold the oil on its surface under high pressures. Its latest version is able to survive long periods of sustained rpm at 1500 lbs. open pressure with over 70 psi boost. Every EZ Roll Bushing lifter is the only bushing lifters that allow you to run engine oil restrictors.

Let’s cover a few misconceptions about bushing roller lifters. One question asked all the time is about hp loss due to friction. After explaining the how earlier, this idea of hp loss runs contrary to the goal and design of the bushing lifter. A new set of Isky EZ Roll lifters are hard to spin because they come pre-lubed with a special, thick break-in oil. As mentioned in the installation instructions, however, once the break-in oil is heated and run in the first time, there is considerably less friction.

If you take a look at the needle roller bearing, you have the needles not only rotating against the inner axel but at the same time the outer wheel. This not only creates friction and heat, it promotes wear from second one of running time. In a bushing roller there is zero metal-to-metal contact, the bed of oil prevents the contact and friction of any metal-to-metal surface. The constant flush of oil through the system also helps to cool it. With the needle bearing, the load is spread only over the three or four needles in contact with the wheel and axle at any one time. With the bushing, the load is spread out over the full contact of the wheel oil barrier and provides about 350% more load capability.

The EZMax and EZHelix Solid Roller Bushing are available as an option on all of Isky’s Tie-Bar Roller Lifters and come standard in all of its Keyway Roller Lifters. Isky also offers the EZHydro Roller Bushing in all its Hydraulic Roller Lifters for applications from the LS, Ford, Gen III Chrysler Hemi, Retro Fit Engines and even the Harley Davidson Twin Cam and Evolution engines.