Statesville, North Carolina-based Kooks Headers and Exhaust has announced the addition of Matt Hatfield to its leadership team as the chief operating officer (COO).

Hatfield, who brings more than 20 years of c-level experience from the manufacturing industry, will oversee the entire organization and steer the team towards the goals set forth by Kooks CEO George Kook, Jr.

Hatfield comes to Kooks after working in various industries, including with Caterpillar and John Deere & Co, as well as working with direct to customer businesses like Costco and Target.

Kooks also announced that Kevin Floody would continue his role overseeing the sales operation for the entire Kooks portfolio of brands, while Brad Zimmerman will stay focused on providing marketing strategies for the brands.

For more information, visit the Kooks Headers & Exhaust website.

Texas Motor Speedway has hired long-time motorsports public relations executive David Hart as vice president of public relations for the multi-purpose facility, which is set for its 23rd season of racing in 2019.

Hart holds several years of experience working for tracks, teams, sanctioning bodies and more. He spent the past two seasons as the media relations manager with Furniture Row Racing, last year working with 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Martin Truex, Jr.

After holding various positions with Speedway Motorsports Inc.’s Sonoma (California) Raceway, National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), The Cotter Group and Richard Childress Racing, Hart later went on to serve as the director of communications for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) before serving as media relations manager at Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, in 2015-16.

“We’ve got a big NASCAR triple-header weekend in less than seven weeks. There is work to be done,” Texas Motor Speedway President/GM Eddie Gossage said, also noting that Hart’s experience seems to fit the track well.

Hart begins his new role at this week’s NASCAR season-opening events in Daytona Beach and will join Media Relations Manager Jake Young at Texas Motor Speedway on February 22.

For more information, visit the Texas Motor Speedway website.

National Performance Warehouse/National Auto Parts Warehouse (NPW) has added Dave Richardson to its staff as the new director of IT.

NPW—now with 19 warehouses and 40 stores across North America—has seen an accelerated increase in providing vital connectivity to its customers and suppliers, according to the company. NPW expects its need for IT resources to continue to grow, and Richardson’s extensive automotive background makes him a perfect fit for the company’s future growth.

Richardson’s previous experience includes a long tenure with Parts Depot, Uni-Select and Auto Plus/Pep Boys.

“We are excited about have an IT professional like Dave on the NPW team,” NPW Executive Vice President Chris Pacey said. “In his brief tenure with us we have already benefited by many enhancements he has made. Dave is a great mentor to our IT staff as well as understands the needs of all channels of our business model. I am sure we have found the right person to keep us on the leading edge of our IT needs for many years to come.”

For more information, visit the National Performance Warehouse (NPW) website.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and Half Scale Dragsters announced a multi-year partnership that will see Half Scale Dragsters become the official Junior Dragster of the IHRA.

As part of the partnership, Half Scale Dragsters will build a turnkey junior dragster that is awarded to the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Champion during the IHRA Summit World Finals October 17-19, Memphis International Raceway, Memphis, Tennessee.

Half Scale Dragsters will also participate in the IHRA contingency program and reward Junior the Dragster winners and runner-ups at IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular, IHRA Summit Team Finals, IHRA Summit Junior Dragster Team Finals and IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals events with product certificates.

Half Scale Dragsters—located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey—is focused on Junior Dragster performance and employing the latest in state-of-the-art computerized machinery and manufacturing process, according to the IHRA.

For more information, visit the IHRA website or the Half Scale Dragsters website.

Meyer Distributing, Inc, one of the leaders in automotive specialty products marketing and distribution, recently announced the addition of its new Chattanooga, Tennessee location. The cross-dock will have a direct, next-day feed from Meyer's Jasper, Indiana-based distribution hub.

“We have made great inroads with customers in the exhaust and performance markets in this region,” Meyer Exhaust & Undercar Sales Manager Collin Gentry said. “We are relatively new to this industry so it’s great that customers are continuing to buy after giving us a first shot. We are finding we can often save exhaust customers time and money since we deliver to the region five days a week where the norm is once or twice a week.”

For more information, visit the Meyer Distributing website.

The Dirt Track at Charlotte will double the amount of competition and entertainment coming to Charlotte’s world-class clay oval in May, as announced by the track.

Track officials and the World of Outlaws unveiled the Patriot Nationals, an expanded two-day event May 24-25, featuring the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Cars headlining a weekend of sprint car racing less than 24 hours before the green flag for the 60th running of the Coca-Cola 600.

Each Patriot Nationals sprint car feature pays $15,000 to win and $1,000 to start. Fans in attendance will also witness the fender-banging FUEL Racing Series on Friday and the SECA Late Models on Saturday, serving as action-packed undercards for the Patriot Nationals.

“The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series couldn’t be more thrilled to work with The Dirt Track at Charlotte to make the Patriot Nationals come to fruition,” World of Outlaws COO Tom Deery said. “With the increased purse for both nights, the Patriot Nationals will be an amazing event for the fans and drivers during a huge weekend of racing in Charlotte.”

In addition to the two-day event, the Dirt Track, celebrating its 20th season, will again host the World of Outlaws World Finals presented by Can-Am on November 7-9.

For more information, visit the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Cars website. To purchase tickets to the Patriot Nationals, visit here.

The FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance has released its touring schedule for the 2019 season. The schedule includes more than $450,000 in total purse money for drivers competing on the tour.

Drivers will be chasing the $10,000-to-win FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance Championship beginning on April 6, at Toccoa Raceway in Toccoa, Georgia.

The FASTRAK World Championship, paying a record $50,000 to win and $2,050 to start, will be held September 13-14 at Virginia Motor Speedway. The total purse for the FASTRAK World Championship currently stands at $162,175 with the addition of the two provisional starters.

The FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance season is set to conclude on November 15-16, at Screven Motorsports Complex in Sylvania, Georgia, with a $2,000 to win race on Friday and $3,000 to win on Saturday.

In related news, pre-registration has opened for the $50,000-to-win FASTRAK World Championship set for September 13-14 at Virginia Motor Speedway. Visit here to enter.

For more information on the 2019 schedule, visit the FASTRAK website here.

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports has announced an expansion of its operations in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The Fresno, California-based sports car racing organization will add a new LMP2 ORECA 07 ride—doubling up its LMP2 team—and will also adding a new LMP3 entry into the IMSA Prototype Challenge as well.

The new LMP2 chassis by ORECA will be used for a testing program in 2019, with the possibility of having an entry later in the year. The long-term plan is for a full 2020 season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, according to the team.

The announcement will allow the team’s up-and-coming drivers to move through the ranks starting with its junior team in the LMP3 category.

“This is an exciting time here at PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well. We are happy with the results we have been seeing and hope to continue seeing success with the new ORECA 07 chassis,” Team Principal Bobby Oergel said. “We are also proud of the opportunities we have been able to provide to up-and-coming talent which is what led us to enter a car in the IMSA Prototype Challenge category.

“Sebring will be a busy weekend for us and we are looking forward to it.”

The 2019 season began in January and continues March 13–16, with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts.

For more information, visit the team website or the IMSA website.

The NMRA Ford Nationals and NMCA Muscle Car Nationals has announced Roger Conley as its new national tech director, overseeing technical and safety operations for the street-legal drag racing organization with headquarters based in Santa Ana, California.

Conley comes to ProMedia Events & Publishing with extensive experience in data acquisition and power adder segments along with a high-level of motorsports background that spans over 30 years, according to ProMedia.

“We are excited to bring Roger and RC2 Motorsports into the NMRA and NMCA sanctioning bodies; he is well-respected in the racing community and brings a very unique set of skills to the position thanks to his 15-year career at Racepak where he worked with professional and sportsman race teams and most recently as the general manager of Precision Turbo and Engine,” ProMedia Events & Publishing General Manager and National Event Director Rollie Miller said.

Conley, who begins the new position immediately, is reported to be quickly getting up to speed on the 2019 rulebook while preparing for the season opening events—the 25th annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout (February 28-March 3) and the 17th annual NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem (March 7-10) both at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida.

For more information, visit the NMCA website or the NMRA website.

Cloyes Gear and Products has announced the expansion of its distribution center in Aguascalientes, Mexico, which opened in 2004. The new layout within the facility has added 27 percent to the facility's overall capacity, which features new gravity racks and the extension of the company’s conveyor rollers.

The 20,000-square-foot facility services customers in Mexico, Central America and South America.

“One of Cloyes’ strengths is its ability to pick and ship customer orders on time, and accurately,” Cloyes Senior Vice President of Operations Dave Haley said to Aftermarket Intel. “The expansion of our distribution center in Aguascalientes allows us to continue filling orders at industry-leading levels and grow our business in Mexico and Latin America.”

Cloyes is a provider of timing system products, including complete timing chain and timing belt kits as well as individual timing components.

For more information, visit the Cloyes website.