Hawk Performance, a one of the leading manufacturers of high performance aftermarket brake products for street and track use, has announced a new partnership with the automotive experts at Kunzman & Associates, effective immediately.  

Kunzman will be representing Hawk Performance in the field with customers and at industry events in 2019 and beyond. The company is the six-time recipient of the SEMA Reps of the Year award with over 47 years of experience as manufacturers’ representatives in the field, according to Hawk Performance.

The Kunzman team has a strong presence across the entire United States and western Canada and will help ensure that the Hawk brand is properly represented as one of the leaders in the aftermarket braking industry.  

“At Hawk Performance, we endeavor to support our loyal customers with greater access to experts that can bring value with knowledge and information on our products and applications,” Hawk Performance VP of Sales and Marketing Sean Coleman said. “Kunzman will act as that additional arm of the Hawk Performance team and increase our presence in the field for greater exposure.”

For more information, visit the Hawk Performance website. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the 13th recipient of the North Carolina Motorsports Association Achievement in Motorsports Tribute Awards presented by Fifth Third Bank on Tuesday in Concord, North Carolina.

“I have no idea how all of this happened,” Earnhardt said when accepting his award, according to SPEED SPORT. “But there are a lot of people in this room that made it happen. I was around a lot of great people with huge hearts and tremendous motivation. All I wanted to do was do my best not to let them down.”

Among the industry luminaries in attendance were Rick Hendrick, Kyle Petty, Humpy Wheeler, Mike Helton, Steve Phelps and Steve Letarte.

Past winners of the Tribute award include Bill France Jr., Benny Parsons, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Junior Johnson, O. Bruton Smith, Wheeler, the Ned Jarrett family, Helton, Jeff Gordon, Roger Penske and Jack Roush.

Also recognized on Tuesday was motorsports reporter Deb Williams, who spent most of her journalism career reporting on NASCAR with NASCAR Scene. Williams received the Jim Hunter Memorial Media Award.

Motorsports Industry Awards was handed out to Hickory Motor Speedway (NC), the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation and Kooks Headers & Exhaust.

Charlotte Motor Speedway and NASCAR both shared a Motorsports Industry Award as well, for their work on the first ROVAL NASCAR event.

Finally, five students received North Carolina Motorsports Foundation Scholarships. Hamilton Brown Hewitt was honored with the annual Sam Belnavis Scholarship, while Justin Pugh, Ajinkya Khare, Mitchell Lund and Benjamin Chase Carey were NCMF General Scholarship recipients.

For more information, visit the NCMA website.

Building on the success of its updated Super Touring rules structure, the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) has announced that it will also adopt Super Touring rules for its endurance racing series across the country.

That announcement means that the new endurance class rules will apply to the Western Endurance Racing Challenge series and will also be eligible for NASA’s new Team Racing Endurance Challenge that debuted in 2018.

Along with the news, NASA announced the creation of a subset of the E3 class called E3S. The “S” stands for spec and will include NASA’s most popular spec classes, Spec Miata, Spec E30 and 944 Spec.

“The new class rules provide a clear long-term strategy for our enduro classes to grow and offer greater levels of competition and parity as we expand our enduro program around the country with the new TREC series,” NASA Vice President Jeremy Croiset said. “We’ve adopted our ST rules because they are the fastest growing classes in NASA, and they include virtually all makes and models of cars allowing practically any competition vehicle to race with us—in sprints and enduros.”

The change to a single rule set ensures NASA competitors will enjoy far better class parity while also allowing for NASA to conduct more thorough technical compliance should the need arise, according to the series.

For more information, including how existing endurance classes will equate to the new ST classes, visit the NASA website. For the latest rules, visit nasaproracing.com/rules.

Draco Springs, in conjunction with SRI Performance, announced today that they have expanded their technical sales and service departments with the addition of two engineers, Andy May and Dennis Wells of Zeta Performance Vehicle Technologies (PVT).

Draco Springs is one of the global leaders in racing spring manufacturing, while SRI Performance is the exclusive supplier of Draco’s signature purple springs.

With these new hires, Draco Springs and SRI renew their long-term commitment to providing industry-leading technical sales support, according to the companies.

The duo is expected to become the primary point-of-contact for all technical questions relating to Draco’s full line of racing springs. May and Wells are the founders of Zeta PVT, a full-service automotive engineering company specializing in vehicle testing and development.

With their broad experience on seven-post rigs and data acquisition systems, May and Wells are well-qualified to advise customers on their spring choices, basing their knowledge on real data acquired from the testing field, according to the companies.

“These guys [May and Wells] can really get out there and talk springs with anyone,” SRI Performance Owner Greg Fornelli said. “Draco’s line is so diverse and caters to all forms of racing. The goal is to see more purple springs on more race cars in 2019, and Andy and Dennis are the guys for the job.”

For more information, visit the SRI Performance website or the Draco Springs website.

The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship announced changes to its marquee series for the 2019 season.

The minimum weight of the cars has been reduced by 15 kilograms (kg) [approximately 33 pounds (lbs)], from 1,410 kg to 1,395 kg [approximately 3,108 lbs to 3,075 lbs].

The change follows Supercars technical department’s survey of cars last year, which revealed the level of ballast each car carried.

The Australian-based series have not changed the weight rules since 2013.  

Supercars Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess told Supercars.com that further weight reductions could come in the following years, based on how teams do under the new rules.

For more information, visit the Supercars website.

Ford Performance unveiled the brand new Ford Mustang Funny Car body for 2019.

NHRA drivers Bob Taca III and Tim Wilkerson will campaign the new ride, which is the first full update to the Mustang Funny Car body in 10 years.

Reaffirming Ford’s commitment to Nitro racing, the new body was designed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and miniatures rather than using the typical full-size prototype model.

“We started with this project in October 2017,” Bernie Marcus, a long-time Ford Performance aerodynamicist for the sports car and drag racing efforts, said to NHRA.com. “Design begins with the use of computational fluid dynamics, which then turns into building parts to wind tunnel test on a scale model of the car. Once all those parts are verified, we produce a full-size model.”

The new ride will be showcased during the season opener Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona on February 7–10.

For more information, visit the Ford Performance website or the NHRA website.

The Tri-Track Open Modified Series (TTOMS), based in Seekonk, Massachusetts, recently announced the addition of longtime car owner Ed Bennett to its management team.

Bennett joins TTOMS Founders Dick Williams and Jim Schaefer, as well as Wayne Darling and a host of respected officials, on the series' management team.

In his new role, Bennett will concentrate on the operational side of the series. He will take over the race day responsibilities previously handled by Darling, who seeks to lessen his daily role.

“I want everyone, whether it’s a promoter, owner, driver or fan, to experience a nice smooth show,” Bennett said. “The Series is perfectly capable of doing that. I’m just here to help make that happen for all six races this season.”

With its most robust schedule to date, the 2019 TTOMS series will feature six races, kicking off with the second annual Claremont 100 at Claremont Speedway on May 25 and ending with the Haunted Hundred at Seekonk on October 26.

“During the 2019 season all competitors will vie for over quarter of a million dollars in purse money,” Bennett said. “We are going to make sure that not only is competing in this series lucrative but also fun and fair.”

The addition of Bennett to the TTOMS family comes as Mark Pennink steps way, who will continue to support the series as a sponsor going forward.

Pre-registration for the 2019 TTOMS season is available by visiting tritrackmods.com/registration. For more information, visit the TTOMS website.

Luxemburg Speedway, the dirt track located at Kewaunee County Fairgrounds in Luxemburg, Wisconsin, has a new promoter.

The Kewaunee County Board voted to approve the leasing of the track, grandstands and related facilities to Ashley Stevens of Skyhigh Entertainment LLC based in Kiel, Wisconsin, according to the Kewaunee County Comet.

According to a social media post, Luxemburg Speedway will feature 20 races in 2019, beginning with a season opener race on May 3. The track was still in discussions with IMCA as of late last week but expects to continue as an IMCA sanctioned track in 2019.

The tentative schedule for 2019 features regular weekly racing of 4-cylinders, street stocks, Grand Nationals cars, sport modified, IMCA Stockers and modifieds.

A drivers meeting is set for Friday, February 22, for more information on the 2019 season.

For more information, visit the Luxemburg Speedway website or the Luxemburg Speedway Facebook page.

A few changes have been made to the SCCA Ventures Board of Directors to begin the New Year, as recently announced by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).

Peter Jankovskis is now chairman of that board, and Sydney Davis Yagel, the new general manager of SCCA Pro Racing, has been added to the board. Dan Helman has stepped down as Ventures chairman to better focus on his role as SCCA Pro Racing's interim president.

Other Ventures board members for 2019 include former SCCA Chairman John Walsh, SCCA's senior finance employee Mindi Pfannenstiel, SCCA Enterprises President Robey Clark, and secretary KJ Christopher.

In 2017, SCCA Enterprises and SCCA Pro Racing were merged into one subsidiary entity named SCCA Ventures Inc, which is overseen by a corporate board. The move created a more structured oversight and reporting process for the for-profit arms of the SCCA, and provides a number of administrative advantages for the businesses.

For more information, visit the SCCA website.

Holley has announced that LS Fest West event pre-registration is now open for the May 3-5, 2019 event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The popular event returns for another round of drag racing, drifting, autocross, show-and-shine, the 3S Challenge (autocross and speed-stop hybrid event), burnouts, dyno challenges, off-road challenges, road course challenges, Mr. Chow’s Side Show (skills event for LS and LT rides), poker runs (off-track run) and the Grand Champion competition.

The Lucas Oil Drifting Challenge, which is an invitation-only event, will feature a three-judge panel that will decide who advances to the next round based on three criteria: line, angle, and overall style. First place will take home a $1500 purse, while second and third will take home $750 an $375, respectively. Visit the LS Fest West website for information on how to send in a submission for consideration.

MSD will sponsor the drag racing event, which will again feature several different classes along with the Test-N-Tune/Grudge class, which is perfect for those looking to try a new setup or just have a good time making passes down the track.

The QA1 Autocross, Baer Brakes 3S Challenge, and Grand Champion competition are limited to the first 150 cars that enter.

Finally, Cinco De Mayo Tire De Fry'O Burnout Contest returns to LS Fest West in 2019. In this event, several pre-selected vehicles from various LS Fest event segments compete against one another to establish who can provide the best display of horsepower for the night. Contact lsfest@holley.com if you’d like to be considered for the burnout contest.

The LS Fest West event website is currently up to date. The LS Fest Bowling Green event registration is slated to go live later in the year.