Motovicity Distribution, one of the leading automotive performance aftermarket distributors, has announced the addition of Curtis Schabath to its team as the marketing manager.

With over a decade of experience in marketing, Schabath specializes in digital strategy, experiential promotions, and content creation. He previously worked with a number of automotive companies including GM and Volkswagen.

Schabath combines his expertise with a tenured education from Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Science in Marketing.

“As an auto enthusiast, I already had an understanding of the customer culture and brands Motovicity proudly centers themselves around. This is what first peaked my interest about joining the team,” Curtis Schabath said. “But what really did it for me was how much thought, time, and heart they were already putting into growing and changing the marketing department and company, inside and out. I’ve come to realize quickly that Motovicity is much more than a just a wholesale distributor, but a company engrained in the industry they serve, and a family.”

The American Rally Association (ARA) has appointed Doug Shepard as its president effective immediately. Shepard will also reportedly take on the duties of the national series manager to oversee the daily operations of the ARA.

“I'm happy to be working with ARA and to bring my years of experience to the series,” Shepherd said, “We have a great opportunity to grow the sport of Stage Rally in the US. USAC's reach across the broadest spectrum of motorsport helps our ability to benefit ARA, the events, the competitors, and the sport's followers.

Shepherd is one of the most experienced and well-regarded stage rally professionals in the US, both in the car and as an event organizer, says the ARA. Since 1975, Shepherd has worked as the clerk of the course at a wide range of both established and newly created rally events.

Looking forward, Shepherd plans to develop a practical and strategic road ahead for the future of ARA. Taking input from both established ARA committees as well as the US rally community, Shepherd hopes to develop a plan that will create a stable and robust future for the sport of stage rally in North America.

In related news, the ARA has also appointed longtime marketing and business development professional Paul Giblin as the new national brand manager.

In this newly created position, Giblin will oversee the ARA’s marketing, media relations and business development efforts. He will also work alongside national event organizers to expand marketing efforts and sponsorship initiatives, while also working closely with the newly appointed Shepard.

“I couldn’t be happier than to be part of the rally community once again,” said Giblin. “The opportunity to help grow the sport of stage rally is something I’m very much excited for. I’m also looking forward to working with Doug Shepherd, the ARA Board of Directors, our national event organizers, and our marketing partners as we work together to take the sport of Stage Rally to the next level.”

For more information on the new hires, visit here.

Federal-Mogul Motorparts has introduced a new series of Speed-Pro metric-sized piston rings. The rings are said to help enhance the power and performance of oval track and drag racing engines by reducing rotating mass and cylinder wall drag, according to the company.

The new Pro-Metric series features more than 70 part numbers including 1.2 x 1.2 x 3 mm, 1.2 x 1.5 x 3 mm and 1.5 x 1.5 x 3 mm ring pack configurations covering Chevrolet LS, Dodge Hemi and small-block Ford racing engines.

Each set features lightweight, high-strength stainless steel nitride or steel plasma-moly top ring, a ductile iron second ring with Napier groove, and three-piece, patented curved-vent design oil ring with chrome rails. Sets are available in both conventional and file-fit designs.

For more information, visit the Federal-Mogul Motorparts website here.

The United States Speed Ass’n’s (USSA) 10th anniversary UAW Mel Kenyon Midget Series schedule is set to open at Anderson Speedway on Saturday, April 14.

The schedule features 20 events between April and October, with Gas City I-69 Speedway joining the series for the first time. USSA will again sanction the 70th Pay Less Little 500 presented by UAW GM May 26 at Anderson Speedway.

The series will also stop by Tom Wood Indianapolis Speedrome, US 24 Speedway and Sportsdrome Speedway in 2018.

The Saturday, June 9, event at Anderson Speedway will mark the 200th race sanctioned by the USSA, which conducted its first race at Anderson Speedway on July 22, 2009.

USSA will reach another milestone on Saturday, May 26 with the running of the 70th Pay Less Little 500 presented by UAW GM. The purse of that event is said to be over $1 million.

Following the opening day on April 14, Anderson Speedway will also host the UAW Mel Kenyon Midget Series on May 25 (75-lap Don and Mel Kenyon Classic), June 9, July 7, Aug. 2, Sept. 15 and Oct. 6 (Paint the Night Pink).

The UAW Mel Kenyon Midget Series will visit Tom Wood Indianapolis Speedrome April 28, May 12, June 23, July 14, Aug. 18, and Sept. 1.  The series will return the banks of the Ohio River and Sportsdrome Speedway on June 16 and Aug. 11.

The dirt portion of the UAW Mel Kenyon Midget Series schedule will race at US 24 Speedway May 5, July 8, Aug. 25 and Sept. 8. Gas City I-69 Speedway will host the front half a dirt doubleheader on Friday, Sept. 7.

The Bertil Roos Racing School has announced that it has terminated its relationship with DeMonte Motorsports, effective immediately. DeMonte Motorsports had been providing the school with a fleet of Ford Mustang cars over the past two years.
 
“We are moving in a different direction with respect to our closed-wheel program,” Bertil Roos President Dennis Macchio said. “To that end, we are exploring other options that will better fit our long-term strategies of providing cost-effective, and high-quality performance driving education. The tools with which we teach are an integral part of the teaching process. Handling and braking are more important components than horsepower.”
 
The Bertil Roos Racing School has evolved its formula car fleet over several years and will now turn its attention to developing an alternative closed-wheel option, officials say.
 
For more information on the school, call 1-800-RACE NOW or 570-646-7227. 

OPTIMA Batteries has announced a new nationwide autocross series, DriveAutoX. The inaugural season will feature a four-event series of autocross lifestyle events with an emphasis on the driver’s skill, vehicle performance and the social experience.

“The series is designed to support all participants’ passion to drive with us in a fun, competitive event. With two days of autocross, drivers will get the chance to complete multiple runs on courses designed by the pros that run OUSCI,” OPTIMA Batteries Johnson Controls Director of Marketing Cam Douglass said. “DriveAutoX will also feature the same simple class designation and friendly ruleset as our Search for the Ultimate Street Car series. With more slots to fill we hope to welcome new enthusiasts to the sport.”

The new autocross series joins OPTIMA Batteries’ two other grassroots special events, the OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car series and the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI).

DriveAutoX caters to all years, makes and models of vehicles with a variety of classes. There will also be no work requirements for participants, and at the end of the weekend, a champion will be named from each class.

Registration for the OPTIMA DriveAutoX series is now open at DriveAutoX.com. The entry fee is $125 and there are 150 spots open for each event.

OPTIMA’s 2018 DriveAutoX event schedule is listed below:
        April 7 & 8 at ZMax Raceway in Concord, NC
        June 23 & 24 at Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, IN
        August 18 & 19 at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, IL
        October 13 & 14 at Mineral Wells Airport in Mineral Wells, TX

NASCAR will have a new inspection system in place for the 2018 season, with a full-fledged rollout of a process that was tested at four tracks last year.

The process—developed by Hawk-Eye Innovations, the company that oversaw the debut of NASCAR’s Pit Road Officiating technology—will replace the laser inspection system (LIS) and claw template station that previously measured vehicle bodies. The new system is expected to be far more thorough in its scanning process, creating a three-dimensional heat map of a particular car and comparing it to the computer-aided drawing (CAD) for each manufacturer.

It’s the latest evolution in technical rules enforcement that dates back to its primitive origins with manual measurements and wooden templates.

“It’s part of our DNA to try to innovate,” says John Probst, NASCAR Managing Director, Competition and Innovation.

Two inspection stations will be a fixture at the race track this year, one in the Monster Energy Cup Series garage and the other for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. A third rig will be permanently stationed at the NASCAR Research and Development Center, and it’s already getting plenty of use.

Competition officials have kept that dedicated inspection bay open to teams in the offseason, allowing them to become better oriented with the setup. Since that open-door policy was established, organizations have booked more than 100 appointments and conducted more than 800 scans in preparation for the season.

“I think that as you go back and look at how NASCAR has evolved their inspection process over the years, not always did we have a lot of team involvement,” Probst says, noting that organizations have contributed design time, parts and engineering time to help develop the inspection efforts. “… I think that’s a really good step and a good omen for the industry moving forward in that we had such a collective effort to put this thing together.”

One notable difference is the new inspection bay’s appearance — a black tent with a collection of 16 cameras and eight projectors attached to its inner structure. An additional camera is positioned below the vehicle to measure the underside.

Once a car rolls in, the projectors cast light in a series of lines and dots over the body to create a coordinate system for the cameras. In roughly 30 seconds, those cameras capture the measurements of those light patterns and create a 3-D heat map — also called a point cloud — that helps officials determine whether a car is in compliance.

For more information, including a video of the new inspection process, visit the NASCAR website here.

After five months of serving as a storage facility for tens of thousands of flooded cars in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Royal Purple Raceway (RPR) will reopen March 2 with a brand-new race surface, among other facility upgrades and improvements.

The site of the NHRA SpringNationals (set for April 20–22 this year) had more than three inches of new asphalt material installed from the 660-foot, mid-track mark to 200 feet past the quarter-mile finish line. Laser-guided equipment was utilized to make the entire surface as perfectly smooth as technologically possible, according to RPR.

“We’re very happy to reopen in March for the 2018 race season,” General Manager Seth Angel said. “In this extended offseason, we had a great opportunity to complete a series of major facility projects, most importantly the repaving of our race track.”

Furthermore, most of the system of return roads have been widened and resurfaced to make egress from the racetrack itself easier and more efficient. The wider areas also allow emergency and clean-up vehicles to enter and exit the track with less interference from race teams waiting to collect their cars and drivers.

“We have always taken great pride in having one of the quickest and fastest drag strips in the country and these enhancements should continue that legacy for many more years to come,” Angel said. “The racers themselves suggested these upgrades and we always like to deliver for them.”

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California announced the election of a new member to their board of directors, David Kennedy, director of multimedia content for NHRA.

Kennedy has been a lifelong “car guy” and has been helping to build and develop automotive media brands for almost two decades. Since joining NHRA in 2016, he has helped to shape NHRA media platforms and structure content licensing agreements.

Before that, he was the editor-in-chief of Hot Rod Magazine where he directed editorial planning and social media content. He’s also served in publishing and editorial roles for a number of automotive publications including Custom Truck Group, Diesel Power and Petersen’s Four-Wheel & Off-Road Magazine.

“David Kennedy possesses a vast knowledge of hot rods, high-performance automobiles and motorsports,” said Tom McKernan, chairman of the NHRA Motorsports Museum Board. “We are pleased to have him join us as we continue to cultivate and celebrate the rich history of automotive speed in all its forms.”

“I’m honored to be able to serve the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum as its newest member of the board of directors,” said Kennedy. “I’m a product of hours spent poring over magazines that Wally Parks created and led. I look forward to helping the museum further its mission and position it for success in the years to come.”

Kennedy will assume Glen Cromwell’s position on the board. Cromwell will remain very involved in the museum but is rotating off the board of directors to dedicate more time to his newly appointed role as president of NHRA.

Kennedy will join the following board members: Gale Banks, Linda Louie, Dave McClelland, Tom McKernan, Wayne McMurtry, Jack O’Bannon and Alex Xydias.

WISSOTA President Rob Palmer has announced the addition of Carson Gramm to its Board of Directors. Gramm will succeed Terry Voeltz as the executive director, who is set to retire later in the year.

“I think Carson will bring a lot of enthusiasm and new ideas to WISSOTA, and will be a good asset to our organization. We felt his education and experience at race track operations were exactly what we needed in this position, and we’re really looking forward to getting him involved more,” Palmer said.

Gramm, a native of Ipswich, SD, who currently resides in Sauk Rapids, MN, raced karts as a child and later raced Legends and WISSOTA Super Stocks. His father Mark Gramm was the track announcer at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, SD, for many years.

Gramm attended Minnesota State University - Mankato and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. After, he worked as the promoter at the WISSOTA-sanctioned Granite City Speedway (Sauk Rapids, MN).

Before graduation, Gramm also worked with Elko Speedway (MN) and the Bad Boy Buggies World Finals at Charlotte (NC) Motor Speedway.

“I’m thankful to the entire WISSOTA community for the opportunity to serve the promoters, drivers, and fans to improve the sport I’ve loved since I was a kid. I’m also very grateful for the opportunity that Granite City Speedway provided me over the past year. Moving from track management to a wider set of responsibilities will be a fun transition when I’m able to meet and share ideas with promoters around WISSOTA. By working with the member promoters, I believe we can become an even stronger organization. I’m looking forward to serving all of our promoters for years to come,” Gramm said.