The PRI Team will take some time to spend with family and friends over Christmas and New Year's. We will resume posting industry news on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. We would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays!

In advance of the IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 6, 2018, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) has appointed Beaux Barfield as race director for the multi-class series.

In this new role, IMSA reinforces the consistency of its officiating from the development Prototype platform through to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Previous IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda race director Elliott Forbes-Robinson will transition into an overarching driver observer/advisory role for all IMSA series.

“The addition of Beaux to the IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda team will be invaluable as the series shifts to a new endurance race format this season,” said IMSA Vice President, Competition, Simon Hodgson.

The IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda shifts from its longtime sprint race format of two, 45-minute races per event weekend to a single 1-hour, 45-minute endurance race in 2018. The series will continue to feature two classes, blending LMP3 prototypes from a variety of constructors with the longstanding, MPC class that uses the Élan DP02 chassis powered by Mazda engines.

The new endurance format will allow teams to run a single or two-driver combination with a required minimum-time pit stop.

The inaugural IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda endurance race at Daytona will be streamed live on IMSA.com on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 1:25 p.m. ET.

Eastside Speedway, a 4/10-mile dirt oval and 1/8-mile drag strip, has been reported for sale, according to The News Virginian.

Track owner Gary Gore made an announcement on the track’s Facebook page, stating both the oval track and drag strip were for sale and priced at $2.5 million.

Gore also mentioned that if he does not find a buyer before the 2018 season, he will not operate the oval track, citing personal reasons. In the event that this happens, Gore will continue to operate the 1/8-mile asphalt drag strip, however.

The sale includes around 135 acres of land and “everything needed to run a race.”

For more information on the sale, visit the post here, or call 540/439-3558.

Millstream Speedway, a half-mile dirt oval in Findlay, Ohio, will reopen in 2018 under the direction of sprint car veterans Larry and Shane Helms.

The pair has booked a trio of Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions races during the 2018 season.

The tour will visit on May 27 during Memorial Day Weekend, on June 23 for the final night of Ohio Speedweek and on Sept. 3 during Labor Day Weekend.

The May 27 show will be called the Bob Hampshire Classic and the June 23 event, which pays $10,000 to win, is titled the Rick Ferkel Classic.

Premier Performance, a wholesale distributor with locations across the US, has announced Alan Miller will assume the role of business development manager for the East Coast. Miller will be responsible for increasing businesses and outside sales in Premier’s eastern territories of the US, and will also be based out of Premier’s Louisville, Kentucky, facility.

“Alan has a unique understanding of the distribution model, bringing with him a wealth and variety of experience in retail, aftermarket distribution, OEM, and most recently, National Account sales,” Bob Barra, executive VP of sales and marketing at Premier, said to RV Pro. “Alan has a high level of passion and understanding for the distribution model, and for anticipating and meeting customer needs.”

Miller comes to Premier after working as director of national accounts at King, a manufacturer of portable OTA and satellite products. In addition to the duties listed above, Miller will also be responsible for developing business with national accounts.

Miller replaces Trev Burt, who was recently named a new merchandising and events manager.

The Sunnen Engine Charity Sweepstakes, one of the key features at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show, has announced a grand total of $50,000 will be donated to Victory Junction as a result of the 2017 raffle sweepstakes efforts put on by Sunnen Products Company.

According to event organizer Bob Davis of Sunnen, $50,000 is the second highest figure on record for the 29th-annual event. A supercharged GM LSX 454 small-block racing engine, built by Nick Ferri of Patterson Elite Performance, was awarded to Ryan Anderson of Son Uva Digger Monster Truck in North Carolina.

All funds raised benefit Victory Junction, a year-round camping facility in Randleman, North Carolina, founded in 2004 by NASCAR’s Petty Family for children ages six to 16 with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses.

“It was a great team effort, and as a result numerous seriously ill kids will be able to attend camp for a week, and during that time, enjoy life like all the other kids. On behalf of all of us at Sunnen Products Company, thanks for a job well done,” Davis said.

After 17 years as the exclusive holder of naming rights for the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course located in Monterey, California, Mazda will officially end the relationship on March 31, 2018.

Going forward, the 2.2-mile track and surrounding property will be known as Laguna Seca, which first opened in 1957.

“After 17 seasons as the title sponsor for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Mazda has chosen to end its naming rights agreement with the storied race facility,” read a statement from Mazda. “We will continue to participate in key event weekends, as racing is a part of our DNA. The relationship between Mazda, the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) and the County of Monterey has been a wonderful one, and this decision was not reached easily. We wish the facility, the management team and the millions of fans who love the track as much as we do many more successful racing laps into the future.”

Other racing programs with Mazda sponsorship will not be affected, Mazda said.

“We are as active in motorsports as we have always been,” a spokesman said, according to Auto Week. “We do not foresee any of that changing.”

Formula Race Promotions (FRP) of Salem, New Hampshire, has announced that Mike Fultz has been named race director for the Atlantic, F2000 and F1600 Championships, while Joe Griffin has been promoted to technical director.

Fultz joined FRP as technical director heading into the 2014 season, helping to drive a number of rules changes across all three Championships. He brings with him a racing history dating back to the 1980s as an open wheel racer, winning the Formula Vee Mid Atlantic Road Racing Series championship in 2006.

While racing has been a passion, he is also well known for the fabrication, construction and restoration of many open wheel formula cars. Fultz is a nationally-licensed tech inspector and was awarded Technical Inspector of the Year in 2004 by the Washington, D.C. Region SCCA.

As race director, Fultz now assumes weekend responsibility for event management and operations.

Griffin has been promoted to the role of the technical director, as he has been the chief technical inspector for FRP’s Atlantic Championship Series since 2012 when the series was launched at Road Atlanta.

Griffin brings years of Atlantic car experience to the Series, having been involved with the class going back to the Formula B days, and working for a former version of the Series from 1983 to 2006.

A new road racing series, the Spec MX-5 Challenge, will debut on tracks in the eastern and central portion of the US in 2018, including Virginia International Raceway, Circuit of The Americas and Road Atlanta, as announced by Atlanta Speedwerks and Winding Road Racing.

Spec MX-5 will feature identically prepared NC generation (2006-2015) Mazda MX-5s. Winding Road Racing will be conducting a six weekend/12-race Central series in conjunction with NASA events, while Atlanta Speedwerks will be hosting a six weekend/12-race Eastern series in conjunction with SCCA events. A total of 10 drivers will be selected to compete in each series, with the top seven drivers from each series coming together for the 14-car final championship event.

To ensure fairness, drivers will be randomly assigned a different car each weekend, with procedures in place to ensure each car is identically prepared. Drivers will only be allowed to use one set of dry tires per weekend (an official tire manufacturer will be announced soon, according to officials).

Mazda is integrating the Spec MX-5 Challenge into its industry-leading pro racing ladder system. With assistance from Mazda, the Spec MX-5 series will award the 2018 Spec MX-5 Challenge champion a $100,000 scholarship toward running the Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires series in 2019. In addition, Mazda will pick one at-large nominee from the Spec MX-5 Challenge for the Mazda Road to 24 Shootout.

For more information, including the complete 2018 schedule, pricing and contact information, visit here.

American-Canadian Tour (ACT) officials have announced that Pete Knights has been named as the new director of competition for the ACT Late Model Tour.

Knights will replace Dean Gallison, who stepped down from the role following the 2017 racing season after 20 years with the organization. Gallison will remain as the director of competition at Vermont’s Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl.

Knights has been involved in the Northeast racing community for more than 40 years as a crew member and official. He first entered the ACT Late Model scene in the early 1990s working with longtime racer Stacey Cahoon and won the ACT Crew Chief of the Year Award in 2008 as a member of Randy Potter Racing. Since 2013 he had been working as the head technical inspector at White Mountain Motorsports Park in New Hampshire.

“Being asked to join ACT as the Director of Competition is a great honor for me,” Knights said. “I hope to carry on what Dean and his crew have established with keeping cars and crews on a level playing field for the fans to enjoy. I’m looking forward to working with all the drivers and their crews as well as with Cris Michaud and the entire ACT organization.”