MAHLE recently announced the appointment of Matthew Lundh as East Regional Manager for MAHLE Aftermarket Inc. Lundh will be responsible for leading and driving the sales efforts for the Eastern region, as well as assisting the existing team members in increasing MAHLE market share.

Lundh brings over twenty years of auto care experience in business development, sales operations and project management, as well as a wealth of knowledge with the customer segment of Traditional Warehouse Distributors and Program Groups.

Most recently, Lundh served as business development manager at TRW Automotive Aftermarket, North America, and prior to that, was director of sales for AutoMD, where through partnerships with warehouse distributors in North America, he grew the AutoMD network. Lundh also worked for Beck Arnley and CARQUEST.

Lundh will report to Jim Kahut, Head of Aftermarket Sales North America.

For more information about MAHLE Aftermarket and its brands, visit www.mahle-aftermarket.com.

Four months after an auction for the Lake County Speedway in Painesville, Ohio failed to garner a bid beyond the opening one, it has now been sold.

The new owners, Denise Maggio along with husband Randy S. Maggio, plan to rename it The Painesville Speedway, as it was known for decades.

The Maggio family is no stranger to racing, as Denise’s son Randy James (R.J.) Maggio is a current racer, and husband Randy previously owned a race track.

The last event under the Lake County Speedway name and ownership took place Saturday, August 26.  

The new owners plan to host their first race Saturday, Sept. 2 during the grand opening event, which will feature Street Stocks, Figure 8, Renegades, and Factory Fours along with Parking Lot Drags.

4 Wheel Parts opened its newest location on Aug. 26 in Ogden, Utah.

The shop’s grand opening festivities marked the off-road aftermarket retailer’s 82nd store in North America. The event featured special grand opening discounts, installation specials and various giveaways, and the unveiling of its latest, state-of-the-art showroom and service bay.

“This store is our second in the state and with more than fifty years of experience providing quality parts and installation to our customers, we take great care to assist them in choosing everything from parts for an extreme build to floor mats and tonneau covers,” said Brandon Addington, store manager.

Many of the industry’s leading manufacturers and their products were on hand for the grand opening including Rockslide Engineering, Terraflex Suspension, Tough Country, GenRite, Superchips, Decked and Artec Industries.

In addition to a host of custom vehicles on display, guests were able to enjoy fun activities, food and more.

Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) has chosen not to renew its current shop lease at its current Mooresville, N.C. location, according to CATCHFENCE.

RPM currently operates its No. 43 Smithfield Ford out of a 78,000-square-foot shop at 112 Byers Creek Road in Mooresville, according to Loopnet.com. The shop will be available for lease in December 2017.

“The building is up for lease at the end of the year,” a statement read from an RPM spokesperson. “RPM chose not to sign the lease for next year. Plans are still undecided for next year for the team, but they do know the building is too big for their needs.”

The listing says the facility is a fully functioning race shop in excellent location and visibility. It also says the building is 13 percent office space with nine drive-in doors. The shop was also renovated in 2015.

RPM moved into its current facility in Talbert Pointe at the end of the 2014 season but had previously housed their NASCAR program at the same location in 2007 and 2008. Other race teams that have occupied the same location include Robert Yates Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports.

RPM has not announced their plans for the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

The CARS Tour will reduce the number of super late model races it sanctions beginning next season.

CARS Tour President Jack McNelly made the announcement during the drivers’ meeting prior to Saturday’s event at Concord Speedway.

The series launched in 2015 from the ashes of the old Pro Cup Series and every event since the creation of the series has hosted dual super late model and late model stock car events.

McNelly explained that super late models have many events to choose from throughout the country, making it difficult to craft a schedule that will allow teams to commit to the full CARS Tour season.

“Frankly, the supers have many, many places to run. They can go to Winchester the same night we’re racing, they can go to Five Flags Speedway the same night we’re racing, they can run a PASS race the same night we’re racing,” McNelly said. “We just felt that what we need to do is maybe reduce the number of races we offer and see if we can’t get a bigger field on those nights.”

McNelly was unable to say exactly how many super late model races the series will sanction in 2018, but did indicate to SPEEDSPORT the late model stocks will return for a full schedule of events next year.

He said that the 2018 CARS Tour schedule for both the late model stocks and super late models will be released prior to the Oct. 14 season finale at South Boston (Va.) Speedway.

Thunder Raceway is under new ownership and a new name. The Arizona track, now owned by Shon Deskins, will go by the name Show Low Speedway Park.

Deskins, a 25-year sprint car race veteran, said he wants to ensure racer support at the clay-oval track where sprint car, stock car, modified stock and other motorsports have taken place since the track opened in 1995. No race dates were or will be affected by the change.

Another change for the track will include concession menu additions like the “Manzanita Raceway-style” Indian fry bread, among other “crowd pleasers.”

Races will still typically occur on Saturday nights, starting at 7:30 p.m. with the same ticket prices ($12 for adult general admission, children age 10 and younger get in free, and family packs are $30).

The next major event for the track is its Sept. 2–3 two-day Labor Day race. For more information, visit www.showlowspeedwaypark.com.

Just two weeks from the announcement the track was for sale, Quincy Raceways (Quincy, IL) changed hands from Ken Dobson, who has run the facility since 2013, to Jason and Robert Goble from Burlington, Iowa. Dobson will remain the promoter at Jacksonville Raceway.

The Gobles, who worked previously for 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa, has taken over ownership of the track and will run events the rest of the 2017 season. The Gobles have moved on to the property, living out of an RV until they find a permanent residence.

“We are Quincy residents now,” Robert Goble said in a press release. “We are planning on extending the season into October now.”

The number of Sunday night races has yet to be determined but the season is expected to go into October.

The Gobles plan several improvements to the track, including new fencing, cleaning up the grounds, painting, cleaning bathrooms and the destruction of two buildings in the pits. The Gobles will run the same six classes that are run now (Late Models, modifieds, Sport Mods, stock cars, 4-Cyl and 305 sprints), and will evaluate the future of the racing program in the offseason after getting input from all the parties involved.

The next race at Quincy is scheduled on Sept. 3 and will run Late Models, 305 Sprints, Stock Cars, Sportmods, 4-Cyl.

The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) has announced a few more companies have added contingency programs for the 2017 SCCA National Championship Runoffs competitors.

Registration for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs contingencies is being conducted through MotorsportReg.com, but many programs also require competitors to directly register with supporting sponsors.

To see a complete list of contingency sponsors available for the 2017 SCCA National Championship Runoffs, visit www.scca.com/pages/main-contingency.

The 54th Runoffs, set for September 25–October 1 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Indianapolis, Indiana, has recently made SCCA history after competitor registration opened up July 19.

In just 24 hours, 763 driver entries were registered through SCCA’s online registration portal—toppling the 413 entries made in 24 hours for the 2016 Runoffs event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

NASCAR has announced the four tracks that will make up the 2018 NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash program.

The four Dash 4 Cash races will be run consecutively on the series schedule, starting at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14. The races at Richmond Raceway (April 20), Talladega Superspeedway (April 28) and Dover Int’l Speedway (May 5) will follow.

“Each track demands different techniques and strategies, which will ultimately benefit the fans. It will again put a premium on the immense talent in the series, as the spotlight continues to shine on our rising stars during this four consecutive race stretch,” NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jim Cassidy said.

Rules and formats for the four-race Dash 4 Cash program will be announced at a later date. The program offered up $100,000 paydays for eligible XFINITY Series regulars during Dash 4 Cash weekends in 2017.

Dash 4 Cash winners this year included Justin Allgaier (Phoenix and Richmond), Daniel Hemric (Bristol) and William Byron (Dover).

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will add a second four-wide racing event in 2018. The series will run at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals joins the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in April 2018.

The traditional four-wide event has been held annually since 2010 at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.

The speedway announced plans to widen The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to four lanes, and construction is already under way in anticipation of April 4-6, 2018 event.

NHRA officials expressed excitement about bringing four-wide NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series to the west.

“The excitement and sensory overload of four-wide drag racing are some of the most intense displays of motorsports in the country,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA president. “We look forward to presenting the four-wide experience to the dedicated NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series fans in Las Vegas and the surrounding states.”

Tickets for the first-ever four-wide drag race in Las Vegas will be for sale during this fall’s NHRA Toyota Nationals, which kicks off Oct. 26. For more information, visit www.speedwaymotorsports.com.