International Motor Sports Ass’n (IMSA) officials have confirmed that the WeatherTech Night of Champions will return to the Chateau Élan Winery & Resort in Braselton, Georgia, on October 9, 2017.

The WeatherTech Night of Champions will recognize team, driver and manufacturer champions in all four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes – Prototype (P), GT Le Mans (GTLM), Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD) – as well as recognize champions of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.

The WeatherTech Night of Champions will feature a talk show-type format, where champions and award winners will participate in brief interview segments. Hosts for the WeatherTech Night of Champions will be announced later.

In addition to hosting WeatherTech Night of Champions, Chateau Élan also will host the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Awards for the fourth consecutive year. The awards will honor championship-winning drivers, teams and manufacturers in both the Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) classes on October 6.

The Road Atlanta weekend also will include season finales for the Continental Tire Challenge, IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and IMSA Prototype Challenge Powered by Mazda. Awards celebrations for both Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and IMSA Prototype Challenge will be held on October 6 at Road Atlanta.

Chateau Élan is minutes away from Road Atlanta, site of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans, which will close out both the WeatherTech Championship and Patrón Endurance Cup season. This is the second consecutive year that Chateau Élan will host WeatherTech Night of Champions. Previously, Chateau Élan hosted American Le Mans Series awards celebrations through the series’ final season in 2013.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced the signing of a resolution to declare the month of April as Racing Virginia Month.

This recognition honors the storied history of racing in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which dates back over 70 years. The NASCAR weekends at Martinsville Speedway and Richmond International Raceway showcase the only major professional sport to annually visit The Commonwealth.

April is the month when racing comes alive in Virginia. Racing Virginia Month waved the green flag with NASCAR at Martinsville on April 1 and 2 and concludes with Richmond’s spring race weekend on April 28, 29 and 30.

In addition to these tracks launching their 2017 NASCAR seasons, many racing facilities around the Commonwealth will return to action during April.

“The history of NASCAR can’t be told without mentioning Virginia,” Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell said. “Martinsville Speedway was on the original schedule and is the only track that remains on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Schedule today. For Governor McAuliffe to not only recognize a month as Racing Virginia Month but the month of April, which starts in Martinsville and ends in Richmond, is quite an honor.”

To read the full text of the Governor’s resolution declaring the month of April as Racing Virginia Month, click here.

As part of the celebration around Racing Virginia, Richmond has partnered with tracks around the Commonwealth to launch RacingVirginia.com. The site is intended to centralize information regarding all the racing action that happens in The Commonwealth. With original content from writers like Joe Moore and Randy Hallman paired with general information about each track, the Racing Virginia website is a resource for racing fans in the state. The site launched in the beginning of April 2017.

For more information on Martinsville Speedway including the 2017 racing schedule, visit www.martinsvillespeedway.com. For the 2017 Richmond International Raceway schedule, visit www.rir.com.

Federal-Mogul Motorparts has announced two employees have been appointed to new leadership positions. Bryon Osterland was appointed to the position of vice president, Global Chassis while Craig Frohock was appointed to the position of vice president, Global Sealing, Engine and Underhood Service.

Both Osterland and Frohock will report directly to Brad Norton, CEO, Federal-Mogul Motorparts and co-CEO, Federal-Mogul LLC.

Osterland began his career with Federal-Mogul in 2002 and has since held positions of increasing responsibility, including director, purchasing and supply chain, engine hard parts; director, purchasing, global aftermarket; director, business development, Global Chassis; and general manager, Global Steering and Suspension.

Most recently, he was general manager, Chassis, Americas. Osterland earned both a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in business administration from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.

Frohock joins Federal-Mogul Motorparts after a long career with Meritor, where he joined in 1997 as an application engineer. Throughout this time, he held positions of increasing responsibility, including director, braking systems; general manager, global trailer; vice president, aftermarket and trailer, North America; and vice president, aftermarket, North America, where he was responsible for Meritor’s aftermarket business in the commercial vehicle truck, trailer, specialty and bus, defense and independent markets.

Frohock earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Oakland University, Rochester Hills, Michigan.

Dirt Alliance Dirt Tour will feature its long travel pre-runner style trucks at LS Fest West, set for May 5-7 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas.

A large jump will be constructed within the same dirt track that will contain the Off-Road Challenge at the event, according to Holley Performance Products.

Dirt Alliance Dirt Tour will also feature a booth in the Off-Road paddock that will showcase what it takes to make the trucks/buggies go.

Turn 14 Distribution has added The Driveshaft Shop’s line of driveshafts, CV axles and other driveline products to its line card.

“For decades, The Driveshaft Shop has been the source where racers and enthusiasts turn to secure proven driveline products that perform under pressure,” said Kyle Shelley, Turn 14 Distribution’s director of sales. “Over the years they have developed a product line that has been proven on the street and at the track by thousands of racing fanatics, and our customers have been clamoring for us to add their products to our line card. We are proud to partner with The Driveshaft Shop.”

For the past 30 years, The Driveshaft Shop has designed many of the driveshafts used in numerous record-setting race cars. They offer driveshafts in aluminum, steel, chromoly and now carbon fiber. With the ability to design and test custom driveshafts for challenging applications, they can configure a solution to fit just about any need, according to the company.

The Driveshaft Shop currently produces import and domestic CV axles in a variety of stages, import and domestic driveshafts produced from a variety of materials including aluminum and carbon fiber, differential conversions and parts and axle conversion parts.

FCA US announced the opening of a new Mopar parts distribution center (PDC) in Winchester, Virginia. The 400,000-plus square-foot facility is the first of two new Mopar PDCs scheduled to open in the US this year, making a total of 22 PDCs in North America.

“Today’s opening adds more than 70 jobs to the Virginia economy and makes the Mopar brand’s delivery of parts to dealers and consumers more efficient,” said Norwood Jewell, UAW vice president and director of the Chrysler Department.  

A framed Congressional Record statement issued by Congresswoman Comstock was presented in honor of the official opening of the PDC along with a special Mopar logo, featuring a commemorative plaque and signed by all event attendees.

The new facility, which FCA US invested $12.2 million in equipment, will handle more than 50,000 total part numbers distributed to more than 200 FCA US dealerships, located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region. It will ship approximately 9.2 million pieces annually.

The facility will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. LEED, administered by the United States Green Building Council, is a comprehensive system to define, measure and validate green buildings. As part of the LEED initiative, the PDC design incorporates more than 80 skylights, filtering in natural light to the workplace.

In addition to the Winchester PDC, FCA US also has announced a $10.4 million investment in a new Mopar PDC located in Romulus, Michigan. That facility will encompass 500,000 square feet and more than 100 workers. Construction is currently in progress on the Metro Detroit facility, with a projected opening in fourth quarter 2017.

Specialty Auto Parts U.S.A., Inc. has received the 2016 Gold Certificate of Excellence from General Motors Customer Care and Aftersales, headquartered in Flint, Michigan, in recognition for “Outstanding 2016 On-Time Shipping Performance.”

“Your organization has played an important role in our efforts to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles,” said David Poole and Michelle Braun, General Director of Supply Chain and Global Purchasing Executive Director (respectively), in a joint statement.

Specialty Auto Parts U.S.A. is known for its engine dress-up parts marketed under Chevrolet Performance licensed parts, and its PROFORM brand of aftermarket parts. Specialty Auto Parts supplies Chevrolet Performance directly with engine dress-up parts for its crate engines that are on display at prestigious industry events such as the SEMA and Performance Race Industry (PRI) tradeshows.

Elkins Raceway in Kerens, West Virginia celebrates its 65th anniversary this racing season. The season opens on May 5 with its Friday Night Thunder event.

The track, which hosted its first race in 1952, will continue its Friday-night racing tradition. Updates to the facility include new fencing among other improvements. A “test-n-tune” night will also be offered for all drivers on Fridays.

One new event will honor the memory of long-time racer Ivan “Red” Frederick with a 52-lap memorial set for June 30 with a $5,200 payout for Super Late Models. That event will also feature the state’s largest planned fireworks display for the Independence Day holiday.

The annual Skidmore Memorial weekend will be July14-15, with special events for all classes on both Friday and Saturday nights.

This season will also feature the annual Old-Timers’ Night, during which the latest additions to the track’s Hall of Fame wall will be announced.

Competing classes include Super Late Models, Fastrak Semi-Lates, AMRA Modifieds, Street Stocks and Mini-Mods for the 14 and younger drivers on the schedule weekly.

To view the Elkins Raceway 2017 Schedule, visit www.elkinsraceway.net/schedule.html.

RANDYS Worldwide, a supplier, manufacturer and distributor of performance and OE replacement driveline parts, announced the acquisition of Zumbrota Bearing and Gear (ZBAG) and its subsidiary Cascade Component Parts, Inc.

ZBAG and Cascade Component Parts will be joining the RANDYS family of business units including Yukon Gear & Axle, USA Standard Gear and Diff Wizard.

ZBAG’s core business is in remanufactured transfer cases, differentials, manual transmissions and related component parts. Cascade Component Parts is a distributor of OE and aftermarket components.

Established in 1982 and based in Everett, Washington, RANDYS Worldwide is a distributor of aftermarket differential and performance parts for general automotive, off-road and motorsports industries. The company launched a series of new products in 2016 featuring OE replacement, performance drive shafts and complete housing assemblies.

Photo courtesy Adam Mollenkopf.

Winning a Golden Driller at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire is one of the hardest prizes to earn in motorsports. With a field exceeding 300, making the 24 car A-Feature is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Even tougher is having to come from the back, but what if you had a $50,000 reason to do so?

Thanks to Randy LaJoie, one driver just might get that chance in the 32nd edition of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire on January 9-13, 2018, inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

If a driver who wins their preliminary night is running a seat from the Joie of Seating, they are in the running to take the challenge. Following the BC Forever Pole Dash, the pole sitter will have a choice to drop to the tail. If they don’t take it, then next Prelim Night winner in a LaJoie seat will have a choice so four drivers could potentially have a chance to say yes to the challenge.

LaJoie, who is a two time NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion, began manufacturing seats in 1996 in order to better accommodate what he felt was a safer, and much more custom fitted seat. More details will be released by LaJoie as the event draws closer.

Times and other event information will be published as the event draws closer. For continued updates, visit www.chilibowl.com.