KRC Power Steering announced the extension of its Contingency Program with the Spears SRL Southwest Tour.

Featuring some of the top racers on the West Coast, the Spears SRL Southwest Tour schedule spans nine premier events at six Western region tracks: Irwindale, Tuscon, Kern County, Madera, Rocky Mountain Speedway and the Bull Ring at Las Vegas.

KRC Power Steering will offer product certificates for the 3rd place finisher at each event as part of the program.

Ricky Brooks has also joined the Southwest Tour Tech team creating a level playing field for the historic SWT Series.

The Spears SRL Southwest Tour partners with top engine builders in the country utilizing the S.E.A.L engine program, an organization to oversee the sale, distribution and building of sealed crate engines. ABC bodies are the baseline for SWT cars, ensuring a highly competitive field that relies on driver skill and technology applied by individual teams.
 

Registration and spectator tickets are now available for the 2017 Chevrolet Performance Car Craft Summer Nationals. Presented by Holley/MSD, the event takes place July 21-23 at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

This will be the first year the annual event will be held in Bowling Green. Special advance pricing for registration and tickets will be available for a limited time only.

Chevrolet Performance Car Craft Summer Nationals showcases more than 2500 performance cars and attracts upward of 25,000 enthusiasts from across the country over the course of three days.

The 2017 Chevrolet Performance Car Craft Summer Nationals will include, among other highlights, faster open autocross, drift showcase, chances to test torque and horsepower in the Dyno Challenge, as well as the Undiscovered Builders’ Invitational and Pro Builders’ Shootout.

Midnight drags, drag racing challenges, burnout competitions and the professionally judged and awarded Show-‘N’-Shine Competition offer opportunities to get involved in the weekend.

Enthusiasts will also have the chance to meet Car Craft editors and photographers on site.

For the chance to appreciate (and show off) the spirit of American cars, participants may register their vehicles to be a part of Chevrolet Performance Car Craft Summer Nationals.

Registration includes an entry for one vehicle, driver and copilot, and one goodie bag. Pre-registration (available until July 20) is $60 ($75 after July 20, 2017). Participants will also be able to register on-site during the event. For more information and to register, visit carcraft.com/events.

Spectator tickets are on sale now and available at carcraft.com/events, with special pricing through Saturday, July 20. Pricing is as follows (if attending on Saturday includes Midnight Drags):
    •    One-day ticket admission - $13 in advance, $15 at the gate
    •    Three-day ticket admission - $30 in advance, $35 at the gate

Engine & Performance Warehouse announced that the addition of FiTech Fuel Injection products to its line card of vendors.

FiTech Fuel Injection is dedicated to engineering, developing and producing the advanced and affordable electronic fuel injection systems, according to Engine & Performance Warehouse.

FiTech’s technology is designed and developed using OEM level engineering and components. The software has OEM level functionality, diagnostics and limp home modes.

Beginning with just a couple of EFI systems as little as two years ago, FiTech now has systems supporting engines with up to 1200 horsepower, dual quad, nitrous, boosted, and even E85 (with some adjustments that can be made on the handheld controller).

Racers, engine builders, tuning shops and performance enthusiasts don't have to travel to Holley headquarters in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to learn the intricacies of Holley electronic fuel injection. Now, those on the West Coast have a much closer option—EFI University in Lake Havasu, Arizona, where they can receive the same software training offered at Holley and learn advanced tuning techniques.
 
EFI University Business Development Manager Eric Demyan, EFI U founder Ben Strader and Holley's Robin Lawrence worked extensively to ensure that the same expert Holley EFI software training can now be found on both sides of the country, according to the company.
 
At EFI University, courses are available at three different levels: Introduction to EFI, Advanced EFI Concepts, and High Performance Engine Tuner Certification. As the course title suggests, Introduction to EFI teaches beginners everything they need to get started tuning Holley EFI systems.
 
Advanced EFI Concepts is for those already in the industry and those who want to make tuning a career. Students learn exactly how to extract maximum power from engines without damaging them—even combinations they're not familiar with. The course concludes with a multiple-choice exam. Pass it, and you'll have the valuable EFI University ‘Advanced Tuning Concepts’ Certificate of Completion.
 
Two online courses also are offered at EFI U – Introduction to EFI and Advanced EFI Concepts.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow (HROT) Engine Challenge had an event double header this past weekend in two different states. Starting off in Tennessee at the Coker Tire Chattanooga Cruise-in, HROT had twelve high schools participate with twenty teams, ten of which qualified for the Dual National Championship.

The top three teams included Team K&N from Burton Center Arts & Tech out of Salem, Virgina with a time of 19:31. Both second and third place teams came from Forsyth Central High School out of Cumming, Georgia. Team QA1 had a time of 20:04 and Team Derale came in third with a time of 23:31.

The second event of the weekend was in Fontana, California at the NMCA WEST Spring Nationals. Four high schools with eight teams participated, with three teams qualifying for the Dual National Championship.

Team Edelbrock from Katella High School NOCROP from Anaheim, California came in first with a time of 21:43. Second was Team SCAT from Loara High School ROP also from Anaheim, California with a time of 23:59 and in third place was Team Mr. Gasket, Valley High School out of Santa Ana, California with the time of 30:18.

At the Dual National Championship, every student that participates will be awarded a minimum of $5000 in college scholarships from five different colleges.

This coming weekend HROT will be holding a qualifying event at the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, North Carolina for the first time ever.

Visit HotRoddersOfTomorrow.com to see the complete results from this past weekend. For additional information in starting a team or sponsorship opportunities, contact Rodney Bingham at RBingham@hotroddersoftomorrow.com or call at 815-722-5460.

Race Winning Brands, a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, announced the acquisition of Diamond Pistons and Trend Performance, two manufacturers of high-performance engine components for the performance market.
 
Headquartered in Mentor, Ohio, Race Winning Brands is a manufacturer of performance and racing pistons and related engine components for the automotive and performance markets. The company markets its products internationally through several brands including JE Pistons, Wiseco Performance Products, K1 Technologies, Innovate Motorsports and ProX Racing Parts.
 
Diamond Pistons, based in Clinton, Michigan, is a manufacturer of premium high-performance automotive pistons while Trend Performance, located in Warren, Missouri, is a manufacturer of high-performance internal engine components including pushrods and wrist pins.
 
"This is all about making the Diamond and Trend brands' product portfolios and customer-focused commitment even stronger than it is today,” said Bob Fox, Trend founder and Diamond President. "I am excited to join forces with Race Winning Brands. This move enables us to focus even more energy on serving the evolving needs of today's racer."

Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Race Winning Brands.
 

Nearly 24 years after his passing, Clemson University has honored the legacy of late NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki with a prestigious endowment.

Last week, the school named Robert Prucka, who considered Kulwicki a childhood hero, as the new Kulwicki Endowed Chair in Motorsports.

Prucka will lead a team of graduate students and industry sponsors in designing and building a Rallycross race car as part of the Deep Orange program, according to the press release. Rallycross cars are high-performance race cars designed to compete on dirt and paved tracks.

"It's wonderful that Alan Kulwicki's name is on it," said Prucka, an associate professor in the Department of Automotive Engineering. "He was someone I followed and one of my favorites. He was an engineer by training and also a driver. Kulwicki was one of the first people to show that by using engineering, you could make race cars go faster and compete with larger teams with more resources."

Kulwicki, also known as "Special K," and three other passengers died in a plane crash near Blountville, Tennessee on April 1, 1993. The aircraft had just left Knoxville, where Kulwicki had been signing autographs at a Hooters restaurant as part of his new sponsorship deal, the school said in a release.

Mark Brooks, the 26-year-old son of former Hooters restaurants chairman Robert H. Brooks was among those killed in the crash.

The Kulwicki endowment is supported by the Brooks Sports Science Institute and was established with a donation from the Brooks family, said Zoran Filipi, chair of Clemson's Department of Automotive Engineering.

“Dr. Robert Prucka perfectly embodies the vision for the Kulwicki Chair. Robert is an outstanding teacher and scholar, and part of the reason for his success in the classroom is the infectious passion for his favorite topic, Internal Combustion Engines. In addition, he complements science with the hands-on experience that prepares students for careers in the automotive industry,“ Filipi said.

Before joining Clemson in 2008, Prucka worked for the Ford Motor Company and served as an independent consultant for racing engine companies.

Blake Brown, an open-wheel dirt modified racer from Corbin, Kentucky, and Derek Fetter, an automotive enthusiast and collision repair technician from Troy, Missouri, are the grand-prize winners in the 2017 “Search for a Champion” contest from Federal-Mogul Motorparts’ Champion brand.

Federal-Mogul Motorparts awarded a total of $137,500 in sponsorships to this year’s grand-prize winners, runners-up and finalists.

As the winner of the contest’s “On the Track” category, Brown received a $50,000 Champion racing sponsorship. Fetter, winner of the “Off the Track” category, received a $5000 prize.

Brown is a high-school junior who garnered eight wins and 12 top-three finishes in 17 starts at Richmond (Kentucky) Raceway in 2016.

In addition to Brown’s $50,000 grand prize, Federal-Mogul Motorparts awarded $5000 to each of 10 runners-up and $1000 to each of 25 finalists in the “On the Track” category.

Fetter, a technician at F & S Collision and Customs, a family-owned business in Troy, entered the “Off the Track” category based on his interest in vehicle maintenance and performance upgrades.

Joining Fetter as prize winners in the “Off the Track” category are 10 runners-up who received $500 each and 25 finalists who were awarded $100 each.

The annual Search for a Champion contest, established in 2012, encourages grassroots racers and consumers to demonstrate their commitment to a superior vehicle and engine performance through the use of high-quality components. This year’s contest attracted 1,110 participants, representing a nearly 400 percent increase over 2016.

Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, has added an additional 5,197 feet of Steel and Foam Energy Resistant (SAFER) barriers.

The addition of the new barrier makes Pocono Raceway one of the top-three tracks in terms of length of the safety feature.

With a late start to winter, Pocono Raceway was able to cover the front stretch of the 2.5-mile raceway as well as areas between turns two and three.

In addition to the SAFER barrier walls, Pocono Raceway upgraded the three track crossover gates located around the track with new gates that incorporate SAFER barriers into their construction.

Last year, Pocono Raceway lengthened the pit wall and installed more than 6000 feet of SAFER barrier.

Pocono Raceway now has more than 23,640 feet of SAFER barrier walls installed which equates to 4.48 miles and trails just behind Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway's length of SAFER barrier walls.

Al Amatuzio, the founder of AMSOIL Inc., has passed away in his home surrounded by family. Amatuzio was born on May 6, 1924, in Duluth, Minnesota.

AMSOIL Inc., an American corporation based in Superior, Wisconsin, primarily formulates and packages synthetic lubricants and filters.

Amatuzio’s entrepreneurial nature emerged when he was a child. He peddled newspapers, sold magazines, collected scrap iron and devised any number of ventures. After high school, he attended Naval Air Corps training and served in the Merchant Marines, the Air Force and eventually, the Duluth unit of the Air National Guard. He served 25 years as a fighter pilot and squadron commander and was twice honored as our nation’s top pilot.

Amatuzio then became inspired by a new challenge. Armed with the knowledge that every jet engine in the world could survive only with synthetic oil, he reasoned that the same performance benefits could be applied to cars, trucks and other motorized land vehicles.

In 1963, he began an intense period of research and development. By 1966 he had formulated his first synthetic motor oil, and throughout the sixties, he continued to develop and sell synthetic oils under a variety of names.

In 1972, AMSOIL synthetic motor oil became the world’s first synthetic motor oil to meet American Petroleum Institute service requirements. Many lubrication companies followed AMSOIL’s lead after this, creating a market for synthetic lubricants for automobiles.

A memorial service will be held at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) Auditorium in Duluth, Minnesota on Saturday, April 15 beginning at 12 p.m. with a service at 1 p.m.

Amatuzio’s family has requested that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made in Al’s name to Animal Allies of Duluth, the Douglas County Humane Society and the AMSOIL Northland Law Enforcement K-9 Foundation. Their contact information is listed below.

 A nimal Allies of Duluth 
Adeline Green
4006 Airport Road
Duluth, MN  55811
www.animalallies.net

Douglas County Humane Society
Sheila Keup
138 Moccasin Mike Road
Superior, WI  54880
www.hsdcpets.com

AMSOIL Northland Law Enforcement Foundation
Deena Peterson
One AMSOIL Center
Superior, WI  54880
www.northlandk9.org