Known simply as “Cappy” by the sprint car racing community, longtime Knoxville Raceway promoter Ralph Capitani has died after a battle with cancer.

Capitani began his tenure as the promoter at the historic half-mile oval in 1978. During his time at Knoxville Raceway, he helped grow the facility and the events—most notably the Knoxville Nationals—that it hosts on a national scale.

He spent countless hours at the track and worked tirelessly to improve purses and car counts, helped created the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame and improved the safety conditions at the track.

Captiani spent much of his time at Knoxville elevating the stature of the Knoxville Nationals. He increased the purse multiple times, which in turn brought in more entries. He added national television coverage and increased the seating capacity of Knoxville Raceway to make room for the fans who wanted to attend the event.

He also helped create the physical location for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, which was built on the Marion County Fairgrounds alongside Knoxville Raceway and officially opened in 1992.

For his work at Knoxville, Capitani received multiple awards and honors. He was voted the 1983 Promoter of the Year by Racing Promoters Monthly and the National Sprint Car Poll selected him as the Promoter of the Year in 1985, ’90 and ’91. He is also a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

Capitani retired from Knoxville Raceway at the end of the 2011 season. Captiani has remained active at Knoxville ever since, with the track naming the Capitani Classic, a special 410 sprint car event held the Sunday prior to the Knoxville Nationals every August since 2012, in his honor.

Prior to going to work full time at Knoxville Raceway, Capitani was a school teacher and a coach.

Knoxville Raceway released a statement on Monday night following Capitani’s passing.

“This is a sad day for Knoxville, Iowa, Knoxville Raceway and all of sprint car racing as we’ve lost Ralph Capitani. A visionary in the sport, Cappy aimed to make sprint car racing at Knoxville Raceway grander, the purses bigger and the grandstands fuller. He achieved them all with a smile on his face and a hearty handshake for every team owner, driver, crew member and fan that ever crossed his path. Cappy was a great mentor to everyone who had the privilege of working with him, whether here at the track or at Knoxville High School where he taught and coached. It may be a cliché, but in this case saying Cappy made Knoxville Raceway a better place could not be more accurate.

“Cappy will be greatly missed. Not only at Knoxville Raceway, but at race tracks around the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Marilyn, and their sons, Steve, Dave, John and their families.”

World of Outlaws CEO Brian Carter also shared his thoughts on the loss of Capitani.

“Ralph was a visionary promoter in the sprint car racing world,” said Carter. “I enjoyed the opportunities I had to learn while working with him. We will miss him.”
 
Services for Capitani will be announced at a later date. For more the official statement and photos from Knoxville Raceway, visit here.

The Performance Warehouse Association (PWA) is undergoing the biggest shift in its 47-year history by rebranding its name and logo. The association’s new nameplate, Custom Automotive Network (CAN), was driven by market forces and the steady expansion of its membership for several years, according to the company.

“The goal initially was not necessarily to change from PWA,” said Tracie Nuñez, PWA president. “We knew we had to be very careful with a legacy of more than four decades. There’s tradition and our core values in serving the automotive distribution channel that remains intact.”

However, Nuñez, the association’s board of directors, and membership had long sensed a change was needed.

“We tried to decide whether the PWA name properly represented the makeup of our membership. There’s been a large shift with many members serving the truck market also—some solely serving the truck market,” she said. “We knew something needed to be done.”

The brand is different but the association will continue to host its annual trade conference—now called the CAN Connect Conference—and maintain the same general purpose.

“Leadership has had this feeling over the last three to five years of wanting to go beyond what members have expected of the association. We really wanted to dial into what we can do to help our members achieve their next business goal,” Nuñez said.

The association developed its new name and logo with help from GMMB Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based firm, specializing in brand strategy and position for nonprofit organizations. Auto Care Association hired GMMB for the same purpose several years ago.

Each word in the CAN name holds significant purpose in what makes the association unique, according to Nuñez.

“The focus on the word custom in Custom Automotive Network represents a broader term that can apply to performance parts, truck parts, or any other market that may come our way,” Nuñez said. “The word Network really speaks to the power of our conference and the association.”

PWA’s signature color blue will continue with the new CAN logo.

“Sticking with the blue made a lot of sense,” Nuñez said. “It was an important piece of our brand identity from our 47-year tradition.”

CAN's tagline, Automotive Awesome, highlights members' passion for their businesses and the consumers who use their products, according to Nunez.

Alongside its fresh branding initiative, CAN also has relaunched its Auto Parts Connection page. Auto Parts Connection links product manufacturers and distributors with shops by offering a dealer locater tool. Shops can sign up for a listing or join CAN to receive a priority listing, as well as to qualify for business discounts. The dealer locator tool is used on many manufacturer websites.

CAN members will soon have access to the CAN online training portal, debuting in March. As content grows, shops will find the CAN learning portal as a necessary training resource for new products and new shop hires.

“It’s really powerful when you start talking about all the manufacturers we have as members,” Nuñez said. “Online learning is a big initiative for 2017."

PWA’s rebranding journey resulted in the development of CAN’s brand story. The brand story essentially serves as a mission statement for the association moving forward.

CAN’s brand story, in full, reads as follows:

“Every car and truck enthusiast should be able to mold their vehicle into an extension of themselves. To push the boundaries of what their vehicle can do. That’s the belief that underpins the entire custom auto parts market. And it’s how our members view their businesses: defining success in their own way, and seeking out any opportunity that helps them make their mark.

“CAN is the responsive professional network dedicated to the resellers and manufacturers that turn cars and trucks into personal quests for perfection. Our annual executive conference is known as the real deal, because that’s what happens there. Our emphasis on future learning helps our whole sector meet new challenges, from eCommerce to a shifting consumer base. And our online dealer locater and job board introduce new customers and employees to members, growing business for the long haul.

“When conditions change, good drivers adapt. Smart businesses do the same. CAN connects the makers and sellers of the next big things in automotive to their next big win. Together, we’ll inspire the next generation of enthusiasts to take their individuality out on the road. Together we make Automotive Awesome.”

With a desire to help local racers and not wanting to get complacent after a successful inaugural season, Great Lakes Super Sprints (GLSS) announced it is joining forces with the National Championship Racing Association (NCRA) for the 2017 season.

On the local level, GLSS and the K&N Concrete’s NRA Sprint Invaders have partnered up, dovetailing its schedules together, streamlining the rules package, race procedures and payouts for drivers, making it easier to run co-sanctioned shows and individual shows. This will give fans in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Canada more opportunities to enjoy 360ci winged sprint car racing.

With this type of local partnership in mind, GLSS owner Barry Marlow has had his eye on giving drivers and teams more national recognition, while helping with sponsors, endorsements and bigger purses.

For the past six months, the owner of Sprint Car Bandits (SCB) Steve Lang from Mesquite, TX, and Marlow have spent hours on the phone working on putting together a national alliance for local and regional sprint series.

One of the key ingredients they wanted in a national alliance was that each local and regional series that joins would still operate under their own rules and procedures. But by joining together, they could provide mutual support and greater opportunities for our local teams.

Lang and Marlow reached out to many of the other independent 360ci sprint groups around the country and received a great deal of interest and excitement in this concept. Several of these groups are in the process of announcing their alliance as well with the NCRA.

The NCRA was founded in 1971 and has been a sanctioning body for the past 46 years. The alliance with NCRA and other Independent 360ci Winged Sprint series around the country will provide a bigger footprint from a marketing and advertising standpoint.

For more information, go to www.greatlakessupersprints.com, www.raceNCRA.com, www.SprintCarBandits.com and www.nrainvaders.com.

The PA Sprint Series and the Beer Hill Gang have announced the creation of the Beer Hill Cup Summer Series.

The series feature six races for RaceSaver sprint car teams. Three races will be held at Williams Grove Speedway and one each at Port Royal Speedway, Susquehanna Speedway and Path Valley Speedway Park.

The first event is slated for April 28 at Williams Grove, with additional races scheduled for May 26 at Williams Grove, June 8 at Susquehanna, July 15 at Path Valley, Aug. 5 at Port Royal and Aug. 18 at Williams Grove.

Points will be accumulated using normal IMCA values for these races and an overall champion will be determined on Aug. 18 at Williams Grove. The first champion will be honored in the fourth turn of the track with Beer Hill Gang TV live streaming the ceremony.

The champion will receive a unique Beer Hill Cup trophy and 25 percent of the overall point fund with second through fourth receiving 20 percent and fifth earning 15 percent.

A commemorative shirt has been designed and organizers are currently taking sponsors for the shirt. The presenting sponsorship position on the shirt is available for $1,000 and associate sponsorship positions are available at $250 per spot.

Marx Group, a full-service research, strategy and marketing communications agency highly focused in the automotive, performance and trucking industries, has promoted Kerri Petersen to executive vice president, marketing and creative services.

The announcement coincides with the 12th anniversary of Petersen joining the agency.

With a deep knowledge of the automotive and heavy duty aftermarket and expertise in marketing and media buying, Petersen is responsible for supporting strategic marketing plans, managing the creative services team and developing creative campaigns for clients, according to Marx Group. She also directs all media planning and helps guide public relations and editorial opportunities for clients.

“Kerri has been the heart and soul of the creative and marketing efforts at Marx Group for over a decade now and is responsible for much of the growth we’ve experienced,” said Tom Marx, chairman and chief strategy officer, Marx Group. “She energetically dedicates her time to the needs of our clients, knows how to gather the right resources to make things happen quickly and leads her team by example.”

Before joining Marx Group, Petersen led marketing efforts for Apogee Sound, a professional loudspeaker manufacturer and Jandy Pool and Spa Products, a division of Waterpik. Her career in marketing began more than 20 years ago in the record industry where she worked for Global Pacific Records and later at Access Music.

Petersen holds a bachelor’s degree in international business from Sonoma State University.

National Speedway Directory, an information source for the motorsports industry, announced an exclusive strategic partnership with Speed Sport, a motorsports news network.

National Speedway Directory has been the official source for track schedules, locations and data for more than 35 years. The partnership brings content and product collaboration development beginning immediately.

With origins dating back to 1934, Speed Sport includes a portfolio of media products and services, including its monthly magazine Speed Sport Magazine, its motorsports news website speedsport.com, and its weekly racing program “Suzuki Presents Speed Sport,” which airs on the MAVTV network Thursday’s in primetime.
 
The collaboration will leverage both brands to drive presence and value for key industry stakeholders.

National Speedway Directory Publisher Timothy W. Frost said, “Speed Sports’ reputation is legendary. We share core values and unrivaled commitment to motorsports. We look forward to creating unique opportunities with them.”

“As America’s Trusted Motorsports Authority Since 1934, we place a high priority on our relationship with the teams, the racers, the sponsors, the tracks and most importantly, the fans who populate the bleachers every weekend,” said Speed Sport CEO Joe Tripp. “Partnering with National Speedway Directory, likewise a trusted information authority in the space, will improve our ability to better serve the fans and industry stakeholders.”

Key elements of the alliance will include content sharing and co-branding on the respective websites and publications and collaboration and cross-marketing of other products, special events and media opportunities.

The NMRA Competition Department introduced a new power adder class—Limited Street. This class is limited to a single power adder, designed for small blocks, Modular motors, and Coyote powerplants in 1954 and newer Ford bodied vehicles.

“It’s no secret we have been working on this class for quite some time, as the NMRA recognized the need for a power adder eliminator that was one step behind ProCharger Coyote Modified,” explained Rollie Miller, NMRA General Manger. He continued, “Our Tech Committee worked through several different sets of rules trying to balance a number of objectives that included a simple set of rules so the cars aren’t so spec’d out, reflect trends in the marketplace, and also diversity in the power adders and engine platforms. And they had to keep the race vehicles in check to fill a heads-up void that didn’t require 7-second times.”

NMRA Limited Street will be a category with vehicles that represent extreme street type combinations with Naturally Aspirated, Nitrous, Supercharger and Turbocharger combinations all competing with each other.

Miller added, “It was a daunting task, to say the least, as our Tech Committee worked with several manufacturers, racers, tuners, and others to come up with a fair set of preliminary rules.”

A special one-race invitational shootout will take place during the biggest Mustang race of the year—the Nitto Tire NMRA All-Ford World Finals, held at the scenic Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky over the weekend of September 28 through October 1, 2017. Competitors interested in entering the invitational, please email the Tech Committee at the address below.

Limited Street will go full-time and chase a championship in 2018 with the winner crowned during the NMRA Awards Ceremony during the PRI Show in Indianapolis.

The NMRA class lineup already includes its share of thrilling heads-up categories to go along with the new Limited Street, including VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw, Edelbrock Renegade, ProCharger Coyote Modified, Richmond Gear Factory Stock and G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock, featuring wide-open radial-oriented classes as well as classes for nitrous, turbo, supercharged, and sealed engine naturally aspirated combinations.

Complete class rules for NMRA Limited Street can be found at http://www.nmradigital.com/dl/rules/ls.pdf.

Question and Comments regarding Limited Street, please email the Tech Committee at NMRArules@promediapub.com.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow (HROT) Engine Challenge kicks off its 10th season at the Race & Performance Expo, February 25–26, in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Thirty teams will compete for their chance to qualify for the Dual National Championships held later this year at the SEMA Show and PRI Trade Show. Each team will compete against the clock to disassemble and reassemble a small-block Chevy in 33 minutes or faster.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge was born at the Race & Performance Expo in 2008. HROT will use proceeds to help fund scholarships to HROT students.

For more information, including a complete schedule of this week’s competition, visit www.hotroddersoftomorrow.com.

The next competition will be hosted at the Summit I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama in Cleveland, March 17–19.

Holley has announced that pre-registration for the inaugural LS Fest West event, taking place May 5–7 in Las Vegas, Nevada, is now open.

A dedicated website (www.lsfest.com/west) is currently up to date with all available information on the West Coast event.
 
Event segments at LS Fest West are as follows: drag racing, drifting, autocross, show-and-shine, 3S Challenge, dyno challenge, off-road challenge, road course challenge, a poker run, and the Grand Champion & Fastest Vette competitions.

All-new for LS Fest West is the Off Road Challenge. Las Vegas Motor Speedway has allowed LS Fest event staff to implement a competitive event at the facility that will put LS powered off-road trucks, buggies and their drivers to the test.

LS Fest West will have a Road Course Challenge component included as one of the Grand Champion event segments.

Some of the same drag classes offered over the years at the Bowling Green LS Fest event will also be at LS Fest West. Some of them, however, are unique to LS Fest West. This year Holley is offering a Test-N-Tune/Grudge class for those who don’t want to necessarily compete. It is ideal for those looking attend the show, try out a new setup they’ve just finished putting together, or just have a good time making some passes down the track against your buddy.

LS Fest West Autocross, 3S Challenge, and Grand Champion competitors are limited to the first 150 cars. Pre-registration can be found on the site here.

Spectators can enjoy a day at LS Fest for $20 at the gate. Spectator tickets are available on-site only. Admission for children 16 and under is free. A $5 discount spectator admission is available to active military members that can present a valid military ID.  

Holley LS Fest events are a celebration of anything and everything powered by GM's LS and current generation LT engines. For more information on LS Fest West, visit the event website.

Shelby Development, LLC has entered agreements to acquire the drag racing facility National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio.


The addition of National Trail Raceway adds to the existing motorsports assets owned by Shelby Development, LLC., which previously purchased Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kansas in December 2015.
 


Shelby, its affiliated company Monopoly Acquisitions, LLC., CEO Chris Payne, and the NHRA all made the joint announcement about the acquisition.

"The opportunity to add an additional property allows us to accelerate our growth plans within the industry. We have been aggressive with acquisitions in the past couple of years," noted Payne. "The plan is to continue to improve Heartland Park Topeka—while completing the acquisition of National Trail Raceway by identifying and completing specific areas for facility improvements and introducing new event content.”

“We’re excited that historic National Trail Raceway will be in the hands of an experienced track group committed to continuing to invest in the facility,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA president. “Chris Payne and his team have done a great job at Heartland Park and we’re looking forward to what they will do at National Trail Raceway, which they’ll operate as an NHRA Member Track.”

Scott Gardner, President of Heartland Park Topeka will expand his role as the Chief Operating Officer and will oversee the operational staffs of both facilities.

“It’s important that we approach this opportunity to learn as much as we can about National Trail Raceway, its staff, racers and sponsors and build a plan to improve on what we have,” said Gardner.

National Trail Raceway is situated on 245 acres in Columbus, Ohio and opened in 1964. The facility has a rich history in drag racing that has included some of the biggest names in the sport with Shirley Muldowney, Don Prudhomme, Bob Glidden, Tony Schumacher, and more. In 1972, the facility began hosting the NHRA Springnationals, which continued through 2006.

A schedule of events continues into the year including the Spectacle of Speed, NMRA Ford Super Nationals, McLaughlin Oil Night of Thunder, Super Chevy Show, Mopar Nationals and the Buckeye Fuel Wars NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Chrysler Power Classic and much more.