Glad Enterprises Inc. and Petaluma Speedway Promoter Rick Faeth will take over operations and promotion of the Hunt Magnetos Wingless Tour starting this year.

The series was formed in 2008 by Roger Gleason, the proprietor of Joe Hunt Magnetos in Rancho Cordova. Gleason ran the tour until 2014, when the Prentice Motorsports Group then took over stewardship.

“I strongly believe in this class and want to see it prosper. We recently reached out to the competitors and our fellow promoters and I feel the schedule, purse, and strategy that we’ll initiate for 2017 will reinvigorate the tour once again. There will be no entry fees and no membership fees for competitors to run our events,” said Faeth.

“We’re very pleased to have Rick at the helm and he will have our full support,” said Roger Gleason.

C&H Veteran Enterprises, a hazardous waste company located in Sacramento, Calif., will serve as presenting sponsor of the Hunt Magnetos Wingless Tour.

Twenty-five race-car drivers and motorsports professionals were voted into the Road Racing Drivers Club in 2016. The group includes 17 Regular Members from the open-wheel and sports-car racing ranks, five Associate Members and three Honorary Members. The current roster of RRDC members now numbers 510. Voting was held among all current RRDC members.

"The RRDC is proud to announce the latest roster of new members to the organization," said president, Bobby Rahal. "We are honored to welcome a group of outstanding racing champions and high achievers in the auto-racing arena. It's clear that they are not only accomplished representatives of the sport, they have conducted themselves honorably off the track, a quality the RRDC members take into consideration when voting in new members.

“We also appreciate that each new member has enthusiastically accepted membership in the RRDC. We look forward to working with them as the RRDC continues to pursue its goals of recognizing and mentoring aspiring race-car drivers through a variety of programs.”

While Regular RRDC members are race-car drivers who have competed successfully at the championship level, Associate Membership includes drivers who have participated successfully in major professional events or in other series, such as vintage and historic events. Associate members also have significant ties to racing, such as in the corporate, sponsorship, mentoring, patronage and promotion arenas.

Honorary Members are distinguished senior international motorsports champions, team owners and others who have demonstrated a life-long commitment in support of racing through active volunteerism, officiating and/or promotion of the sport generally.

In alphabetical order, here are the new Regular Members:

JONATHAN BENNETT - Charlotte, N.C.
Two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Driver Champion, 2014-15.

MATTHEW BRABHAM - Indianapolis, Ind.
The 2012 USF2000 Champion; 2013 Pro Mazda Champion.

GABBY CHAVES - Indianapolis, Ind.
The 2009 Formula BMW Americas Champion; 2013 Indy Lights Champion; 2015 IndyCar Rookie of the Year.

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI - Key Biscayne, Fla.
Two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Champion (with Joao Barbosa), 2014-15; 2014 Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup Champion (with Joao Barbosa).

JOHN FITZPATRICK - Lapworth, England
The 1966 British Saloon Car Champion; the 1972 and '74 European GT Champion; Porsche Cup titlist in 1972, '74 and '80.

GEORGE FIZELL - Tucson, Ariz.
The 1984 SCCA President's Cup winner; earned four SCCA National Championships in Formula Vee.

SAGE KARAM - Nazareth, Pa.
The 2010 USF2000 National Champion; 2013 Indy Lights Champion; 35-time World Karting Assn. and IRL Stars of Karting National champion.

JOEL MILLER - San Diego, Calif.
The 2006 ICA North American Champion; 2013 Rookie of the Year in Rolex Grand-Am Championship; driver coach.

SPENCER PIGOT - Pasadena, Calif.
The 2015 Indy Lights champion; 2014 Pro Mazda Champion; 2010 Skip Barber Racing Series National Champion.

JEFF PURNER - Birmingham, Ala.
The 1985 Skip Barber Racing Series Champion; 1990 IMSA Firestone Firehawk GS Champion; 1993 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year.

ALEXANDER ROSSI - Indianapolis, Ind.
The 2016 Indy 500 champion and Indy Rookie of the Year; competed in five F1 races in 2015 before switching to IndyCar.

AMIY RUMAN - Kent, Ohio
The 2015 Trans-Am Champion; first female Trans-Am Champion in the 50-year history of the Series.

JORDAN TAYLOR - Apopka, Fla.
The 2013 DP-class Champion in Rolex Grand-Am Championship (with Max Angelelli).

RICKY TAYLOR - Lake Mary, Fla.
The 2006 Skip Barber Karting Shootout Scholarship winner; competes with brother Jordan in  IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

AL UNSER JR. - Henderson, Nev.
The 1981 Super Vee Champion; 1982 SCCA Can-Am Champion; two-time Indy 500 winner, 1992 and '94; two-time IndyCar Champion, 1990 and '94.

ALEX WURZ - Austria
Retired pro driver; two-time 24 Hours of LeMans winner; F1 consultant, driver coach, president of the GPDA.

JEFF ZWART - Long Beach, Calif.
The 1990 SCCA U.S. Pro Rally Open Class Champion; 2004 Baja 1000 Challenge Class Champion; directs high-performance TV commercials around the world.

The new Associate Members are:

CRAIG BENNETT - Milford, Mich.
The 1987 SCCA National GT-1 Division Champion and Rookie of the Year; currently VP of RM Motorsports (high-end race-car/road-car restorations).

JOHN DOONAN - Plainfield, Ill.
Director of Motorsports for Mazda North American Operations since 2011; licensed race-car driver since 1995, competing in SCCA, IMSA, IndyCar, etc.

DOUG FEHAN - Birmingham, Mich.
Program Manager for Corvette Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and 24 Hours of LeMans; raced a Chevelle stock car in USAC in late '60s.

DON KITCH JR. - Bellevue, Wash.
Veteran of more than 25 years and 200 pro and amateur racing starts; founded, with wife Donna, the ProFormance Racing School, where he is chief instructor; helped develop the Team Seattle "Heart of Racing" program at Alex Job Racing.

ED PINK - Van Nuys, Calif.
The drag-racing Hemi engines he's built over 60-plus years have won races from Midgets to IndyCars; earned Lifetime Achievement Award from Petersen Automotive Museum; also built IMSA, LeMans and NASCAR engines.

The new Honorary Members are:

WALT CZARNECKI JR. - Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Executive Vice President of Penske Corporation; President and Vice Chairman of the Board of Penske Motorspots since 1996. Has 40-year-plus tenure with Penske.

CHRIS POOK - Long Beach, Calif.
Creator of the annual Grand Prix of Long Beach, in its 43rd year; has also created temporary racing venues in Las Vegas, Dallas, Meadowlands, N.J., Denver, Del Mar, Calif., and St. Petersburg, Fla. Has served on the F1 Commission of FIA.

ANDREW SCRIVEN - Denver, N.C.
Draftsman on the 1984 Tiga Race Cars; produced the 1985 design for the GT285 IMSA Lights/C2 Car; currently is Chief Designer for Aerospace, Military and Racing projects for Crawford Composites, LLC.

The Road Racing Drivers Club was formed in 1952 as a way to give champion drivers a say in their sport, particularly in the areas of safety, and has evolved to serve the future of road racing by mentoring new drivers on both amateur and professional levels. The Club’s membership includes leading industry professionals, race officials and motorsports journalists, in addition to prominent racing names.

In 2011, the RRDC launched a free online training seminar – SAFEisFAST.com – featuring more than 30 RRDC members and other industry experts in high-quality videos covering subjects from physical and mental preparation to driving techniques, driver safety to car setup and sponsorship. The videos are updated regularly. Each week, a professional from the world of motor racing answers readers’ questions on the site in a feature called “Ask a Pro.”

Bobby Rahal is President, John Fergus is Vice President/Treasurer, and Tom Davey is Secretary.

The RRDC presents three annual awards: the Phil Hill Award, the Mark Donohue Award, and the Bob Akin Award, and supports the Team USA Scholarship, which has been assisting young Americans in the early stages of their careers since 1990. The RRDC also honors icons of the sport at its annual dinner at the Long Beach (Calif.) Grand Prix. Honorees have been Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Roger Penske, Jim Hall, Brian Redman, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser and George Follmer.

Membership in the RRDC is by invitation only. For more information, visit www.rrdc.org.

One of the titans of hot rodding, Nick Arias Jr., has died. Arias is synonymous with racing—especially drag racing. His 498ci Arias Hemi, based on the Chevy big block design with his own Hemi head, was and still is a staple of drag racing.

First appearing as a 10-liter, it was the dominant engine used in boat racing and also tractor pulling. His Hemi head conversion business covered many engine families including the Chevy LS, while he also helped develop the New Century Aluminum racing engine.

Growing up in California, just blocks from downtown Los Angeles, his was the prototypical California hot rodder life, racing in the mid-1940s at the dry lakes and even being a witness to the first drag race in Goleta, California, in 1949.

After getting drafted for the Korean conflict in the early 1950s, he worked first for Wayne Manufacturing, known for their Chevy and GMC 12-port straight-six racing heads. His time at Wayne taught him about piston and combustion chamber design, and also nitromethane, which he’d apply many times over the next 50 years.

Then came a stint at Al Sharp’s Sharp Speed and Power, known for their flathead Ford speed equipment. In 1953 he and Bob Toros started Venolia Piston Company, using Frank Venolia’s name because as Arias said, “Everyone knew Frank Venolia,” who had been making pistons for years right next door to Wayne. Throughout this time he also raced successfully at the dry lakes.

Conflicts with Toros and third partner Joe Pisano led to a split, with Arias selling his third to them. This opened the door for him to start Arias Pistons in 1969. Said Arias, “I ran some ads in HOT ROD and National Dragster, and all of my old customers I’d dealt with at Venolia started coming to me.”

In 1972 his “Hemi-Chevy” was ready, followed by the 10-liter in 1975 and 8.3 498ci Top Fuel and alcohol engines shortly thereafter.

Since that time, Arias developed new engines including the Arias 4-cylinder for USAC and Midgets, the Arias V6 Hemi, Arias Racing Boss 429, Howard 12-Port GMC head, New Century block, and his current LS and small block Ford Hemi heads.

Arias received the NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2005, and the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2012.

For more photos and information, visit here.

American Drag Racing League founder and current President Kenny Nowling announced via his Big Head Live Facebook podcast that the heads-up drag racing organization has come under new ownership, ending weeks of speculation regarding the future of the organization—a topic that included a few potential parties being floated in the racing community.

Jeff Biegun, the CEO of Jupiter, Florida-based Seatbelt Solutions, the parent company of RJS Racing Equipment and Performance 2 Way Racing Communications, has acquired the ADRL and its assets from Missouri chassis builder Larry Jeffers, who himself revived the defunct organization last year.

Biegun and his son, Ryan, were introduced at the Performance Racing Industry show in Indianapolis in early December as part of the title sponsorship announcement by Nowling, revealing what will be officially known at the ADRL Tour powered by RJS Racing Equipment and Performance 2 Way Radios. The ADRL will, per Nowling, now be headquartered in Jupiter, with a multi-year contract in place to retain him as the series president.

In addition to the acquisition announcement, Nowling also revealed that the ADRL will visit the all-new Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio for the U.S. Drags on September 8-9, filling a previously open void in the schedule.

An event planned to take place in Florida in early March to open the season is being re-evaluated, citing the conglomeration of heads-up doorslammer events taking place in the Sunshine State during the month.

Motovicity Distribution, an automotive performance aftermarket distributor, announced the promotion of Gary McCombs from Warehouse Supervisor to Distribution Center Manager.
 
Brian Lounsberry, President and CEO of Motovicity Distribution stated, “Gary’s passion, dedication, and due diligence made my decision to promote him to Distribution Center Manager an easy one.” Lounsberry continued, “I’m confident Gary will step into this new role and be a huge asset in helping move the company forward.”
 
McCombs started his career as a Team Lead with the company in 2012. Day-to-day responsibilities included supervising team member’s activity and ensuring the completion of warehouse tasks.
 
It was his and the rest of the company’s hard work that eventually lead to Motovicity being named SEMA Warehouse Distributor of the year in 2013. Additionally, Gary also helped implement Motovicity’s warehouse management system in 2014, drastically improving throughput and helping Motovicity Distribution achieve and maintain one of the best accuracy ratings in the industry.
 
When asked how he hopes to be impactful in his new role, McCombs said, “I want to focus on the people and the process. Where people are concerned, I will continue to lead by example, but I want to also mentor team members and help them grow as employees as well as individuals.” Gary continued, “As far as the process, I want to help improve the company’s bottom line by streamlining processes in our Distribution Centers, as well as finding ways to leverage new technologies to better manage inventory and capacity.”
 
Now occupying more than 80,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, Motovicity Distribution is a wholesale-only automotive aftermarket distributor of sport compact, modern muscle and other performance parts, stocking a lineup of the industry’s top performance brands.

Longtime NASCAR Chief Sales Officer Jim O’Connell has resigned after 11 years with the sanctioning body. O’Connell informed NASCAR two weeks ago of his intentions, and his final day was last Friday.

O’Connell said, "I’ve spent the last three years heading up the search for our top-tier entitlement partners. We successfully brought in Xfinity, we successfully brought in Monster, and with the combination of the facts—there’s no more big deals to do, I haven’t had a vacation in 18 months, and I wanted to go out on top after 11 years—the timing just seemed right. I’m really happy with my decision.”

NASCAR VP/Integrated Marketing Communications David Higdon in a statement said O'Connell was "key to countless successful sales efforts and partner renewals," and his contributions "will be felt for years beyond his departure.”

O’Connell, who said he was not ready to comment on his next step, worked on four new entitlement deals and two renewals during his time with NASCAR, including deals with Sprint, Xfinity, Camping World and Monster. He has prior stops at Frito Lay, Viacom and a 10-year stint at the NFL, where he worked with current NASCAR Exec VP and Chief Global Sales & Marketing Officer Steve Phelps for most of his tenure.

O’Connell noted he has worked with Phelps for more than two decades overall and added, “I can’t say enough good things about Steve Phelps as a business person and more importantly as a person.”

Reflecting on his overall tenure, O’Connell said, "It’s been a great ride, I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done at NASCAR in business development and partnership marketing, the partners we’ve brought in... Really proud of the fact that we took some regional companies and replaced them with big, blue-chip national companies.”

Whether NASCAR will fill O’Connell’s role was unclear, but Phelps already took on more sales duties earlier this year when he was promoted from his prior role as CMO.

In other NASCAR-related news, Monster Energy has hired longtime NASCAR industry executive and lawyer Tom Norwood as its new Director of NASCAR as the brand becomes the title sponsor of NASCAR's premier series.

Confirming the move, Monster VP/Sports Marketing Mitch Covington last week said Norwood was hired "to facilitate the business negotiations with tracks and other partners [like TV partners].”

Norwood was most recently Director of Business Operations at HScott Motorsports, which folded after last season. Norwood used to serve as counsel to former NASCAR driver Robby Gordon, who was sponsored by Monster, which made him familiar with the company.

Covington noted that Monster Senior Sports Marketing Manager Cari Cellini, who has headed up Monster’s NASCAR program in recent years when it was solely a team sponsor, will continue to head up Monster’s hospitality and trade-guest activation programs.

Monster does the vast majority of its sports marketing in house, but it does do some work with North Carolina-based Hirschfeld Marketing Solutions, which provides on-site hospitality assets. That relationship will continue moving forward, Covington confirmed.

Norwood will have to hit the ground running, as NASCAR and Monster have to fit about six months’ worth of work into two months before the start of the '17 season. Monster is continuing to negotiate with tracks and media partners to figure out activation for what sources have said is a two-year deal with a two-year option worth about $20M in annual rights fees.

Prior to landing the entitlement, Monster mostly hosted large hospitality gatherings at races and did not have much consumer-facing activation aside from having Monster Energy girls roam pit road.

Turn 14 Distribution, a performance parts distributor, has introduced MAHLE Original’s line of engine components to its extensive product assortment.

“The MAHLE Original brand is well-known for its comprehensive coverage of original equipment engine parts applications,” said Kyle Shelley, Turn 14 Distribution’s Director of Sales.

“These products are used by the OE market and allow Turn 14 Distribution to position itself as the one-stop-shopping source for our customers providing engine repair services. By adding the MAHLE Original lineup to our distribution network, our customers can be assured that they’ll get the OE replacement products they need when they require them.”

Founded as a small company in 1920 to develop light-alloy pistons to replace the then- traditional gray cast-iron pistons in use at the time, MAHLE today has grown to a company with production facilities all over the world, manufacturing engine components for internal combustion engines used in everything from passenger cars to industrial applications.

Nowadays, half of all automobiles produced worldwide contain MAHLE components, according to a press release from Turn 14 Distribution. MAHLE has developed from a small test workshop to one of the technologically leading, globally active group involved in research, development, and application of the products it manufactures.

Founded in 2007, Turn 14 Distribution is a performance warehouse distributor offering a range of proprietary online tools like real-time inventory, exact shipping quotes, international shipping quotes and manufacturer-direct drop-shipping.

Performance Racing Industry—producer of the PRI Trade Show and PRI Magazine—has moved its offices from Laguna Beach, California, to Aliso Viejo, California.
 
The move took effect January 2, 2017, and there were no other changes in operations for the Trade Show, the Magazine, or any other aspect of the company, including personnel.

The new office address is: 27081 Aliso Creek Road, Suite 150, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656. All other company contact information remains the same.  

For more information on PRI, a SEMA organization, visit www.performanceracing.com or call 949/499-5413.

ProMedia Events & Publishing recently announced that Tyler Crossnoe has joined the NMRA/NMCA event team as Race Master. Crossnoe will be working closely with recently hired Competition Director Kurt Johnson, Chief Starter T.J. “El Prepe” Bailey, Race Operations Director Gene Bergstrom, and General Manger Rollie Miller at most events in 2017.

As Race Master, Crossnoe will be responsible for pre-event track prep at NMRA and NMCA partner tracks. He will also be working with Johnson and Bailey on track prep during each event, while running the ready line and working directly with staging team members Daniel Rosner, Kevin Lamphere and Chuck Danbom.

Crossnoe’s work history includes Drag Strip Manager at Memphis International Raceway in 2014, as well as Traction Consultant Specialist for VP Racing Fuels, the official fuel of the NMRA and NMCA. He’s acted as promoter of the Outlaw Street Car Reunion drag radial event and is co-owner of Southern Speed Promotions. Crossnoe’s company, Dream Team Traction Consulting, has provided assistance to the NMRA/NMCA event team in the past.

“As we continue to grow our NMRA and NMCA drag racing series, we want to make sure we never lose sight of our ProPledge to racers, sponsors, fans and partner tracks. Tyler’s positive attitude, great energy and enthusiasm for the sport makes him a perfect fit for our event team,” said ProMedia General Manager Rollie Miller. “He’s one of the most talented young men in our sport today, and we are very excited to have him as part of our team.”

“I am very honored and blessed to have this opportunity to work with the ProMedia staff,” said Crossnoe. “The NMRA and NMCA series are hotter than ever, and I hope to be a part of this organization for years to come and help continue to build awareness and growth for both series….”

Crossnoe will start the 2017 season with the 9th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals on April 6–9 at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia.

NASCAR premier series driver Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team will be guaranteed a spot in all 36 races in 2017 now that the organization has obtained a Charter through a lease agreement with Go FAS Racing.
 
Blaney qualified for all 36 races this past season based on his qualifying times in the No. 21 Ford. Two years ago the team missed three races when inclement weather forced the cancellation of qualifying and the field was set per the NASCAR rule book.
 
Team officials indicated that having a guaranteed starting position takes weather and other concerns that could impact making the starting field off the table going forward.
 
Go FAS Racing, owned by Archie St. Hilaire, fields the No. 32 Ford in NASCAR's premier series. Eight drivers made at least one start for the team in 2016, although officials announced previously that Matt DiBenedetto would be the team's driver of record for the '17 season.
 
While the team leased the No. 32 Charter to the Wood Brothers group, it has also since leased the No. 44 Charter from Richard Petty Motorsports, thus guaranteeing DiBenedetto a starting position as well. Officials with RPM, which also fields the No. 43 for driver Aric Almirola, have not indicated the status of the No. 44 team since the unexpected retirement of former driver Brian Scott at the conclusion of '16.
 
"A couple of months ago we were evaluating where we were going to go," St. Hilaire told SiriusXM NASCAR late last month. "We looked at it — I'm good friends with Eddie and Len (Wood)...we said 'Look, let's lease the Charter for a year, regroup and see what we want to do long term....
 
"The opportunity arose with the departure of Brian Scott that there was an opening for the charter on the 44 team. After we had already signed with the Wood Brothers a few months ago, this opportunity came up."
 
The Charter system, which was unveiled before the start of the '16 season, awarded guaranteed starting positions to those teams that had attempted to qualify for all races from 2013 through 2015. Thirty-six teams met that criteria, leaving four positions available for Open (non-Chartered) teams.
 
The Wood Brothers team, one of the longest-tenured organizations in NASCAR, ran a limited schedule from 2009 through 2015. It resumed running the full 36-race schedule this past season, one which saw rookie Blaney finish 20th in points.