After a lengthy career in Formula One, Herbie Blash is stepping down from his officiating role at Formula One events at the end of the season.

A 50-year veteran of Formula One, Michael ‘Herbie’ Blash began his Grand Prix career in 1965 working with privateer Lotus entrant Rob Walker. In 1968 he was employed by Lotus where he became race engineer to Jochen Rindt. In 1972 he moved to the Brabham, where he became team manager, a post he would hold until 1988. Following a period as Sporting Director with Brabham in the early 1990s, he then moved to Yamaha as Sporting Director. In 1996 he became the FIA Deputy Race Director in Formula One, a role he has held ever since.

The role of F1 Deputy Race Director will be taken over by Laurent Mekies, who joined the FIA as safety director in 2014. A graduate engineer of the ESTACA School in France, Mekies began his Formula One career as a race engineer with the Arrows F1 team in 2001 before moving to Minardi the following year. After the team’s takeover and renaming as Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006, Mekies was appointed chief engineer. In 2012 he took on a new role as Head of Vehicle Performance at the Faenza team. Mekies will continue to hold the post of Safety Director, but will now also work alongside FIA Formula One Race Director Charlie Whiting at all Formula One races.

“I would personally like to thank Herbie for all of his hard work for the FIA over the past 21 years, and especially for his contribution in maintaining Formula One’s place at the pinnacle of motor sport,” said FIA President Jean Todt. “Along with Charlie, Herbie has been instrumental in the seamless running of grand prix races for over two decades, and we are pleased that he will continue to work with the FIA in future.

“Replacing someone with Herbie’s immense experience was never going to be easy. However, we are fortunate to be able to appoint Laurent Mekies to this position. Laurent brings a wealth of Formula One experience, and has been responsible for driving the FIA’s safety agenda since joining us. Combining his strong Formula One history and work as the FIA’s Safety Director, I am confident that he will ensure that the FIA’s flagship single-seater championship continues to set the benchmark for race management and safety—a status that his predecessor, Herbie, can take great pride in helping to nurture.”

“I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Herbie for his years of tireless work for our sport,” Whiting said. “It has been a huge pleasure to be alongside him for almost two decades. Of course Herbie will be hard to replace but, with Laurent’s extensive experience in F1, I’m sure he will be a worthy replacement, he will also be able to bring a new dimension of experience to our team of F1 officials.”

USAC’s recent social media poll to complete the 2016 list of inductees into the USAC Hall of Fame has resulted in inductions for drivers Steve Butler, Rick Mears and Kevin Olson, and car owner and chief mechanic Willie Davis.

The four new inductees received the most votes from a list of 16 candidates and will join eight previously-announced inductees in the ceremony which accompanies the July 21 Rich Vogler Classic USAC Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Indiana.

Previously-announced  inductees include Russ Clendenen, Jimmy Davies, Bob Higman, Tommy Hinnershitz, Dick King, Pat O’Connor, Tony Stewart and Bob Tattersall.

Butler, of Kokomo, Indiana, is a six-time USAC National Driving Champion. He won the Silver Crown title in 1988 and 1992 and swept three straight Sprint Car championships between 1986 and 1988 before repeating in 1990. A 2005 inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, he is also in the Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Hall of Fame and has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. He was USAC’s Silver Crown Rookie of the Year in 1985 and also won an AMA Motorcycle championship in 1976. He’s a 4-time 4-Crown Nationals champ (twice each in Silver Crown and Sprint) and won back-to-back Tony Hulman Classic sprint races on dirt and pavement.

Davis, of Pittsboro, Ind., was one of USAC’s most proficient car owners and chief mechanics. He captured USAC National Sprint Car Owner titles in 1969 and 1971, producing driver titles for Gary Bettenhausen. He recorded 34 feature victories during his tenure as a USAC car owner. In 1980, he served as the chief mechanic on Bettenhausen’s third-place Indianapolis 500 entry from Armstrong Mould Racing. Having started in hot rods in the 1940s, Willie assisted with Art Bisch’s 1956 CRA Sprint Car championship and later was instrumental in providing Johnny Rutherford’s initial USAC Sprint car ride at Reading, Pa. In 1996, he was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

Mears, of Bakersfield, Calif., is one of only three four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, having won all four under the sanction of USAC. In 1984, 1988 and 1991 he was USAC’s Gold Crown Driving Champion. His six Indy 500 poles are the all-time record. He is also a three-time Indy Car World Series Champion (1979, 1981 and 1982). In 1978, he shared the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Race award with USAC Hall of Famer Larry Rice. In 1997, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the following year was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

Olson, of Loves Park, Ill., won USAC National Midget championships in 1982 and 1987 and captured 23 victories during his USAC career. Among his victories were wins in the 1983 Turkey Night Grand Prix and the 1996 Hut Hundred. He is a five-time Badger Midget Auto Racing Ass’n champ and also won the prestigious Pepsi Midget Nationals at Sun Prairie, Wis., five times. Olson has more recently been involved in motorsports broadcasting and has worked on the team at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kevin was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1997.

* Get Kookin: We weren’t entirely sure what to expect when our friends at Kooks Headers and Exhaust invited us to their Statesville, North Carolina, headquarters for a visit in late May. Which is just as well, because any prior expectations would have been summarily overwritten by our own firsthand experience. In a word, impressive.

Shortly after arrival—and a welcome dose of morning joe—we were treated by our hosts Mike Alvarez and Matt Neal to a behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s global base of operations. The facility, which produces upwards of 6000 precision headers each year, runs, as one might assume, like a well-oiled machine.

From the manufacturing space we were met by none other than George Kook, Jr., who told us about the company’s latest high-tech investments, including a light scanner that speeds the process of 3D modeling exponentially (20 times faster than previous methods, Kook said) simply by waving an iron-like mechanism over the vehicle, engine bay or other area. The system then transports that image directly into a design program. “It starts with the technology, the tools and the personnel,” Kook added. “That’s really what keeps us on top of the game. We’re always trying to stay five years ahead of everybody else.”

But new tools often require a new toolshed, and in Kooks’ case that translates to a 20,000-square-foot do-it-all space about 20 miles down Interstate 77 in Mooresville. The new building will house a host of functions, from sales and marketing to R&D to validation and emissions testing, among others. Move-in should begin over the summer, with full capacity anticipated by January 2017. For the latest on Kooks, visit www.kooksheaders.com.

* Life Saving: Having recently fulfilled his duties as grand marshal for the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, former Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert will crisscross the country this month as he continues raising awareness for a cause that hits particularly close to home.

Herbert, who in 1992 became the first driver to clock a sub-4.9 at the Winternationals in Pomona, returns to the city’s Los Angeles County Fairplex in July to host his acclaimed B.R.A.K.E.S. program. An acronym for Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe, B.R.A.K.E.S. was established in 2008 as a driving school for teenagers and parents following the tragic passing of Herbert’s two young sons in an auto accident.

Since its inception, the intensive half-day training course has graduated an astounding 20,000 teens from over 30 states. A tight student-to-teacher ratio, highly skilled instructors, top-notch curriculum, and requirement that at least one parent attend with each teen ensures the program hits multiple touch points with precision accuracy. And clearly it’s working. According to a recent survey, graduates of Herbert’s program are nearly two-thirds less likely to be involved in an accident than non-graduates during their first three years on the road.

This month, B.R.A.K.E.S. will be at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C. (7/9 and 7/10), followed by stops in Southern California (Pomona on 7/16 and 7/17; Fontana on 7/23 and 7/24), Manheim, Pennsylvania (7/23 and 7/24) and then back to the Southland (San Diego on 7/30 and 7/31). For more information or to register for a school, visit www.putonthebrakes.org.     

* Swan Song: And finally, it won't be the same around here without John Kilroy, our Vice President/General Manager who steered PRI through a period of transition/evolution following our acquisition by SEMA in 2012. For a full accounting of his own transition, read John's final blog entry on the PRI website.

And when you do, understand that John gave this company his all for three decades. In fact, when addressing the team, he often liked speaking in terms of sports analogies. So the best I could come up with for him is that John Kilroy left it all on the court. Every PRI Trade Show, every issue of PRI Magazine, and every opportunity to promote the industry, John came at it with an energy and optimism that was truly infectious.

We'll miss you, John, and wish you nothing but happiness and success in whatever lies around that next turn.

Chevrolet is marking the 50th anniversary of the Camaro's introduction this year, and on Thursday unveiled its 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Camaro SS—the model for Chevrolet race cars starting next season.

The updated Camaro was displayed at Daytona International Speedway ahead of the Subway Firecracker 250 Presented by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The new XFINITY Series Camaro will debut in the 2017 season opener at Daytona.

"For the past 50 years, Camaro has played a key role in Chevrolet's racing success in winning races and championships," said Mark Kent, director of Chevrolet Racing. "We look forward to further success with the new Camaro SS in the NASCAR XFINITY Series."

The fifth-generation Camaro was introduced into the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2013.

The FIA has released the names of the 10 teams entered to take part in the third season of the FIA Formula E Championship, which gets underway in Hong Kong on Oct. 9.

Eight of the 10 teams have been involved since the inaugural season of the world’s first fully-electric single-seater series, though some have undergone a name change since then.

The two new entries come courtesy of Jaguar, the company choosing Formula E to mark its return to motorsport after an absence of more than a decade, and the Chinese Techeetah team, which has taken over Team Aguri’s entry and is owned by China Media Capital, a public equity and venture capital firm based in Shanghai.

Another new name is that of Faraday Future, an advanced mobility company with headquarters in Silicon Valley and Southern California, which has entered into a new technological partnership with Dragon Racing.

The 10 teams entered for the 2016-2017 season are:

ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport

Andretti Formula E

Faraday Future Dragon Racing

DS Virgin Racing

Jaguar Racing

Mahindra Racing

NextEV NIO

Renault e.Dams

Techeetah

Venturi Formula E

DEI’s first ever Cruise-in held on Saturday, June 18, at the company’s headquarters in Avon Lake, Ohio, was deemed a huge success with over 350 people in attendance.

Developed in conjunction with the 2016 Cruisin’ Times Magazine Lucky 7 Road Show, the Cruise-in featured close to 200 hot rods, custom rods, race cars and tricked out trucks. Several DEI sponsored race teams were present including Martino Motorsports with their NHRA/PDRA Top Dragster out of Youngstown, OH. Tom “WF” and Ryan Martino are sponsored with DEI’s Ny-Trex Oxide Systems and DEI thermal products. Also on hand was Dave May from May Motorsports who brought his #7 and #77 MSA /modified race cars, and from Medina, OH Aaron Quine with his Howe TA2 2015 Trans Am Camaro.

Tom Miller, DEI’s VP of Marketing and Sales, reported, “The free event was a big hit with employees, spectators and all car show participants. We had perfect weather – sunny and 80 degrees, had delicious barbeque on hand from Jones Bones BBQ, and we raised over $1,000 for the Friendship Animal Protective League; a non-profit organization that was of special significance to our friend and former employee Ken Moore.”

For more information or to see more photos from the June event, visit www.DesignEngineering.com.

Dunn Benson Motorsports announces its "Official" Grand Opening Celebration/Race Party at its new location will be held Wednesday, July 6, starting at 4:30 pm. Dunn Benson Motorsports relocated into a new race shop and parts showroom at 1300 N. Ellis Ave in Dunn, North Carolina, back in March. This Grand Opening Celebration and Ribbon Cutting is open to the public and will include Celebrities, Door Prizes, Giveaways, Merchandise, Race Cars on Display, Hot Rods, Drag Cars, Music, Food, Kids Activities, and much more!
 
Celebrities that will be in attendance include: newly crowned Miss North Carolina, McKenzie Faggart, NASCAR Driver of the iconic #43, Aric Almirola, Former NFL Star for the Carolina Panthers and Head Football Coach of Campbell University, Mike Minter, 1986 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, 5-Time Dirt Late Model National Champion driver of the Dunn Benson Motorsports Team, Earl Pearson Jr, along with several other National Dirt Late Model Stars.
 
Along with the "Official" Ribbon Cutting from both the Dunn Chamber of Commerce and the Benson Chamber of Commerce, the team will be recognizing World War II Veterans' and military personnel in honor of the Independence Day Holiday. Dunn Benson Motorsports along with Jim Long, promoter of Fayetteville Motor Speedway, will be giving away FREE Tickets to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event being held at Fayetteville Motor Speedway on July 7th. Military personnel that attend the Grand Opening Ceremony and show a valid military ID will receive a FREE General Admission ticket to the race event.
 
This celebration and race party is sponsored by Dunn Benson Ford and Dunn Benson Motorsports along with owners Carlton and Kemp Lamm. "The Grand Opening/Ribbon Cutting is our way of saying Thank You to all the race fans, sponsors, businesses, friends and the local community for all the years of friendship and support of our Ford Dealership and our Race Team. Dad and I invite everyone to come to our Grand Opening Race Party on July 6th, visit our New Race Shop/Parts Business and meet the special guests we have attending. Were also excited to be the Title Sponsor of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event in Fayetteville, NC and hope all the fans will come by and visit with us on July 6th,” stated Kemp Lamm, Co-Owner of Dunn Benson Motorsports.
 
Dunn Benson Motorsports is the home of the National Touring Dirt Late Model Race Team for driver Earl Pearson Jr, and now sells a full line of name brand performance parts for Circle Track, Drag Racing, Hot Rodders and Truck Enthusiasts. In addition, Dunn Benson Motorsports is an authorized retailer for all Lucas Oil Products for both racing applications and everyday use in your street vehicles and sells Sunoco Race Fuel.

The Sports Car Club of America has announced a new relationship with Chevrolet that provides support for several SCCA competitive activities.

Through this new agreement, Chevrolet becomes the official truck of the Sports Car Club of America and will provide the SCCA with multiple Silverado pickup trucks.

Chevrolet will be called upon to execute the busy competition calendar of the Tire Rack SCCA National Solo and National RallyCross programs, as well as the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, presented by Garmin VIRB. Eric Prill, SCCA vice president and COO, said the Silverados will be trusted with hauling three National Solo equipment trailers essential for the implementation of nearly 30 events this year, including the year-end Tire Rack Solo Nationals, presented by Garmin VIRB.

“We’re thrilled to form this new relationship with Chevrolet, and can’t wait to get the new Silverados on the road and to our top events,” Prill said. “The SCCA is not solely about sports cars. Trucks play a huge role in our members’ lives, whether it is towing a racecar, helping their business operate or serving as a family vehicle. We look forward to our partnership with Chevrolet.”

Each year, the National Solo program covers nearly 70,000 miles hauling equipment trailers to Championship Tour, Match Tour, ProSolo and RallyCross events. Those trailers, ranging from 20-feet to 28-feet long, weigh in between 8,000 and 12,000 pounds.

“Chevrolet is proud to partner with the SCCA as the Official Truck of the Sports Car Club of America, and are proud that the SCCA is counting on Chevrolet to haul its important equipment and vehicles from event to event,” said Jim Campbell, vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Chevrolet has a long history in performance and racing, and supports the efforts of SCCA racers from all over the country. Chevrolet also has a long history and tradition of building durable, long-lasting trucks that get the job done when pulling a trailer full of race cars, parts and equipment, which is why we’re excited about this partnership.”

With a new era set to debut in IMSA's top WeatherTech SportsCar championship class in 2017, the series is also considering the reintroduction of Pro-Am rules for a portion of its Prototype field.

In a nod to Grand-Am's former Trueman-Akin subcategory for non-professional drivers, IMSA could implement a Pro-Am driver structure with the new-for-2017 spec WEC P2s. IMSA's new Daytona Prototype internationals (DPi), which are built on the same WEC P2 platform but use custom engines and bodywork from auto manufacturers, would be exempt from the Pro-Am construct if the plan is adopted.

"It's under consideration and it's one of several examples where we are in the process of having what I would describe as town hall meetings," IMSA President Scott Atherton said. "It involves team owners, drivers in some examples, and manufacturers and sponsors, corporate partners and others. We're really extracting a lot of feedback. And I think this is another example of IMSA wanting to make fully informed decisions."

Atherton sees the benefit of a separate Pro-Am championship in the spirit of Trueman-Akin to entice more drivers to come into Prototype, and develop business opportunity for its teams.

"That's the thinking behind pursuing one of the two options, in that it really depends on which of the gentlemen drivers you speak to, because some will tell you that the reason they are competing at that level is because they just want to race against the best in the world in—at the highest level of prototype racing that's accessible to them.

"Others will say, you know, I really can't get excited about racing for fifth or sixth or seventh, or pick a number, because they recognize that without an all-pro line-up, without a manufacturer-backed program, given the opportunities that they would have, that is what they would be competing for.

"So the question is, can you craft an overall platform that has the right attributes in place to be attractive to the professional teams and the manufacturer involvement that we envision DPi to deliver, but also have a component that makes it equally attractive to an independent team that perhaps comes with a Pro-Am lineup by design?

"There's a couple of different ways to accomplish that. One would be to have that Trueman-Akin element within a single prototype category. The other would be to potentially define the ACO spec LMP2 car as a designated pro-am class within the prototype class. So that is not two separate classes but a subset of one prototype class. And that's—there—there's two schools of thought there and both are under consideration."

IMSA Prototype team owner Michael Shank has been a steady advocate for the return of a Pro-Am option for the class, and likes the general direction of IMSA's thinking. But he also has concerns about some of what he's heard behind the scenes about Pro-Am cars being subject to a lower horsepower figure than DPis.

"It's a good thing, but here's my caveat: There's no one who wants to come into a knife fight with less power in the big show," Shank said. "If you want to do a Pro-Am in the big show, at least give us the same power. If it isn't like that, and we're 30 or 40hp down, there's no one who'll want to turn up and lose in a Pro-Am car."

The Ohio-based entrant is one of a few Prototype owners who've mentioned hearing the current LMP2 cars will be held to the same power levels in 2017, which would, in theory, leave them at a deficit to the higher power target for DPis.

"If I take by Ligier [JS P2] or [HPD] ARX-04b, I start wherever we end at the end of 2016. Now if they're reconsidering that, I'll change my mind. We're going to have slim fields, so why wouldn't they do that? If they're worried about a 2016 car being faster than a 2017 car, what's the real concern over the course of a season?

"I know they want the DPis as the top cars, especially with manufacturers involved, but if the grids are going to be short, making it more equal for everyone will get more cars out there and more drivers willing to spend money to race. I support the Pro-Am idea, but like I said, only as long as we have the same power to we're in the fight. I can't sell it, otherwise."

Internationally acclaimed automotive designer and master fabricator Chip Foose has been selected by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) as an inductee into the organization’s prestigious SEMA Hall of Fame. Foose will be honored July 29 at the SEMA Installation Gala in Pomona, California, for his outstanding career and contributions to the automotive specialty industry. This annual award is created to celebrate trendsetting icons and design mavens who have shaped and inspired the specialty-equipment market through their creativity, dignity, integrity and accomplishments.
 
Son of legendary custom rod builder, Sam Foose, Chip, 52, has been steeped in car design since his early childhood and he’s just as passionate about his creations today as he was then. In three decades, Chip’s style has always been one both remarkable and entirely his own. His ‘look’ innately blends tradition and technology but more than that, each of his projects contain a consistent theme that integrally speaks to each piece. He doesn’t just incorporate classic elements or technology just for the sake of doing so, he ensures that each project has an artistic, elegant and meaningful flow throughout. His designs are subtle and understated and, uniquely Chip, he starts his designs from the smallest details and then builds around it; embracing the details that speak truest to the project and then aligning every piece of the puzzle to bring his projects to complete design.
 
Chip’s design career has been, and continues to be, dynamic and authentic. He has been a lead customizer in Hollywood, building studio cars for films like “Blade Runner,” and “Gone in 60 Seconds.” He was handpicked by John Lassiter to join the Disney Animation and Pixar design family to contribute to the paint schemes and graphic treatments for the “Cars,” and “Cars 2” films, and those same designs are embodied, and were personally applied by Chip and his crew at Disney’s California Adventure’s “Cars Land” theme park. He has hosted and appeared on notable automotive TV shows including TLC’s “Overhaulin’” and has been the recipient of countless awards for his phenomenal designs such as winning the coveted “Ridler” Award four times at the Detroit Autorama, becoming the first recipient of the Good Guys Trendsetter Award and building eight America’s Most Beautiful Roadster awarded vehicles.
 
“It is an honor to be acknowledged by my peers at SEMA, the organization has been immensely supportive throughout my journey as a designer and builder,” said Chip. “As 2016 marks my 30th anniversary in design this couldn’t have been a more appreciated and sentimental award for my life’s work – all I can say is thank you!”
 
For more information on the SEMA Hall of Fame Award ceremony, please visit www.sema.org.