Valvoline announced a large internal team, along with strong lead and supporting partners, will construct two, custom Stock-Full class trucks to compete in the 49th SCORE Baja 1000, scheduled for November 16–20 of this year.

This marks Valvoline's inaugural endeavor as an owner in this racing league.

Lead partner in this venture is worldwide engine manufacturer Cummins. Since 1996, Valvoline and Cummins have had an exclusive arrangement, with the Cummins' logo appearing on product packaging for a number of Valvoline's Premium Blue portfolio of products.

Additional Baja build partners include BILSTEIN and ATS Diesel Performance, a worldwide manufacturer of diesel truck performance products. All partner companies have been integral in providing assets and expertise to the build.

"This endeavor is truly a collaboration of an extended, and valued, partner network," said Jamal Muashsher, Valvoline's director of marketing for global brands. "Several Valvoline employees wanted to demonstrate our hands-on expertise by showing that we not only work at Valvoline, but also embody the spirit of the brand and understand how to get under the hood and create a competition vehicle."

This year's Baja race will be a loop covering 800–1000 miles, starting and ending in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Two main trucks and two chase trucks—rotating drivers and navigators—are needed to complete the average 28-52 hour race.

Drivers invited to navigate the custom-made vehicles will be Network A and Formula Drift Drivers Chris Forsberg and Ryan Tuerck.

"In celebrating our 150th anniversary, we looked at Valvoline racers from our past and present to help us form a list of athletes to align with for this race.  Certainly, Ryan and Chris were at the top," added Muashsher. "It meant a lot to us that the drivers invited to helm our one-of-a-kind trucks speak to the evolution of Valvoline over the past 15 decades."

The entire build will be highlighted in a digital series that will be exclusive on TeamValvoline.com this fall.

Precision Turbo & Engine announced the launch of its new HPL OIL website. This new website offers information and testimonials on HPL Oils and Automatic Transmission Fluids.
 
After months of hard work, research, and racing, the brand new HPL Lubricants Website is officially up and running. Many customers have had questions, and now this website will have your answers. Read the details and learn more about HPL’s benefits compared to competitors. See who's been winning races and breaking records while using HPL Oil. Get the facts on PTE’s contingency program, plus so much more. Make sure to subscribe for all the latest on HPL Lubricants.


For more information regarding PTE's HPL Oil Website, or to order our HPL Products, please contact Precision Turbo and Engine at (855) 996-7832.

Legislators across the country are supporting the Congressional bill that will save racing, but many elected officials have yet to sign on as co-sponsors. Action is needed.

Since introduction in March, the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act has received support from dozens of legislators who have signed on as co-sponsors. As the racing industry sits in limbo, the Congressional bill is critical to providing the industry with certainty. The RPM Act will allow emissions-certified street vehicles to continue to be converted for competition use, both now and in the future.

We thank the sponsors of the House and the Senate bills, listed below:

House Bill

H.R.4715, Sponsored by Rep. McHenry, Patrick T. [R-NC-10]

Cosponsors (Alphabetical by State):

ALABAMA

Rep. Rogers, Mike D. [R-AL-3]

ARIZONA

Rep. Gosar, Paul A. [R-AZ-4]

ARKANSAS

Rep. Hill, J. French [R-AR-2] 

Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4]

CALIFORNIA

Rep. Cook, Paul [R-CA-8]

Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] 

Rep. Rohrabacher, Dana [R-CA-48] 

Rep. Valadao, David G. [R-CA-21] 

Rep. Walters, Mimi [R-CA-45]

COLORADO

Rep. Tipton, Scott R. [R-CO-3]

FLORIDA

Rep. Curbelo, Carlos [R-FL-26] 

Rep. Posey, Bill [R-FL-8]*

Rep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-10]

GEORGIA

Rep. Hice, Jody B. [R-GA-10]

Rep. Loudermilk, Barry [R-GA-11] 

Rep. Scott, Austin [R-GA-8] 

Rep. Westmoreland, Lynn A. [R-GA-3]

ILLINOIS

Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13] 

Rep. Kinzinger, Adam [R-IL-16]

INDIANA

Rep. Brooks, Susan W. [R-IN-5]

Rep. Rokita, Todd [R-IN-4]

Rep. Walorski, Jackie [R-IN-2]

IOWA

Rep. Blum, Rod [R-IA-1]

KANSAS

Rep. Pompeo, Mike [R-KS-4]

KENTUCKY

Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6]

LOUISIANA

Rep. Abraham, Ralph Lee [R-LA-5]

MICHIGAN

Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-2] 

Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-4] 

Rep. Walberg, Tim [R-MI-7]

MINNESOTA

Rep. Kline, John [R-MN-2] 

Rep. Peterson, Collin C. [D-MN-7]

MISSISSIPPI

Rep. Kelly, Trent [R-MS-1]

MISSOURI

Rep. Hartzler, Vicky [R-MO-4]

Rep. Long, Billy [R-MO-7]

NEBRASKA

Rep. Ashford, Brad [D-NE-2] 

Rep. Smith, Adrian [R-NE-3]

NEVADA

Rep. Amodei, Mark E. [R-NV-2]

NEW YORK

Rep. Collins, Chris [R-NY-27] 

Rep. Zeldin, Lee M. [R-NY-1]*

NORTH CAROLINA

Rep. Ellmers, Renee L. [R-NC-2]  

Rep. Foxx, Virginia [R-NC-5] 

Rep. Hudson, Richard [R-NC-8]*

Rep. Pittenger, Robert [R-NC-9] 

Rep. Rouzer, David [R-NC-7]

OHIO

Rep. Jordan, Jim [R-OH-4] 

Rep. Renacci, James B. [R-OH-16] 

Rep. Ryan, Tim [D-OH-13]

OKLAHOMA

Rep. Mullin, Markwayne [R-OK-2]

OREGON

Rep. Walden, Greg [R-OR-2]

PENNSYLVANIA

Rep. Barletta, Lou [R-PA-11] 

Rep. Kelly, Mike [R-PA-3]

SOUTH CAROLINA

Rep. Sanford, Mark [R-SC-1]

TENNESSEE

Rep. Black, Diane [R-TN-6] 

Rep. DesJarlais, Scott [R-TN-4]

TEXAS

Rep. Burgess, Michael C. [R-TX-26] 

Rep. Cuellar, Henry [D-TX-28]*

Rep. Neugebauer, Randy [R-TX-19]

VIRGINIA

Rep. Brat, Dave [R-VA-7] 

Rep. Forbes, J. Randy [R-VA-4] 

Rep. Griffith, H. Morgan [R-VA-9] 

Rep. Hurt, Robert [R-VA-5]

WEST VIRGINIA

Rep. Mooney, Alexander X. [R-WV-2]

WISCONSIN

Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6]

Rep. Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr. [R-WI-5]

Senate Bill

S.2659, Sponsored by Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]

Cosponsors (Alphabetical by State):

GEORGIA

Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]

IDAHO

Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]

INDIANA

Sen. Donnelly, Joe [D-IN]

MONTANA      

Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]         
   
NEVADA

Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV]*

NORTH CAROLINA

Sen. Tillis, Thom [R-NC]*

SOUTH CAROLINA

Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC]

WEST VIRGINA

Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]*

Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]

WYOMING

Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY]

Many legislators have yet to sign on to the bill. Urge your representative to support the RPM Act by visiting www.sema.org/rpm today. Businesses can be even more instrumental in influencing their reps and are asked to contact the SEMA D.C. office at san@sema.org to find out how they can help. The SEMA D.C. team has resources to make it simple and easy for your company to make a tremendous impact.

Our voices are being heard, but we need to continue to take action!

In the world of social media, everyone’s an expert—everyone possesses those critical tips and tricks to bring your brand instant success. Right?

The simple truth is there is no cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all method that will guarantee your brand or race team overnight fame and prosperity.

That said, there are some basic principles that, when followed, will help build your brand’s presence on social media with quality followers that are interested in you and/or your product. The key is to know your audience.

Measuring Success

Now, the success of your social media campaign should not be measured solely by the number of “Likes” or “Followers” you amass. These days, anyone can simply enter a credit card number onto a less-than-reputable website that will send phony Likes and Followers to virtually any social media channel. What good does this do you? It doesn’t. 

In fact, it has a negative effect. Here’s why: The goal of your social media campaign should be to grow your brand with quality followers that are interested in your brand. People interested in your brand will drive engagement on your social media network, which in turn serves as a key to growth in the social media world. 

Having hundreds of fake profiles “Like” your page only ensures that your engagement remains low, as none of those profiles will ever interact with your page or respond to a call to action.

Car Chix built our social media program from the ground up—with no paid advertising targeting page Likes—and we definitely didn’t use any shady websites selling fake followers.

Starting from a small idea at a local race track that has since evolved into a worldwide phenomenon, Car Chix’s Facebook fanpage has grown from 16,000 to 85,000-plus Followers in just the last year! 

Yes, I said earlier not to measure your success by the number of Likes or Followers, but there is an exception. Nearly 50 percent of the traffic to Car Chix’s website comes directly from social media—fans that are being converted into sales. During our best week of 2015, the Car Chix Facebook page was reaching over 30 million people, which is a big reason why last year alone our sales grew by more than 280 percent!   

The Likes on our Facebook page are more than just Likes. They are fans, customers and prospects—this is a quality following; this is opportunity. So how did we do it?

Timing Is Everything

Anyone that tells you the best time to post is between 9 and 3 doesn’t know a thing about social media marketing. The best time to post is when your audience is online, period; and not everyone’s audience is online at the same time. 

Posting when your audience is online allows you to maximize your exposure. Why send out your race team’s new press release at 3 a.m. when no one is online besides you (and maybe a few of your old college buddies)? Post the next day, when 90 percent of your followers are online and looking for content. 

Take a look at your Insights on Facebook, or other analytic information provided for your specific social media accounts. Review this data, and start sending out your posts when they’re likely to gain maximum exposure. Try certain times for a week, then review and do it again. Remember: Test and tweak, test and tweak.

Quality Over Quantity

Content is king—a quality, well thought-out post will always be more effective than 10 random posts a day. Again, review your analytic data. How does your audience respond to certain posts? Do you get more Likes, Comments and Shares on posts with photos as opposed to posts with only text?

The key to growth is not the number of entries you can post in day. It is the number of quality posts that you publish over an extended period of time. Social media is a long-term relationship, not a one-night stand.

Over the years I have seen pages that publish content on social media three times a week with significantly higher engagement and numbers of followers than a page posting 10-plus times a day. The difference is that one page knows its audience and produces quality content, while the other does not.

Rules: Made To Be Broken

Critics and experts are everywhere. However, if we didn’t break the rules and test different methods on the Car Chix Facebook page along the way, we’d still be scooting along with an average page and mediocre engagement.

For example, I often read online about how we shouldn’t post memes, or shouldn’t post this or that. Well, you know what? We know our audience and they LIKE it.

True, not everyone’s audience will respond the same way, at the same time, to the same posts. The best thing you can do is just keep testing and tweaking. What works this week may not work next week—but the trick is to stay ahead of the game…and your competition.

If you don’t know your audience, get to know them, because they’re the ones that support you and your brand, and only they can help you truly succeed in the world of social media.
 
Jeanette DesJardins is the owner and founder of Car Chix, the premier motorsports organization for women, and Crank It Media, a professional Internet marketing company that specializes in the motorsports, automotive, industrial and entertainment industries. She is also a co-host on Teresa’s Garage Radio Show, a weekly international radio program that delivers up-to-the-minute news and opinions on racing and the auto industry.

WELD, manufacturer of performance wheels, will hold an invitation only ribbon cutting and open house May 19 at its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, from 12–4 p.m.

Many WELD brand ambassadors will be on hand for the event, including NHRA stars John Force, Erica Enders-Stevens and Clay Millican, World of Outlaws star Brian Brown, Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) rider Thomas Brown and Formula Drift driver Justin Pawlak. Several more ambassadors are expected to attend, along with many local dignitaries including Scott Wagner, Kansas City mayor pro-tem and 1st District-at-Large councilman, Quinton Lucas, Kansas City 3rd District-at-Large councilman, Kathryn Shields, Kansas City 4th District-at-Large Councilwoman, Tony Miller, Jackson County 3rd District-at-Large legislator, Johnny Sweeney, Kansas City’s director of economic development and David Pruente representing the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

“WELD has been on a steady growth path over the past three years and we are excited to celebrate this achievement with our brand ambassadors and our hometown of Kansas City during the upcoming open house,” said Norm Young, president and CEO of WELD.

An impressive array of show vehicles will be displayed that feature the company’s wheels from its leading brands including WELD Racing, WELD Street & Strip, CCW Forged Performance, REKON Off Road and HiPer Technology by WELD.

The ribbon cutting will help celebrate the recent expansion of WELD’s manufacturing operations with the addition of HiPer Technology, the leading manufacturer of high performance “super structural” carbon fiber wheels for all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and side-by-side (UTV) vehicles. WELD purchased HiPer Technology last year and moved the company’s operations from Lawrence, Kansas to WELD’s Kansas City headquarters in February 2016.

In addition, WELD will add the operations of CCW Forged Performance to its Kansas City facility by Dec. 31, 2016. WELD acquired Complete Custom Wheels (CCW) of Holly Hill, Florida, a manufacturer of premium forged road race, sports car and luxury car wheels in November 2014. WELD has designed space at its Kansas City headquarters to facilitate the move of CCW Forged Performance from its current operations in Florida.

Red Bull's Formula 1 cockpit canopy design was unveiled in the pit lane ahead of its trial run in Russian Grand Prix free practice.

The design, which Red Bull is calling the "aeroscreen," was fitted to Daniel Ricciardo's RB12 in its garage on Thursday in preparation for its track debut today, with the Australian sitting in the car to get a feel for getting in and out when the screen is attached.

"In FP1 I will do an installation lap with it," said Ricciardo at Sochi on Thursday. "I'm sure I will get a lot of TV time in the first two minutes of the session!"

Felipe Massa, who suffered a head injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, said he was looking forward to seeing another device tried following Ferrari's use of the halo design during pre-season testing.

"It will be nice to see how it looks and how it is for the drivers," said the Williams driver. "It's nice that you see teams trying to help give some ideas and it's important for us to get the best idea for the future to improve even more safety.

"There are so many things that are important to understand—we need to do all the tests to see if it's comfortable, the feeling, how the wind will come for the driver."

When asked if the Red Bull design was better than the halo concept, he added: "I don’t know, I have no idea. We'll see how it looks [on track]."

Coming off another Pirelli World Challenge GTS race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, WC Vision LLC, producers of the Pirelli World Challenge, announced the series’ future plans for the Grand Touring Sedan class.

In 2017, the GTS category will include all applicable SRO-homologated GT4 cars and the Pirelli World Challenge series will grandfather in current 2016 GTS classified vehicles. Full SRO GT4 compliance is expected for the PWC series in 2018.

In 2016, the GTS division has already enlisted ten different auto manufacturers competing in the first six rounds and four of the auto makers have reached victory lane. The ten models include Chevrolet Camaro Z-28, KTM XBow GT4, Ford Boss 302, SIN Car R1 GT4, Ginetta GT4, Lotus Evora GT4, Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Maserati Gran Turismo MC, Audi TT RS and Porsche Cayman.

“The PWC series was the first in this country to adopt the global GT3 platform with our Competition Director Marcus Haselgrove leading that charge,” said Greg Gill, WC Vision President and CEO. “Now, as the series reviewed the data from its first six rounds of GTS racing, we are ready to confirm the full addition of GT4 to GTS in 2017, with a year transition time for adoption of the SRO GT4 homologation globally by 2018. We anticipate hearing about more OEM entries into the GTS class in the coming weeks. This is a very exciting time for GTS racing and its drivers, teams and sponsors. We see a great future for GTS.”

Beginning in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, the Pirelli World Challenge established a testing program for GT4 cars as the North American GT production series worked closely with the SRO, the series’ technical partner, to examine GT4 cars homologated by the worldwide sports car organization.

“The PWC series supported the homologated GT3 concept in North America, attracting many new manufacturers,” said Haselgrove, “The goal in the competition department has been to assist all manufacturers with their motorsport ladder systems. I proposed in January, 2015 that GT4 was a logical step for the series. We took a bold move allowing manufacturers to test in public on race weekends. Through transparency other manufacturers looked at the GT4 platform developed by Stephane Ratel and technical director Claude Surmont (SRO) for their North America customers. Already five new manufacturers have joined since last season’s final race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This also answers to feedback from the fans for more manufacturers.”

Two-time GTS champion Lawson Aschenbach (548 points) currently leads the GTS point standings as the series heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 19-22 for Rounds 7-8. Fifteen-year-old racer Parker Chase (518) holds the second position in GTS points followed by Brent Sandberg (504), Nate Stacy (440), Jack Roush Jr. (420), Scott Dollahite (361) and Tony Gaples (326).

The World Motor Sport Council has ratified the engine proposal put forward by the Formula 1 Commission, paving the way for its enforcement next year.

Autosport revealed earlier on Friday that F1 bosses had come to an agreement on cost, availability of supply, performance convergence and noise of engines.

The FIA has now confirmed the proposal will be included in the technical and sporting regulations for the 2017 and 2018 world championships.

"The FIA is pleased to announce that, following extensive work done in conjunction with the four power unit manufacturers involved in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, and with the support of the commercial rights holder, a global agreement on power units has been reached for the 2017-2020 period," said an FIA statement.

"The agreement has been approved by all levels of the F1 governance structure, including the World Motor Sport Council.

"It will now be included as technical and sporting regulations for the 2017 and 2018 FIA Formula 1 world championship.

"The global agreement on power units covers four key areas relating to the cost and supply price, obligation to supply, performance convergence and the sound of the power units."

The move is seen as a success for the FIA, which has been pushing extensively for cost reductions.

SPEED Energy and Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS announced the inaugural Mike’s Peak Hill Climb Challenge at the legendary Mike’s Sky Rancho in Baja California, Mexico. In honor of 50 years of Baja Racing on the road to Mike’s, SST has partnered with the Ranch to invite all off-road vehicles—of the two, three or four wheeled varieties—to compete in this challenging hill climb competition.

Everyone is welcome to take a run to be the fastest to conquer “Mike’s Peak.” The four-day event will run October 13-16, 2016 with classes ranging from but not limited to; SST/short course trucks, Ultra 4’s, rock crawlers, rally cars, desert trucks, buggies, to quads, UTV’S and motorcycles.

“We’re seeing new attendance records for SST all the time, so having our lightweight, high horsepower, nimble trucks race to Mike’s is the perfect way to introduce this newest contest to fans and drivers of Baja,” said SST series founder, Robby Gordon. “I can’t wait to see how the SST’s stack up against other vehicles that attempt to make this climb. It’s a 100% dirt track, with more turns than Pike’s Peak before you reach a first of its kind water crossing finish at Mike’s.” The planned route is 31 km with nearly a 4,000 foot ascent through cattle guards and water crossings.

“Adding a SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS event in Mexico has always been a dream, and there are so many historic events in racing this year—from the 100th running of the Indy 500 and the return of the Ford GT to Le Mans, to the 100th anniversary of the first Pike’s Peak Hill Climb—I believe this is the best time to launch such a unique and old school event,” added Gordon. “We wanted to give the racers and fans something longer, something more challenging on man and machine, so we’re bringing back the dirt roads, getting rid of the guard rails, and inviting everyone with a race car and a dream.”

Space is limited.

More information is forthcoming, including registration and rules for the October 2016 event. Send racer registration, rules, reservation, and sponsor questions to MikesPeak@stadiumsupertrucks.com

EKS Motorsports, the long time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia official technical and customer support partner, will provide support to the Porsche teams entered in the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup.

Thanks to its Sepang base, the Malaysian company will also be able to provide Porsche-trained mechanics and the full and comprehensive technical support to all Porsche teams and drivers competing in the series, ensuring that the race cars are race-prepared, set-up, maintained or repaired for a weekend of racing.



Asian Le Mans Endurance Management Ltd. is happy with the decision, which contributes toward both the attractiveness and potential of the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup.



Hong Heng Soon, EKS Motorsports Ltd, Managing Director, said, “We are delighted to be part of the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup. With our many years’ experience in Porsche race cars, we wish to extend our services to the teams and drivers, not only with technical support but also spare parts support. We hope by doing this, there will be more Porsche cars entered in the series and we are looking forward to work with YOU!!!”



Cyrille Taesch Wahlen, Asian Le Mans Managing Director, added, "To have EKS involved in the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup Porsche customers service is definitely a real nice addition to the series package. Their long time experience and professionalism with the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will undoubtedly create a path towards the Sprint Cup. I would really like to thank Hong Heng Soon for his involvement and support.”