New Jersey Motorsports Park Managing Members Lee Brahin and RJ Valentine have announced that NJMP has completed a mortgage refinance.

The transaction, which was first initiated in 2014, has substantially reduced the Millville, New Jersey-based facility’s mortgage balance and debt service payments. Additionally, ownership has acquired the equity interest of the former investment bank partner. New Jersey Motorsports Park will now command the future growth and operations at the 500-acre premier racetrack and entertainment facility.

In a statement, RJ Valentine commented, “Of course we’re all thrilled to finalize the last step of our financing component for this amazing racing facility. It positions us all for a very positive and profitable future.”

The park also announced the sale of membership interests to new partners that have joined the ownership group.

In addition, chief operating officer and general manager Brad Scott will also join the ownership group, and work closely with managing members Lee Brahin and RJ Valentine leading the facility into the future. Mark Verrastro of Haddonfield, New Jersey, has joined the management team as general manager, and will handle day-to-day operations at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

For more, visit www.njmp.com.

LFR Chassis is extending its current operations in the Northeast with a new facility, as well as the addition of longtime crew chief Jimmy Fuller to the staff.

LFR Chassis owner Rob Fuller has partnered with Bob Charland to open a 6,500-square-foot facility in Stafford, Connecticut, that will sell and service LFR Chassis. This opportunity builds upon what Eddie Flemke and his team has done to service LFR teams in the Northeast.

“We have big plans to help service our customers in the Northeast, and this is phase one in a three-phase process,” said Fuller. “Eddie Flemke has been instrumental in servicing the LFR teams in the Northeast and will continue to do so. We had six modifieds and one Super Late Model north of Pennsylvania last year. In 2016, we will have 10 modifieds and eight Supers, so to expect Eddie to be able to handle this all on his own was not feasible.”

“Eddie is a one-man show these days, and I do not want to overload him at this stage of his career,” continued Fuller. “He is still looking after his Raceworks customers as well, so he was all about getting some help to service the LFR customers. He will be at this facility at times to help while taking care of his shop down the road.”

Fuller said he is excited to expand his Northeast operations with Charland, who has retail experience and space available in the area. Both Fuller and Ryan Stone, head of modifieds at LFR Chassis, will be heavily involved in the Northeast operation.

“Bob Charland has really stepped up to the plate by providing the shop and his expertise in retail sales,” Fuller commented. “He has a great group already in place to handle sales and shipping while we will focus on providing the equipment and technical support to the Northeast region.”

And, as mentioned above, Rob Fuller’s uncle Jimmy Fuller, a longtime crew chief and veteran in the modified industry, will join LFR Chassis in the Northeast facility this year.

For more on LFR Chassis, visit www.LFRChassis.com.

DIYAutoTune has announced the dates and locations for three new AMP EFI Clinics in 2016. Courses, which are $799 per person, will take place January 23-24 in Des Moines, IA; February 20-21 in Akron, OH; and April 9-10 in Minneapolis, MN.

AMP EFI Clinic is a hands-on, two-day tuning course for end users, dealers and professional tuners teaching installation, configuration, and calibration of a modern engine management system in a “real world” environment with bona fide, competition-experienced instructors.

Scott Clark, tuner for Larry Larson's World's Quickest Street Car and James 'Doc' McEntire's 2015 Drag Week's Quickest All Motor Street Car, will facilitate the course using a fully instrumented competition engine. Each participant will put their hands on, configure and tune their own ECU (a full-featured MS3-Pro EMS), and will test their calibrations on a live running engine.

It covers the spectrum from basic configuration and start-up to the most advanced features and power management. Class size is limited to 25 participants.

Each participant will receive:

- Hands-on training with Scott Clark, tuner for Larry Larson's 'World's Quickest Street Car' & James 'Doc' McEntire's World's Quickest All Motor Street Car

- Hands-on training with Engine Masters Challenge Finalists

- Access to a personal classroom Engine Simulator Workstation with a full-featured MS3-Pro EMS Tuning demo of a fully instrumented competition engine

- Special Q&A directly addressing YOUR current project challenges

* Light breakfast, refreshments, drinks and lunch will be provided.  Laptops are required for this course.

For additional information and registration, visit https://www.diyautotune.com/eficlinic/.

Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts, has announced the appointment of Cory Boudreau to the position of Race Director for both fast Fridays and the NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing on Saturday nights at Seekonk. He will be charged with all racing decisions and rule enforcements for all eight Seekonk Speedway Divisions.

Boudreau has been involved in auto racing for over four decades in almost every level at Seekonk, as well as at many other tracks in New England.

He has been a driver in several divisions at Seekonk Speedway, and raced three nights a week at three different tracks for years, spending time at Thompson, Hudson and Seekonk. His on-track career was highlighted with a championship in the Late Model division in 1999.

Boudreau has also spent over 11 years as a track official at Seekonk, working on the Pit Staff and as the Chief Technical Inspector. And, he served as a Technical Inspector at Thompson Speedway.

Before rejoining Seekonk Speedway, Boudreau had been traveling with the Rusty Wallace Racing experience, as well as racing in select events around New England.

The Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) has appointed Grant Goodall as its new CEO.

Goodall joins the national drag racing governing body with limited motorsport experience, having previously acted as chairman of Harness Racing SA and CEO of the SA Amateur Football League.

During an eight-year tenure at Harness Racing SA, which ended in 2011, Goodall received a national award for his services to sport.

Since then he has successfully restructured the SA Amateur Football League, which saw the competition secure a multi-million dollar infrastructure grant from the Federal Government, and a naming rights partnership with Channel Nine.

“I’m looking forward to working with everyone involved in the Drag Racing community and believe my racing, sports administration and business background will put me in good stead to achieve the organization’s goals,” said Goodall.

ANDRA appointed former Shannons Nationals boss Rob Curkpatrick as its interim CEO in September, with new recruit Goodall expected to take over on January 27.

ANDRA chairman Michael Fotheringham is reportedly looking forward to Goodall’s fresh approach to the sport, which is currently negotiating a transitional period following the formation of the breakaway 400 Thunder Series.

The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) has released its 2016 ACT Late Model Tour schedule. The 13-event series will see the Tour visit 12 different tracks in six US states and the province of Quebec as competitors pursue the $10,000-to-win ACT Championship.
 
The season will once again kick off with the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, April 10, and crown the 2016 champion at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway on Saturday, October 15.

Other traditional early-season events include the 18th Merchants Bank 150 at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road on May 1, the Spring Green 116 at Plattsburgh, NY’s Airborne Park Speedway on May 14, and a 100-lap event at Fair Haven, VT’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway on June 4.

The 2016 schedule will again feature three ACT/Pro All Stars Series (PASS) doubleheaders. The two series open the Oxford Plains Speedway racing season on Sunday, April 17. ACT and PASS then travel to Quebec’s Autodrome Montmagny on Saturday, July 23. The 150-lap event is the ACT US Tour’s first visit to the speedway since 1999, and is a combination event with Série ACT.
 
The third ACT/PASS doubleheader is set for Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and 18, at Scarborough, ME’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. The ACT portion will mark the return of the Fall Foliage 200 to Beech Ridge, which previously hosted the event from 1987 to 1989. Beech Ridge will be the only track to host two ACT Tour events in 2016, with the Fall Foliage 200 being held in addition to their traditional early-August date.
 
Autodrome Montmagny is one of three tracks the ACT Tour will return to in 2016 after a long hiatus. The Tour visits Connecticut’s New London-Waterford Speedbowl on May 21 and Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway on July 16 for the first times since 2010 and 2007, respectively, as part of the Southern New England Tripleheader. The three-race, three-track series concludes in the ACT season finale at Thompson as part of the World Series of Speedway Racing. Annual summer visits to N. Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park and Groveton, NH’s Speedway 51 round out the schedule.
 
For more information, visit www.acttour.com.

We hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Christmas, with lots of race car parts under the tree!

Merry Christmas!

As the 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner and the 2012 Verizon IndyCar Series champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport makes his living by driving fast. On New Years Day 2016, Hunter-Reay will be the leader of a parade at just 2.5 miles per hour.

Hunter-Reay will lead the 127th Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, behind the wheel of a new Acura NSX—an iconic honor that is the latest perk for the winner of the world’s most iconic race in 2014. The parade is sponsored by Honda and will take place on the same year as the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

“It’s a huge honor,” Hunter-Reay said. “It’s the Rose Parade—a tradition just like the Indianapolis 500. You watch it on New Year’s Day and to be the lead car in the whole parade is a huge honor. Thanks to Honda for putting that together and I’m looking forward to the Tournament of Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game.”

The last time an Indianapolis 500 winner was part of the Tournament of Roses Parade was New Year’s Day 1963, when 1959 and 1962 Indy winner Rodger Ward was on the State of Indiana float along with his winning Roadster from the 1962 500-Mile Race.

The Florida native lived in nearby Dana Point, California for six years and first met his wife, Beccy, at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“A lot of our family is still out there and it’s going to be a great parade,” Hunter-Reay said. “I’m looking forward to bringing our kids out there and being a part of it.”

When Hunter-Reay won the 2014 Indianapolis 500 in a thrilling duel with three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, he completed the 500-mile distance in 2 hours, 40 minutes for an average speed of 186.563 miles per hour in a Honda. In the 2016 Tournament of Roses Parade he will drive a 2016 Acura NSX at 2.5 mph. It will take him 2 hours, 12 minutes to complete the 5.5-mile parade route.

At that speed it would take him one hour to complete one lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and 8 days, 8 hours to complete the Indianapolis 500. But at 186.563 mph he would finish the 5.5-mile Tournament of Roses Parade Route in 1 minute, 47 seconds.

Hunter-Reay nearly had this opportunity for 2015 but the upcoming parade made more sense because the Acura NSX will be in dealerships soon and 2016 will be the 100th Indianapolis 500.

“It’s the first really big push for the 2016 100th running and I’m happy to be a part of it,” Hunter-Reay said. “Everyday I think about that race and how big of an event it will be this year and how spectacular it is going to be. IndyCar racing is some of the best racing in the world but to combine that with the 100th running of the World’s Most Famous Race as the Indianapolis 500 is going to be a big deal.”

After the parade is completed, Hunter-Reay will be attending the Rose Bowl game between Iowa of the Big Ten and Stanford of the Pac-12 Conference.

“I don’t have skin in the game but I have to go with Iowa,” Hunter-Reay said. “I’ve had a lot of success in that state at Iowa Speedway. I’ve won three times there finished second once so that’s a pretty good record there with great fans so I’m sticking with Iowa.”

The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season started off poorly as Andretti Autosport struggled to figure out the Honda Aero Kit but by the midway point of the season Hunter-Reay hit his marks, winning at Iowa Speedway and Pocono Raceway in the second half of the season.

“It was a struggle to begin with; we were always two sessions behind and couldn’t hit the sweet spot with the new package,” Hunter-Reay said. “Unfortunate as it was we kept our heads down and kept after it and ended up with a really strong finish to the season winning at Iowa and Pocono and finishing second at Iowa in a double-points race. I was really proud how we fought back. It would have been very easy to get down and surrender to a bad season but we were relentless in getting back to where we believed we belonged and showed we belonged. It was good to have a positive note to what we believed was a struggle of a season.”

Honda is expected to officially announce its return to INDYCAR the first week of January and with an updated Aero Kit. Hunter-Reay is hopeful the Honda teams can come out fast this season.

“I’m very encouraged,” he said. “Things are moving in the right direction and I think we will be much more competitive right out of the gate in 2016. I think the superspeedway package at Indy will be the similar package to what we had in 2015 but we made massive steps forward in the road, street and short oval package. I know Honda is working relentlessly in the superspeedway package as well.”

The Indianapolis 500 is the world’s most iconic race and Hunter-Reay is going to be part of the iconic Tournament of Roses Parade as the driver of the car that will pace the parade.

“It’s massive,” Hunter-Reay said. “Just like the Indianapolis 500, the parade is an American Tradition. I love it. I’m going to take it all in and enjoy it. It’s great to be selected for that. I’m lucky to be able to do what I love and get paid to do it. Every day I see my name on an IndyCar it never gets old.”

The American-Canadian Tour (ACT), in collaboration with the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Seekonk Speedway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, has announced the creation of the Southern New England Tripleheader for the 2016 season.

The three-event series will match up the best of the three track’s weekly racers with the stars of the ACT late model tour.

The Tripleheader will be held on three unique race tracks—the third-mile New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Seekonk Speedway’s quarter-mile bullring, and the five-eighths-mile high banks of Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. The series includes a special $7500 point fund for local weekly teams which participate in all three events. The events will also award championship points for ACT competitors as part of their $30,000 championship point fund, which includes $10,000 for the 2016 ACT champion.

“We had great support from local race teams for the final event at Thompson during the World Series last fall,” ACT President Tom Curley said. “The three Southern New England tracks—New London-Waterford, Seekonk, and Thompson—have become an important addition to our ACT weekly business model over the past decade. This program of three races, tied together with an independent point fund, should be lots of fun to follow for southern New England Late Model fans and teams throughout the 2016 season.”

The ACT late models previously raced at both Seekonk and New London-Waterford on an annual basis in the mid-to-late 2000s. Thompson hosted the tour for the first time in 2015, which resulted in an emotional win for eight-time ACT champion Brian Hoar. Thirty-five teams entered the inaugural event, of which 14 were local Thompson teams. The event’s success brought the promoters from the three ACT affiliate tracks together to create the Southern New England Tripleheader. All three tracks follow ACT rules in their weekly late model divisions.

“We are proud to showcase our late model competitors in ACT’s Southern Tripleheader,” Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park General Manager Josh Vanada said. “This is a great cooperative effort by all three tracks spearheaded by ACT. We are excited to see the impact that this will have on our competition level and on our ACT event at the World Series.”

The opener of the Southern New England Tripleheader will be a 100-lap event on Saturday, May 21 at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. The last ACT event at New London-Waterford was held in October 2010 and was won by Joey Polewarczyk Jr., who also won the last ACT event at Seekonk Speedway in August 2007. Seekonk’s 150-lap Tripleheader event will take place on Saturday, July 16. The final event, a 75-lap contest, will take the green on Saturday, Oct. 15 as part of Thompson’s annual World Series of Speedway Racing and will also be the ACT season finale.

Nissan has announced that it will withdraw its LMP1 entry from the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship.

The team originally planned to compete in the full 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship but withdrew from the first two races in order to focus on the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the front-engined GT-R LM NISMO.

The GT-R LM NISMO was far off the pace compared to the leading cars in the LMP1 class at Le Mans, qualifying 25 seconds slower. None of the cars managed to finish the race, the only event the cars has actually competed in to date.

The team later opted to totally withdraw from the rest of the World Endurance Championship schedule after Darren Cox, who led the program, left Nissan.

“Nissan entered LMP1 in the 2015 season with an innovative new, and bold concept, with the ambition to compete at the front of the field,” Nissan officials said in a statement. “The teams worked diligently to bring the vehicles up to the desired performance levels. However, the company concluded that the program would not be able to reach its ambitions and decided to focus on developing its longer term racing strategies.

“Racing is a core part of the Nissan DNA, and the company has a proud history of innovating to win. Nissan’s commitment to motorsports remains strong, as evidenced by its victorious track record in the 2015 season—from achieving the overall winner of Super GT two years in a row in Japan, to winning the Blancpain Endurance Pro Class, Bathurst 12hr race with the GT-R GT3.

“Nissan will continue its support of WEC through its various engine programs including recent introduction of LMP3 engine.”