Tyler Tanaka was appointed to the newly created position of account director for PostRelease. Tanaka has been an active participant in the automotive aftermarket for 20 years. Prior to joining PostRelease, he spent 12 years as the marketing manager for Turbonetics Inc.
Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc. announced that company president Masaharu Yoshimoto will retire at the end of March and that Takashi Shimizu was appointed president, effective April 1. Yoshimoto served in numerous capacities during a 38-year career with the Toyo group of companies in the United States, Japan and in Australia, where he was managing director and CEO of Toyo Tyre & Rubber Australia Limited. New president, Shimizu, joined the company in Osaka, Japan, in 1985 and has served in the accounting and finance and planning departments. Shimizu began his tenure in the United States in April 2007 as vice president and CFO of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.
The NHRA hired motorsports executive Tony Driscoll as vice president of sales and business development. Driscoll spent more than 10 years working in motorsports, most recently serving as senior director of partnership and integrated media sales for International Speedway Corp. He worked in International Speedway Corp.’s corporate office since 2003 and spent the past six years working in various capacities, including director of licensing business development.
TireRack.com implemented a new enhancement to its website that will make tire buying for customers easier and more efficient. Customers can now navigate through TireRack.com’s unbiased tire performance comparisons and more than 150,000 consumer surveys and results in one place under the Tire Research tab. Previously, all three research sections were separate.
Coverking has signed a subscription agreement with Illumaware to use its Evokat 2.5 web-based data-authoring tool to manage its aftermarket data. The use of Evokat will eliminate the company’s previous practice of using a third party to manage Coverking data. According to Geoff Thompson, a consultant to Coverking’s CEO, some of the reasons why they chose Illumaware include: increased speed to market, better identification of application holes, increased sales and fewer non-damaged returns.
Deeza Chassis Parts broke ground on a new 280,000-sq.-ft. production plant in Turkey. At an estimated cost of $6 million, the new facility is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2012 and will nearly double the company's production capacity. Gokhan Kuru, president, Deeza Chassis Parts, announced that the company will also invest in new tooling for the facility. The company currently produces four million parts per year. Once the new facility is operational, the company expects capacity to initially increase to six million parts per year.
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| The Pine Wood Jeep CJ8 Scramble built by the team at Rugged Ridge. |
The team at Rugged Ridge, a division of OMIX-ADA Inc., recently helped a local boy scout build a Pine Wood vehicle in the form of a Jeep CJ8 Scramble to compete in the Pine Wood Derby Challenge. With hopes to at least score a trophy in the Pine Wood Derby Car Show, the team was pleasantly surprised when its wooden Jeep performed better than expected in the actual races, capturing third place.
TTXGP has launched a new program, known as the TEO (Trust.eGrandPrix.Org) partnership, that is open to to all who compete in the TTXGP. The program rewards teams and owners participating in the TTXGP by providing them with a stake in the TTXGP's future. The more that teams race, the more of the ownership and rewards they can earn. Read the complete announcement regarding the new program.
Snow Performance signed an official product-sponsorship agreement with the National Association of Diesel Motorsports (NADM) and is the water-ethanol injection system of the sanctioning organization. NADM holds diesel drag racing, sled pulling, dyno competitions and other diesel events around the country while also building a membership that offers useful benefits for business members and fans.