People Places & Racing News

Movers & Shakers: DEI Sponsors Triple Crown of Rodding

DEI

Design Engineering Inc. (DEI) will be the official heat-and-sound control sponsor of the Triple Crown of Rodding, a new premier event for hot rods and trucks, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon Tennessee, September 8-9. The Triple Crown of Rodding showcases hot rods, customs, classics and musclecars through '72 and American-made trucks through '98.

The Triple Crown of Rodding event was inspired by Shades of the Past, an event that was held for more than 40 years the weekend after Labor Day in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. When that show ended in 2022, Bobby Alloway of Alloway’s Rod Shop teamed up with Gary Case of Stylin’ Concepts and the Sport Truck Nationals to create the Triple Crown of Rodding.

The Triple Crown of Rodding will feature an elite-level awards program with more than 40 state-of-the-art trophies including the Triple Crown Winners: Best Street Rod, Best Street Machine, Best Street Cruiser, Best Truck (up to '72) Best Truck ('73-'87) and Best Truck ('88-'98). A brand new '23 Chevrolet Pickup Hot Rodded by Alloway's Rod Shop will be given away to one registered participant. For more information about the Triple Crown of Rodding, visit triplecrownofrodding.com.

Lubrication Specialties Hires Bud Prenatt as Director of Marketing

Bud Prenatt
Bud Prenatt

Lubrication Specialties (LSI) has announced the addition of Bud Prenatt to the company's marketing team. Prenatt, an experienced product marketing leader in the heavy-duty transportation industry, joined LSI in February 2023. Formerly the product marketing manager for an Ohio-based company focused on the class 3-6 truck and off-highway market segments, Prenatt will oversee and develop a strategy to promote the Hot Shot’s Secret brand of performance additives and lubricants across multiple channels: direct, online and retail and diverse markets.

Prenatt has nearly 20 years of experience in sales and marketing with a proven track record of growing brands and developing new market segments to significantly improve the bottom line by increasing gross margins and working with strategic partners to reduce costs. He is experienced in working cross-functionally with OEM and OES team operations. Prenatt’s expertise runs the gamut of market research, customer engagement, digital strategy and content, product research and development, Six Sigma Green Belt techniques and promotions. His prior positions also include working in technical sales in the automotive industry as well as working as a product development manager in the construction and agricultural market segments.

Bandimere Speedway Sells Property, Intends to Relocate

BandimereThe National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and the Bandimere family have jointly announced that the 2023 Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals (July 14-16) will be the last NHRA national event at Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver. The Bandimere family has agreed to sell the current property and land in Morrison, Colorado, but plans to relocate the historic NHRA-sanctioned drag strip to another location in the Denver area, officials said.

In addition, the NHRA leadership team has announced discussions with NHRA member tracks not currently on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series circuit to host future national events, including replacing the Denver date on the 2024 schedule. NHRA and the Bandimere family invite racers and fans to be part of the last NHRA Mile-High Nationals, July 14-16. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Bandimere website.

Motion Names New Senior Vice President, CFO

MotionMotion Industries has announced the promotion of Patrick Cummings to senior vice president and CFO. Cummings first joined Motion in 2012 as AVP of corporate compliance. He held the position of U.S. controller from 2014-2019, before becoming vice president of financial planning and analysis, until he was asked to serve as interim CFO after Greg Cook, Motion's previous CFO, moved to the U.S. Automotive Group at Genuine Parts Company (GPC). Cummings will report to Breaux and will also work closely with Bert Nappier, executive vice president and CFO of GPC.

Gold Eagle Co. Announces Second Annual Cars & Coffee

Gold EagleSTA-BIL and 303, two automotive aftermarket brands manufactured by Gold Eagle Co., have announced the company's second annual Cars & Coffee. This free public event will showcase a large collection of luxury, classic and sports cars combined with coffee and light refreshments. Scheduled for Saturday, May 6, from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., the event is being held at the company's headquarters in Chicago.

To enter a vehicle for Cars & Coffee, arrive at Gold Eagle’s main entrance parking lot by 9:00 a.m. Each participating vehicle entered will receive four raffle tickets for the chance to win two general admission tickets to attend NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend scheduled for July 1-2. The winner of the tickets will be announced at the close of the event and must be present to win. All make and model vehicles are welcome. Two additional Cars & Coffee events are being planned for Saturday, July 1, and Saturday, September 30.

Zetterström Announces Global Partnership With Edelbrock, KW Parts

ZetterstromEuropean Top Fuel record holder Ida Zetterström has announced a new global partnership between Edelbrock Group and KW Parts to support her efforts in winning the FIA Championship driving for RF Motorsport. Edelbrock Group helped Zetterström in her successful first FIA Top Fuel season in 2022, where the team became the first to clock a 3.7-second pass in Europe and picked up their first FIA event win together at Tierp Arena in Sweden. For 2023, Edelbrock is expanding its commitment to become a primary partner on her dragster alongside new sponsor KW Parts.

MAHLE Motorsport Develops Performance Ring Webinar

MAHLE Motorsport recently produced a performance ring webinar for Epartrade, a global online motorsports network. The webinar answers many key questions engine builders have about performance rings. The webinar, episode #334, was presented by Joe Maylish, MAHLE Motorsport program manager and MAHLE Motorsport engineer George Wright and hosted by Brad Gillie, SiriusXM, channel 90, Late Shift talk host on the EPARTRADE website and is also available to view in its entirety here.

Wright explains how new materials and MAHLE’s partnership with OEs, racers, race teams and builders has driven the goal to produce lighter rings with increased material hardness, higher tensile and yield strength that are also stronger and more conformable. Additionally, Maylish talks about their proprietary HV385 thermal spray coating that is embedded into the piston rings to improve scuff resistance, increase bond strength, provide quick and consistent break-in and sealing and reduce the coefficient of friction.

Polaris Announces First Shipment of All-Electric RANGER XP Kinetic

PolarisPolaris Inc. has announced the first shipments of its all-new electric RANGER XP Kinetic vehicles are headed to dealers this week for customer pickup. Polaris manufactures its fully electric RANGER XP Kinetic off-road vehicles at the company's more than 900,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Alabama. Polaris plans to take additional orders on the RANGER XP Kinetic this summer. The RANGER XP Kinetic features an all-electric powertrain, engineered for off-road use through Polaris' exclusive 10-year partnership with Zero Motorcycles.

A class-leading 110 hp and 140 lb.-ft. of instant torque deliver maximum power and capability, including the ability to tow up to 2,500 lbs. and haul 1,250 lbs. Its electric powertrain delivers smooth, precise control when operating at low speeds, so customers have full control while towing or backing up to a trailer, while the instantaneous torque also delivers quicker acceleration.

All '23 RANGER XP Kinetic models are equipped with RIDE COMMAND+, which offers connected-vehicle services, including remote-vehicle location, battery-status monitoring, enhanced group ride tracking and more. More details on the RANGER XP Kinetic can be found by visiting Polaris.com.

Dodge Gives Fans an Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Look at Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170

DodgeTo celebrate HEMI Day on April 26, the Dodge brand launched a 22-minute video, "Dodge Demon 170: Devil in the Details," capturing the reveal of the 1,025hp Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 in Las Vegas last month. Dodge owners, fans and enthusiasts can learn how the stunt came to life at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hear from Dodge executives, including CEO Tim Kuniskis, the manager of the Challenger SRT program; the helicopter pilot who safely delivered the Demon 170 onto the track and insiders, including Jay Leno, all who describe inspiration behind the reveal and their passion for the Dodge brand.

Have some company news you would like to share? Let us know and the news may appear in an upcoming issue of SEMA News. Send your items for consideration to editors@sema.org.