Compiled by SEMA Editors
 The 2016 Team Nitto Ultra4 roster includes King of the Hammer winners and rising stars in off-road racing. |
Nitto Announces Diver Lineup for King of the Hammers
Nitto Tire U.S.A. is returning as the title sponsor of the 2016 King of the Hammers (KOH) in Johnson Valley, California. The tire company will field a competitive roster of King of the Hammers and Ultra4 drivers, including two-time KOH champion Loren Healy, KOH winners Jason Scherer and Erik Miller, Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee and two-time KOH winner Shannon Campbell, and Mel Wade, as well as rising stars Jason Blanton, Derek West, Bailey Campbell, Wayland Campbell, and Bailey Cole, winner of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame’s “2015 Rising Star Award.”
Now in its 10th year, the King of the Hammers event brings together the top off-road drivers in the United States to compete in a grueling single-day race that covers more than 200 miles and combines 100-plus-mph desert running with highly technical boulder climbs.
Nitto gives fans of the King of the Hammers fans a behind-the-scenes look as the sport’s top drivers prepare for 2016 event through this three-part "Journey to the Hammers" documentary on Nitto's YouTube Channel.
International Drag Racing Hall of Fame 2016 Induction Banquet Sponsors Named
The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida, has announced the return of four corporate sponsors of the 26th Annual International Drag Racing Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, which will be held in Gainesville, Florida, at the Wyndham Garden Hotel Gainesville (formerly the Paramount Plaza Hotel & Suites), March 17, 2016. Returning as the evening’s master of ceremonies will be long-time drag-racing announcer and historian Bob Frey. According to Donna Garlits, general manager/CFO of the Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum, Lucas Oil Products Inc. will again be the banquet’s presenting sponsor, and the event will be known as the 26th Annual International Drag Racing Hall of Fame Induction Banquet presented by Lucas Oil Products. Again providing their corporate support are Summit Racing Equipment, MOPAR, Chrysler Group LLC and Clean Acres Properties LLC. The event will air on MAVTV between April and June 2016.
 Watson Racing will host a special Ford Performance Cobra Jet Showdown that will run at the Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout event at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida, the weekend of March 3–6, 2016. | |
Ford Performance Cobra Jet Showdown at NMRA Season Opener
The NMRA Keystone Automotive Ford Nationals has announced that Watson Racing will once again host a special Ford Performance Cobra Jet Showdown that will run at the Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout event at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida, the weekend of March 3–6, 2016. The Cobra Jet Showdown will feature a $2,500 purse with the overall winner receiving $1,000, a custom champion’s jacket, and a Victor award all presented in the Aerospace Components winners circle, as well as exposure in NMRA’s Race Pages magazine.
Quarter Mile Foundation Collects 25 Drag Racing/Performance Industry Interviews
The Quarter Mile Foundation, in conjunction with the management of the Performance Racing Industry Show and Ken Lingenfelter, recorded the recollections of 25 drag-racing and performance aftermarket industry people. The interviewees included: Ronnie Ball (Contingency Connection, former IHRA employee), Marvin Benoit (Quick Fuel Technologies), Preston Davis (Top Fuel/Funny Car and nostalgia dragster driver), Chip Ellis (Pro Stock Motorcycle rider), Bob Glidden (10-time Pro Stock NHRA World Champion), Charlie Henry (Chrysler Corporation MOPAR Performance/Direct Connection), Ron Hope (“Rat Trap” Fuel Altered racer), Dave Hough (“Nanook” Fuel Altered racer), Dave Kirkland/Scott Lumbert (“Spirit of Texas” Top Fuel Hydro drag boat), Paul Lee (McLeod Clutches), Steve Lewis (PRI magazine/Show founder), Jim Luikens (sportsman racer, performance automotive marketing specialist), Bill Martens (General Motors Performance Parts), Louise Noeth (automotive historian/journalist), Dave Sebring (former Top Alcohol Funny Car racer, manufacturer), Larry Shepard (Chrysler Corporation MOPAR Performance/Direct Connection), Chris Thomson (K&N Filters/Airaid, former SEMA Board member), Vic Wood (Aeromotive, former SEMA Board member), Jeep Worthan (Autometer – retired, former SEMA Board member), Joe Hilger (DaimlerChrysler Global Service/MOPAR and “father of the modern Hemi”), Fritz Kayl (automotive engineer/founder of Katech Inc.), Ken Lingenfelter (co-founder of Lingenfelter Performance), Jim Oberhofer (Kalitta Motorsports, crew chief – Doug Kalitta MAC Tools Top Fuel team), and John Oberhofer (Kalitta Motorsports crew chief – Del Worsham 2015 NHRA World Champion DHL Funny Car team).
With the addition of these 25 new interviewees, plus the seven interviews done in Great Britain in last November, the Foundation now has 265 interviews of different individuals from the sport and the performance aftermarket.