Compiled by SEMA Editors

Landon Simon will pilot the Mount Baker Vapor-sponsored, Esslinger-powered XXX chassis at the Chili Bowl Nationals, January 7–15.

Landon Simon to Represent Mt Baker Vapor at 2017 Chili Bowl Nationals

Sprint Car driver Landon Simon, 27, will pilot the Mount Baker Vapor-sponsored, Esslinger-powered XXX chassis at the Chili Bowl Nationals, January 7–15. This year, the midget team is owned by Simon and operated out of the Landon Simon Racing stable in Brownsburg, Indiana. The current Indianapolis-based driver will represent his home state of Ohio for the sixth Chili Bowl Nationals to date; his third with Mount Baker Vapor on board and his first as a midget-car owner. This is the 31st annual running of the Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire and held at the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Chili Bowl is one of the largest indoor racing events in the world; the list of entries currently stands at a record-breaking 363. Along with primary sponsor Mount Baker Vapor, the team is partnering with Dave and Buster’s Tulsa for the five-day event, located a short drive from the Tulsa Expo Center where the Chili Bowl will take place. Practice will be held Monday, January 9, with preliminary events January 10–13, followed by the $10,000 to win main event Saturday, January 14. Fans can watch LIVE via Racin Boys PPV at www.RacinBoys.com.

In a first-of-its-kind event, the SEMA Garage has partnered with Midway Group to host a joint measuring session for two highly aspirational new vehicles: the ’17 Ferrari 488 and the ’17 Mercedes AMG GT. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get hands on with these elite new European sport coupes.

Scheduled to take place at the MG Studio in downtown Los Angeles, SEMA members are invited to experience this versatile new event space conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to the non-traditional environment, only basic tools and floor lifts will be supplied. Disassembly is permitted, as well as photography; however, you are encouraged to bring any specialty tools necessary to your task. The event will be open from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with light refreshments available.

In a first-of-its-kind event, the SEMA Garage has partnered with Midway Group to host a joint measuring session for two highly aspirational new vehicles: the ’17 Ferrari 488 and the ’17 Mercedes AMG GT. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get hands on with these elite new European sport coupes.

Scheduled to take place at the MG Studio in downtown Los Angeles, SEMA members are invited to experience this versatile new event space conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to the non-traditional environment, only basic tools and floor lifts will be supplied. Disassembly is permitted, as well as photography; however, you are encouraged to bring any specialty tools necessary to your task. The event will be open from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with light refreshments available.

In a first-of-its-kind event, the SEMA Garage has partnered with Midway Group to host a joint measuring session for two highly aspirational new vehicles: the ’17 Ferrari 488 and the ’17 Mercedes AMG GT. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get hands on with these elite new European sport coupes.

Scheduled to take place at the MG Studio in downtown Los Angeles, SEMA members are invited to experience this versatile new event space conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to the non-traditional environment, only basic tools and floor lifts will be supplied. Disassembly is permitted, as well as photography; however, you are encouraged to bring any specialty tools necessary to your task. The event will be open from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with light refreshments available.

In a first-of-its-kind event, the SEMA Garage has partnered with Midway Group to host a joint measuring session for two highly aspirational new vehicles: the ’17 Ferrari 488 and the ’17 Mercedes AMG GT. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get hands on with these elite new European sport coupes.

Scheduled to take place at the MG Studio in downtown Los Angeles, SEMA members are invited to experience this versatile new event space conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to the non-traditional environment, only basic tools and floor lifts will be supplied. Disassembly is permitted, as well as photography; however, you are encouraged to bring any specialty tools necessary to your task. The event will be open from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with light refreshments available.

In a first-of-its-kind event, the SEMA Garage has partnered with Midway Group to host a joint measuring session for two highly aspirational new vehicles: the ’17 Ferrari 488 and the ’17 Mercedes AMG GT. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get hands on with these elite new European sport coupes.

Scheduled to take place at the MG Studio in downtown Los Angeles, SEMA members are invited to experience this versatile new event space conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to the non-traditional environment, only basic tools and floor lifts will be supplied. Disassembly is permitted, as well as photography; however, you are encouraged to bring any specialty tools necessary to your task. The event will be open from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with light refreshments available.

Compiled by SEMA Editors

Chuck Sulkala

National Auto Body Council Executive Director Announces Retirement

Chuck Sulkala, founder, first president and executive director of the National Auto Body Council (NABC), has announced his retirement, effective the end of 2017. During Sulkala’s 22-year tenure, the National Auto Body Council has become a leading voice to highlight the professionalism and integrity of the collision-repair industry through community service involvement. Under his leadership, NABC’s member network of collision-industry companies and professionals has united to collaborate on community service programs that help change and save thousands of lives across the country, including:

• Introducing NABC’s Recycled Rides program in 2007, which has resulted in nearly 1,300 vehicles, valued at $17 million, donated to individuals and service organizations in need of reliable transportation.
• The First Responder Emergency Extrication (FREE), which provides opportunities for first responders to practice life-saving skills on complex late-model vehicles.
• Partnering as a business advocate with AT&T’s “It Can Wait” campaign to focus awareness of the dangers of texting while driving through the Distracted Driving Initiative.
• Exponential membership growth, with more than 2,000 shop locations, numerous insurers and vendors representing all facets of the collision industry.

Charles Pages

Power Automedia Hires Charles Pages as Senior Associate Editor of Turnology Magazine

Power Automedia has announced Charles Pages as senior associate editor of online magazine Turnology.com. Focused on performance driving, Turnology is the magazine for autocross, road-racing and time-attack racers. Pages will manage all magazine content, including editorial articles, news, event coverage, freelance assignments, photography, social media and in-house project vehicles. He will work alongside Turnology’s staff writer Kyle Kitchen, and will report to Turnology Editor Trevor Anderson. Pages comes from a management position at online parts reseller ModBargains, and has an extreme passion for performance driving. His past experience includes creating blog posts, writing tech articles, social media marketing, photography and SEO analytics.

Prestone Appoints Randy Fisher Vice President of Marketing

Prestone Products Corp. has announced that it has hired automotive and aftermarket industry veteran Randy Fisher as its vice president of marketing. Fisher joins Prestone with more than 20 years of industry experience, and will oversee the brand’s marketing strategy as the company plans for its 90th anniversary taking place next year. Fisher will be responsible for Prestone’s ever-growing brand awareness, channel marketing and consumer engagement initiatives in North America. He will manage strategic partnerships, public relations, digital content planning and traditional marketing. Fisher previously served as a marketing consultant for Prestone beginning in July 2016, playing an integral role in Prestone’s inaugural SEMA Show appearance in November. He was previously the marketing director for Royal Purple for nearly five years.

Gary McCombs

Motovicity Appoints New Distribution Center Manager

Motovicity Distribution has announced the promotion of Gary McCombs from warehouse supervisor to distribution center manager. He started his career as a team lead with the company in 2012. Day-to-day responsibilities included supervising team member activity and ensuring the seamless completion of warehouse tasks. He also helped implement Motovicity’s warehouse management system in 2014, drastically improving throughput and helping Motovicity Distribution achieve and maintain one of the best accuracy ratings in the industry.

Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation Reports Record Golf Outing Results

The Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation (AACF) has reported raising a record of more than $500,000 from its annual golf outing event that was held at the start of Industry Week in Las Vegas. Diamond-level sponsors for the tournament were Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, Interstate Batteries, O'Reilly Auto Parts and NAPA. Platinum-level sponsors were TBC Corp., Tenneco and Valvoline. Individuals slated to attend Industry Week in 2017 are encouraged to start planning now to participate in next year’s golf outing, tentatively scheduled to take place Monday, October 30, at Las Vegas Country Club—the event’s annual host. In addition to the golf tournament, the event also includes a continental breakfast and award luncheon just prior to and after the golf outing. There’s also a pre-event reception, tentatively scheduled to be held Sunday evening, October 29, from 5:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m., also at Las Vegas Country Club. The golf outing and all sponsorship opportunities are open to all industry participants. 

MOPAR Celebrates 80 Years

The MOPAR brand, born August 1, 1937, as a contraction of the words “Motor Parts,” celebrates 80 years in 2017, marking an evolution over eight decades. First introduced as the name of a line of antifreeze products, the MOPAR brand has since transformed to encompass total service, parts and customer care for FCA vehicle owners around the globe. After its introduction in 1937, the MOPAR brand made a name for itself in the musclecar era of the ’60s, cementing a legacy on the streets and at the dragstrip that by decade’s end would have owners referring to their vehicles as “MOPAR” cars. Throughout 2017, the MOPAR brand will mark its 80th year with a large slate of initiatives, including limited-edition anniversary vehicles, 80th anniversary-themed service, parts and customer-care offers, special merchandise, events, celebrations and more. The year-long celebration will kick off at the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, January 8–22. Befitting the brand’s global expansion, media and industry leaders from around the world will have the opportunity to experience the start of the MOPAR brand’s year-long birthday party and view the 80th anniversary-themed MOPAR Garage NAIAS display.

Michael Patenaude, PPG regional sales manager, accepts the Sponsor of the Year award from SCC chapter director Cheryl LaPrade.

Speedway Children’s Charities Names PPG Sponsor of the Year

The New Hampshire chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC) honored PPG by naming it the organization’s Sponsor of the Year for 2016. The announcement was made by Chapter Director Cheryl LaPrade at SCC’s annual grant distribution ceremony, held December 8, at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire. Michael Patenaude, PPG regional sales manager, accepted the honor on behalf of PPG. It was the second time in three years that PPG has been recognized as Sponsor of the Year. PPG has supported SCC in New Hampshire since 2009 with the organization’s Track Walk and Red Bucket Brigade collections. PPG is the sole sponsor of the Track Walk—an annual fundraising event that takes place during the July NASCAR racing weekend held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. This year, the walk followed an afternoon XFINITY Series race. Approximately 250 participants walked the one-mile circuit, raising more than $15,800. Through its relationship with Team Penske, PPG invited NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano to join the walkers.

Voyomotive Joins SAS’ Partner Program to Bring Its Customers Advanced Vehicle Data Analytics

Voyomotive LLC—developers of VOYO connected car technology—has joined SAS’ Partner Program to help Voyomotive bring vehicle data analytics to vehicle owners, auto parts manufacturers, car service providers and OEMs. This agreement will enable the creation of apps and cloud-based solutions by Voyomotive that further enhance the connected car experience for the user. In addition, VOYO data is now available to drive new business opportunities, including machine learning analytics and AI development. The Voyomotive data will also enable streaming data to be ingested and examined in real-time using SAS's Event Stream Processing in order to trigger personally relevant interactions with vehicle owners, OEMs, dealers and the extended ecosystem.

Season 3 of “The Lifted Life” to Air on Velocity Network

The third season of “The Lifted Life” television show will begin airing on the Velocity Channel, Saturday, February 18, from 10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. (EST). Dedicating three one-hour episodes to “The Road to SEMA,” the reality-based show follows Five R Trucks—a four-generation custom truck shop based in Golden, Colorado—in its quest to build mind-blowing trucks for display at the 2016 SEMA Show. Steve Hill originally started Five R as a trailer sales and repair company in 1972 at age 16, entering the custom truck industry 10 years later. Hill’s sons Jake and TJ grew up in the business and have become partners. Hill’s father, 85, a retired union ironworker, supervises the shop and excels as the official shop storyteller.

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

By SEMA Editors

SEMA is now accepting applications for industry leaders to host a seminar at the 2017 SEMA Show.

Applications are now being accepted for industry leaders to host a seminar at the 2017 SEMA Show, taking place October 31–November 3, 2017, in Las Vegas. The association is especially interested in speakers with experience in marketing and sales, customer service, business management, automotive trends, social media and vehicle customization.

The educational seminars make up an essential component of the SEMA Show. In addition to connecting automotive manufacturers with professional buyers from all over the world, the four-day SEMA Show is the leading venue for industry experts to network in person and learn new business strategies.

“The SEMA Show is about helping businesses succeed, and a big part of that is providing participants with information that will help their businesses,” said Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events. “The seminars give SEMA Show participants greater return on their investment and an opportunity to learn about better ways to do business.”

The SEMA Show education program typically includes more than five dozen sessions. While topics address basic business practices, such as customer service, marketing and social media, the 2017 program will emphasize issues that are of greatest concern to businesses in the automotive aftermarket.

Topics of interest for the 2017 SEMA Show are:

• How Yelp Has Changed the Trust Landscape in Business
• The Automotive Industry in Five Years 
• Hire and Retain Social Employees
• Vehicle Building and Fabrication
• Business Technology and Applications to Advance Business
• Practical Solutions for Small Businesses
• What is Next in Social-Media Marketing
• Bookkeeping and Payroll

All speakers should be able to focus on industry issues and not a specific company position or agenda.

“We pride ourselves in providing top-rated information from industry experts to attendees through the education program,” said SEMA Senior Director of Education Zane Clark. “These seminars are some of the many benefits of attending the SEMA Show.”

Applications for speaker submissions are available until February 20, 2017. Speaker entries will be answered no later than April 20, 2017. For more details, contact Clark at zanec@sema.org, 909-978-6743.

By SEMA Editors

SEMA is now accepting applications for industry leaders to host a seminar at the 2017 SEMA Show.

Applications are now being accepted for industry leaders to host a seminar at the 2017 SEMA Show, taking place October 31–November 3, 2017, in Las Vegas. The association is especially interested in speakers with experience in marketing and sales, customer service, business management, automotive trends, social media and vehicle customization.

The educational seminars make up an essential component of the SEMA Show. In addition to connecting automotive manufacturers with professional buyers from all over the world, the four-day SEMA Show is the leading venue for industry experts to network in person and learn new business strategies.

“The SEMA Show is about helping businesses succeed, and a big part of that is providing participants with information that will help their businesses,” said Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events. “The seminars give SEMA Show participants greater return on their investment and an opportunity to learn about better ways to do business.”

The SEMA Show education program typically includes more than five dozen sessions. While topics address basic business practices, such as customer service, marketing and social media, the 2017 program will emphasize issues that are of greatest concern to businesses in the automotive aftermarket.

Topics of interest for the 2017 SEMA Show are:

• How Yelp Has Changed the Trust Landscape in Business
• The Automotive Industry in Five Years 
• Hire and Retain Social Employees
• Vehicle Building and Fabrication
• Business Technology and Applications to Advance Business
• Practical Solutions for Small Businesses
• What is Next in Social-Media Marketing
• Bookkeeping and Payroll

All speakers should be able to focus on industry issues and not a specific company position or agenda.

“We pride ourselves in providing top-rated information from industry experts to attendees through the education program,” said SEMA Senior Director of Education Zane Clark. “These seminars are some of the many benefits of attending the SEMA Show.”

Applications for speaker submissions are available until February 20, 2017. Speaker entries will be answered no later than April 20, 2017. For more details, contact Clark at zanec@sema.org, 909-978-6743.

By SEMA Editors

SEMA is now accepting applications for industry leaders to host a seminar at the 2017 SEMA Show.

Applications are now being accepted for industry leaders to host a seminar at the 2017 SEMA Show, taking place October 31–November 3, 2017, in Las Vegas. The association is especially interested in speakers with experience in marketing and sales, customer service, business management, automotive trends, social media and vehicle customization.

The educational seminars make up an essential component of the SEMA Show. In addition to connecting automotive manufacturers with professional buyers from all over the world, the four-day SEMA Show is the leading venue for industry experts to network in person and learn new business strategies.

“The SEMA Show is about helping businesses succeed, and a big part of that is providing participants with information that will help their businesses,” said Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events. “The seminars give SEMA Show participants greater return on their investment and an opportunity to learn about better ways to do business.”

The SEMA Show education program typically includes more than five dozen sessions. While topics address basic business practices, such as customer service, marketing and social media, the 2017 program will emphasize issues that are of greatest concern to businesses in the automotive aftermarket.

Topics of interest for the 2017 SEMA Show are:

• How Yelp Has Changed the Trust Landscape in Business
• The Automotive Industry in Five Years 
• Hire and Retain Social Employees
• Vehicle Building and Fabrication
• Business Technology and Applications to Advance Business
• Practical Solutions for Small Businesses
• What is Next in Social-Media Marketing
• Bookkeeping and Payroll

All speakers should be able to focus on industry issues and not a specific company position or agenda.

“We pride ourselves in providing top-rated information from industry experts to attendees through the education program,” said SEMA Senior Director of Education Zane Clark. “These seminars are some of the many benefits of attending the SEMA Show.”

Applications for speaker submissions are available until February 20, 2017. Speaker entries will be answered no later than April 20, 2017. For more details, contact Clark at zanec@sema.org, 909-978-6743.