Gas Monkey Garage Becomes Title Sponsor for Peter Hickman in Isle of Man ’22 TT Races
Gas Monkey Garage will become the title sponsor of Peter Hickman and FHO Racing at the 2022 Isle of Man TT Races. Headed by entrepreneur Richard Rawlings, Gas Monkey Garage will utilize the platform of the world’s largest road race to spread the Gas Monkey influence and brand across the globe. Gas Monkey Garage will showcase the 37.73-mile Mountain Course to a whole new audience via its social-media platforms, which boast 20+ million followers.
The new partnership will see the Gas Monkey Garage logos and brand adorn outright lap record holder Hickman’s BMW M1000RR in the Superbike, Senior and Superstock races at the TT, which makes its return to the calendar after being absent in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With five wins and 14 podiums between 2017 and 2019, as well as the outright and Superstock lap records, 34-year-old Hickman—who still holds the fastest Newcomer lap around the Mountain Course—will go into the meeting as the undoubted favorite for honors.
JRi Shocks Continues Partnership With ARCA Menards Series
JRi Shocks announced the company's continued sponsorship as an authorized product supplier in the Performance Parts Program for the ARCA Menards Series through the 2022 season. JRi Shocks will provide a contingency award to the highest finishing driver participating in the program, as well as the hard charger rookie and hard charger non-rookie at each event across the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East and the ARCA Menards Series West.
Trans Am Series Announces New Leadership in Driver Orientation Program
The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli has announced new leadership for its Driver Orientation Program. Following the upcoming retirement of Terry Earwood, who has managed the program since its inception, Ernie Becker will be at the helm of the curriculum, which aims to assist SVRA crossover drivers and series newcomers both on and off the race track. Becker has previously participated in the series with Class Auto Motorsports as team manager, driver development coach, and test driver from 2016 to 2018. The 2022 Trans Am Series season kicks off at Sebring International Raceway on February 24–27. For more information, visit gotransam.com.
Patriot Sprint Tour Sets 14-Race Schedule
Officials with the A-Verdi Storage Containers Patriot Sprint Tour have announced its schedule for 2022. The point fund will pay out a guaranteed $20,000 cash to the top five finishers in points in honor of the series’ 20th anniversary season. After a two-year hiatus, the season will kick off at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York, for the 34th annual Syracuse Motorsports Expo, March 11–13. Next will be the annual Outlaw Spring Nationals at Outlaw Speedway. The event will pay $4,000 to the winner on Friday, April 15, and marks the first of five trips to the Dundee, New York-based oval. Click here for the complete schedule.
NASCAR Cup Series Drivers Form Advisory Council
Previous and current NASCAR Cup Series drivers have formed the Drivers Advisory Council, which former competitor Jeff Burton will lead, according to published reports. The council has a collective goal to “move the sport forward and conduct positive change.” The Board of Directors includes Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Corey LaJoie, Joey Logano, Kyle Petty, and Daniel Suarez. The initiative marks the second iteration of a drivers council, including one in 2015 and another in 2018. Burton stated the key to making this new council work is to “have someone on the outside that can help. There are conversations that the drivers don’t have to be involved in. They can [meet] with me, then I can go have the lengthy conversations,” Burton said, according to published reports.
WISSOTA Announces Rod Lindquist as Interim Executive Director
The WISSOTA Promoters Association has announced Rod Lindquist as the interim executive director during its search for a permanent position. He will officially start on March 1. Lindquist brings years of motorsports and business experience. He was a former WISSOTA Late Model sponsor, car owner in several racing series, primary sponsor in the former ASA Midwest Tour, and sponsor in NASCAR for former NASCAR driver and car owner Stanton Barrett. Lindquist replaces Carson Gramm, longtime WISSOTA executive.
The Louisiana Lantern Awards provide an opportunity for the state to celebrate manufacturers from across Louisiana.
Oracle Lighting received the 2021 Louisiana Lantern Award last Wednesday evening during a special reception at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center. The company is one of eight manufacturers across the state to be recognized this year.
The Louisiana Lantern Awards provide an opportunity for the state to celebrate manufacturers from across Louisiana. The winning company for each district displays a contribution to the Louisiana economy and their local business communities through employee growth, increased revenue, facility expansion and community engagement. The Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) nominated Oracle Lighting for the special distinction this year. The lighting manufacturer was selected from the Greater New Orleans region to receive the coveted award.
Born from humble beginnings in a Metairie, Louisiana, garage, Oracle Lighting has grown into a global leader in the automotive lighting industry. The company was founded by Justin Hartenstein when he was just 18 years old. Now he and his wife, Tiffanie, run the business together, innovating in both product offerings and operations. Today, Oracle employs more than 30 full-time team members and has made nine appearances on the Inc Magazine “Inc. 500/5000 List”, which highlights the nation’s fastest-growing small businesses. Oracle plans to expand the company’s headquarters to double the size of the main facility in 2022, which will allow Oracle to create more jobs and significantly increase their production capabilities.
In November of 2021 Oracle also received an honor from SEMA, when it was named the 2021 Manufacturer of the Year. Oracle Lighting has won many local, national and international awards for its work. The company gives back whenever possible. As an example, Oracle helped to donate thousands of PPEs to first responders and health care workers at the start of the pandemic. The founders also serve a number of local charitable organizations.
Cary Redman
Race Winning Brands Welcomes Cary Redman to Its Team
Race Winning Brands (RWB) welcomes seasoned industry professional Cary Redman to the RWB family as vice president of sales – automotive. Redman has more than 25-years’ experience in the performance manufacturing and retail sectors working with veteran organizations such as Holley Performance, Mr. Gasket Co. and Edelbrock in sales leadership roles.
Redman’s passion and involvement in automotive performance began at an early age, growing up in Michigan surrounded by automotive racing and manufacturing history. He will spend time with each of RWB’s automotive brands to become familiarized with their leading components and technology, ultimately helping him champion customer relationships and sales and marketing initiatives. He will be based out of RWB’s Mentor, Ohio, headquarters effective immediately.
David Hamblin
AP Racing Opening New U.S. Office
AP Racing is opening an all-new U.S. office in Charlotte, North Carolina. AP Racing North America Corporation (APRNA) will provide customers throughout the United States and Canada with greater access to AP Racing’s road and race technologies. According to AP Racing, investment in this new office and a skilled local team will greatly enhance support and customer liaison for new and existing customers using AP Racing’s high-performance brake and clutch components.
The new office will closely support all AP Racing’s U.S. customers, including its recent contract win with an OEM, which will adopt AP Racing components, with production beginning later in 2022. While AP Racing has been a mainstay of the U.S. market for some time, APRNA will enhance the connection between AP Racing’s global headquarters in Coventry, United Kingdom, and direct customers, including OEMs and race teams in the United States.
David Hamblin, managing director at AP Racing, commented: “Formation of our first U.S. office, AP Racing North America Corp., is a major milestone in the history of AP Racing and further development of the organization within the strategic North American automotive market. APRNA will support business for both road and race applications in the United States. Centrally located in Charlotte North Carolina, the new office provides the perfect location to service our expanding customer base.”
The new APRNA site is undergoing final fit out and is expected to open in April.
“Oil & Whiskey” Podcast Arrives
On the new IRONCLAD original series, “Oil & Whiskey,” the crew behind the creations brings listeners into the shop for discussions on the kind of content gearheads want: insights about the latest tech, updates about their custom builds, events, industry news, tips and more. Along with insights from the hosts, Jeremy Gerber, Phil Gerber and Josh Henning, listeners also get to hear the guys answer their questions, break down some of their favorite models and get to know the crew responsible for the shop’s award-winning collection of musclecars. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Meyer announced that the winner of its custom golf cart promotion is Quadstar Tuning. The golf cart is equipped with upgrades, including wheels, tires, lift, roof and rear seat. Meyer Distributing launched the Golf Cart promotion in September 2021, and ran it through the end year. The company partnered with Titan Fuel Tanks and Fluidampr to reward a qualifying customer.
Hedges & Company Named a 2022 Google Premier Partner
Digital marketing agency Hedges & Company has been awarded 2022 Premier Partner status in the Google Partners program, a program for accreditation with Google Ads. To qualify for Premier Partner status an agency must rank among the top 3% in the United States. In February, Google recognized the achievements of top-performing digital marketing partners across the globe by awarding Premier Partner status as part of the new Google Partners program.
The Google Partner program is designed for advertising agencies and third parties that manage Google Ads accounts for other brands or businesses. It is designed to empower digital agencies by giving them innovative tools, resources, and support to help their clients succeed and grow online.
Michael Tillbery
Stertil-Koni Names Michael Tillbery Service Manager
Stertil-Koni has announced that Michael Tillbery has joined the company as service manager, based in the organization’s North American headquarters in Stevensville, Maryland. In his new post, Tillbery brings more than three decades of top experience specializing in customer care, technical vehicle service and maintenance support, service management, project coordination and heavy-duty equipment operation. Most recently, Tillbery worked for the Maryland Queen Anne’s County government as a heavy equipment operator, where he oversaw county-wide safe maintenance of roadways, bridges and overpasses and assisted with critical disaster relief. Prior to that he worked for Criswell Performance Car in Annapolis, Maryland, specializing in Audi and Acura as a service manager, dispatcher and quality assurance coordinator.
Live Fast Motorsports Names Jessica McLeod CEO
Live Fast Motorsports has announced that former general manager Jessica McLeod has been appointed as the company’s new CEO. McLeod will be working directly with the company’s team owners Matt Tifft and her husband, co-owner and driver B.J. McLeod. The McLeods have had many business ventures within NASCAR’s K&N, Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup Series. Jessica and B.J. co-own the Xfinity Series B.J. McLeod Motorsports (BJMMS), which fields three full-time stock cars (Numbers 5, 78 and 99).
P.T. Muldoon
CRP Industries P.T. Muldoon Named as MERA Technology & Operations Council Chairman
CRP Automotive announced that Director of Engineering, P.T. Muldoon, has been named Chairman of the Technology & Operations Council of MERA—The Association for Sustainable Manufacturing.
Founded in 2021, the Technology & Operations Council is a peer group network that provides a forum for MERA member companies to discuss the latest techniques, developments, and equipment that are advancing the remanufacturing industry.
Muldoon currently oversees CRP’s Complex Electronics and Mechatronics R&D Center in Ann Arbor. Prior to joining CRP Automotive, he served as the Director of New Product Development - Electronics Remanufacturing for BBB Industries, where he helped head up the company’s Detroit Technical Center.
Optronics Celebrates 50-Year Anniversary With New Headquarters, Website, and More
Optronics International announced that it will move its North American headquarters into a new 200,000-square-foot facility on a 17-acre campus as part of the company's 50-year anniversary. Accompanying the announcement was the introduction of a new 50th anniversary logo and a newly revised corporate website. Details of the new facility, logo, website and other related developments will be presented to the industry at Optronics booth 5191 during NTEA Work Truck Week, March 8–11.
With 700 staff members worldwide, Optronics will ultimately consolidate its three current Oklahoma-based operations into the new Tulsa facility and will maintain its Goshen, Indiana, location and its USA Harness manufacturing plant in Winnsboro, Texas. The Tulsa campus will serve as the company’s corporate headquarters, as well as a research and development lab, assembly plant and distribution hub, and will allow Optronics to immediately expand to accommodate rapid growth.
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.
This is the next-gen Ford Ranger Raptor undergoing testing in light camo, showing us a few new elements about the off-road truck.
These new shots give us our best look yet at the front end, including the unique Ford script front grille and revised front fascia, which features a high-clearance front bumper plus fog lights and a front skid plate.
At the side, there’s a set of high-clearance running boards along with black wheels with beefy BFG tires, while the rear end features a set of dual exhausts with a black finish.
We also caught the first shots of the interior, complete with a large vertical screen and a healthy amount of red/orange accents throughout, bringing the Ranger Raptor in line with other Ford Raptor products, F-150 Raptor and Bronco Raptor.
With the debut of the international Ford Ranger out of the way, Ford will next reveal the Ranger for the U.S. market, followed by the debut of the Ranger Raptor for global markets.
This is the next-gen Ford Ranger Raptor undergoing testing in light camo, showing us a few new elements about the off-road truck.
These new shots give us our best look yet at the front end, including the unique Ford script front grille and revised front fascia, which features a high-clearance front bumper plus fog lights and a front skid plate.
At the side, there’s a set of high-clearance running boards along with black wheels with beefy BFG tires, while the rear end features a set of dual exhausts with a black finish.
We also caught the first shots of the interior, complete with a large vertical screen and a healthy amount of red/orange accents throughout, bringing the Ranger Raptor in line with other Ford Raptor products, F-150 Raptor and Bronco Raptor.
With the debut of the international Ford Ranger out of the way, Ford will next reveal the Ranger for the U.S. market, followed by the debut of the Ranger Raptor for global markets.
In partnership with Nissan, the SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, California, has announced a Measuring Session for the all-new ’23 Nissan Z, March 15–18.
The performance-grade Nissan Z is equipped with a standard twin-turbo V6 engine with 400 hp and 350 lb.-ft. of torque and six-speed manual transmission.
The event will allow SEMA members to test-fit prototypes, 3-D scan, measure and have a close-up experience with the newly designed Z.
The event will feature a Performance grade level Z, equipped with:
A standard twin-turbo V6 engine with 400 hp and 350 lb.-ft. of torque.
Six-speed manual transmission.
U.S. market consumers will have the option of a Sport- or Performance-grade vehicle, six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic transmission, as well as a special-edition Proto Spec (limited to just 240 units).
Please note that this will be an in-person event at the SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, California. In order to comply with state and local health guidelines, this event will require scheduled appointments. Due to high demand, all appointments will be time limited. All attendees will be required to sign an NDA upon arrival. Photography will be limited during the event.
*All registered attendees will be required to wear face coverings and practice social distancing during their appointment. With the exception of wheels & tires, there will be no disassembly of this vehicle.
Are you hunting for a new job? The SEMA Career Center has a comprehensive listing of automotive-related job openings around the country. Here are some of the latest jobs posted to the website.
Technical Support Specialist Derale Performance is hiring a technical support specialistresponsible for answering product and technical questions via telephone and email; assisting customers with order tracking, ETA requests, missing parts and warranty issues; and logging and maintaining data for every customer interaction. Candidates must have basic automotive knowledge and be comfortable being on the phone answering customer questions and solving consumer issues.
Junior Draftsman aFe Power is hiring a junior draftsman to support the company’s engineered products group in Corona, California. This position is responsible for the design, drawing/drafting and development of new products, as well as modifying the design of existing products. This may include performance testing and occasional working on vehicles. Candidates should have intermediate to advanced knowledge of general automotive mechanics, advanced proficiency in SolidWorks/CAD and intermediate to advanced knowledge of advanced prototyping technology.
Web Developer Coker Tire Co. is hiring a web developerto contribute and help create the function, display and flow of web development projects. Responsibilities include executing web site development, coding, analytics and tracking; managing relevant server needs for various projects; managing workflow both internal and through outside development partners and IT resources as needed to accomplish objectives; and managing websites and web applications. Candidates must have a degree in computer science, statistics preferred or equivalent work experience and five years’ e-commerce experience.
SEMA eNews highlights SEMA-member companies’ websites weekly through the Hot Links to Cool Sites section. SEMA members: To be included in Hot Links to Cool Sites, email your company name and website to enews@sema.org. Note: Make sure to include “Hot Links” in the subject line of the email.
SEMA Cares, the industry’s collective fundraising group that raises money for charity, raised a record high of more than $250,000 in 2021.
SEMA Cares raised a record high of more than $250,000 for charity in 2021.
Specifically, $250,563.40 was generated from a Hemmings vehicle auction, the annual pinewood drag races, celebrity cars and, for the first time ever, a $100,000 match from SEMA.
“The SEMA Cares committee didn’t take no for an answer in 2021,” said SEMA Cares Chairwoman Kathryn Reinhardt. “They dialed for dollars and hustled for donations. As a result, we raised a tremendous amount of money to help create safe and fun environments for children in need.”
Money raised from SEMA Cares benefits three children’s charities: Austin Hatcher, ChildHelp and Victory Junction. SEMA Cares is preparing to kick of the 2022 fundraising season with the auction of a WD-40 vehicle.
“We’re grateful and humbled by the industry’s generosity,” said Reinhardt. “SEMA Cares was created in 2007 as a way for our industry to give back. I’m proud of the impact we’ve made over the years and excited that we continue to step it up year after year.”
To learn more about SEMA Cares and how to support the industry’s fundraising efforts, visit www.sema.org/sema-cares.
Car shows play a critical role in the hot-rod industry. As the spring car show seasons begins, hot-rod businesses must be prepared for the selling season.
Industry veterans will gather for a thought-provoking discussion about the state of car shows and consumer events, and how they are preparing for the upcoming season during the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) general membership meeting and panel discussion on March 18, at 10:00 a.m. (PST).
The live meeting will feature Amy Fitzgerald of Cool Hand Customs as she leads a panel of hot-rod industry experts sharing:
COVID’s impact on car shows and how are companies planning differently today, compared to two years ago.
What social-media strategies work and don’t work when promoting events, products and services.
What are the key factors for success.
What is the importance of in-person events and how do companies keep customers engaged.
The meeting and discussion are open to all HRIA members and companies in the hot-rod industry, and is the ideal time to address industry concerns and learn from others in the market. A brief report on the council’s current initiatives will also be discussed.
Patriot Sprint Tour Sets 14-Race Schedule
