Compiled By SEMA Editors

	The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross (VARX) team scored its fourth double podium in the second round of a double header in Barbados.

Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Team Sweeps Barbados GRC Double Header

The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross (VARX) team scored its fourth double podium in the second round of a double header in Barbados, wrapping up a perfect weekend for the crew at the Bushy Park circuit. Tanner Foust scored two victories on the weekend, leaping from sixth in the points standings to second heading into the final race of the season. Scott Speed claimed the championship lead with his second-place finish last Saturday, and followed that up with second last Sunday. With the pair of one-two sweeps, the VARX drivers put other competition out of reach, guaranteeing that a Volkswagen driver will win the 2015 Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship at the season finale in Las Vegas next month. Barbados marked the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team’s fourth and fifth points-paying victories of the season, and the team’s 10th overall triumph in its short history. A drivers’ championship trophy will be added to that list of accolades at November’s season finale in Las Vegas.

International Drag Racing Hall of Fame to Induct Six New Members

Don Garlits has announced the inductees to the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame—a component of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing located in Ocala, Florida. Comprising the class of 2016 are six of the sport’s most accomplished Top Fuel and/or Funny Car pilots, one of which is one of Great Britain’s most prolific names, and a successful New England drag racer who became a track manager. The 2016 Founder’s Award goes to a highly successful track operator, who helped create the model for media relations, not only for drag racing, but for motorsports as a whole.

The 2016 inductees include: Preston Davis (Bartlett, Tennessee), Jack Doyle (Wakefield, New Hampshire), the late Marvin Miller (Bakersfield, California), Mark Oswald (Homa, Louisiana), Dennis Priddle (Yeovil, Somerset, United Kingdom) and Gas Ronda (Palm Desert, California). Steve Earwood (Rockingham, North Carolina) has been named to receive the 2016 Founder’s Award.

The honorees are selected by a committee of veteran drag-racing and performance industry figures. The selection committee consists of: Steve Gibbs (retired vice president, NHRA), Harry Hibler (president, UNI-Marketing LLC), Ted Jones (Masters Entertainment, retired president, IHRA) and Greg Sharp (curator, Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum).

	Stevie Smith won his third career Williams Grove National Open last Sunday evening.

Stevie Smith wins the Champion Racing Oil National Open at Williams Grove Speedway

Stevie Smith won his third career Williams Grove National Open last Sunday evening and took home $50,000. Smith started second and passed pole-sitter Danny Dietrich for the lead on the ninth lap. Smith then held off World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz over the closing laps of the 40-lap event. Logan Schuchart finished third, with Justin Henderson and Brian Montieth in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were: Dietrich, Alan Krimes, Daryn Pittman, Lance Dewease and Cory Haas.

SCORE Announces All Five Races in Baja, Mexico, for 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship

SCORE International has announced its official five-race schedule for the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship featuring all five races in Baja California, Mexico, for the first time in the history of the internationally televised desert racing series. The biggest change for the 2016 race season will be the new Bud Light SCORE Desert Challenge, presented by Rosarito Beach, in September. Being held in Rosarito, classes will be split into groups—each class will run the race split into equal parts run on two days with racing on Friday night, Saturday morning and evening, and Sunday morning, September 16–18.

SCORE has also announced that final negotiations are being completed to again televise the entire SCORE World Desert Championship series nationally on the CBS Sports Network and internationally through syndication. SCORE International will celebrate 2016 with a five-race series that features competition for Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.

Launching the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship series schedule will be the first of the three original SCORE Baja races:

• Round 1: 30th Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250, February 25–28, in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
• Round 2: 2nd Bud Light SCORE Baja Sur 500, April 14–17. Marking the second time a SCORE Baja race has been held entirely in Baja California Sur, it will start and finish in 2016 in La Paz, near the southern tip of Baja on the east side of the peninsula along the Sea of Cortez.
• Round 3: 48th Bud Light SCORE Baja 500, June 1–5, in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
• Round 4: Bud Light SCORE Desert Challenge, presented by Rosarito Beach, September 14–18 in Rosarito Beach, Baja California Norte
• Round 5: 49th Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000, November 16–20. It will start and finish in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.

In order to earn a 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship class point title, SCORE has announced that racers will have to start a minimum of four of the five races. Further one of the four races is the 49th Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000. A racer’s best four finishes will be used to tabulate the final class point standings.

	Tom Bailey’s “Sick Seconds 2.0” is a tube chassis, which sits underneath the carbon-fiber ’69 Camaro body.

Tom Bailey Captures Drag Week Victory

After skipping Drag Week last year, Tom Bailey returned with his latest creation, entitled “Sick Seconds 2.0.” Bailey took everything he learned from the car he piloted to Drag Week glory in 2013 and applied it in a more radical package for 2015. The tube chassis, which sits underneath the carbon-fiber ’69 Camaro body, was built by Keith Engling at Skinny Kid Race Cars. The car weighs in at 2,400 lbs. Power comes from a 615-cid Brodix big-block that ingests air from a pair of 94-mm Precision Turbos. A Holley Dominator is tasked with engine management, allowing Bailey to switch from his pump gas street tune to the alcohol track tune with the press of a button. Bailey averaged a 6.78-second elapsed time at five different track days to secure the most prized trophy at Drag Week.

Buckeye Blast Diesel Motorsports Results

View the results from Marion County International Raceway in LaRue, Ohio.

	The Royal Purple-sponsored No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italia from Scuderia Corsa finished as the GT-Daytona class points leader. Photo Credit: Scuderia Corsa/ TRG-AMR

Royal Purple Sponsored GT Daytona Teams Take Top Two Spots in 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship

Royal Purple’s two sponsored GT Daytona (GTD) class race teams, Scuderia Corsa and TRG Aston Martin Racing (TRG-AMR), finished in the top two positions in the 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (TUSCC). Scuderia Corsa secured first place overall for the season, just ahead of runner-up TRG-AMR. Scuderia Corsa’s No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italia secured the top position as the series’ points leader with a strong performance at the final race of the season, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, October 3. Co-drivers Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell and Jeff Segal overcame the adverse weather conditions on the track to lock in the championship. TRG-AMR’s No. 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage co-drivers, Christina Nielsen and Kuno Wittmer, ultimately finished in 2015 in second place.

Compiled By SEMA Editors

	The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross (VARX) team scored its fourth double podium in the second round of a double header in Barbados.

Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Team Sweeps Barbados GRC Double Header

The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross (VARX) team scored its fourth double podium in the second round of a double header in Barbados, wrapping up a perfect weekend for the crew at the Bushy Park circuit. Tanner Foust scored two victories on the weekend, leaping from sixth in the points standings to second heading into the final race of the season. Scott Speed claimed the championship lead with his second-place finish last Saturday, and followed that up with second last Sunday. With the pair of one-two sweeps, the VARX drivers put other competition out of reach, guaranteeing that a Volkswagen driver will win the 2015 Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship at the season finale in Las Vegas next month. Barbados marked the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team’s fourth and fifth points-paying victories of the season, and the team’s 10th overall triumph in its short history. A drivers’ championship trophy will be added to that list of accolades at November’s season finale in Las Vegas.

International Drag Racing Hall of Fame to Induct Six New Members

Don Garlits has announced the inductees to the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame—a component of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing located in Ocala, Florida. Comprising the class of 2016 are six of the sport’s most accomplished Top Fuel and/or Funny Car pilots, one of which is one of Great Britain’s most prolific names, and a successful New England drag racer who became a track manager. The 2016 Founder’s Award goes to a highly successful track operator, who helped create the model for media relations, not only for drag racing, but for motorsports as a whole.

The 2016 inductees include: Preston Davis (Bartlett, Tennessee), Jack Doyle (Wakefield, New Hampshire), the late Marvin Miller (Bakersfield, California), Mark Oswald (Homa, Louisiana), Dennis Priddle (Yeovil, Somerset, United Kingdom) and Gas Ronda (Palm Desert, California). Steve Earwood (Rockingham, North Carolina) has been named to receive the 2016 Founder’s Award.

The honorees are selected by a committee of veteran drag-racing and performance industry figures. The selection committee consists of: Steve Gibbs (retired vice president, NHRA), Harry Hibler (president, UNI-Marketing LLC), Ted Jones (Masters Entertainment, retired president, IHRA) and Greg Sharp (curator, Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum).

	Stevie Smith won his third career Williams Grove National Open last Sunday evening.

Stevie Smith wins the Champion Racing Oil National Open at Williams Grove Speedway

Stevie Smith won his third career Williams Grove National Open last Sunday evening and took home $50,000. Smith started second and passed pole-sitter Danny Dietrich for the lead on the ninth lap. Smith then held off World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz over the closing laps of the 40-lap event. Logan Schuchart finished third, with Justin Henderson and Brian Montieth in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were: Dietrich, Alan Krimes, Daryn Pittman, Lance Dewease and Cory Haas.

SCORE Announces All Five Races in Baja, Mexico, for 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship

SCORE International has announced its official five-race schedule for the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship featuring all five races in Baja California, Mexico, for the first time in the history of the internationally televised desert racing series. The biggest change for the 2016 race season will be the new Bud Light SCORE Desert Challenge, presented by Rosarito Beach, in September. Being held in Rosarito, classes will be split into groups—each class will run the race split into equal parts run on two days with racing on Friday night, Saturday morning and evening, and Sunday morning, September 16–18.

SCORE has also announced that final negotiations are being completed to again televise the entire SCORE World Desert Championship series nationally on the CBS Sports Network and internationally through syndication. SCORE International will celebrate 2016 with a five-race series that features competition for Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.

Launching the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship series schedule will be the first of the three original SCORE Baja races:

• Round 1: 30th Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250, February 25–28, in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
• Round 2: 2nd Bud Light SCORE Baja Sur 500, April 14–17. Marking the second time a SCORE Baja race has been held entirely in Baja California Sur, it will start and finish in 2016 in La Paz, near the southern tip of Baja on the east side of the peninsula along the Sea of Cortez.
• Round 3: 48th Bud Light SCORE Baja 500, June 1–5, in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
• Round 4: Bud Light SCORE Desert Challenge, presented by Rosarito Beach, September 14–18 in Rosarito Beach, Baja California Norte
• Round 5: 49th Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000, November 16–20. It will start and finish in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.

In order to earn a 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship class point title, SCORE has announced that racers will have to start a minimum of four of the five races. Further one of the four races is the 49th Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000. A racer’s best four finishes will be used to tabulate the final class point standings.

	Tom Bailey’s “Sick Seconds 2.0” is a tube chassis, which sits underneath the carbon-fiber ’69 Camaro body.

Tom Bailey Captures Drag Week Victory

After skipping Drag Week last year, Tom Bailey returned with his latest creation, entitled “Sick Seconds 2.0.” Bailey took everything he learned from the car he piloted to Drag Week glory in 2013 and applied it in a more radical package for 2015. The tube chassis, which sits underneath the carbon-fiber ’69 Camaro body, was built by Keith Engling at Skinny Kid Race Cars. The car weighs in at 2,400 lbs. Power comes from a 615-cid Brodix big-block that ingests air from a pair of 94-mm Precision Turbos. A Holley Dominator is tasked with engine management, allowing Bailey to switch from his pump gas street tune to the alcohol track tune with the press of a button. Bailey averaged a 6.78-second elapsed time at five different track days to secure the most prized trophy at Drag Week.

Buckeye Blast Diesel Motorsports Results

View the results from Marion County International Raceway in LaRue, Ohio.

	The Royal Purple-sponsored No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italia from Scuderia Corsa finished as the GT-Daytona class points leader. Photo Credit: Scuderia Corsa/ TRG-AMR

Royal Purple Sponsored GT Daytona Teams Take Top Two Spots in 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship

Royal Purple’s two sponsored GT Daytona (GTD) class race teams, Scuderia Corsa and TRG Aston Martin Racing (TRG-AMR), finished in the top two positions in the 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (TUSCC). Scuderia Corsa secured first place overall for the season, just ahead of runner-up TRG-AMR. Scuderia Corsa’s No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italia secured the top position as the series’ points leader with a strong performance at the final race of the season, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, October 3. Co-drivers Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell and Jeff Segal overcame the adverse weather conditions on the track to lock in the championship. TRG-AMR’s No. 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage co-drivers, Christina Nielsen and Kuno Wittmer, ultimately finished in 2015 in second place.

	For additional publicity for exhibitors and their products, all of the products in the Showcase are photographed and featured in SEMA News and on www.SEMAphotos.com.

By Jason Catullo

Exhibitors have until tomorrow, October 9, to submit additional products for the New Products Showcase for the rate of $75 per category. After the deadline, the fee is $150 per product category. As always, the first category entered for the showcase is free when entering your product online.

More than just a one-week spotlight on the industry’s newest products, the New Products Showcase is the best way for exhibitors to build on their SEMA Show investment and gain additional publicity. All of the products in the Showcase are photographed and featured in SEMA News and on www.SEMAphotos.com. For the 2015 event, SEMA Show management reports that there have been an unprecedented number of entries prior to the submission deadline since the New Products Showcase was established. 

Exhibitors can place products in the New Products Showcase up until the opening day of the SEMA Show; however, entries submitted on-site will be accepted based on space availability.

Every product entered in the showcase features detailed product information, as well as traditional descriptive signs, adding a layer of convenience for buyers and media. They will also be promoted to the media and utilized for the product information available to buyers at the Show.

Enter products in the Showcase online.

	For additional publicity for exhibitors and their products, all of the products in the Showcase are photographed and featured in SEMA News and on www.SEMAphotos.com.

By Jason Catullo

Exhibitors have until tomorrow, October 9, to submit additional products for the New Products Showcase for the rate of $75 per category. After the deadline, the fee is $150 per product category. As always, the first category entered for the showcase is free when entering your product online.

More than just a one-week spotlight on the industry’s newest products, the New Products Showcase is the best way for exhibitors to build on their SEMA Show investment and gain additional publicity. All of the products in the Showcase are photographed and featured in SEMA News and on www.SEMAphotos.com. For the 2015 event, SEMA Show management reports that there have been an unprecedented number of entries prior to the submission deadline since the New Products Showcase was established. 

Exhibitors can place products in the New Products Showcase up until the opening day of the SEMA Show; however, entries submitted on-site will be accepted based on space availability.

Every product entered in the showcase features detailed product information, as well as traditional descriptive signs, adding a layer of convenience for buyers and media. They will also be promoted to the media and utilized for the product information available to buyers at the Show.

Enter products in the Showcase online.

	For additional publicity for exhibitors and their products, all of the products in the Showcase are photographed and featured in SEMA News and on www.SEMAphotos.com.

By Jason Catullo

Exhibitors have until tomorrow, October 9, to submit additional products for the New Products Showcase for the rate of $75 per category. After the deadline, the fee is $150 per product category. As always, the first category entered for the showcase is free when entering your product online.

More than just a one-week spotlight on the industry’s newest products, the New Products Showcase is the best way for exhibitors to build on their SEMA Show investment and gain additional publicity. All of the products in the Showcase are photographed and featured in SEMA News and on www.SEMAphotos.com. For the 2015 event, SEMA Show management reports that there have been an unprecedented number of entries prior to the submission deadline since the New Products Showcase was established. 

Exhibitors can place products in the New Products Showcase up until the opening day of the SEMA Show; however, entries submitted on-site will be accepted based on space availability.

Every product entered in the showcase features detailed product information, as well as traditional descriptive signs, adding a layer of convenience for buyers and media. They will also be promoted to the media and utilized for the product information available to buyers at the Show.

Enter products in the Showcase online.

By Michael Hart

	A SEMA Show panel discussion of some of the industry’s most famous and successful hot-rod builders will include: Bobby Alloway, Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop; Mike and Jim Ring, Ringbrothers; Troy Trepanier, Rad Rides by Troy; Alan Johnson, Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop; and Pete Chapouris, SO-CAL Speed Shop.

If you’re starting your career as a builder, or even just thinking about it, you can’t miss Thursday morning’s session on “Building Tomorrow’s Hot Rod” at the SEMA Show.

Rick Love of Vintage Air will lead a panel discussion with some of the industry’s most famous and successful builders.

“These are six of the premier builders in the industry today,” Love said. “Every award you can win is represented in that group.”

Joining Love on the panel will be:

• Bobby Alloway, Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop
• Mike and Jim Ring, Ringbrothers
• Troy Trepanier, Rad Rides by Troy
• Alan Johnson, Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop
• Pete Chapouris, SO-CAL Speed Shop

Love said the traditional hot-rod and street-machine segment of the industry is undergoing something of a revival today.

“So this is an opportunity for a young person starting out in his shop, or a young builder, or just somebody who aspires to be a builder to hear from the best in the business,” he said.

Love said he will begin by asking all the panelists how they got started, what’s the best advice anybody ever gave them and what’s the best advice they have for any ambitious builder today before opening the discussion for questions from what is sure to be a standing-room-only crowd.

There should be some interesting anecdotes too.

“It’s going to be an entertaining session,” Love said. “I’ve been with this bunch of guys before, so I know there’ll be some pretty good banter among them.”

Not only is the panel diverse in terms of geography—with builders from Southern California all the way to Alabama and Chicago—it also represents the wide range of styles in hot-rod building today.

“There’s nobody that builds a more traditional hot rod than a Bobby Alloway or a Pete Chapouris,” Love said.

But you’ve also got somebody like Trepanier, who is famous for his Bonneville street liners.

“You just have a whole lot of segments of the hot-rod industry represented in that bunch of guys,” Love said.

Register now to attend this session. View a complete list of SEMA Show education sessions available.