Brenda Priddy's group of shutter sleuths have uncovered evidence of more Ford European products hitting U.S. shores with these shots of the U.S. spec, 2012 Ford Grand C-Max.

Priddy reports that this early development vehicle has a cobbled together front end, likely to allow clearance for powertrain components. The C-Max will share underpinnings with the new Ford Focus. Under the hood, you will find Ford's 1.6L four-cylinder Ecoboost motor. Spec-wise, Priddy says that the U.S. Grand C-Max should end up with somewhere around 160–165 hp.

Ford has made no secret that U.S. customers will soon be able to buy this vehicle. In early October, the automaker invited American automotive journalists to Nice, France, for an opportunity to drive the Euro-spec C-max as a preview of things to come. However, according to what Priddy has heard, American customers will most likely have only the Grand C-max to choose from simply due to the regular C-max is considered too small to suit the taste of U.S. drivers.

Watch for a possible debut at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show.

Photos courtesy of Brenda Priddy & Co.

See Ford’s stable of vehicles, both past and present, in this collection of rides on display at the 2010 SEMA Show. More than 390 Ford vehicles make up the collection—Mustangs, Broncos, F-150s and more—and all of the photos are available for download. The photo gallery on enjoythedrive.com is searchable by exhibiting company name, vehicle make, vehicle model and more.

See Ford’s stable of vehicles, both past and present, in this collection of rides on display at the 2010 SEMA Show. More than 390 Ford vehicles make up the collection—Mustangs, Broncos, F-150s and more—and all of the photos are available for download. The photo gallery on enjoythedrive.com is searchable by exhibiting company name, vehicle make, vehicle model and more.

 

Tom Campbell was elected to the SCCA Pro Racing Board of Directors and also named its chairman.

Tom Campbell Named Chairman of SCCA Pro Racing Board
SCCA Pro Racing Ltd. and Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Inc. announced that Tom Campbell was added to the SCCA Pro Racing Board of Directors and was also elected the board's chairman. Campbell replaces former Chairman Brian Holtz, who passed away in September after an illness. Campbell is a 35-year member of the SCCA and a member of the Mohawk-Hudson Region SCCA, his home region, and the Glen region. He is currently the chairman of the Northeast Division Council, the leadership council for the Division’s 19 regions. His familiarity with the Pro Racing Board stems from his service on the SCCA, Inc., Board of Directors from 1999 through 2004. During his six-year term, he served three years as corporate treasurer and one year as the chairman of the Board. During that time, he was active with the Pro Racing Board of Directors and helped develop operating goals and long-range business plans.

Bestop Welcomes New Manufacturers' Reps
Bestop added Foster and Gold (Western Canada), Kunzman and Associates (Central United States) and SS Sales & Marketing (Western United States) to its family of manufacturers' representatives handling Bestop products. In the Midwest, Kunzman and Associates will work with Bestop's Eastern Sales Manager Brad Bricker. Foster and Gold will report directly to Butch Madigan, Bestop's western sales manager. SS Sales and Marketing will handle the western United States and report to Madigan as well. The three agencies join Bestop's existing family of reps, which includes Hapco, KAM Marketing, NA Williams and Simmons & Associates.

NHRA Jr. Racing League Conference Finals Head Back to Denver, Bristol for 2011
NHRA's 2011 NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Finals will return to Bandimere Speedway in Denver and Bristol Dragway in Tennessee, respectively. The NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals will be held July 7–9, 2011, at Bandimere Speedway, while the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Finals will take place three weeks later, July 28–30 at Bristol Dragway.

Left to right: Ohio Technical College's Jordan Brenner, Justin Brenner, President Marc Brenner and Tom King accept their 2010 Weatherhead 100 Award.

Ohio Technical College Earns Weatherhead 100 Award
For the third year in a row, Ohio Technical College earned the Weatherhead 100 Award from the Case Weatherhead School of Management and The Council of Smaller Enterprises. The award recognizes the fastest-growing companies in northeast Ohio, based on the percentage of sales growth from 2005–2009. Ohio Technical College placed 62 out of 100 companies on the list.

Pioneer Releases Poll Results for America's Favorite Road-Trip Songs
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. released the results of its first-ever “Favorite Road Trips Songs” poll, conducted in partnership with Harris Interactive. The survey asked nearly 3,000 Americans, “what are your favorite road trip songs of all time?” Here are the results:

1. “On the Road Again,” Willie Nelson
2. “Born to be Wild,” Steppenwolf
3. “Take it Easy,” The Eagles
4. “I Get Around,” The Beach Boys
5. “Highway to Hell,” AC/DC
6. “Free Falling,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
7. “Riders on the Storm,” The Doors
8. “I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night,” Kiss
9. “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” Bon Jovi
10. “Free Bird,” Lynyrd Skynyrd

While “On the Road Again” took top billing overall, respondents from the northeast as well as male respondents across the nation favored the second runner up in the poll, “Born to Be Wild.” Those between the ages of 18 and 34 and those who identified themselves as single and never married listed “Highway to Hell” as their top pick. Additionally, respondents in that demographic highly favored several songs made popular in the late ’80s and ’90s that didn’t make the overall top 10 list, including “Paradise City,” by Guns ‘N Roses and 2Pac’s “California Love.”

Rusty and Steven Wallace Join Motorsports 2011
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace, now a popular motorsports broadcaster and NASCAR Nationwide Series car owner, and his son Steven, a rising star in NASCAR Nationwide racing, will be part of the three-day Motorsports 2011 Presented by SEF Race Car and Trade Show. The duo will meet fans and sign autographs during the event, which is set for the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, January 21–23.

Mobile usage will soon outweigh desktop usage, meaning companies must make it easy for customers to find their websites on mobile devices.

Before you can improve your company’s website, first measure how many unique visitors you have, according to Craig Cervenka from PowerSports Network, who presented the recent SEMA webinar entitled, “Web Site Analysis & Five Tips to Improve Your Website.”

Analyze Your Website

Unique visitors are users who enter your website once per day. How much time do they spend on your website, and does more time mean they cannot find what they are looking for? The idea is to minimize your bounce rate, which are visitors who click on your website and leave immediately. If your website has a high bounce rate, take a look at its navigability, style and design.

Back to the Basics

Don’t forget your basic information, including your name, address and phone number. It should be easy to find out where your company and retail stores are located. Use meta tags, also referred to as keywords or site branding. If you don’t include these, the search engine will create them for you, which is not always a good thing. If you have an online store, is it easy to make purchases? When comparing your store to your competitors, what is the highest common denominator and how close are you to it?

Leverage Social Media

Website content, including photos, descriptions and videos, is still king. Many companies promote their Facebook page instead of their website, yet only 25% of small-business owners use some form of social media. It can be time-consuming, so delegate this responsibility to a younger employee already on your staff.

YouTube is the second-largest utility used for searches on the Internet and can be used for installations, modifications and how-to videos. Create a YouTube video that introduces yourself, your products and the services you offer to your web site visitors and use social media, such as Facebook, as leverage to showcase happy customers. Don’t forget to monitor online forums about the products you sell to see what people are saying about you.

Going Mobile

Mobile usage will soon outweigh desktop usage, so be easily available for customers to find you on their mobile devices. Are you searchable on mobile search engines?

Get Ready for the Holidays

Ensure your website is ready for holiday shoppers. Make it a virtual supermarket. Build a gift registry for your customers and send e-mail blasts to them highlighting some of your products and offer coupons.

SEMA webinars are free to SEMA members and only $29 for non-members.

Follow this link for more information on this webinar.

For more information on the SEMA Webinar Program and to view a list of all upcoming SEMA webinars, click here.

Mobile usage will soon outweigh desktop usage, meaning companies must make it easy for customers to find their websites on mobile devices.

Before you can improve your company’s website, first measure how many unique visitors you have, according to Craig Cervenka from PowerSports Network, who presented the recent SEMA webinar entitled, “Web Site Analysis & Five Tips to Improve Your Website.”

Analyze Your Website

Unique visitors are users who enter your website once per day. How much time do they spend on your website, and does more time mean they cannot find what they are looking for? The idea is to minimize your bounce rate, which are visitors who click on your website and leave immediately. If your website has a high bounce rate, take a look at its navigability, style and design.

Back to the Basics

Don’t forget your basic information, including your name, address and phone number. It should be easy to find out where your company and retail stores are located. Use meta tags, also referred to as keywords or site branding. If you don’t include these, the search engine will create them for you, which is not always a good thing. If you have an online store, is it easy to make purchases? When comparing your store to your competitors, what is the highest common denominator and how close are you to it?

Leverage Social Media

Website content, including photos, descriptions and videos, is still king. Many companies promote their Facebook page instead of their website, yet only 25% of small-business owners use some form of social media. It can be time-consuming, so delegate this responsibility to a younger employee already on your staff.

YouTube is the second-largest utility used for searches on the Internet and can be used for installations, modifications and how-to videos. Create a YouTube video that introduces yourself, your products and the services you offer to your web site visitors and use social media, such as Facebook, as leverage to showcase happy customers. Don’t forget to monitor online forums about the products you sell to see what people are saying about you.

Going Mobile

Mobile usage will soon outweigh desktop usage, so be easily available for customers to find you on their mobile devices. Are you searchable on mobile search engines?

Get Ready for the Holidays

Ensure your website is ready for holiday shoppers. Make it a virtual supermarket. Build a gift registry for your customers and send e-mail blasts to them highlighting some of your products and offer coupons.

SEMA webinars are free to SEMA members and only $29 for non-members.

Follow this link for more information on this webinar.

For more information on the SEMA Webinar Program and to view a list of all upcoming SEMA webinars, click here.

THE BEST: Chip Ganassi, based on his outstanding season as a car owner, was selected by the staff of National Speed Sport News as the 2010 Economaki Champion of Champions. For more, click here.

SPONSORSHIP PACKAGE: Mazda has signed on as the title sponsor of the Road to Indy developmental ladder.

AMERICAN GUARD: J.R. Hildebrand will join Panther Racing and drive the No. 4 National Guard Dallara Honda in the IZOD IndyCar Series next year.

REVIVAL: The United States Auto Club (USAC) will revive Thursday Night Thunder at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Indiana, next year. The series will feature the USAC Pavement Sprint Car Series exclusively.

NOW ALLOWED: The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has removed from the 2011 World Driving Championship regulations the ban forbidding Formula One teams from issuing team orders.

SIGN AND DRIVE: Nelson Piquet Jr. will drive full time for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series next season.

SPLIT CITY: The USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series will feature an all-dirt slate next year, with pavement sprint cars getting their own championship series in 2011.

NOW IN CHARGE: Penske Racing has appointed Travis Geisler as the competition director for the organization’s NASCAR racing programs.

WELCOME BACK: Martin Brundle, a former winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1988, will return to Daytona in January as part of the United Autosports Daytona Prototype team with co-drivers Zak Brown, Mark Blundell and Mark Patterson.

NEW PACKAGE: A new rules package has been approved for use by teams in the Formula One World Championship in 2013, bringing an end to the normally aspirated engine era.

NATIONAL LEVEL: USAC will partner with the ARCA Racing Series to present National Championship weekend at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway October 15–16, 2011. USAC’s Silver Crown Series and the ARCA Racing Series will each crown their champions that weekend.

SUBSCRIBE: National Speed Sport News has been published weekly since 1934. To subscribe to National Speed Sport News, visit www.nationalspeedsportnews.com.

THE BEST: Chip Ganassi, based on his outstanding season as a car owner, was selected by the staff of National Speed Sport News as the 2010 Economaki Champion of Champions. For more, click here.

SPONSORSHIP PACKAGE: Mazda has signed on as the title sponsor of the Road to Indy developmental ladder.

AMERICAN GUARD: J.R. Hildebrand will join Panther Racing and drive the No. 4 National Guard Dallara Honda in the IZOD IndyCar Series next year.

REVIVAL: The United States Auto Club (USAC) will revive Thursday Night Thunder at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Indiana, next year. The series will feature the USAC Pavement Sprint Car Series exclusively.

NOW ALLOWED: The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has removed from the 2011 World Driving Championship regulations the ban forbidding Formula One teams from issuing team orders.

SIGN AND DRIVE: Nelson Piquet Jr. will drive full time for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series next season.

SPLIT CITY: The USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series will feature an all-dirt slate next year, with pavement sprint cars getting their own championship series in 2011.

NOW IN CHARGE: Penske Racing has appointed Travis Geisler as the competition director for the organization’s NASCAR racing programs.

WELCOME BACK: Martin Brundle, a former winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1988, will return to Daytona in January as part of the United Autosports Daytona Prototype team with co-drivers Zak Brown, Mark Blundell and Mark Patterson.

NEW PACKAGE: A new rules package has been approved for use by teams in the Formula One World Championship in 2013, bringing an end to the normally aspirated engine era.

NATIONAL LEVEL: USAC will partner with the ARCA Racing Series to present National Championship weekend at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway October 15–16, 2011. USAC’s Silver Crown Series and the ARCA Racing Series will each crown their champions that weekend.

SUBSCRIBE: National Speed Sport News has been published weekly since 1934. To subscribe to National Speed Sport News, visit www.nationalspeedsportnews.com.

Are you hunting for a new job? The “Positions Available” section in the SEMA Member Classifieds lists more than 50 job openings around the country. Here are some of the latest classifieds posted to the website.

New Car Dealership Aftermarket Operation Manager
A long-standing aftermarket products company is seeking an ambitious, self-starting individual to run an independent profit center in a dual-brand, high-volume luxury car dealership in one of Dallas' wealthiest communities.

Public Relations Agency Account Executive
JMPR Public Relations is currently looking to hire a dynamic account executive-level staffer with proven PR agency experience. The company is only interested in candidates who have a minimum of two to three years experience at a PR firm and handle no fewer than four accounts concurrently.

Performance Account Development Specialist
American Tire has openings in the following locations for a performance account development specialist: Detroit, Seattle and Chicago. The primary and ultimate responsibility of the performance account development specialist is to attain an annual sales plan within their territory. The performance account development specialist will be assigned a sales objective for the custom wheel and accessory business within their assigned territory.

Are you hunting for a new job? The “Positions Available” section in the SEMA Member Classifieds lists more than 50 job openings around the country. Here are some of the latest classifieds posted to the website.

New Car Dealership Aftermarket Operation Manager
A long-standing aftermarket products company is seeking an ambitious, self-starting individual to run an independent profit center in a dual-brand, high-volume luxury car dealership in one of Dallas' wealthiest communities.

Public Relations Agency Account Executive
JMPR Public Relations is currently looking to hire a dynamic account executive-level staffer with proven PR agency experience. The company is only interested in candidates who have a minimum of two to three years experience at a PR firm and handle no fewer than four accounts concurrently.

Performance Account Development Specialist
American Tire has openings in the following locations for a performance account development specialist: Detroit, Seattle and Chicago. The primary and ultimate responsibility of the performance account development specialist is to attain an annual sales plan within their territory. The performance account development specialist will be assigned a sales objective for the custom wheel and accessory business within their assigned territory.