SHUTDOWN: The Atlantic Championship Series has been forced to cancel its 2010 season, with series owner Ben Johnston citing the economic downturn and the inability to find funded drivers as the primary reasons.

NO ADDITIONS: The FIA has released the final 2010 Formula One World Championship entry list, which does not include US F1 or StefanGP.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: BAT Engineering, formed by designers Bruce Ashmore, Alan Mertens and Tim Wardrop, has thrown its name into the hat as a possible designer for the new 2012 Indy car.

400: Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson collected Jack Roush’s 400th victory as a team owner Saturday by winning the Grand Sport portion of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

NEW HOME, NEW SPONSOR: DART Machinery has signed on as the title sponsor of the DART Show-Me 100 dirt-late-model race, which will be held at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, for the first time May 28–29.

UP IN THE AIR: Kurt Busch may have won Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500, but it was Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski getting all the press. Edwards was parked because of a retaliatory bump that sent Keselowski’s car airborne late in Sunday’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

OPEN WHEEL WEEKEND: The Formula One World Championship and the IZOD IndyCar Series will both open their racing seasons this weekend. Formula One visits the Bahrain International Circuit for the Bahrain Grand Prix while IndyCar heads to Brazil for the Sao Paulo Indy 300.

TAKING LEAVE: Bristol (Tennessee) Motor Speedway President and General Manager Jeff Byrd is taking a leave of absence to undergo treatment for an undisclosed medical matter.

READY TO BEGIN: Milka Duno has joined Dale Coyne Racing and plans to contest the entire IZOD IndyCar Series schedule. Meanwhile, Indy Lights veteran Ana Beatriz will make her IRL debut this weekend in her native Brazil. She will drive a Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-prepared race car.

SUBSCRIBE: National Speed Sport News has been published weekly since 1934. Subscribe to National Speed Sport News for a special industry rate.

SHUTDOWN: The Atlantic Championship Series has been forced to cancel its 2010 season, with series owner Ben Johnston citing the economic downturn and the inability to find funded drivers as the primary reasons.

NO ADDITIONS: The FIA has released the final 2010 Formula One World Championship entry list, which does not include US F1 or StefanGP.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: BAT Engineering, formed by designers Bruce Ashmore, Alan Mertens and Tim Wardrop, has thrown its name into the hat as a possible designer for the new 2012 Indy car.

400: Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson collected Jack Roush’s 400th victory as a team owner Saturday by winning the Grand Sport portion of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

NEW HOME, NEW SPONSOR: DART Machinery has signed on as the title sponsor of the DART Show-Me 100 dirt-late-model race, which will be held at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, for the first time May 28–29.

UP IN THE AIR: Kurt Busch may have won Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500, but it was Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski getting all the press. Edwards was parked because of a retaliatory bump that sent Keselowski’s car airborne late in Sunday’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

OPEN WHEEL WEEKEND: The Formula One World Championship and the IZOD IndyCar Series will both open their racing seasons this weekend. Formula One visits the Bahrain International Circuit for the Bahrain Grand Prix while IndyCar heads to Brazil for the Sao Paulo Indy 300.

TAKING LEAVE: Bristol (Tennessee) Motor Speedway President and General Manager Jeff Byrd is taking a leave of absence to undergo treatment for an undisclosed medical matter.

READY TO BEGIN: Milka Duno has joined Dale Coyne Racing and plans to contest the entire IZOD IndyCar Series schedule. Meanwhile, Indy Lights veteran Ana Beatriz will make her IRL debut this weekend in her native Brazil. She will drive a Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-prepared race car.

SUBSCRIBE: National Speed Sport News has been published weekly since 1934. Subscribe to National Speed Sport News for a special industry rate.

SHUTDOWN: The Atlantic Championship Series has been forced to cancel its 2010 season, with series owner Ben Johnston citing the economic downturn and the inability to find funded drivers as the primary reasons.

NO ADDITIONS: The FIA has released the final 2010 Formula One World Championship entry list, which does not include US F1 or StefanGP.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: BAT Engineering, formed by designers Bruce Ashmore, Alan Mertens and Tim Wardrop, has thrown its name into the hat as a possible designer for the new 2012 Indy car.

400: Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson collected Jack Roush’s 400th victory as a team owner Saturday by winning the Grand Sport portion of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

NEW HOME, NEW SPONSOR: DART Machinery has signed on as the title sponsor of the DART Show-Me 100 dirt-late-model race, which will be held at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, for the first time May 28–29.

UP IN THE AIR: Kurt Busch may have won Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500, but it was Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski getting all the press. Edwards was parked because of a retaliatory bump that sent Keselowski’s car airborne late in Sunday’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

OPEN WHEEL WEEKEND: The Formula One World Championship and the IZOD IndyCar Series will both open their racing seasons this weekend. Formula One visits the Bahrain International Circuit for the Bahrain Grand Prix while IndyCar heads to Brazil for the Sao Paulo Indy 300.

TAKING LEAVE: Bristol (Tennessee) Motor Speedway President and General Manager Jeff Byrd is taking a leave of absence to undergo treatment for an undisclosed medical matter.

READY TO BEGIN: Milka Duno has joined Dale Coyne Racing and plans to contest the entire IZOD IndyCar Series schedule. Meanwhile, Indy Lights veteran Ana Beatriz will make her IRL debut this weekend in her native Brazil. She will drive a Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-prepared race car.

SUBSCRIBE: National Speed Sport News has been published weekly since 1934. Subscribe to National Speed Sport News for a special industry rate.

Here is a roundup of proposed or recently enacted legislative and regulatory developments affecting the specialty-equipment industry in key markets overseas. For more information on overseas developments, SEMA members are invited to contact SEMA Director of International and Government Relations Linda Spencer at lindas@sema.org.

First Quarter 2010 International Regulatory Update

Here is a roundup of proposed or recently enacted legislative and regulatory developments affecting the specialty-equipment industry in key markets overseas. For more information on overseas developments, SEMA members are invited to contact SEMA Director of International and Government Relations Linda Spencer at lindas@sema.org.

First Quarter 2010 International Regulatory Update

Regardless of where you live, winter months involve preparing your car, truck or street rod for the upcoming spring and summer car seasons. However, these months are also a great time to prepare yourself with the same effort that you put into your vehicle. The following ideas from the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) may help you stay involved with the hot rod industry and hobby.

Whether you are in the cold of the Northeast or the heat of the West Coast, there's plenty for a hot rodder to do during the winter. 

Regardless of where you live, winter months involve preparing your car, truck or street rod for the upcoming spring and summer car seasons. However, these months are also a great time to prepare yourself with the same effort that you put into your vehicle. The following ideas from the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) may help you stay involved with the hot rod industry and hobby.

Whether you are in the cold of the Northeast or the heat of the West Coast, there's plenty for a hot rodder to do during the winter. 

For most members of the Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO), business slows somewhat at the end of the year, allowing them time to catch up on various projects and plan for the upcoming New Year. This same concept is true for the ARMO Select Committee.

Having just completed its Long-Range Planning meeting in January, the council now looks forward to carrying out the various tasks scheduled for 2010.

For most members of the Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO), business slows somewhat at the end of the year, allowing them time to catch up on various projects and plan for the upcoming New Year. This same concept is true for the ARMO Select Committee.

Having just completed its Long-Range Planning meeting in January, the council now looks forward to carrying out the various tasks scheduled for 2010.

Congress passed a SEMA-supported $16 billion “jobs bill” which is intended to expand the American workforce. Pending a final procedural vote by the Senate, the bill will be sent to President Obama to be signed into law. All businesses that hire a new employee before January 1, 2011, will be exempt from paying the 6.2% employer share of Social Security payroll taxes. The new worker must have been unemployed for at least 60 days and cannot replace another employee.

If the business retains the newly hired worker for one year, the employer is then entitled to a one-time $1,000 tax credit for each such worker. The legislation also extends the “Section 179” expensing provision, allowing small businesses to write-off up to $250,000 of capital expenditures made during 2010 rather than recovering the costs over time through depreciation.

The bill also increases the investment cap to $800,000 for 2010 rather than $500,000 indexed for inflation. President Obama intends to quickly sign the bill into law.

For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein.