Industry leaders, including (from left) MIA's Chris Aylett, SEMA's Chris Kersting, Braille Battery's Blake Fuller and TTXGP's Azhar Hussain discuss green racing technologies at the 2009 "The Race Goes Green" seminar.

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) has confirmed several motorsports icons for the MIA-SEMA The Race Has Gone Green Conference in Long Beach, California, on Friday, April 16, at the Long Beach Convention Center during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Scott Atherton (American Le Mans Series CEO), David Brabham (2009 ALMS series champion, winner of 2009 LeMans 24 Hours), Les MacTaggart (senior technical director, Indy Racing League), and Rt Hon. Lord Drayson (U.K. minister of state for science and innovation) are among the first speakers to confirm.

The Race Has Gone Green is a one-day conference featuring performance industry icons and professionals focused on developing green technologies that will lead to a booming future for green performance products.

Conference fees are $275 for SEMA or MIA members, $375 for non-members. Registration includes paddock passes for American Le Mans Series qualifying.

Click here to register now.

For more information, visit www.sema.org/RaceGoneGreen or e-mail Jeremy Burne, Tracy Dewhirst or John Waraniak.

Make it a weekend! Discounted tickets for the Long Beach Grand Prix are available for SEMA members. Download the discount flyer here.

	Industry leaders, including (from left) MIA's Chris Aylett, SEMA's Chris Kersting, Braille Battery's Blake Fuller and TTXGP's Azhar Hussain discuss green racing technologies at the 2009 "The Race Goes Green" seminar.

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) has confirmed several motorsports icons for the MIA-SEMA The Race Has Gone Green Conference in Long Beach, California, on Friday, April 16, at the Long Beach Convention Center during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Scott Atherton (American Le Mans Series CEO), David Brabham (2009 ALMS series champion, winner of 2009 LeMans 24 Hours), Les MacTaggart (senior technical director, Indy Racing League), and Rt Hon. Lord Drayson (U.K. minister of state for science and innovation) are among the first speakers to confirm.

The Race Has Gone Green is a one-day conference featuring performance industry icons and professionals focused on developing green technologies that will lead to a booming future for green performance products.

Conference fees are $275 for SEMA or MIA members, $375 for non-members. Registration includes paddock passes for American Le Mans Series qualifying.

Click here to register now.

For more information, visit www.sema.org/RaceGoneGreen or e-mail Jeremy Burne, Tracy Dewhirst or John Waraniak.

Make it a weekend! Discounted tickets for the Long Beach Grand Prix are available for SEMA members. Download the discount flyer here.

	Industry leaders, including (from left) MIA's Chris Aylett, SEMA's Chris Kersting, Braille Battery's Blake Fuller and TTXGP's Azhar Hussain discuss green racing technologies at the 2009 "The Race Goes Green" seminar.

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) has confirmed several motorsports icons for the MIA-SEMA The Race Has Gone Green Conference in Long Beach, California, on Friday, April 16, at the Long Beach Convention Center during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Scott Atherton (American Le Mans Series CEO), David Brabham (2009 ALMS series champion, winner of 2009 LeMans 24 Hours), Les MacTaggart (senior technical director, Indy Racing League), and Rt Hon. Lord Drayson (U.K. minister of state for science and innovation) are among the first speakers to confirm.

The Race Has Gone Green is a one-day conference featuring performance industry icons and professionals focused on developing green technologies that will lead to a booming future for green performance products.

Conference fees are $275 for SEMA or MIA members, $375 for non-members. Registration includes paddock passes for American Le Mans Series qualifying.

Click here to register now.

For more information, visit www.sema.org/RaceGoneGreen or e-mail Jeremy Burne, Tracy Dewhirst or John Waraniak.

Make it a weekend! Discounted tickets for the Long Beach Grand Prix are available for SEMA members. Download the discount flyer here.

	Industry leaders, including (from left) MIA's Chris Aylett, SEMA's Chris Kersting, Braille Battery's Blake Fuller and TTXGP's Azhar Hussain discuss green racing technologies at the 2009 "The Race Goes Green" seminar.

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) has confirmed several motorsports icons for the MIA-SEMA The Race Has Gone Green Conference in Long Beach, California, on Friday, April 16, at the Long Beach Convention Center during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Scott Atherton (American Le Mans Series CEO), David Brabham (2009 ALMS series champion, winner of 2009 LeMans 24 Hours), Les MacTaggart (senior technical director, Indy Racing League), and Rt Hon. Lord Drayson (U.K. minister of state for science and innovation) are among the first speakers to confirm.

The Race Has Gone Green is a one-day conference featuring performance industry icons and professionals focused on developing green technologies that will lead to a booming future for green performance products.

Conference fees are $275 for SEMA or MIA members, $375 for non-members. Registration includes paddock passes for American Le Mans Series qualifying.

Click here to register now.

For more information, visit www.sema.org/RaceGoneGreen or e-mail Jeremy Burne, Tracy Dewhirst or John Waraniak.

Make it a weekend! Discounted tickets for the Long Beach Grand Prix are available for SEMA members. Download the discount flyer here.

	Industry leaders, including (from left) MIA's Chris Aylett, SEMA's Chris Kersting, Braille Battery's Blake Fuller and TTXGP's Azhar Hussain discuss green racing technologies at the 2009 "The Race Goes Green" seminar.

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) has confirmed several motorsports icons for the MIA-SEMA The Race Has Gone Green Conference in Long Beach, California, on Friday, April 16, at the Long Beach Convention Center during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Scott Atherton (American Le Mans Series CEO), David Brabham (2009 ALMS series champion, winner of 2009 LeMans 24 Hours), Les MacTaggart (senior technical director, Indy Racing League), and Rt Hon. Lord Drayson (U.K. minister of state for science and innovation) are among the first speakers to confirm.

The Race Has Gone Green is a one-day conference featuring performance industry icons and professionals focused on developing green technologies that will lead to a booming future for green performance products.

Conference fees are $275 for SEMA or MIA members, $375 for non-members. Registration includes paddock passes for American Le Mans Series qualifying.

Click here to register now.

For more information, visit www.sema.org/RaceGoneGreen or e-mail Jeremy Burne, Tracy Dewhirst or John Waraniak.

Make it a weekend! Discounted tickets for the Long Beach Grand Prix are available for SEMA members. Download the discount flyer here.

	Industry leaders, including (from left) MIA's Chris Aylett, SEMA's Chris Kersting, Braille Battery's Blake Fuller and TTXGP's Azhar Hussain discuss green racing technologies at the 2009 "The Race Goes Green" seminar.

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) has confirmed several motorsports icons for the MIA-SEMA The Race Has Gone Green Conference in Long Beach, California, on Friday, April 16, at the Long Beach Convention Center during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Scott Atherton (American Le Mans Series CEO), David Brabham (2009 ALMS series champion, winner of 2009 LeMans 24 Hours), Les MacTaggart (senior technical director, Indy Racing League), and Rt Hon. Lord Drayson (U.K. minister of state for science and innovation) are among the first speakers to confirm.

The Race Has Gone Green is a one-day conference featuring performance industry icons and professionals focused on developing green technologies that will lead to a booming future for green performance products.

Conference fees are $275 for SEMA or MIA members, $375 for non-members. Registration includes paddock passes for American Le Mans Series qualifying.

Click here to register now.

For more information, visit www.sema.org/RaceGoneGreen or e-mail Jeremy Burne, Tracy Dewhirst or John Waraniak.

Make it a weekend! Discounted tickets for the Long Beach Grand Prix are available for SEMA members. Download the discount flyer here.

	Fans of compact performance cars like the Honda S2000 are the most active group of Internet researchers and purchasers among specialty-equipment enthusiasts.

If you needed further motivation to revamp, enhance, or (deep breath) finally develop your business’ website, consider this data gathered from car and truck enthusiasts at the 2009 SEMA Show: an average of 75% of enthusiasts in eight different categories use the Internet to research and inform their parts and accessories purchases.

That number jumps to 80% when social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are factored in.

Fellow enthusiast sites are the most popular venues for gathering information, followed by queries made through traditional search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Magazines, catalogs, car shows and manufacturer websites also still contribute to enthusiast research. Depending on market segment, between 52% and 78% of enthusiasts still rely on magazines, for example, to inform their buying decisions. Street-rod enthusiasts in particular prefer ink and paper (78%), almost as much as they do enthusiast website research (80%).

Compact-performance fans are the most receptive to doing their homework on the Internet, with 85% saying they turn to enthusiast sites for answers. Off-roaders and street- performance enthusiasts (81%) follow closely behind.

Does all of that time in front of the screen convert to action? Absolutely. An average of 72% of parts hunters in all eight categories said they’d purchased from Internet retailers. Not surprisingly, compact-performance enthusiasts were most likely to buy from an Internet retailer, while those in the restoration scene—just 66%—were among the least likely.

Where does that leave the independent retailer? Generally, about 54% of enthusiasts in all segments—compact performance, off-road, passenger car, racing, restoration, street performance, street rod/custom, and truck/SUV—said they’d purchased from an independent retailer.

Street performance fans are most likely to buy from an independent (55%), while truck and SUV owners at just 46% are the least loyal.

In an effort to better analyze the tastes and preferences of today’s auto enthusiasts, SEMA, in coordination with Ford, launched the Enthusiast Opinion Leader Research Program at the 2009 SEMA Show.

The program invited 527 enthusiasts, selected through a rigorous application process, to the second day of the Show and tasked them with using social media, including Twitter and Facebook, to broadcast their personal product and trend highlights of the Show.

Participants in the program were mostly male (96%), with 52% between 25–44 years old. Most were married (96%), with 67% having household incomes between $50,000 to in excess of $75,000.

Read more about the Enthusiast Opinion Leader Research Program in the February issue of SEMA News.

	Lori Simonelli

Twenty-eight-year veteran of the tire industry Lori Simonelli was hired by Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. as senior director of technical services. Simonelli most recently worked as a consultant for RAM Key Consultants and previously worked for 27 years at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. With a career focused on new-product development, she served as a project manager for consumer products in North America and was a project manager overseeing technical and quality for consumer tire sourcing. Simonelli also held the position of manager of consumer tire design.

CPFilms Inc. presented its National Dealer of the Year honor to Sunmaster of Napa, California, during CPFilms annual Vista and FormulaOne window films dealer conference in January. Pro-Film of Torrington, Connecticut, won the Eastern Regional Dealer of the Year award, while Sunbusters of Austin, Texas, received the Western Regional Dealer of the Year award. Several tiers of dealer loyalty awards were also presented during the event.

The Association of Diesel Specialists will hold the 2010 ADS International Convention & Tradeshow — Branding Clean Diesel at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, August 3–7, 2010. The event, geared toward business owners, managers, technicians and corporate officials in the diesel industry, will feature new products and services, educational sessions and business tools and resources.

Fujitsu Ten Corp. of America appointed MITO Corp. as the exclusive distributor of Eclipse integrated navigation products to retailers in the U.S. market. With this appointment, MITO will begin supplying application-specific navigation systems to expeditors that supply products and services for Toyota vehicles.

Real Wheels Cool Shades Camaro project vehicle.

For the second consecutive year, GWG Wheels Corp. developed a joint venture with Real Wheels Corp. For last year’s partnership, GWG’s Black Amaya wheels with a red ring accented the aggressive look of the Real Wheels Cool Shades Camaro project vehicle.

The Compressed Air and Gas Institute launched a new online technical support center—known as SmartSite—that provides training, resources and technical information to professionals in the compressed air industry. Participants can login and access the latest information regarding air compressors, blowers, pneumatic tools and air and gas drying and filtration equipment, advancing at their own pace from their work or home computer.

To support the ongoing growth within its StopTech and Power Slot divisions, Centric Parts has installed a second fully functional dynamometer. "The Centric Parts commitment to product innovation and quality meant our current dynamometer was fully booked with a long list of projects spanning all of our divisions," revealed Dan Lelchuk, President of Centric Parts. "This addition will help fuel the company's projected growth for years to come."

Motorz TV launched an iPhone and iPod Touch Application that is available for free through the Apple iTune App Store. Hosted by Chris Duke, Motorz TV is a DIY television show for auto enthusiasts that provides tips on how to maintain vehicles and install aftermarket products step-by-step, in a typical garage setting using common tools. For the latest from Motorz TV, visit www.motorz.tv. 

Mishimoto Automotive announced a new partnership with Adams Motorsports Park, an amateur racetrack in Southern California. As part of the joint venture, Mishimoto will sponsor ‘Thursday Night Drift,’ the country’s biggest weekly drifting show, by offering drifters a steep discount on all products through the new Mishimoto Loves Drifters program. For more information and details on how to join, visit www.MishimotoLovesDrifters.com or e-mail MLD@mishimoto.com.

Mitchell 1 delivered the first issue of its new shop-management software electronic newsletter, Forum Gazette, to its entire shop management customer e-mail list. The monthly publication contains valuable contributions submitted by members of the Shop Management Users Forum and timely Mitchell 1 announcements. For more information, visit www.managerforum.net.

MapWide, owner of the MapAd.com group of local web search portals, recently launched MapAuto.com, a search portal that links consumers to automotive businesses at the local level. Users can search by zip code, distance and category, allowing them to pinpoint desired services and suppliers in any neighborhood.

Know someone who has moved on? Moved up? Let us know. Send releases for "Movers & Shakers" to editors@sema.org.

Following are dates and locations for several upcoming SEMA-sponsored shows and activities. Click on an item for more details.

	Act soon if you want to secure a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury project vehicle for this year—proposals are due March 1, 2010.

Ford is accepting proposals for its annual project vehicle program, and now is a great time to put together a design, buildup and marketing plan for a 2010 project Ford, Lincoln or Mercury.

Eligible vehicles include the 2011-model-year Fiesta, Mustang (including the new 5.0 GT), Edge, F-150, Super Duty, Lincoln MKX and 2012 Focus.

Criteria are similar to past Ford project-vehicle programs: companies requesting project vehicles should be a manufacturer or designer/restyler; a current SEMA member; and committed to a thorough marketing plan that includes the 2010 SEMA Show.

Click here for additional details. Don’t delay—proposals are due by March 1, 2010.