Parts Plus of New Mexico has announced that it has acquired the assets of J&J Auto Parts, a federated distributor in Albuquerque.

President of the Automotive Distribution Network Mike Lambert, who led the Press Release, disclosed the ramifications of such a development: “Our group has seen a lot of expansion into additional markets over the last couple of years. Our members are now in a position to concentrate and strengthen their hold in various communities.”

To allay any fears, Parts Plus assured the public that this buyout would produce no casualties. The existing location of the former J&J Auto Parts would be transformed into a satellite warehouse, while the existing employees left behind would be retained to manage said depot.

But more than that, Parts Plus is very satisfied with the acquisition as it equates to better business. With a new territory, the company is provided access to a whole new prospective market previously not penetrated.

Adam Honegger, CEO of Parts Plus New Mexico, further confirms: “This expansion will enable Parts Plus of New Mexico to increase our market share and strengthen the Parts Plus name throughout Albuquerque. This is our biggest acquisition over the past several years, and it will be a good springboard for future growth in New Mexico.”

NHRA, the main sanctioning body for the drag racing sport in the United States, has promptly announced that O’Reilly Auto Parts has readily agreed to extend its sponsorship of the Auto Parts NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex all the way up to the year 2010. If it is to be recalled, O’Reilly Auto Parts has been with NHRA since as early as 1999, which just goes to illustrate the level of partnership these two organizations have developed through the years.

Ron Byerly, O’Reilly Auto Parts’ Vice President of Advertising and Marketing, has this to say on the multi-year extension for NHRA: “O’Reilly Auto Parts is extremely excited to have the opportunity to continue our long-term association with NHRA and the Texas Motorplex. Our relationship with NHRA has grown significantly over the years and we welcome the opportunity to continue to enable our customers to experience the excitement of NHRA POWERade Drag Racing.”

Just recently, in a move to strenghten its specialty and influence on the drag racing industry, O’Reilly has signed a long-term rights deal to the Raceway Park located in Indianapolis. For those unfamiliar with the venue, this just happens to be the home of the world’s largest drag racing event, which is the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Nevertheless, it is still with the NHRA where O’Reilly Auto Parts is more closely associated. Indeed, the strong relationship between the two parties has been tested through time. But more than the length of service, their camaraderie is also apparent in that O’Reilly’s participation does not just end with the NHRA Fall Nationals, it also has title rights sponsorship of other prestigious NHRA events. This would include the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events in the states of Topeka, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis, and Bristol. O’Reilly is also serving as series sponsor of NHRA’s version of the little league division, aptly tagged as O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League.

Gary Darcy, NHRA Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, is more than content with support of the auto parts giant, “O’Reilly Auto Parts continues to be an outstanding partner for NHRA. We appreciate O’Reilly’s significant involvement in NHRA Drag Racing, from our grassroots programs to the NHRA POWERade Series. We look forward to working with O’Reilly Auto Parts for many years to come.”

Another highly satisfied client is Texas Motorplex General Manager, Arthur O’Bright: “O’Reilly continues to be one of the best sponsors in the sport of drag racing and we’re proud to have them as part of the Texas Motorplex family. Our relationship as facility and primary sponsor has just improved and made the O’Reilly Fall Nationals even better throughout the years and we’re looking forward to continuing this partnership for many years to come.”

In a special segment of this year’s customary Town Hall meeting, the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) will be integrating the concept of the popular YouTube program. AAIA, in its own program, has planned to put up videotaped questions from aftermarket professionals from all over the country.

As Kathleen Schmatz, AAIA President and CEO, remarks: “This year we wanted to add some interactive fun to Town Hall and further engage aftermarket professionals in the program, so we decided to borrow the popular ‘YouTube’ concept and invite videotaped questions from aftermarket folks, and for our special guest Bob Schieffer to answer on stage.”

Featured guest Bob Schieffer is the anchor of “Face of the Nation” and CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent. Other stars of the show would be moderator Kathleen Schmatz and another guest Dick Morgan, AAIA Chair as well as President and CEO of Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, Inc.

Hosted by AAIA and sponsored by NASCAR, the 2007 Town Hall meeting will be held on the 31^st of October, 7 am, in the Palazzo Ballroom in the Venetian Hotel.

This early, AAIA is asking for the cooperation from the general public in this YouTube-inspired segment. Video questions recorded from digital cameras, camcorders, cell phones and Web cams should be submitted in the WMV, AVI, MOV or MPG file formats and hopefully no longer than 45 seconds. Videos under 10MB file size can be emailed to townhallvideos@aftermarket.org. Videos over 10MB should be incorporated in a CD and mailed to: AAIA Town Hall, 7101 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1300, Bethesda, MD 20814.

The Hot Rod industry is set to boost the automotive market on Aug. 8 as Eaton Corp. and Promotion Co. hold the annual Dream Cruise, an aftermarket auto parts shopping mall for automotive performance enthusiasts, at the Memorial Park in Royal Oak.

The Dream Cruise runs along 16 miles of Woodward Avenue through nine communities. It reportedly attracts about 1 million visitors annually and some 40,000 owners of classic, muscle, custom and collector vehicles. The first cruise was in 1995 and designed to raise funds for a children’s soccer field.

The event generates a minimum of $100 million for businesses along the route in cities including Berkley, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Pontiac and Royal Oak.

The Eaton Performance Park will feature prominent aftermarket retailers such as Eaton, Barry Grant, Cherry Bomb, Comp Performance Group, Dynomax, K&N and Year One, said James “Jim” Parks, global communications manager of Eaton.

Eaton is a diversified industrial manufacturer of automotive, aerospace, electrical systems and automotive aftermarket products with 61,000 employees in 125 countries.

Live entertainment and family rides will be offered at the park as well as local food vendors. There will be dozens of award-winning vehicles on display, Parks said.

The Woodward Dream Cruise celebrates the heydays of the ‘50s and ‘60s when Woodward Avenue was the heart and soul of cruising in the city that put America on wheels.

Combined with music and fashions of the era, the Dream Cruise is set to celebrate the car culture that made performance cars special. The Woodward Dream Cruise is sponsored by a volunteer committee that coordinates the efforts of the nine host cities, the County of Oakland, media organizations, transportation authorities, corporations, small businesses and charities.

“The Woodward Dream Cruise is one of the country’s greatest car culture events,” said Victor Ruthig, vice president of sales and marketing of The Promotion Co. of Indianapolis.

Eaton has its headquarters in Cleveland but has automotive offices in Southfield, Parks said. Eaton has been a longtime major sponsor of the Dream Cruise. It became the event’s first official sponsor in 1999 and remains one of the event’s largest corporate supporters, he said.

“Vehicle customization and performance enhancement were a big part of the 1950s and ’60s cruising scene, and it remains an important part of the Dream Cruise and car shows today,” said Jeff Romig, Eaton vice president and general manager for performance products division.

“The Dream Cruise itself is large and somewhat unwieldy and a lot of retailers get lost trying to reach the public,” he said. “We’re hopeful that the mall concept will give people a reason to come by the park and do a little shopping while also looking at beautiful cars and displays.”

Eaton and The Promotion Co. have rented parts of the 24-acre Memorial Park at 13 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak on Aug. 17-18 to have exhibitors display their auto-related and aftermarket products to the public at no charge. The park will be open to visitors from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. each day.

“What we were able to do was get a prime spot on the Dream Cruise route” to allow exhibitors to be in one place to show off their products, Ruthig said.

The aftermarket automotive business has gross sales of about $34 billion a year, Parks said.

Representatives of the automotive aftermarket community in California met with the Golden State legislators just recently. The meeting was intended to be part of the significant strategies of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Sacramento Legislative Rally.

Many of the concerns taken up by the two assemblies revolved around matters involving health care and emission standards along with vehicle rubbish and others that were deemed to be of equal importance.

Health care concerns of course are nothing new. Groups expressing their concerns over the effects that a number of automotive technologies have given rise to have been making their opinions known since initial reports on the damaging effects of car engine emissions first appeared in public. However, the world is a long way from those troubles. Today, devices for better emissions are in place, keeping and reducing the count of noxious gases in the atmosphere to a bearable degree.

Talks of the current emissions standards too have been raised. This is believed to be in connection with the rumors circulating of late that a number of big players in the car manufacturing industry are planning to ask the government to lift emissions standards that are presently being followed. Though a considerable number of places the world over still have to wait out confirmation of this data, groups like this California-based unit are already expressing strong opposition to the proposal.

For auto makers, the point of raising the emissions standards that car engine manufacturers adhere to involves the subject of money. Higher standards mean that more improvements can be explored and a number of alternate technologies can be developed. However, since these will employ higher emissions counts, no matter the extent of engine boost that they can generate, they can expect solid resistance from the public.

Vehicular waste and the disposal of the said materials were also mentioned. In this case, commendable attention was given to companies that distributed and supplied re-manufactured auto products. This has, in turn, reduced the count of car rubbish significantly during the last few years. And with more and more consumers going for auto products that have environmental attributes, the count of vehicular scrap are expected to drop a few notches lower. The rising popularity of green technology in many of the prominent members of the automotive industry also makes this likely.

“SEMA has been engaged over the years with California (legislators) on a series of industry-specific issues and a range of business concerns impacting the health of the state’s specialty equipment industry.” This was the statement that Steve McDonald released regarding the gathering. McDonald is the current-acting SEMA vice president of government affairs.

It was largely believed by members of the parties involved that the rally “helped further increase awareness of our industry.” It addition, the event “signaled SEMA’s intention to increase its contribution to the debate on significant issues.”

There are, overall, larger issues at work and members of the Specialty Equipment Market Association know as well as understand that in striking a balance between better cars and safer environments, combining their efforts with the local government is a decisive and key action for the community.

A number of aftermarket suppliers are set to participate in the Nicole Racing Japan Co. at the 30th Anniversary Celebration to be held on June 29, 2007. The celebrations will be held at Fuji International Speedway located in Fuji, Japan.

A considerable lot of the participating parties remain as respected and esteemed top market leaders in the distribution as well as manufacture of lifestyle products and top notch Aftermarket performance parts of the most well known automotive names in the industry. Some notably supply performance parts for the Mini ™, the one that collectors know and recognize as a classic as well as for the BMW Mini Cooper. Thus, the acceptance of the organizations’ heads of the invite for the coming event places several after market part providers in the midst of one of the most exciting gatherings for those in the car racing circuit. These auto part companies will be expected to take part in the exhibition laps in the race that are part of the program for the said festivities.

The celebration will happen at the Formula 1 (F1) race track located just at the fringe of Fuji, Japan. Fuji International Speedway was built in the year 1967, occupying one of the most prime spots for racing. As most prime places for racing events, the said location has one of the richest natural settings in the field that affords the racing community with a number of truly exceptional views of the renowned Mount Fuji. That, in itself, is enough of an inducement for visitors to come and observe the upcoming activities set to begin in motion at the Fuji International Speedway. The course length measures about a stretch of 2.8 miles. It’s front straights is one of the longest on the world F1 circuit, reaching over a mile.

Don Racine—from one of the participating parties in the program–is expected to drive the Fuji circuit for the very first time. On the occasion, he remarks “I am thrilled with the opportunity to not only demonstrate the World Class performance of our MINI on this world class track but am extremely honored to represent Nicole Racing on this special occasion.” Racine has raced throughout the USA and has used his knowledge in the field to develop and improve on a considerable number of auto components for the market. He has been racing for thirty years and his expertise on the matter is considered to be among the best in the industry.

Several cars like the Mini Mania BMW Mini Cooper S race car, was shipped to Japan in preparation for this particular event. The Mini Cooper S is only one of the many test cars in the said event. Other car products from several participating parties are also anticipated to be employed in a bid for publicity, with the cars providing the racing community with the varied advantages of different company product development programs. Most of the models would have been designed and built to perform extraordinarily well in terms of endurance racing at the many club events in the United States so visitors and competitors alike will be in for a thrilling ride.

As this group of global market leaders for top drawer automotive aftermarket parts—with most of them already having their own line of high performance parts that even offer very specialized services to an ever-widening audience base—come together in such racing events, one can expect not only a good measure of thrilling victories but of convivial times that are often rare in the pressure-driven world of racing. Certainly, it’s a good development that serves to keep the community together as each member company commits to one common vision and goal.

COLUMBUS, Ohio—It’s high time for the American hot rod as the National Hot Rod Association sets the stage for the 5th  annual Holley NHRA reunion. Billed as a one-of-a kind American car lover’s dream, this year’s NHRA event will feature the high-octane drag racing it’s been famous for.

For American motorsports driver and NHRA Hall of Famer Jeg Coughlin Sr., this year’s NHRA races will be even more remarkable as he ride down memory lane.

As once one of the most dominant drivers of his generation and now founder of aftermarket high performance parts supplier JEGS Mail Order, Coughlin has been at the forefront of hot rodding and drag racing for nearly five decades. At this weekend’s Hot Rod Reunion at the National Trail Raceway, he will be honored as the event’s Grand Marshal.

“It is such an honor to be named the Grand Marshal of this event,” said Coughlin. “I’ve always said that the best part of these events is being able to see all of your old friends and former competitors again. I can walk through the pit area and literally spend hours reminiscing about the good old days. As we get older, we realize how special it is to be able to spend time with the people we’ve raced with and against for the last twenty, thirty years or more. My only complaint is that there aren’t enough hours in the day to see everyone you want to see.”

Since its inception in 2003, the NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion has experienced significant growth in both spectators and participants, forcing event organizers to seek a bigger venue. In 2007, the event was moved from its former home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to the historic National Trail facility just outside of Columbus.

“I’m especially excited since the Reunion is now being held at my home track at the National Trail Raceway,” said Coughlin. “This track has had so many great memories for me and my family over the years. It’s hard to remember them all. I’m sure that we will have a lot more great memories after this weekend, too.”

The event, which will be held until June 17, features a car show, swap meet, barbecue, and the popular “Cacklefest,” a thrilling exhibition of power featuring more than a dozen classic nostalgia race cars with their nitro-burning engines fired simultaneously. On the track, nostalgia drag racing classes include Top Fuel, Junior Fuel, Supercharged gassers, classic Funny Cars, Fuel Altereds, factory Super Stock racers and a variety of exhibition runs.

Coughlin made countless quarter-mile runs at the National Trail Raceway during his career, which included stints in NHRA’s three professional classes, Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock. Coughlin’s sons, John, Troy, Mike, and Jeg, have also combined to win seven NHRA national events at the team’s home track.

In addition to Coughlin, honorees for the 5th annual NHRA Hot Rod Reunion are Johnny Abbott, Don Cain, Ted Harbit, Fred Hurst, and the successful Ohio-based Top Fuel team of G.L. Rupp and driver Pat Dakin. The Justice Bros. Reunion Spotlight will be cast on two-time Funny Car champion and Drag Racing School founder Frank Hawley. Hall of Famers “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and “TV Tommy” Ivo are also expected to attend.