Lincoln Highway Leads to Vegas in ‘Road to AAPEX’ Season 2
-
Similar Topics
-
By Dorman Products
VIDEO TITLE: Smarter transmission conductor plate for Ford and Lincoln | Dorman OE FIX 926-149
-
By Counterman
Six in 10 automotive businesses expect demand for aftermarket parts and services to grow this year. That’s according to
link hidden, please login to view by the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo ( link hidden, please login to view). Open-ended commentary points to higher new vehicle prices, which are causing consumers to hang onto their existing vehicles longer, as the driving force for rising demand in the aftermarket. “The price of new cars is high, so people are purchasing, repairing and maintaining older vehicles,” wrote one respondent. “People are keeping their cars for longer periods of time,” noted another. “Price of new cars justifies repairs on older vehicles,” noted a third.
One caveat to that finding is that price sensitivity shows up in the aftermarket, too. The majority (53%) have observed more interest in lower-cost parts and services. However, customer motivation appears to be focused on value, rather than pure cost savings. Respondents said quality (34%) was the top influence of buying preference, followed by price (25%) and availability (20%).
Perhaps as a consequence, respondents said their business’s sales expectations for this year are flat, compared to sales performance the year prior. This reinforces the aftermarket’s reputation for stability no matter what’s happening with the economy.
Uncertainty is the Top Challenge
Respondents identified the top challenge as “uncertainty” (45%), which was a recurring theme throughout the findings. Many aftermarket businesses are engrossed in supply chain diversification initiatives, carrying higher inventory levels, and struggling to find skilled labor.
Among the other key findings are the following:
Customer service is the top AI initiative. About one-fifth (21%) of respondents have implemented enterprise-grade AI tools and another 20% are in the planning stages. Of those implementing enterprise AI, the top areas of AI investment are customer service (60%), inventory management (42%) and product development (36%). Supply chain diversification. 70% of respondents have completed diversifying their suppliers (6%), are in the planning stages (18%), or have plans in progress (46%). Inventories are on the rise. 38% of respondents are managing higher inventories of parts, compared to 20% who say they are managing fewer parts. Electric vehicle (EV) investments. More respondents (26%) said they will invest less in the EV segment, compared to 17% who will invest more. Another 27% said they will invest about the same as last year. Notably, the largest share of respondents (29%) remains uncertain about EV investments. Solving the Skilled Labor Shortage
Attracting skilled talent ranked second on the list of the top three challenges. Repair shops struggle with this because automotive technicians are retiring faster than the industry can replace them. The problem is compounded by the fact that demand for repair and maintenance services is rising.
When asked about the steps their business is taking to address the shortage, respondents pointed to an array of enticements. These include offering more training (30%), boosting compensation (27%) and improving benefits (22%), among other steps.
However, 25% of respondents aren’t taking any of those actions. In open-ended comments, respondents offered a variety of answers ranging from hiring retired people part-time to employing temporary help. One respondent commented [that we] “just stopped looking for help.”
It’s important to note that it’s not just repair shops that need skilled labor in the aftermarket. Respondents who work in manufacturing comprised the second largest demographic in this survey, following repair shops.
One manufacturing respondent wrote in to offer a solution, calling for “a national apprenticeship program that is deeply integrated into the manufacturing sector.” That person later added that technical institutes should synchronize their curricula with the “real-time needs of the factory floor.”
The full report is freely available for download (no registration required) on the AAPEX blog:
link hidden, please login to view. The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view -
By NAPA
Daison Pursley and the
link hidden, please login to view No. 9 team officially kicked off the 2026 High Limit Racing season over the past two weeks, competing in six races across Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Central Arizona Raceway. Following an offseason focused on building chemistry and speed, the Kasey Kahne Racing team entered the year with momentum and immediately showed promise against a strong field of competitors.
The High Limit season opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked the first points-paying events of the year, and the NAPA No. 9 ran consistently inside the top 10 throughout the three-night weekend.
On Thursday, Pursley qualified eighth in Flight A and advanced to a 12th-place finish in the feature after starting 15th. Friday brought one of the team’s strongest performances of the weekend, as Pursley qualified third, ran up front in the heat race, and drove from ninth to sixth in the A-Main.
The weekend concluded Saturday with another solid showing as the NAPA No. 9 qualified third once again and advanced from 13th to 10th in the feature. The consistent results to open the season positioned the team well in the early championship standings and reinforced the speed shown throughout the offseason.
The team carried that momentum into Central Arizona Raceway for the Cactus Classic, where Pursley delivered a standout performance on Thursday night. After qualifying 10th in a stout, 31-car field, Pursley advanced through his heat race and charged from 10th to a third-place finish in the A-Main, earning the first ever podium for the NAPA No. 9 team.
Friday and Saturday presented challenges, as the team continued to show speed but was ultimately sidelined by incidents in both feature events, resulting in a pair of DNFs. Despite the setbacks, the pace of the NAPA No. 9 remained evident throughout the weekend.
The NAPA No. 9 team now turns its focus to the next event at Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico on Tuesday as the 2026 High Limit Racing season continues.
Start / Finish:
Thursday, March 12, Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 15 / 12
Friday, March 13, Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 9 / 6
Saturday, March 14, Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 13 / 10
Thursday, March 19, Central Arizona Raceway: 10 / 3
Friday, March 20, Central Arizona Raceway: DNF
Saturday, March 21, Central Arizona Raceway: DNF
Points Standing / Total: 11th / 281 pts. (-125)
Next Race: Tuesday, March 24, Vado Speedway Park, Vado, NM
How to Watch or Listen:
link hidden, please login to view NAPA:
link hidden, please login to viewDaison Pursley: link hidden, please login to view
Kasey Kahne Racing: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view -
By NAPA
Chase Elliott qualified 15th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He made steady progress in the first stage, ending it in the eighth position. Elliott followed that up with a ninth-place finish in the second stage. In the final stage, the 30-year-old driver spent most of it in the top five. Following a caution, he restarted from the second row and settled into third before making the pass for second with 34 laps to go. He closed the gap to the leader but ultimately ran out of time, taking the checkered flag in second. The runner-up result was Elliott’s second top-five finish of the season and tied his previous-best effort at the track. Elliott leaves Las Vegas fifth in the Cup Series points standings, 87 markers behind the leader. Chase Elliott and the No. 9
link hidden, please login to view team qualified 15th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet showed speed early in the 267-lap event. He battled for 10th in the opening laps before settling into 11th. Prior to making a scheduled green-flag pit stop, the 30-year-old driver reported that the No. 9 Chevy “could get a little snug at times in the center of turns one and two.” Elliott visited pit road on lap 34 for four fresh tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. Once the field cycled through pit stops, Elliott was scored in the 10th position. He continued to gain ground, finishing stage one in eighth place and collecting three stage points.
Under the stage-ending caution, the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts crew completed a fast pit stop for four tires and fuel, allowing Elliott to gain three positions on pit road. After a car ahead of him received a pit road penalty, Elliott started the second stage from row two on lap 89. He was in a four-car battle for the lead before settling into third. Elliott slipped to fourth prior to the start of green-flag pit stops. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called the Dawsonville, Georgia, native to pit road for fuel and four tires on lap 122. Unfortunately, there was an issue on the left rear that caused a long pit stop. Elliott lost some track position but was still scored inside the top 10 once pit stops for the field were complete. Elliott held strong in seventh before slipping to ninth to end the second stage.
During the stage break, Elliott relayed that he had “overbuilt the right rear just a little too much.” He visited pit road for four tires and fuel under the caution, gaining two positions. Elliott restarted seventh for the final stage on lap 173 and improved to fifth by lap 180. He was running in that same spot when a caution came out for an on-track incident on lap 212. The driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy reported that “it was building to a nice spot.” After pitting for fuel and four tires, he lined up fourth for the choose, restarting from the inside of row two with just 50 laps to go. He held strong, running in third before making a pass for the second position with 34 laps remaining. Elliott gained ground on the leader in the closing laps but ultimately ran out of time, taking the checkered flag in the runner-up position.
“I felt like our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was a little better there on the longer run,” Elliott said after the race. “I thought Denny (Hamlin, race leader) was starting to fall off, and I was just trying to be as tidy as I could and give myself an opportunity. We just came up a little bit short. But honestly, with where we’ve been to how we ran today, it was not even comparable. As bummed as I am, I have to check myself back to reality and understand how big of an improvement that was from past races (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway). Just proud of this team. It’s a lot of fun to be right there in the mix with those guys that have won a lot of races out here. Excited about that and hopefully we can keep building on it.”
Elliott is now fifth in the Cup Series points standings, 87 markers behind the leader.
Start / Finish: 15 / 2
Points Standing / Total: 5th / 168 pts. (-87)
Next Race: Sunday, March 22, Darlington Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, SiriusXM or MRN
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Chase Elliott: link hidden, please login to view
Hendrick Motorsports: link hidden, please login to view
No. 9 Team: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view -
-
By NAPA
Ron Capps kicked off NHRA’s 75th anniversary season by qualifying his link hidden, please login to view Funny Car in the No. 1 spot to score the first Funny Car pole of the year at the NHRA Gatornationals. As a seven-time Gainesville Raceway finalist, Capps was looking to add to his four wins at the historic facility, but an upset loss in the opening round of eliminations Sunday morning ended his day early.
Capps qualified on the strength of his Q2 pass of 3.890 seconds at 334.07 mph and was the only Funny Car racer to dip into the 3.8-second range during opening weekend of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. Knowing they were safely in the show, crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli and the NAPA team used Saturday’s remaining two qualifying rounds as test sessions to prepare for Sunday eliminations and felt they had a solid plan in place heading into round one against No. 16 qualifier John Smith. The three-time Funny Car world champion was first off the line but his machine started rattling the tires. He pedaled the car and got it to hook back up, but the ignition box was inadvertently shut off, allowing Smith to drive away with the win. While the early exit was a disappointment, Capps was not deterred and is eager to head to Phoenix for the Arizona Nationals and a chance to rebound.
“We left the Finals in Pomona at the end of last year and we already knew what we wanted to test to get better,” said Capps, who debuted as a multi-car team owner for the first time at the Gatornationals with the addition of Maddi Gordon and the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team. “A lot of work was done at the shop with both teams, obviously getting the dragster together and ready for Maddi’s licensing and then the Funny Car team, we had a great game plan and it all came together. We made great runs in testing and Guido was very excited about coming to race under these warm weather conditions.
“Everyone had that decent shot Friday night, and obviously we were number one with that 3.89, which is always great. With the time change Saturday night and the track conditions the way they were, we figured first round was going to be pretty fast. But, typical Gainesville. I always say, the wins I’ve had here, you always feel like you’ve run multiple events in one day because it’s so demanding. It’s hot, humid, hard on the teams, hard on the drivers. And first round was tough, you never discount Paul Smith, that’s a car that will go down the track so you cannot make mistakes. We went out, rattled the tires. I started pedaling and got it going again, but unfortunately, the ignition box inadvertently shut off, and I was just a sitting duck out there and John Smith was able to drive around me. It’s a bummer, but the great thing is we know we’ve got a good hot rod. We’ve got a weekend off and then we’ll get right back at it in Phoenix.”
Up next for Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team is the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park, where Capps made his professional debut in 1995 while competing in the Top Fuel category.
Start / Finish: No. 1/ def. in first round
Points Standing / Total: 9th / 41 points (-74)
Next Race: March 20-22, NHRA Arizona Nationals, Chandler, Ariz.
How to Watch or Listen: FS1,
link hidden, please login to view NAPA Racing:
link hidden, please login to viewRon Capps: link hidden, please login to view
Ron Capps Motorsports: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view
-
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.