SpeedVideo is Moving to a Subscription Model in 2020 in Partnership with All of Our Event Promoters. Here is Why.

A joint letter written to the drag racing community from SpeedVideo and 14 leading drag racing promoters.

For many years, drag racing has been live streamed on the internet free of charge. The advances of technology and reasonably priced video equipment made this possible. Promoters often paid for the cost of the production, or shared the cost with the live streaming broadcaster. It was a reasonably workable system except for three major flaws:

1. Live broadcasts were completely reliant on advertisers or the promoter paying for production costs. This limited both the quality of the production as well as how many events could be broadcast. Many broadcasts had huge audiences, but lost money.
2. Promoters lost potential ticket sales from their events, which often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce. For every person watching at home, a potential ticket sale was lost.
3. Most new, smaller, or specialty events aren’t broadcast because there was no way to pay for them.

Watching drag racing for free seems like a win-win, but the free model isn’t that good for drag racing. After a great deal of evaluation of how to grow and improve live drag racing broadcasting, the best path forward was to create a subscription model. Event promoters and SpeedVideo who produce the broadcasts will be free to work together to create amazing broadcasts with higher-quality productions, and to expand and cover more events, with a model where each viewer pays a small amount, rather than trying to rely only on the backs of advertisers only.

The world’s biggest and best drag races will continue to be streamed on SpeedVideo – including Lights Out, No Mercy, Sweet 16, World Cup Finals, Outlaw Armageddon, TX2K, NMRA, NMCA, PDRA, Outlaw Street Car Reunion, UCC, Bounty Hunters, WoooStock, F2LK, Snowbirds, US Street Nationals, select Drag Illustrated events, and more to come. SpeedVideo subscriptions will be available for $24.95 per month, or $199 for the entire year ($149 introductory rate), which will get you access to around 40 of the premier live streamed drag racing events. The contribution each viewer makes will help grow drag racing, increase the quality of the broadcasts, and attract new promoters, events, and racers.

Moving SpeedVideo to subscription will benefit:

• Promotors – a revenue share will allow them to grow their events, pay purses, and cover expenses.
• Racers – more healthy events and racing series.
• Viewers – higher-quality broadcasts and a wider variety of events.

We have all come together in agreement – this is the best path forward for the future of drag racing. This will enable each drag racing fan to get a great, high-quality broadcast but also keep the sport viable. We are hopeful that each drag racing fan will look at this like a step forward for drag racing and how this will contribute to the future growth of the sport. We all love drag racing and many of us do this not just for a living, but as a way of life. We appreciate all of your support.

Respectfully, signed by:

Donald Long, DuckX Productions
Jason Miller, Miller Brothers Productions, World Cup Finals
Wes Buck, Drag Illustrated, Drag Illustrated Events
Tyler Crossnoe, Outlaw Street Car Reunion, Shakedown & PDRA
Tommy Franklin, PDRA
Nick Duty, Outlaw Armageddon
Steve Wolcott & Rollie Miller – NMRA/NMCA
Victor Alvarez, Bradenton Motorsports Park
Peter Blach, TX2K
Matt Plotkin, Bounty Hunters
Keith Berry & Lance Stanford, WoooStock
Chris Searle, Ultimate Callout Challenge
James Lawrence, CEO SpeedVideo
Tom Bobolts, GM SpeedVideo

Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N Schedule Announced, Special Appearance by Brandon Arthur

MURRIETA, CA —  POWER AUTOMEDIA’s epic junkyard battle build-off video series, the Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N, will officially begin airing on December 5, 2019, with a special 5-episode extravaganza of the ultimate off-road competition.

Concluding the third and final Horsepower Wars series for 2019, the Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N gets down and dirty as four badass build teams go head-to-head in a junkyard arena with trucks cobbled together using equal parts ingenuity, skill, creativity, and luck as they hustle to hit the jackpot prize of $10,000 cash.

With an insanely tight 7-day timeframe and $2,500 base vehicle purchase budget, all builds were done on-location – not in a shop with lifts and air tools – adding authenticity while ramping up the degree of difficulty for the Junkyard Challenge teams as well as the Power Automedia logistics and film crews. Teams were supplied with an additional $2,500 in Summit Racing credit to order whatever they need to get their rad rigs ready to rock, and an additional $1,000 in cash was made available to each team to buy additional items – including runs to the junkyard for used parts and necessities.

With the Southern California mountains setting the stage with the perfect off-road backdrop, the Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N series will air on Thursdays at 5pm PST (8pm EST). Episode 1, which is set to debut on December 5, 2019, introduces the players, trucks, and outlines the overall challenge.

Slated for December 12, Episode 2 has been marked as “Time to Build” and showcases the burgeoning builds of each team as they put together their plans to compete in the 2019 Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N. Episode 3, “The Game is Fabrication,” follows up on December 19 with even more coverage of each team’s journey to put together the ultimate dirt monster.

Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N will take a break the following week in honor of the holiday season, and returns on January 2, 2020, with Episode 4: “The Finished Product.” Recapping the progress each team made so far and setting the stage for the grand finale, Junkyard Challenge will conclude on January 9 with Episode 5, “Send It!”

“This was a really unique series for us, first, because it is off-road. We have a few people on our staff, like our Shop Manager John Torres and OffRoad Xtreme Editor Steve Olsewski, with a tremendous amount of off-road racing experience, yet many think of us as a media company centered around drag racing. So, it was definitely a chance to prove our worth in the off-road world,” added Scott Parker, Vice President, Content at Power Automedia.

Throughout the Junkyard Challenge, made possible thanks to K&N Engineering, fans can expect wild yet insightful commentary from Bangshift’s own Chad Reynolds – host of the Junkyard Challenge as well as Pony Wars 2019 and a competitor in the $10K Drag Shootout. Special appearances by Toyo Tires driver Brandon Arthur, multi-time Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series champion, also adds excitement and unexpected twists to the programming.

2019 Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N schedule:

• Episode 1: Meet the Players, Trucks, & Competition – 12/05/19
• Episode 2: Time to Build – 12/12/19
• Episode 3: The Game is Fabrication – 12/19/19
• Episode 4: The Finished Product – 01/02/20
• Episode 5: Send It – 01/09/20

The final four teams competing in the Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N are:

1. Team RaceAnything: Jeff Mello, Trevor Huiskens, Jack Tagart, and Kevin Yoder
2. Team NEXGEN: Dez Knight, Don Knight, Chris Nissley, and Kris Steele
3. Team Rock Solid Off-Road: Mike Francis, Tyler Francis, Billy Sykes, and James Doughty
4. Team Damage, Inc.: Matt Moghaddam, Sandy Sausser, Tyler Mitchell, and Rylee Walker

Tune in to see who will reign supreme and be crowned king of the Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N as four insane trucks go all-out while going off-road.

For more information on Horsepower Wars and the Junkyard Challenge presented by K&N, please visit HorsepowerWars.com.

Horsepower Wars $10K Drag Shootout 2 Cars Badly Burned in Fire – Teams Vow to Rebuild

MURRIETA, CA —  POWER AUTOMEDIA’s wildly popular Horsepower Wars $10K Drag Shootout 2 suffered a massive blow as the four race cars cars were recently involved in a fire disaster during transport. The transporter that was hauling the $10K Drag Shootout 2 cars caught fire and the blaze engulfed the vehicles.

Three of the four $10K Drag Shootout 2 cars on the rig were damaged, but, most notably, the COMP Cams Dream Team’s Ford Mustang was totally destroyed while Team Bigun’s Ford Granada wagon’s entire front clip, including the engine and transmission, were scorched.

Within hours of the initial announcement, shock quickly turned into determination with a goal of rebuilding in time to race. However, once the full scope of the extensive damage was assessed, it became clear that it was more practical to push the race forward to Donald “Duck” Long’s “Lights Out” event in February 2020.

“There is a roller coaster of emotions when something like this happens. At first, you feel completely crushed not only for all the hard work that Power Automedia put into it, but the effort and dedication that these teams showed over the ten days they spent building these cars – time away from their families, plus all the time they spent planning leading up to the competition,” explained Scott Parker of Horsepower Wars. “That heartbreak, though, was replaced with the resilient and hopeful spirit of these dedicated racers.”

Despite being badly burned, it has been confirmed that the teams intend to rebuild and will be ready to race! It will be a monumental undertaking to get everything repaired, however, Horsepower Wars, the teams, and wonderful partners are committed to making the best of the situation for both the participants and the fans. The affected teams will rebuild their cars, and the fire will not be the end of the $10K Drag Shootout 2.

“It was discouraging to see the condition of the Dream Team race car after the fire,” said Dream Team’s Dave Henninger. “On the bright side, all the competing teams were on board to come together and fix all the cars. We will bring the car back to life to compete at the same level prior to the fire. The Dream Team is committed to showing the other three teams that we can rise up to any challenge, including this one,”

Similarly, Chad Reynolds of Team Bigun shared the same sentiment and determination to rebuild. “It’s legitimately heartbreaking because you spend ten days building this thing nonstop, putting in blood, sweat, and tears, and then a freak accident burns it to the ground.” Although his team’s car is crispy, they intend to stand proud in the face of adversity and are going to leave as much as possible of the burned parts intact. “I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking and we’re trying to be positive, but we’re not done. That son of a bitch is going to fly and we’re going to win the ten grand!”

Of course, the enormous undertaking to rebuild wouldn’t be possible without the blessing from Horsepower Wars. Fortunately, the focus has been turned to seeing what the teams can accomplish despite the adversity. Rather than simply cover the rebuild with a blog or video blog, the goal is to still allow the competitors to showcase their technical talents and determination as originally intended in a full episode, which hardcore racers and casual fans alike will surely appreciate.

“The amount of hard work and effort that these teams and sponsors have contributed was jaw dropping. Now, after the tragedy, they are willing to get back at it and rebuild. It really is amazing their commitment. What an incredible group of racers and builders…” said James Lawrence, Power Automedia’s CEO. “Quitting has never been an option for anyone involved in the $10K Drag Shootout, which gives teams a budget of $10,000 and a timeline of 10 days to build the fastest drag car possible. This setback will only serve as a temporary speed bump and not an insurmountable roadblock.”

The storyline has since shifted from a pure rivalry to more than just a competition – now, it’s about redemption and resurrection, with the validation of finishing the task at hand being a prize all will be able to enjoy (regardless of the ultimate overall outcome).

Out of respect for all involved, and for the amazing job that the competitors did to build their entries in the first place, the show must go on. While the scheduled race and final episode will be delayed, the remainder of the build episodes will air every Tuesday at 5:00pm PST/8:00pm EST as scheduled.

The Horsepower Wars $10K Drag Shootout was developed to showcase the “never say die” attitude where goals are relentlessly pursued, and this incident only further highlights the sheer skill and determination of the involved teams. To watch a video outlining the extent of the damage and the recovery plan, please visit http://bit.ly/35Gpv0g. For more information on Horsepower Wars and the $10K Drag Shootout, please visit HorsepowerWars.com.

MURRIETA, CA — POWER AUTOMEDIA’s exciting Horsepower Wars show has announced a partnership with Dana Aftermarket’s Victor Reinz Sealing Products has for its second season.

Without the support of Victor Reinz and others, it would not be possible to develop the Horsepower Wars shows. It’s the generous contributions of partners companies that enable the participating teams – and millions of viewers worldwide – to take part in the epic Horsepower Wars challenges.

“Victor Reinz is excited to serve as a premier sponsor of this year’s edition of Horsepower Wars, especially as we enter the 110th anniversary of Victor Reinz this season” says Beth Mooney, Senior Marketing Manager at Dana Aftermarket. “Our top-quality performance gaskets are a perfect solution for the demands that the competitors will place on these vehicles.”

Building a competition vehicle – especially under pressure – requires precision and reliable gaskets and sealants, and Victor Reinz’s products offer a history of outstanding performance. A number of Horsepower Wars’ teams used Victor Reinz’s products in their builds to ensure tight seals and no leaks.

Victor Reinz has been a leader in the industry since the Victor brothers invented the cylinder head gasket in Chicago in 1909. Supplying gaskets and sealing products to original equipment manufacturers for decades, Victor Reinz is also the world’s largest manufacturer of gaskets and sealing products.

To watch Horsepower Wars Season 2, please visit HorsepowerWars.com. For more information on the full line of products offered by Victor Reinz, please visit VictorReinz.us.

MURRIETA, CA — POWER AUTOMEDIA’s Horsepower Wars series features ProCharger Superchargers to add boost to an already supercharged second season. Millions of viewers around the globe followed the action of Horsepower Wars’ inaugural season, and the series’ return for 2019 was possible thanks to support from companies such as ProCharger.

Horsepower Wars features a variety of challenges that focus on specific areas of aftermarket performance and offer unique obstacles, such as the $10K Drag Shootout, Pony Wars, LS vs. Coyote Shootout, Junkyard Challenge, and more. The top-tier production combines with best-of-the-best talent to form a unique series.

ProCharger is a leading manufacturer of supercharger kits for street cars, trucks, SUVs, boats, race cars, and more, and can create horsepower gains up to 40-80% over stock. By watching Horsepower Wars, fans can see first-hand how easy it is to add a ProCharger supercharger system to take their own car’s performance to the next level.

“ProCharger superchargers deliver maximum horsepower, and we’re proud of being a sponsor of the Horsepower Wars series which is geared toward pushing the potential horsepower limits of modern-day engines and muscle cars,” said David Turner, ProCharger’s Marketing Director.

In the Pony Wars Shootout, the 2019 Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro teams chose ProCharger D-1X and P-1X Stage II supercharger systems in an effort to make more than 800 rear wheel horsepower.

To watch Horsepower Wars Season 2, please visit HorsepowerWars.com. For more information on the full line of products offered by ProCharger, please visit ProCharger.com.

MURRIETA, CA — POWER AUTOMEDIA’s Horsepower Wars series has officially teamed up with Lucas Oil Products for the show’s second season.

Companies like Lucas Oil Products are the key to Horsepower Wars’ success, as the show could not be produced without the support from industry leaders. Tom Bogner, Lucas Oil Products’ Director of Motorsports, had worked with the Power Automedia team in the past, and with so many great companies and race teams involved – including Summit Racing (a distributor of Lucas Oil Products) – it made sense for Lucas to get in on the action, too.

“This is a great way to be involved in a very interesting build with three separate teams, all having great following in the very popular Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger, and Chevy Camaro American muscle market,” stated Bogner, who worked closely with all of the teams as they spec’d out their builds.

Manufacturing not only additives for engine assembly during the build phase, Lucas Oil also manufactures engine break-in oils, synthetic racing oils, and oils for standard passenger cars. “We had a great time interacting with Ron Mowen of Vengeance Racing and Chad Reynolds as they conducted their builds,” shared Bogner. “And how can you not enjoy time with Dennis Pittsenbarger and the bickering?” he added, laughing.

“Having a one thousand horsepower street car myself, I can relate to the challenges and really look forward to continued support of Horsepower Wars,” Bogner continued of the show’s strong relationship with Lucas Oil Products. As the days of a simple oil change are long gone, Lucas Oil understands that it’s important to have peace of mind when it comes to choosing the right oils to support engines that make big power – just like the teams involved in Horsepower Wars.

Lucas Oil currently manufactures all of the lubes that the cars participating in the various Horsepower Wars challenges need in order to run reliably, and successfully, in the harsh environments they’ll have to face in competition. A proudly family-owned company, Lucas Oil’s products are made in the USA and distributed worldwide.

To watch Horsepower Wars Season 2, please visit HorsepowerWars.com. For more information on the full line of products offered by Lucas Oil Products, please visit LucasOil.com.

MURRIETA, CA — POWER AUTOMEDIA’s innovative automotive series Horsepower Wars will be working with Toyo Tires as an official sponsor of the 2019 season. With millions of viewers clamoring for more Horsepower Wars action after a successful inaugural season, the next iteration of the show promises to be bigger and better than ever.

From Pony Wars – where a 2019 Mustang, 2019 Camaro, and 2019 Challenger square off, to the Junkyard Challenge, a competition of budget trucks built to compete in a series of extreme competitions, it’s going to be intense.

“We are proud to be a partner of Horsepower Wars,” said Marc Sanzenbacher, Senior Manager of Motorsports at Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “Pony Wars and the new Truck Challenge show provides us a great opportunity to showcase our Proxes RR and Proxes R888R tires for cars and Open Country tires for trucks. From the track to the dirt, we can’t wait to watch the competitors prove our performance, consistency, and durability.”

The Toyo Proxes line of tires are a favorite of performance enthusiasts, and deliver exceptional performance for the modern American muscle cars built by Chevrolet, Ford, and Mopar. All of the Proxes tires are an excellent upgrade for stock and modified vehicles. For trucks and SUVs, the Toyo Open Country line offers a wide range of products and fitments spanning from rugged to refined for off-road to on-highway driving. “These shows demonstrate how a vehicle can be made even better with aftermarket upgrades and a premium set of tires,” continued Sanzenbacher.

To watch Horsepower Wars Season 2, please visit HorsepowerWars.com. For more information on the full line of products offered by Toyo Tires, please visit ToyoTires.com.

MURRIETA, CA — POWER AUTOMEDIA’s hit motorsports series Horsepower Wars and world-leader in the fuel industry, VP Racing Fuels, have partnered for a superb second season.

Thanks to VP Racing Fuels’ support, the second installation of Horsepower Wars promises to be more action-packed than ever. VP’s high performance street and racing fuels are an integral part of Season 2, not only for making sure teams have the fuel they need to get their entries down the track and around the corners, but for putting all teams on a level playing field.

As the spec fuel of choice in many racing series, this is not unfamiliar territory for VP and care was taken to select specific fuels for each Horsepower Wars challenge. For the Junkyard Challenge, VP will supply 100-octane unleaded fuel to teams while C9 (95-octane unleaded) was the required fuel for Pony Wars. In the $10K Drag Shootout, teams were given the option to use either X85 (ethanol) or C16 (leaded race gas).

With so many of the quickest and fastest racers in the world already trusting VP Racing Fuels’ products to power their high-horsepower monsters, it made perfect sense for the company to continue its relationship with Horsepower Wars after signing on for the inaugural season.

Since its creation in 1974, VP Racing Fuels has dedicated all of its time and resources to becoming the world leader in race fuel technology. VP Racing Fuels carries a catalog of 70+ fuel blends and supplies them to a growing roster of VP-fueled champions across the entire spectrum of motorsports. In addition to its renowned racing fuels, VP also supplies traction compounds, performance chemicals, and specialty lubricants for racing use.

“Due to the huge success we noticed last year, we are proud to renew our involvement with Horsepower Wars and showcase the increased performance of the builds using our recommended fuel blends,” said Donato Bonacquisto, Director of Marketing for VP Racing Fuels.

Teams involved in the intense Horsepower Wars build-off and head-to-head challenges rely on VP Racing Fuels to help get the most from their engines when it counts. With proven power-making capability, reliability, and consistency all synonymous with the VP Racing Fuels brand name, there’s a reason that countless winners and champions all trust VP, too.

The world leader in race fuel technology, VP Racing Fuels is proud to supply all of the fuel needed to run the cars participating in each Horsepower Wars challenge – enabling millions of fans to follow along as the competition continues. VP’s products, including fuels specially formulated for naturally aspirated, turbocharged, supercharged, and nitrous oxide-equipped applications as well as methanol, diesel fuels, and small engine or RC/hobby fuels, are available to racers everywhere and distributors can be found worldwide.

To watch Horsepower Wars Season 2, please visit HorsepowerWars.com. For more information on the full line of products offered by VP Racing Fuels, please visit VPRacingFuels.com.