WERA racer Jonathan Cowles and wife Cathy had a daughter, Natalie Ryann Cowles, March 8th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Racer (and Roadracing World Associate Editor) David Swarts married Corie Stephens April 1, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

RACING 2 SAVE LIVES AUCTION LETS FANS BID TO JOIN JORDAN TEAM FOR A WEEKEND Denver, CO – The silent auction during the third annual Eric Bostrom Racing 2 Save Lives event will offer prospective bidders a unique opportunity to become a member of the Michael Jordan Motorsports AMA Superbike team for a weekend. R2SL, a four-day festival of track days and other activities to raise funds for children’s charities, takes place April 13-16 at the new Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. A silent auction of motorcycle racing memorabilia will be part of the event. Two of the lots on offer will provide a pair of lucky fans with the chance to work side-by-side with the Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki crew at the Miller Motorsports Park AMA Superbike weekend on June 16-18. One fan will work as part of the team’s pit crew, while the other will be a member of the team’s hospitality staff. Both fans will get a behind-the-scenes look at the team’s inner workings, with full-access AMA credentials for the weekend, as well as an actual Jordan Suzuki crew shirt. “We’re happy to help the cause, and we’re looking forward to providing a couple of fans with the experience of a lifetime,” said Jordan Suzuki General Manager Ken Abbott. To take part in the silent auction for the Jordan team weekend as well as many other incredible items, prospective bidders must be at Miller Motorsports Park during R2SL. The winning bidders will be announced 2:30pm, Saturday, April 15, and on the organization’s website at www.racing2savelives.org. Racing 2 Save Lives is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting children’s charities by raising awareness, involvement, and capital within the motorcycle racing community through donations, corporate sponsorship and fundraising events. All profits generated by Racing 2 Save Lives are distributed among carefully selected organizations who have a significant impact on the lives of children in need and their families. Organizations supported by R2SL include Family Pathways of Colorado, Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Colorado, Here’s Life Inner City-Denver and Larry H. Miller Charities. To learn more about R2SL or to register to ride the Miller track during the event, visit www.racing2savelives.org. RED BULL TEAMS UP WITH RACING 2 SAVE LIVES Denver, CO -The third annual Eric Bostrom Racing 2 Save Lives event received another boost March 29 with the donation of five pairs of general admission passes to the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. Generously donated by Red Bull, three of the pairs will be included in R2SL’s silent auction to benefit children’s charities. The remaining two pairs will be awarded to the individual rider and team that raise the most money during the R2SL event, which takes place April 13-16 at the new Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. The passes grant the lucky winners access to the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA, July 21-23. Gate admission and Grandstand seating are included in the package. To take part in the silent auction for the Red Bull passes as well as many other incredible items, prospective bidders must be at Miller Motorsports Park during R2SL. The winning bidders will be announced at 2:30pm, Saturday, April 15, and on the organization’s website at www.racing2savelives.org. “We’re pleased to be able to contribute to the very worthwhile causes that Racing 2 Save Lives supports,” said Red Bull Field Marketing Manager Michael Romeril, “and to give 10 lucky fans admission to the USGP experience.” Red Bull will also “give wings” to R2SL volunteers and event staff, thanks to its donation of a supply of the company’s enormously popular energy drink. “We extremely grateful for Red Bull’s generosity, both to our partner charities and our hard-working staff,” said R2SL President Sharon Foxworthy. Racing 2 Save Lives is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting children’s charities by raising awareness, involvement, and capital within the motorcycle racing community through donations, corporate sponsorship and fundraising events. All profits generated by Racing 2 Save Lives are distributed among carefully selected organizations that have a significant impact on the lives of children in need and their families. Organizations supported by R2SL include Family Pathways of Colorado, Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Colorado, Here’s Life Inner City-Denver and Larry H. Miller Charities.

Traxxion Dynamics Expands Manufacturing Operations, Delays Release of Axxion Gas Cartridges

Traxxion Dynamics has recently purchased the building and property their facility is located in, and will immediately occupy an additional 2300 square feet to be filled with additional CNC machinery. This brings Traxxion’s facilities to 7,000 square feet in total. According to the company’s President, Max McAllister, the demand for the AK-20 Axxion Cartridge System has exceeded their expectations.

“We spent last winter making AK-20 parts to be ready for the first two quarters of 2006, but much to our surprise, we are blowing through those parts at twice the rate we expected. With our current machinery, it takes us 90 days to make a complete run of the AKs. That just isn’t fast enough, so I realized I had to find more space and more machinery.

“We intended to have our new Axxion Gas Cartridges ready for release in Mid February. When we realized we were blowing through our stock of AK-20s, we had to cut into the production of the Gas parts to start remaking the AK-20 stuff. So this will delay the release of the Axxion Gas until the end of April. I guess there are worse problems a company could have; we have never experienced this kind of demand before.

“So to react, we bought our building, and will take over the third unit immediately. I have purchased two more CNC lathes (one standard, and another 5-axis system like the one we currently have), another CNC Mill, and our existing CNC Mill will upgraded to be full 5-Axis with a rotary trunion. This will almost triple our machine capacity, and we will be able to ensure prompt delivery of both of our cartridge products, as well as continue to develop other new and innovative suspension products in the future.

“I hated to delay the release of the Gas Cartridges, but right now we are taking one step back to take two steps forward.

“We have a lot of customers who were holding out for the new Gas Cartridges, and we are currently offering to sell them a set of AK-20s to get them to the track now, and then we will issue them a 100% credit to exchange their AK-20s towards the purchase of their Axxion Gas Cartridges when they are ready to ship.”

For more information, contact Traxxion Dynamics at 770 592-3823, or visit www.traxxion.com.

IRWIN DISCUSSES HPT OWNERSHIP AS THIRD ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES TOPEKA, Kan. – In 2002 Heartland Park Topeka’s future looked very unclear. The track was in danger of closing due to some financial hardships faced by former ownership. The only full-time employee left in the office was someone to answer the phones. Most callers were attempting to collect a past-due debt, others checking in to see if the facility would ever open again. A major economic force in the community was in danger of never again hearing the sound of a finely-tuned race car engine. In October of that year, the owner of a road course in north-central Illinois made the trip to Topeka to see what kind of asset a property like Heartland Park Topeka could be. After touring the track and seeing the potential in the race complex, the wheels were set in motion. One day prior to his third anniversary of ownership, Raymond Irwin sat down in his office–which didn’t even exist when he took over on March 31, 2003–and reflected on the past three years, and the future of Heartland Park Topeka. Q: Could you ever have imagined how far Heartland Park Topeka would come along in three years? IRWIN: Everything that our staff has been doing over the last three years has been with a long-term vision. It is essential that your organization has goals, and that you work to achieve those–and I feel we’ve been pretty successful. But in all honesty, I never dreamed that the community would support our efforts like it has. If you look at the number of event days we’ve added in three years, and also consider the construction projects, you’re talking about a minimum of five years to get those kinds of things done, more likely seven to ten years. I mean this with all sincerity–without the support from the community, the City of Topeka, the State of Kansas, and the efforts of our staff, none of this would have been possible. Q: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced since taking over ownership? IRWIN: I would say that the biggest challenge has been providing consistent direction in long term planning, while still making sure the projects our staff is working on today are fulfilled. As an owner I’m always trying to see trends in the motorsports industry, and seeing opportunities to advance the track’s business interests. But you also have to remember to develop and grow the existing facilities and events you’ve already planned on doing. With Heartland Park Topeka we’re more than just a drag strip, road course, or dirt track. We’re all three. While you’re working to control costs and provide direction for the staff on drag strip activities, we also have to remember that the road course or dirt track also needs the same attention. At times that can be extremely challenging, but also exciting at the same time. Q: What has been one of your proudest moments since you took over ownership? IRWIN: I have two answers, and they are both connected. I feel that the willingness and dedication of the staff we’ve assembled is extraordinary. We’ve got a great team with us. I’m also extremely grateful for the loyalty and support of our fans, sponsors, and our community. And all of that rolls into our biggest achievement to this point: bringing the staff and community together to gain the confidence of SCCA’s Board of Directors to award the National Championship Runoffs to Heartland Park and Topeka even though our renovation project hadn’t even started. That’s quite an accomplishment. Q: What about the next three years? IRWIN: I really envision Heartland Park Topeka meeting and exceeding the growing expectations of our facility within the motorsports industry. As our name has started to gain clout over the past few years, racers and promoters are starting to take notice. It shows in the number of new events we’ve added. And as that reputation continues to solidify, I want to exceed everything they could have imagined about what we have done, or what we can do as a team and as a track. As a corollary to that point, I’d like to pursue racing-oriented businesses and show them that Topeka is the perfect community to relocate their business. Topeka is centrally located, and home to a major motorsports venue like Heartland Park Topeka. Relocating their business not only supplements racing activities, but also the economic climate of this area. More businesses mean more jobs for the area, and that’s important. I’d also like to continue the growth of our schedule. We have well over 200 race dates this year, and in the next three years my vision is to have something on track every day of the week, from March to November. Of course there are going to be some dates that are affected by weather and the like, but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that we could have something happening every day in that time frame.

BMW BRANCH IN MUNICH OPENS THE WORLD’S LARGEST BMW MOTORCYCLE CENTER 5.6 million euros invested +++ Just in time for the start of the 2006 season, the BMW Branch in Munich is opening its new Motorcycle Centre at Frankfurter Ring 29, right next to the main operation. +++ Munich. Just in time for the start of the 2006 season, the BMW Branch in Munich is opening its new Motorcycle Centre at Frankfurter Ring 29, right next to the main operation. The world’s largest BMW Motorcycle Centre, which is unique in this style to date, will be opening to customers over a total area of 9,000 square meters, after around a year’s renovation work and investments of 5.6 million euros. The former “Halmburger & Höflich” premises have been completely refurbished and now offer customers the opportunity to explore the complete world of BMW motorcycles over an area covering 3,000 square meters. The manager of the BMW Motorcycle Centre is Felix Herrnberger, who has also been responsible for the motorcycle business of the BMW Munich branch to date. The operation will employ 79 people in total. In the new BMW Motorcycle Centre, it will be possible to view the complete BMW motorcycle range in various colour and equipment variants. Customers will also find an extensive selection of used motorcycles. On average, over 200 motorcycles will be constantly in stock. A further focal point is the spacious shop and boutique area on the first floor, which offers a wide range of products in a light and friendly atmosphere. The competent specialist staff will be able to advise on matters relating to the current driver equipment collection, and will also offer a very wide range of original spares and accessories. The service area is also at the cutting edge of technology. It provides 25 work stations for mechanics, with exhaust removal and special diagnostic equipment, including an electronic frame measuring unit. A separate BMW mobile servicing unit and a winter storage option complete this unique facility for providing perfect customer service. Wolfgang Armbrecht, Head of the BMW Branch in Munich: “We are delighted and very proud to be able to open this new centre of competence for all matters relating to BMW motorcycles. We would like to invite all those who are interested to the opening celebrations this Saturday, 25 March, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.. In addition to our vast range of new and used motorcycles, we will also be offering a dazzling fashion show with the latest driver equipment.” The new BMW Motorcycle Centre will be open from 25 March 2006, from 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. Monday to Friday (9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays). Service: Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.