The Motor Press Guild held its annual awards ceremony to recognize excellence in automotive journalism at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on February 24. Automotive journalists Emme Hall and Derek Powell emceed the evening's event that included a visit from Bruce Meyer, a founding director of the Petersen Automotive Museum.

Industry legend Alex Xydias (second from left, being congratulated by Meyer, AutoWeek editor Mark Vaughn, and Ford Motor Co. consultant John Clinard) received the Dean Batchelor Lifetime Achievement Award at the 23rd annual Motor Press Guild Awards.

Xydias founded So-Cal Speed Shop in 1946 and later drove the “So-Cal Streamliner”, the first streamliner powered by a flathead Ford to go over 200 mph. He began filming auto racing events and in 1963 was named editor of Petersen Publishing’s Car Craft magazine. He served as director of the Petersen Trade Show, which eventually became the SEMA Show.

Xydias was inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 1982. He is a member of the board of directors of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum.  (photo courtesy Motor Press Guild)  [03/01/19]

Radial-tire racers DeWayne Mills and Daniel Pharris will team up for a turn in no-prep racing at the March 8-9 Bounty Hunters IV at Alamo City Motorplex.

Pharris will drive the car, a new turbocharged ’68 Camaro built by Larry Jeffers Race Cars.   [03/01/19]

The Agent has been unable to find ratings for the Winternationals from our regular source, which usually means that the numbers were too low to be counted by the service. It makes sense as the Sunday event was rained out and Monday would have faced stiff competition from other types of programming.

Numbers were available, however, for the Arizona Nationals. Interestingly, the Saturday Nitro Live show on Feb. 23 garnered higher numbers (509,000 viewers and 0.32 rating) than the Sunday eliminations (472,000 viewers and a 0.30 rating). Go figure.   [03/01/19]

Kurt Baue makes a run on the Bonneville Salt Flats back in 2010.  (DRO file photo)

The once 13-mile race track at Bonneville, Utah, is now less than 8 miles due to salt erosion. The Utah legislature is considering a 10-year program to dramatically increase the amount of salt pumped onto Bonneville. You can help restore Bonneville before it's too late.

The SEMA Action Network has set up a link for racers and fans to urge Utah lawmakers to help fund the Restore Bonneville program through the State budget.

Another organization, Save The Salt Coalition has been a proponent of responsible conservation since 2014.    [03/01/19]