New year, new team and new paint kick things off for Klugger/Fiscus Racing for 2012. Photo Courtesy Josh Klugger.

Dragzine: What are your plans and goals with the fresh PLR engine for 2012?

Klugger: The main goal is to win some races, Secondary would be to set a record or even be the first to the 4.20′s.

Fiscus: The new engine is basically the same setup as last year with the exception of a new port design for the heads and a Berry Billet Intake. From our initial testing the first weekend at SGMP, not only does the new intake save weight and look great but it also evened out the individual cylinder temperatures. With no individual cylinder correction, the EGT’s were closer than before which had as much as 10% individual cylinder correction. We have a lot of testing to do but want to be very consistent this year while continuing to run the big numbers.

Dragzine:When and how did you decide to team up with Kevin for the coming year?

Klugger: Kevin and I have had a partnership for several years now with Hurricane Performance out of Orange Park Florida. We were talking about future plans in drag racing and both have a similar goal, and that will take a large financial commitment. So around November we started to talk about merging our race programs, which would help us both. We can share knowledge between the two of us; I can learn from Kevin on some of my weak points and vice versa. We were as close to team mates as you could be in the past but ran separate cars, shared tuning information, parts, and tools, so this was just a logical step.

Fiscus: Josh and I have been friends for many years racing together and I’ve talked about forming a combined team for a few years and it just made a lot of sense this year with the money it takes to field a top car now.

Dragzine:  How did you get started racing, and when did you decide to move to the Drag Radial scene.

Klugger: Actually I got started in early 2000 running a few index classes in the NMRA and Fun Ford. I ran in the Mod Motor class mainly. After doing that for a couple of years I decided to build an NMRA Drag radial car. I believe the first year I ran the full series was ’05 and ’06. In ’06, I decide  that I couldn’t take off from work for as long of a time period, so I switched combos from a Mod motor to a pushrod motor and started running all the outlaw events.

Fiscus: My addiction and love for drag racing started the first time I took my 2003 Roush Mustang down the track which was a 13-second ride. Fast forward a few years when I bought a turnkey Drag Radial car and went 7.90’s the first weekend in the car. I got my license and the following weekend scored a runner up in the 2007 U.S. Street Nationals. In ’07 and ’08 I ran the NMRA Drag Radial series and was nominated for Rookie of the Year and finished 3^rd in the points in 2007. In 2009 I put a SBF Proline motor in the car and held the 1/8 and 1/4-mile record for a time with a 4.60 and 7.06 respectfully. I also was the second racer to ever run a six-second pass on radials and the first with a small block. I took most of 2010 off planning my return with a Proline BBF and did that ever pay off. In February 2011 we were the first car ever to enter into the 4.30’s and lowered the record to a 4.33.

The engine used last year was simply freshed and updated for the 2012 season with the biggest change being a new billet intake on the Gen II PLR 632. Photo courtesy Josh Klugger.

Dragzine: We know having your car stolen was a big setback and disappointment. Has there been any progress on finding it or making an arrest?

Fiscus: The theft of my car was a HUGE setback – and still is – as well as a valuable lesson in life. There’s still an investigation going on. It’s been expressed to me that they’re pretty sure who it was and the players involved. As far as recovery, it’s a very interesting thing that not one part has shown up from the car. To this day I still get phone calls from Australia, the islands, and the states with people wondering if it’s my car. They usually follow up with pictures. If and when the car shows up some where they will be caught; there are too many people that know that car, from chassis tuners, to engine builders, to tuners, and racers.

Dragzine: Who and what is Hurricane Performance?

Klugger: Hurricane Performance was started 3 years ago by myself, Kevin Fiscus, and Jason Combs. It’s located in Orange Park, just outside of Jacksonville. We started out with primarily building street cars with turbo setups, or superchargers. We have since grown and have a few heads up cars on the horizon “if all goes as planned.”

Dragzine: How do you feel about the Radial vs. The World class with allowing pretty much any chassis and the controversy over what is or isn’t stock suspension.

Klugger: First, Radial vs. the world is actually a pretty neat class; it really has nothing to do with the kind of chassis. It really levels the playing field with the tires and who can make what work on that given day.

Second, as far as what is or what isn’t stock suspension, I don’t think it really matters. From a Ford stock-type four-link perspective, I feel it works just as well with a stock-type versus a traditional four-link. I don’t think there is a need to make people run a three-link or an IRS just for safety reasons. I’m sorry, but if we’re running 1/4-mile out the back I’m not one who would want to go 230+ on a three-link.

Fiscus: For one or two races a year I love the idea but also like the idea of racing my fellow racers on the same tire on the same track.

The first runs of the year were done at South Georgia Motorsports Park, home track to the north east Florida based team.

Dragzine: Given the steadily increasing performance of the top cars in the class, who do you think will be the first to run 4.20′s? And do you think the speeds and ET’s are getting out of hand, especially relating to the cost to be competitive.

Klugger: Actually Kevin was the first to the 30′s last year, and at the end of the year we should have gone 20′s; however the stars didn’t align. I think with the added power the new engine is making and with some advances from Proformance Racing Transmissions (Dave Klaput) I think it will happen sooner than later. I also think you’re going to see a plateau in the 4.20′s and then you’ll see other cars catch up. It’s not as much about buying newer and better stuff at this point, but more about refining what you already have.

Fiscus: As far as the first to the 4.30’s, it was myself last February and we (Fiscus/Klugger Racing) plan to give it all we’ve got to be the first to the 4.20’s early in 2012. As far as the speeds and ET’s, I feel they’re a natural progression in any form of motorsports. The longer and harder you work with a given power plant and tire you should naturally be getting faster with the knowledge you gain from your past experiences.  The cost associated with staying on top is one of the reasons we formed this new team for the 2012 racing season.

Holley is a company that truly defines automotive performance. Founded in Bradford, Pennsylvania in 1896 by two brothers as a vehicle manufacturer – they quickly turned to carburetors in 1904. By 1905, they were based in Detroit, and before long they were churning out innovative carbs for the Model T. Within 20 years, they owned over 50% of the world wide OEM carb market. Moving to Bowling Green, Kentucky in the mid 1950s, and acquired by Colt Industries in the late 1960s, the company owned the performance carburetor market with an iron first.

Holley went on through the 1970s and 1980s as an automotive powerhouse – especially in performance. The iconic Holley Double Pumper was a favorite for hot-rodders and racers alike – powering street cars, NASCAR, and NHRA Pro Stock racers. In the 1990s, Holley ran into challenges, with the onset of fuel injection and more modern performance upgrades like power adders coming into favor. In 1998, a group of investors bought the company, and invested over $100 million in popular brands like Nitrous Oxide Systems, Weiand, Hooker, and Earl’s Performance.

The company struggled under the debt load. In 2008, Holley filed for bankruptcy, and then later in 2009 for Chapter 11 protection, but the company was starting to get it’s sea legs. In the last 4 years, Holley not only emerged from bankruptcy protection, but has seen a complete resurgence. With innovative new products like a complete line of LSX parts, a new EFI system, new racing carburetors, and even a new NASCAR-spec throttle body, Holley is now manufacturing parts that people want to buy.

However, more impressive than the products, is the team of gear heads Holley has quietly assembled. Led by new CEO Tom Tomlinson and VP of Marketing Bill Tichenor, Holley has brought in a mix of industry veterans, racers, and enthusiasts like Robin Lawrence, John Sonnefeldt, Liz Miles, and Ricky Best.

Tom Tomlinson is no fool. A gear head and true enthusiast himself, he knew that he needed a crew that was used to having grease under their fingernails. We decided to take some time out of our normally hectic schedule to chat with Tomlinson, and see what the past, present, and future has in store for this company with more than 100 years of performance history.

LSxTV: Tom, what you’ve done with Holley has been pretty amazing. How did you know to hitch Holley’s star partially to the LS engine?

Tomlinson: “I actually have a little background on that. I had really fallen in love with the LT1 engines, and when the LS1 was first introduced I thought “Oh no, I can’t believe GM is abandoning this engine I love so much!” So I actually went out and bought a ’97 Firebird Formula coupe so I would have one the last LT1 engines. I obviously had a lot of fun in that car over the years, but somewhere in between I actually got to drive an LS car and I thought “Oh my gosh this is unbelievable.”

So that had led to the love of the LS engine.In fact, I had started an LT1 swap into an El Camino, and I halted that in mid-progress to go the LS route. And you know, one thing led to another and I’ve had a bunch of LS cars now. It really just is the engine of our time, the new Chevy Small Block, if you will.”

LSxTV: What LS cars have you yourself owned? Any favorite engine in the LS series?

Tomlinson: “Well as far as LS-cars, my first one was a 1999 Corvette fixed roof coupe. I have also had a 2005 Z51 C6 Coupe, a 2007 Z06, a 2004 GTO, a 2004 CTS-V, and a 2010 Camaro. I also had a 2003 Silverado that had a blower on it. But ironically, I finally went back and bought a 1999 Formula Firebird with an LS, because I’ve never had an LS1 4^th gen. That’s what I’m playing with right now. In terms of engine favorites, my LS7 I would have to say is the most fun I’ve had so far. I haven’t had the opportunity of owning an LS9 or LSA yet.

The Z06 was such a fantastic car, and even on a hot day I would take that car to the drag strip and click off 11.80’s all day. It’s just an incredible car. We’re actually using an LS7 block with an LS9 blower for another Holley project that we’re working on, a 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix. Haven’t driven that yet, but that is probably going to be my favorite. But at this point, based on what I have experienced, the LS7 is my favorite so far.”

Project G-Force is a 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix that will be getting an LS7 engine topped with a supercharger from the LS9 in addition to a host of other modifications

LSxTV: Wow, that Grand Prix sounds like a cool project. Can you tell us more?

Tomlinson: “Yeah, I think it’s gonna be. It’s going to be a serious Pro-Touring style car with an Art Morrison frame under it. It’ll have a six-speed and big wide tires all around with 265 tires up front and 335 tires out back with Forgeline wheels. I can’t wait to drive it, it should be quick.”

LSxTV: Holley has a lot of new LSX parts, how have you guys tried to stay ahead of the curve on LSX engine technology?

Tomlinson: “Our role in it has been in a couple of areas. Obviously some of the basic modifications to any engine including getting more air in and out. The throttle bodies, headers, and exhaust components certainly have been part of what we’ve been doing But the LSx motor has become such a popular motor to swap into vintage chassis, into just about anything frankly including imports and classics. I’ve even seen people putting LSx motors into a Rolls Royce. They’re going into everything. So we wanted to offer our customers parts that make it easier, that solve problems with swapping LS motors.

That has led us to the oil pan that we did, and that fits a wide variety of chassis. We have some engine mount plate kits to give the customer the option of where they want to engine to go in the chassis. We’ve got some swap headers we’re excited about. But with the revitalization of Holley’s portfolio, we’ve been focusing on the Holley brand and Earl’s, but we’ve got the great Hooker brand too, and we’ve got great things in store for the Hooker brand, starting with LS-powered vehicles.”

Holley's LS Swap Oil Pans allow modern engines to fit into classic chassis without clearance issues.

LSxTV: What LS engine seems to be the most popular with your customers, and what parts are they buying?

Tomlinson: “It’s hard for me to say which specific one is the most popular. There are a lot of people building low-buck engines — just picking up junkyard 5.3 liter engines, and making 400+ horsepower. Those engines are very popular with a certain set of budget enthusiasts. There were so many LS2’s out there in GTOs, Corvettes, and CTS-V’s – that those remain popular.

And now with the new Camaro, parts for the LS3 are very popular as well. As far as parts go, headers remain popular, and our coil covers that give LS engines that big block look have been popular. It’s amazing to me that if you paint them orange it gives the engine a vintage look, and if you paint them black or grey it gives them a modern look. The swap oil pans are popular too, and we’re working on a lot of other parts for the LS as well.”

LSxTV: For a company known for its carburetors, you’ve had a lot of success working with the new Dominator, Avenger, and HP EFI systems. Can you tell us about the EFI options for the LS engines?

Tomlinson: “We’re having tremendous success with the Holley EFI systems. It’s a fully self-learned style system,, and it’s just amazing how quickly it self-learns. We have an EFI system that is fully compatible with the LS motors. It’ll run a a 4l60 or 4l80E automatic transmissions no problem. We’ve got guys with modern cars like the guy running the Texas Mile that did over 200 mph in his Corvette. He was shooting for 250, but the car broke a wheel at speed and you may have seen that video. We’ve had success with high horsepower cars, and it will run a distributor less ignition, the drive-by-wire. It’s a very good solution for the LS motor.”

LSxTV: As you’ve already mentioned, LS engines are extremely popular for vintage vehicle swaps. What platforms are you focusing on to make these swaps easier?

Tomlinson: “As far as individual platforms, there are obviously some platforms from the 1960’s that are very important, and a lot of our parts have been built for those. But we’re taking a look at some of the newer platforms that have come along. This would include the G-Body. We built the E-Rod El Camino and I’ve already mentioned the ’87 Grand Prix with the LS7 motor and LS9 blower. So we think the G-bodies are coming along. We also just completed a late A-body, a 1974 Chevelle wagon. Some other platforms that we think will be coming along will be the late 2^nd gen Camaros and Firebirds from ’74 to ’81. There are lots of swaps going into Corvettes, including C1’s, C2’s, and C3’s.

Those are the platforms that come to mind, but we’re also doing a Nissan 240sx kit right now. It’s a swap that has come hugely popular with the import guys. It seems like you can’t pick up an import magazine these days without seeing an RX-7 or Nissan 240sx LS engine swap. We’ve even seen it in some of the Lexus cars. We’re also focusing on trucks, three generations specifically; the 67-72’s, the 73-87’s, and the 88 on up, there are all opportunities in all of these platforms.We’re also working on a swap kit for the early A-bodies.. the 64-67’s. We’ve encountered some issues with those, as the steering gear is different on those then some of the later cars and we don’t have a solution for that yet. But we’re looking into it now, but right now the steering gear interferes with the oil pan.”

This '74 Chevelle Wagon is one of the odder vehicles Holley is making LS swap packages for. This particular project car has a 6.0 liter LS truck motor for now, but the wagon will serve as a test platform for future Holley products.

LSxTV: What is your favorite feature of the LS engines? What new parts are you coming out with?

Tomlinson: “The LS motor just makes incredible power with the tried-and-true pushrod setup. I love the simplicity and robustness of the LS motors. The simplicity makes it affordable to modify, and the robustness is why you can make 1,800 plus horsepower. What would I change? Technology moves on, and I’ve noticed that direct injection seems to be incredible technology. It makes big horsepower, big improvements even in fuel mileage, and I think a direct-injected LS would be awesome.

I think GM really needs a 454 LS block that’s in aluminum too. In terms of new parts, we’ve got our new Hi-Ram intake with a modular design. It has a number of different tops. You can use an EFI top with a front-mount throttle body. You can also use a top for dual 4150 Holley carburetors. And there’s also a different top set up for 4500 carburetors. And either of those can also take an EFI throttle body and use the manifold for fuel injection. We did that because we noticed there were a lot of guys spending a lot of money on these hi-rise sheet metal intakes, and obviously a cast design is a lot more cost effective so it allows us to get a part to more people.”

Holley's modular Hi-Ram intakes can be fitted with carburetors or fuel injection system while saving customers money over a custom sheet metal design.

LSxTV: Sounds like you guys are working on a lot of really cool things over there. Thanks for talking with us. Any parting words?

Tomlinson: ”Stay tuned, we’re going to keep working on getting out more LS-related parts from Holley!”

Born and raised in Kahului, Maui, Hawaii, Ongais transitioned from surfboarding to motorcycle racing by the age of 14, and after a tour of duty with the United States Army in Europe – a tour in which he was first introduced to sports car racing – moved to Southern California following his discharge and began working for the legendary Roland Leong and his Dragmaster AA/FD team. At 2, Ongais was determined to make a full-time career of racing, and little did the racing world know what was to come.

Ongais began offering his services to speed shops all over the drag racing hotbed of Southern California, earning occasional rides from the likes of Mickey Thompson and the Beaver Brothers. During a pass in one of Thompson’s dragster, he recorded the fastest pass ever for a Ford-powered machine. As his knowledge expanded from each race team that he worked with, so too did his desire to step out and form a race team of his own.

Ongais debuted his own AA/Gas dragster at the 1964 Winternationals and downed Thompson for the eliminator title, 8.39 to 8.53. He added a win at the Hot Rod Magazine Championships at Riverside to his resume later that season, where he famously pushed his crippled dragster across the entire quarter mile by hand to a elapsed time of 1 minutes and 35 seconds to remain in contention. He towed the dragster, known as “Chevy, Too” all over the country, utilizing little more than bystanders at each track to help push the car. He was victorious in the NHRA, AHRA, and UDRA that season, eventually finding himself as the No. 1 ranked Gas dragster in the nation. But it was a dominating season in 1965 driving the Ongais-Broussard-Davis AA/FD that set his superstar career in motion.

In 1968, Ongias teamed up with the formidable Thompson and the pair proceeded to shatter 295 national and international speed and endurance records at the Bonneville salt flats with a pair of Thompson’s famous Mach 1 Mustangs. Thompson transitioned the combination over to the newfangled world of Funny Car racing, putting Ongais behind the wheel of a Mach 1 flopper, built by Pat Foster and powered by Ford’s classic SOHC Hemi powerplant. The result was a truly dominating season in 1969, winning the Bakersfield March Meet, the Manufacturers Meet, NHRA Springnationals, and the Nationals at Indy, along with virtually every match race that he attended.

Image credit: 500legends.com

Ongais eventually parted ways with Thompson, ending up in the seat of the Vel’s-Parenlli Jones racing team in the early 1970′s. There, he droves both a Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car at the same races.

It was in 1974 that Ongais embarked on a driving career outside of drag racing, beginning with a dominating season in the SCCA and a solid outing in Formula 5000 the following year. In 1976, he made his first start in the Indianapolis 500 and in 1978, was the fastest car in the field at the 500 before mechanical problems ended his bid. In all, Ongais qualified for ten straight Indy 500′s, with a best finish of fourth in 1979.

His driving career also took him into the sports car world, where he competed in such prestigious events at the 24 Hours of LeMans and 24 Hours of Daytona, and and in 1977 and 1978, drove for Interscope Racing and Team Tissot Ensign in the elite Formula One series.

Ongais made a comeback in 1996, finishing seventh in the Indy 500 driving for John Menard in the car that young Scott Brayton had been tragically killed in during qualifying. He made another Indy attempt in 1998 but withdrew following a crash in practice and called it a career shortly thereafter. A legendary career that began on the quarter miles of Southern California. He remains the only professional driver to win in drag racing, open wheel, and sports car racing.

Courntey Force with Traxxas President Mike Jenkins. Image credit: NHRA.com/National Dragster

Courtney Force, the youngest of 15-time champion John Force’s four daughters and who has spent the last four seasons learning both the on and off-track aspects of professional drag racing, will finally get a chance to show what she can do on the big stage as the driver of an 8,000 horsepower Ford Mustang Funny Car sponsored by Traxxas, the world leader in ready-to-run radio-controlled vehicles.

Courtney, 23, will make her professional driving debut Feb. 9-12 in the 52nd annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. and will compete for NHRA Rookie of the Year honors.

“For Traxxas, Courtney represents more than just a female driver on the track. The family that she comes from has been racing and she’s been a part of racing all of her life. She’s not just another girl at the racetrack, she’s a girl that has real DNA and John Force DNA embedded in her and it shows,” said Mike Jenkins Traxxas president. “Take a couple of minutes and talk with Courtney; you’ll see the competitiveness that comes out in that girl. She’s going to represent our company and our brand. She’s been a top pick for us for a very long time- we’re proud to have her on.”

After winning her first NHRA national event in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2009 and earning “Top Agent” honors in the marketing contest that fueled Ford’s Fiesta Movement introduction in 2010, Courtney spent the better part of last season testing in a Ford Mustang Funny Car following selected Full Throttle tour events.

“Courtney proved she has the same competitive drive that’s made her father successful, working her way through the Super Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster ranks,” said Jamie Allison, Director of Ford Racing.

“We’ve only seen a small portion of what she’s capable of achieving,” Allison continued, “(and) we’re happy to welcome her officially as a member of the One Ford Funny Car team in 2012. It’s something we’ve all anticipated and we are very excited and happy to have her on the Ford team.”

Courtney with newly-named crew chief Ron Douglas. Image credit: NHRA.com/National Dragster

In preparation for her debut in Pomona, Courtney will continue to test her new Traxxas Ford Mustang this month at the Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida. Ron Douglas, who tuned Ashley Force-Hood to second and third place points finishes and a pair of Mac Tools U.S. Nationals crowns, has been named crew chief for Courtney’s rookie run, and will share tuning responsibilities with veteran Scott Wible.

“The preparation of the car is our No. 1 priority,” Douglas said. “We want to make sure the product is right before we ever take it to the starting line. We make sure the car is prepared properly and safely – that’s priority one. Then we’ll decide how we want to attack the racetrack.”

Like older sister Ashley, Courtney developed her career path to the professional ranks much in the same way, taking an auto shop elective in high school, graduating from Cal-State Fullerton in Communications, and honing her skills in Super Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster before spending a full season testing a fuel Funny Car.

When Jon Bowles pulls up to the starting line, it may appear as though he and his black ’92 Mustang are the definition of sneaky and stealthy, but when the 347 cubic-inch, 88 mm-turbocharged engine is spooled and the hammer is dropped, all eyes are on them.

For years, fans of the Aeroquip Performance Products Heads-Up Series and Holbrook Saturday Shootout Series at Milan Dragway in Michigan have watched as Bowles tweaked his combination and ran a series of 8-second passes.

After stopping the clocks at 8.02 at a No ET Nationals event at Milan Dragway last October, he felt he could run even faster, so he turned up the wick for the following pass and let it all hang out, and when he pulled up to the ticket booth afterward and track employee Keith Zieske asked him how fast he wanted to run, Bowles responded with a hopeful “7-anything,” prompting Zieske to shake his hand and flash the timeslip that read 7.95 at 177 miles per hour.

This summer, in the warm Michigan air, he collected more 8-second timeslips for his efforts, but fall’s cooler temperatures once again brought the boost and while driving his car to the semifinal in the VP Racing Fuels Drag Radial class in Milan Dragway’s Aeroquip Performance Products Friday Night Heads-Up Series on October 7, he ran 7.99 in the first round of qualifying and 7.97 in the first round of eliminations, marking his second and third trip to the 7-second zone.

As impressive as that is, what fans will likely remember most is Bowles yanking the wheels, carrying them a long distance and stopping the clocks at an 8.03 in the third round of qualifying. While the nighttime dew found its way to his windshield in the semifinal and forced him to lift, the outing was a successful one for the driver who predicted this week before that he would go faster at this race.

The car has come a long way since the days when Bowles was often forced to pull to the side of the road to feed oil to its tired stock engine. Now, he is confident that mid- to low-7.80s are next, and the head and intake work he had done over winter, coupled with his tuning skills, will make him one to watch this season.

“Jon does a fine job with his car and with his program, and he has a good time with it,” said Trace Meyer, fellow Drag Radial racer. “I was very happy for him when he ran 7.97. It was a big milestone.” Read on for more about Bowles of Adrian, Michigan, a maintenance technician at PPG Industries, who used to get his kicks mud-racing a Jeep CJ7 with a lift-kit and big tires at abandoned gravel pits and on closed roads.

DRAGZINE: The car is a clean machine, inside and out.

Jon Bowles: “When I bought it about ten years ago, it had been used and abused. It had a stock 302 cubic-inch engine and a five-speed transmission, and I raced it like that, with some simple bolt-ons, then I used nitrous for a little while, and it ran 11.70s with nitrous. That was the first year I had it, and then the second year I had it, I put an automatic transmission in it, and a ProCharger D1R and it ran 10.70s and I was street-racing with it.

We had gotten kicked out of the race track for going too fast without a cage. In the third year, I put a cage in it and decided I didn’t like how the car looked, so we started working on the body and did paint and it snowballed from there. We completely disassembled it and restored it and it took us two years. We had repaired the bottom, inside, hood, frame-rails and trunk. Rod Calvin helped me do all of the body work and paint about six years ago.

I bought an engine from Swill Racing, their Renegade engine, about six or seven years ago, and started racing in NMRA Drag Radial. My first race in that class was at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Michigan. The car was running high 9s, and I spun the tires a lot, and basically spun the tires for two years, you might say, until I figured things out, and it’s been going down track ever since. I ran NMRA Drag Radial for three years.”

DZ: What is your current combination?

Bowles: “It’s old-school. It’s a 347 cubic-inch small-block Ford built on an 8.7 deck Dart block with Diamond pistons, Oliver billet rods and I have the old-style Wil-Burt Street Heat High Ports, an 88 mm Work turbocharger that I have had for five years and Big Stuff 3. The car has the original 8.8 rear-end, though it was heavily modified three years ago by Chris “Noodles” Hemmeter at Behind Bars Race Cars. In fact, he built the rear-end, exhaust, intercooler and the rear suspension.

Dave Zimmerman from Team Z Motorsports built the 25.5 Funny Car cage two years ago, and I run his front suspension and I added his wing to the car this year. Dave has helped me out with a lot of stuff.”

Bowles: “Yes, they just did the work in March. When Trace Meyer took his engine to them, he took my heads and intake to them at the same time. They do good work. In fact, they did my heads five or six years ago, back when I first put the car together.  I bought those heads from the original owner, but they’re part of my family now.”

DZ: Many of your friends, including Jason Lee, Trace Meyer and Chad Doyle, run supercharged-combinations in their Mustangs, but you chose a turbo-charged combination.

Bowles: “I just like to be different, and now that I have a handle on it, I wouldn’t change it for anything. It just took a while because I was breaking engines, but two winters ago, I had Chuck Noonan at Performance Machining Racing Engines go through the engine and fix everything, and once the engine stopped breaking, we started making progress and I started getting more aggressive in the tune and I was able to work on figuring things out as far as what the car liked and didn’t like.”

DZ: You mentioned you use Big Stuff 3. Do you do most of your own tuning with it?

Bowles: “Yes, I do, but Jason Lee, Trace Meyer and Chad Doyle help me if I have a struggle.”

DZ: Toward the end of last season, your car was going faster and faster in the Drag Radial class at each of the Milan Dragway heads-up races. We’re two races in this season. How’s it going so far?

Bowles: “I didn’t make the first race, and at the second one, my distributor broke and the car just quit in the burnout box, in the first round of eliminations. Deano and Baldy pushed me back, and it’s always just spectacular when you’re broken and pushed in front of the stands.

Of course, all of this was after I got a flat tire after my first qualifying pass. I missed second round of qualifying because I was looking for a set of front tires to borrow, and then Jim Adams, another racer who lives across the street from the track, loaned me his old Draglite wheels and tires, and we bolted them on and I made the third qualifying pass, when I ran 8.10 at 177 miles per hour. That was with the same tune-up that was in it from last October.”

DZ: You recently took part in the Pritchett Brothers’ Ultimate Outlaw Shootout at Milan Dragway.

Bowles: “Yes, I qualified seventh out of thirteen or fourteen cars. For the first qualifying pass, the car did a hard wheelie and went toward the wall, and for the second qualifying pass, it went 5.31 in the eighth-mile, and in the third round of qualifying, it went 5.29 in the eighth-mile and it went the same thing in the first round, like a bracket car, but I lost to Keith Groves with a fantastically slow light.”

DZ: Which additional races will you take part in this season?

Bowles “I’m going to continue to race in the Drag Radial class at Milan Dragway’s heads-up races and in the Diamond Pistons’ X275 class at Milan Dragway’s Saturday Shootout Series, and we’ll probably go to Georgia for Donald and Amanda Long’s big race, Outlaw Radial Revolution, in October.”

DZ: Any plans to return to NMRA competition?

Bowles: “It’s not out of the question, but the Drag Radial class is really fast right now. Jason Lee has been 7.54. I’ve got a lot of testing to do to go as fast as they’re going.”

DZ: Is it true that you have no qualms about driving your 7-second beast on the street?

Bowles: “It’s happy to be driven! It still has license plates and power windows and power doors and backup lights. It’s got everything and I made sure of that on purpose. People look at you like you’re this side of nuts when you’re driving it on the street with a parachute on the back, and rather than getting any thumbs-up, I just get a bunch of stares.”

DZ: Stickers for your business, TubingJon.com, can be found on many race cars. What does TubingJon.com offer?

Bowles: “I offer any aluminum tubing, including the tubing itself and any accessories, silicone couplers and aluminum down-pipes for turbos. Almost all of the turbo cars have aluminum exhaust. I’ve been doing it for about five years. I’m a plumber and pipe-fitter by trade and I was laid-off and I was putting my car together and I wasn’t going to pay the long dollar, so I started looking and it snowballed from there.”

DZ: We saw a post on yellowbullet.com in which you told Josh Henline you were looking forward to dragging his “roach” down track. No love for your fellow heads-up racer. What’s up with that?

Bowles: “That was nothing! You should see us on Facebook! But really, Josh is a good guy who would do anything to help someone, and it’s all in good fun.”

DZ: Who helps you with your car?

Bowles: “Mark Henry helps me all of the time, but Chad Doyle, Trace Meyer and Jason Lee help me out a ton, too. They’re the best friends a guy could have, really. Chad and I have done a lot of work to the car. He helped me mini-tub it and we mounted the intercooler and did all of the rear suspension in my garage and then in Chad’s garage. I don’t do well dropping the car off just anywhere because I’m too picky. I have also received help from Oliver Connecting Rods, Cometic Gasket, Inc., Mickey Thompson Tires and Fasco Employment Solutions.”

DZ: Where are you when you’re not at the track?

Bowles: “I like to go snowmobiling with my wife, Jolene, who has her own snowmobile, and our sons, Noah, 9, and Parker, 5, who play baseball. Noah made the all-star team for Sand Creek Little League for the third year in a row, and we play tournaments every weekend until August.  I don’t have a whole lot of free time because I coach Noah’s team, but we have a lot of fun, and I’m a pretty lucky guy.”

His team also pioneered the use of the chain-driven ProCharger F-3R supercharger and are in fact the only team to be consistently successful with that setup.  Because of his starting line consistency, the nickname “Mr .400” was thrust atop Walsh’s shoulders, and over the years Walsh Jr. earned the reputation for being a standout player whenever he showed up to race.

But he has been mostly out of racing over the last couple of years; once the NMRA dropped the Pro 5.0 class from its program, Walsh was essentially left with nowhere else to race.  Walsh decided to bow out of Pro 5.0 when the car count was dwindling and the economy didn’t have a great outlook.  Don decided his father-and-son businesses – D&D Performance and Walsh Motorsports – needed his focus through those difficult periods, so the car was just pushed into a corner.  Then the Extreme 10.5-style classes started to take off, and Walsh’s home track in Milan, Michigan, created an 1/8th mile Run What You Brung class.  The decision was easy for Walsh, Jr. to dust off the car, repair it, and make a few hits, which he did with success last season.

Now, however, it’s time for Walsh, Jr. and his team to take a quantum leap.  Dragzine was able to scoop an interview with Walsh just hours after he made the decision to partner up with some of the top names in doorslammer drag racing today with a deal to drive a state-of-the-art Pro Mod in NHRA competition.  Walsh’s longtime friendships with Harry Hruska of Precision Turbo and Engine and John Meaney of BigStuff3, and a new relationship with Brad Anderson and his team has led to this opportunity between the four to send Walsh down the quarter-mile next season behind the wheel of a 2011 Mustang built by Don Ness.

This stunning bit of news comes amid the knowledge that Walsh will be stepping away from the small-block supercharged Ford power he’s come to grow and love, and right into a Brad Anderson Hemi topped off with a pair of Precision Turbo’s latest and greatest Pro Mod turbochargers. Walsh is excited at the possibility of working with such an incredibly talented team of professionals and shared his thoughts with us.

Dragzine: Don, you left racing back in 2006 and really didn’t do much with it until you repaired the car just recently.  Why the long layoff, and why the decision to come back now?

Don Walsh, Jr.: “With us in Pro 5.0, I felt like we had achieved everything that we could with the rules given to us each year, and it became a losing battle with what was done in the rules towards the end.  The last year we raced Pro 5.0, we saw the rules as an uphill battle that we probably could not win, but with winning three championships I felt that it was wrong to not give it our best shot for one more year.”

DZ: What is the driving force behind getting back into racing now?

DW, Jr.: “I’ve always said that if it made sense for us to get involved again that we would.  This is the first opportunity that we’ve had where it makes sense.  I feel like the team as a whole is a recipe for success, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

“We partnered up with Brad Anderson and Harry Hruska, and we’re going to run Brad’s 2011 Mustang alongside Jay Payne in a two-car team.  Jay is going to run the Camaro with a blown engine, and we’ll be running this twin-turbo car as the second half of the team.  I’m sure we’ll be able to learn from both cars, and be able to use data from both cars. The car was finished last year and Jay tested it, but decided to focus on his car last year, so this car got parked.  We’re bringing this car out this year with intent to run the full NHRA schedule.”

DZ: Do you think it will be a challenge for you going from a supercharged to a turbocharged car? The starting line process is very different, so do you expect any difficulty adjusting?

DW, Jr.: ” It will be different for sure, but we are working to make the package in the new car as consistent as we can on the starting line.  I’ve driven other turbo cars in the past, one with an auto, one with a Liberty, so I don’t really have any concerns with getting up to speed.”

DZ: Have you been testing at all yet? When do you expect to debut the car?

DW, Jr.: ” I have not driven the car yet.  We’re going to start our testing process in February wherever the weather is good.  Right now the rules aren’t even out for the class yet, so we have a bunch of questions right now.  The car is sitting in pieces waiting on the rules – as soon as we have those we can finish it up and get ready to go.”

Other than the fun to be had, taking your hot street car to the dragstrip on its daily driver tires is nearly a useless exercise. Even high performance street tires must still be engineered to meet marketing parameters designed around long life, ride quality, noise, and fuel mileage. They are a total compromise between those factors and ultimate traction. Combine that compromise with a light car and a significant amount of power, and you’ll just be spinning the tires for at least the first 300 feet of the track, probably more, making a low e.t. impossible and testing data virtually useless.

Now, if you want to cut a decent 60-foot time on the dragstrip, you must have either dedicated slicks or, at the very minimum, a good set of drag radials. But just mounting a set of slicks to your car will not take you to the Incremental Timeslip Promised Land; there’s a lot to know about drag tires in order to get the optimum performance and life out of them. Where do you set the pressure? How do I know they’re still good? What are those screws doing in the fast guys’ wheels?

Talking with Carl Robinson on how to go fast on a drag tire

Mickey Thompson has been leading that tire category for longer than we can remember, especially when it comes to the street/strip or heads-up drag racing like you see in the NMCA, NMRA, PSCA, ADRL, and more, so we went to them (specifically, M/T’s Carl Robinson) to answer our Top Ten questions concerning drag slicks and radials. Here’s what they had to say.

Regardless if they are slicks or drag radials, Mickey Thompson recommends breaking your tires in at the track.

Carl Robinson: “There is really no break-in procedure. Using the tire in its intended application will “break” a tire in. Tire life can be negatively affected if you do an excessive burnout with the thought of “breaking the tire in,” though some professional classes pre-run the tires in order to shed weight and stabilize tire circumference.”

DZ: What is the best way to determine what pressure to run, or where does M/T feel the sweet spot is?

Robinson: “We like to refer to the pressure as an “operating range” versus a specific number. The way to determine the best operating range for your car is by testing at the track. There is typically a suggested range based on a couple of telltale parameters, such as weight and horsepower. Talk to others that have comparable set-ups. After establishing a base pressure you must start to document key parameters. Note what racetrack you’re at, the ambient temperature, relative cloud cover, and track temp. These key factors will establish the trends required to maximize your performance with tire pressure.”

DZ: Should I run tubes in my slicks, or not?

Robinson: “Over the last few years, racing tire tubes have taken on a new role. Originally developed before the integration of an inner liner to capture the compressed air within the tire, we now find significant benefits from installing tubes in tires ranging from 26.0/10-15 to the 33.0/10.5-16W tires used in the Pro Extreme series of the ADRL. The benefit comes from the support the tube provides. The tube keeps the tire round, and round is fast! However, there are always exceptions to the rule. Not all will see the same gains in performance. Cars running heads-up with high horsepower-to-weight ratio numbers benefit more than the dependable bracket-style race cars. Bracket cars can benefit from the consistency of the tubes’ air retention throughout a long day of racing. For some, the benefits outweigh the erosion of performance due to the additional weight of the tube.”

The wheel screws need to be understood as having a relationship to both safety and performance. Related to safety, if the choice is made to use tubes inside tires mounted on conventional wheels, you must use a minimum of 12 screws per side to secure the tire from rotating on the rim.

It was understood that more wheel screws equals less wrap-up in the tire and wheel package. This reduced wrap decreases 60-foot times and driver reaction times.

DZ: At what point do you need to consider wheel screws to secure the tire to the wheel?

Robinson: “The wheel screws need to be understood as having a relationship to both safety and performance. Related to safety, if the choice is made to use tubes inside tires mounted on conventional wheels, you must use a minimum of 12 screws per side to secure the tire from rotating on the rim. This is required on all bias-ply racing tires to prevent immediate air release from tube failure. M/T does not recommend the use of wheel screws with radial tires.”

“Performance benefits have been discovered through the use of additional wheel screws. Take an opportunity to notice a small visual detail on your rear tire package. Many of us have looked over pictures of our car and critique the position and shape of the tire. Did you notice that the wrinkles in the sidewall line up with your wheel screws? So from this it was understood that more wheel screws equals less wrap-up in the tire and wheel package. This reduced wrap decreases 60-foot times and driver reaction times.”

Bead lock wheels provide benefits in safety and performance. From a rules point of view, a standard of 200 mph speed (in the quarter mile) has been set as the guideline for bead lock use.

DZ: And how about the same question regarding bead locks?

Robinson: “Bead lock wheels provide benefits in safety and performance. From a rules point of view, a standard of 200 mph speed (in the quarter mile) has been set as the guideline for bead lock use. The concern is that the tire, through centrifugal force, is trying to come off the bead seat. Wheels screws do not retain the tire on the bead seat—they stop rotation. The clamping system of the bead lock secures the tire and prevents rotation at the same time.

“Bead locks also have a direct effect on the way the tire is held, meaning it affects the tire much in the same way as wheel screws. Tire wrap-up is minimized. There is also a change in the potential growth-rate of the tire when clamped in a bead lock.”

DZ: Slicks don’t have wear indicators, so how do you know when they’re used up?

DZ: What is the recommended way to store tires, and how long of a shelf life do they have? In other words, if I have a set of slicks sitting in the garage for 4 years, un-mounted, are they still good?

Robinson: “Generally speaking, we prefer to store tires in a cool and dry environment mounted on wheels with 3 to 5 psi, off the ground and away from any UV A or B light. The reason we would want them mounted with air in them is to prevent the tire from shrinking in size. The physical parameters are avoided to prevent the deterioration of the designed properties of materials and chemicals in the tire. Four year old tires? Are they good? Well, if they were purchased with a specific goal in mind, like “we planned on running 10.5 inch tires,” then no. The tires are smaller now and you will not get them to grow back to the original size. Will they go down the track? Maybe…”

The way to determine the best operating range for your car is by testing at the track. There is typically a suggested range based on a couple of telltale parameters, such as weight and horsepower. Talk to others that have comparable set-ups.

DZ: Tire growth at the top end obviously affects the overall gear ratio, and needs to be considered when setting the car up. But for reference, how much does a 28×10.5 ET Drag slick grow at 150 mph? 200 mph?

Robinson: “That’s a tough question, one that has as many variables as those that ask. The best way to determine the answer is to run the car and reverse-engineer the numbers. That compensates for the converter or clutch slip percentages and a bunch of other factors. One very sharp racer once told me if you put 30 psi in the tire, that will reflect your max tire growth. It worked for him!”

Robinson: “Despite all the rumors surrounding radial tire growth, we need to clear the facts on this. Radial tires do not grow. They may change shape due to centrifugal force but the components inside the carcass of a radial tire do not allow for any growth. They are circumferentially-wound steel plies. The plies or belts are not opposed at an angle as in a bias tire.”

DZ: What’s the highest mileage you’ve ever heard reported from a Drag Radial? Not fuel mileage, but actual number of miles driven on the tire?

Robinson: “We have heard from 3,000 to 5,000 miles driven as the high average in mileage. I like to reserve the question until the consumer has “used-up” a set or two due to his fascination with extraordinary traction!”

In the world of Ford and Mustang drag racing, few individuals have earned the accolades of Justin Burcham. The founder of Justin’s Performance Center, better known as JPC Racing, in Millersville, MD, a former NMRA champion and now part-time racer, a sponsor of several NMRA competitors, and the man behind one of the industry’s elite horsepower factories – Burcham and JPC Racing have become virtually synonymous with Ford Mustang drag racing. powerTV recently sat down with Justin to learn more about his introduction to racing, his current and future racing endeavors, and the foundation and evolution of his business.

powerTV: How did you get sucked into the addiction of Mustang drag racing?

Justin Burcham: “It was when I was a teenager that I really took a liking to speed and got into cars. I had some friends that lived nearby that were into drag racing, and they had a Vega that they’d take to the track and race. I’d tag along with them and before I knew it, I was hooked. I just couldn’t get enough of the sounds, the smells, and the speed of it all.”

PTV: Was your family involved in your formative years in cars and racing?

Burcham: “My family was really never into cars, believe it or not. My mother was a principal for the school system and my father works in finance, and so it wasn’t ever a family thing that was passed down to me. I always had a fascination with speed though. It was the rush of going fast, and drag racing will certainly give you that.”

The JPC Racing nine second, 850 RWHP 2011 Mustang

“I actually had a Pontiac Trans Am when I was in high school. I’d done all kinds of work to it, including installing nitrous oxide, and I raced it on the street and at the track. Once I got out of high school, I started working on cars at a repair shop before moving on to work for an engine builder. I started working there as an apprentice sweeping floors and cleaning blocks – essentially I was working for free – and spent a couple of years working my way up through the ranks. Before long, I was porting cylinder heads, machining engine blocks, assembling engines, and performing dyno tuning. At the time, I was only about 20 years old. Working at the repair shop, then then the engine shop, and all the while having Mustangs on the side to play with was what really got my fire burning.”

PTV: How did the founding of JPC Racing come about?

Burcham: “During the late 90′s and into the early 2000′s, I was working with high performance marine engines, building big block and small block Chevrolet’s, and also worked on cigarettes, fountains, skaters, and other types of boats. I ran the service department at a marina and built, rigged, tuned, and tested the boats, and then raced my Mustang on the weekends.

During that time, my name had gotten out there to people in the area from my side work with the Mustang’s and soon, I was working on cars out of my house and selling parts here and there while working full time at the marina. I had developed the idea for the business and even had a name in mind, but it wasn’t until 2001, around the time that I first went heads-up racing, that I finally incorporated the business. So it all really came together at once.

I made a lot of great contacts in the industry by competing with the NMRA and that opened several doors for me to supply and sell parts, and in the last ten years, it’s snowballed into what it is today.”

PTV: JPC is housed in a pretty impressive facility today, but did you have pretty humble beginnings?

Burcham: “We started out in a 1,200 square foot building that had a 600 square foot showroom in the front and a shop in the back that had a seven foot ceiling and just one bay. On one side we had parts and on the other we had the single bay to work out of. I didn’t have a lift, so for the first four years that we were in business I was working on my back with jackstands and a jack.

We later expanded and took on two additional units in the strip mall that we were in and finally installed lifts. After that, we really started to see the  growth and took on more work. Along with the lifts, we purchased our first dyno in 2005, but prior to that, I’d been renting a dyno when we needed one. Even at that point, I was still doing some of the work out of my house because we had so much overflow at the shop.

When we took on the two extra units we were at 3,500 square feet, which was both the first and second floor combined. Today, we have nearly 13,000 square feet in all.”

PTV: Have you always been a Ford man?

Burcham: “I’ve always been partial to Ford’s because I like the Mustang, but I’m one of those people that’s into anything that’s fast. Sure, I’m a diehard Ford guy in the sense of supporting Ford and Ford Racing; everything in our driveway is a Ford. But I’ve worked on, driven, built and tuned a number of GM and Mopar products. I don’t turn my nose up at people that drive Chevrolet and Chrysler vehicles. I’m into horsepower and speed, and if someone pulls up with a 600 cubic inch big block Chevrolet that makes 1,500 horsepower, they have my respect.

Of course, owning a speed shop in this day and age, you can’t turn anyone down. You have to take what you can get and you have to be diverse and able to work on anything and everything; so that’s always been my motto. We’re best known for the Ford’s because we race them and that’s primarily what we work on. If you were to walk into my shop any day of the week, about 85 percent of the cars we’ll have in there are Mustangs.”

PTV: Does a significant amount of R&D go into the products that your company builds and sells?

Burcham: “When we see a void in the market or inferior products on the market that don’t work, we try to step in and fill that hole or try to improve upon what’s out there. From an R&D standpoint, I’ve always had a number of companies that send me parts and say, ‘we just came out with this: can you make sure that it fits; can you make sure that it works; can you test it on the track and make sure that it doesn’t break?’ So we have a chance to work with a variety of different products on the market. We’re always trying to push the envelope on these cars, and so it all falls into place.”

“When I bought my ’05 Mustang, there weren’t any parts available for it. So we had to manufacture our own fuel system and numerous other parts. So, we definitely perform a lot of R&D, testing, and retrofitting at JPC.”

PTV: What challenges do you face in keeping up with so many cars on a race weekend, while occasionally getting behind the wheel yourself?

Burcham: “It’s tough, but it was certainly tougher in the mid-2000′s when I had ten sponsored cars to take care of when I went to the track. I’d try to help everyone with advice, line them up, and make sure they had everything they needed. Today, most of the racers that we back can run their own program. When Tommy Godfrey ran Factory Stock, he had a really good handle on his program and needed minimal input. And Bruce Hemminger, Brandon Alsept, and Ryan Hecox all run their own programs for the most part now, so it’s not near as much work as it once was.”

The JPC-backed NMRA teams of L to R: Ryan Hecox, Tommy Godfrey, and Bruce Hemminger.

PTV: Do you take more pride in your own racing accolades or in seeing your customers succeed?

Trying to run the business and race is a combination that just doesn’t work. You could ask anyone out there that’s tried to race heads-up and operate a business and they’d tell you the same thing. For those that compete in the index and bracket classes, it’s a little easier to do because the performance of your vehicle doesn’t matter to the same extent. But in heads-up racing, you’re always testing, always trying to think outside the box, and you’ve got to have your head in the game 100 percent.

I told myself years ago when it started getting busier at the shop that if I couldn’t compete at the highest level, then I didn’t want to compete at all. I don’t want to put my car in the lanes and say, ‘hey I’m here,’ because that’s not who I am. If I’m going to be out there, I want to win, period.”

The JPC 3-Valve S197 is a mean competitor in True Street, boasting solid single digit runs.

Burcham: “Basically, I’m challenging myself. I get enjoyment from limitations and boundaries being placed in front of me and overcoming them. It makes me feel complete as a person, when there’s something that I believe I can conquer and then go out and do it. It’s a sense of accomplishment.

When I was racing, I wanted to be the world champion and the best in the world at the class for which I competed. I’m very driven and passionate about winning, and to me, breaking a boundary or being the first to accomplish a feat that no one else has ever done is another way for me to exercise my competitiveness. While my time with the business has kept from being able to compete the way that I’d like to at this point in time, I can go out with a new platform and try to be the first or the fastest at something.

Attaining goals make my life complete and worth living. I always have to challenge myself because I’m not one of those that can just sit on the couch and watch television. I can’t have idle hands: I’ve always go to be working or doing something.”

PTV: Of all the performance milestones you’ve achieved, which one stands out most to you?

Burcham: “The 3-valve in the eights stands out the most. That was a really, really tough and long road to achieve that goal. Of every mission that I’ve gone after, I spent the most time trying to knock down that eight-second wall with my ’05 Mustang. I actually spent a week in Florida by myself, like a gypsy, traveling around the state from track to track just trying to knock that wall down. It was wintertime in Maryland and Florida was one of the only places where tracks were open, so I headed down there and went from Moroso to Bradenton to Orlando and back and forth between them. I kept driving around the state trying to click off an eight-second pass, and it didn’t happen. My wife finally called and said ‘get your ass home’. ”

A couple of months later I went to a shootout in Englishtown and ran a 9.05 and the balancer came off the engine, doing some damage to the crankshaft. Following that run, I knew I was really close to getting there. After that I called Jesse Kershaw at Ford Racing and told him that I needed an engine, to which he responded that he had an Eliminator short block in stock. I promised him that if he sent it to me, that I’d put it in the eights. He said, ‘yeah right, we’ll see.’ So we were going from a 322 cubic inch engine to a 281.

Jesse shipped me the engine and a couple of weeks later we went to Maryland International Raceway and ran an 8.89.”

PTV: Is there a really heated competition between speed shops to break performance barriers that the public doesn’t necessarily see or understand?

Burcham: “I’d be lying if I said that claiming records and setting benchmarks doesn’t help from business standpoint. It’s not just a challenge we take on, there’s some business to it. Anytime you can claim that you were the first to do something, people automatically deduce that you must be better than the next guy, that you must know more, or anything else one could extrapolate from that.

But there’s definitely a rivalry there to be the first – it’s something to hang your hat on. Other shops have tee shirts and such stating they were the first to do this and the first to do that, and the people may not know all the details, but they see the press and it makes the phone ring. It’s certainly a case of race on Sunday, sell on Monday. Our goal is to be better than the competition and we want to beat them, so if they’re doing something that we’re striving to accomplish and they do it first, we lose. And we don’t like losing.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCbSSHCmGuY

We have some mutual customers with other shops and occasionally there are things said that get back to you, and that can sometimes create a bit of a grudge. I used to do a lot of street racing, so I enjoy the smack talking and seeing who’s better on the racetrack. For the most part though, I get along with most of them. People out there probably think I have got to hate JDM, Brenspeed, or whomever, but it’s not like that at all.

PTV: So what’s the next milestone on the radar for JPC?

Burcham: “I’d like to get my 2011 Mustang into the eight’s with the factory manual transmission. It’s got the Tremec Magnum six-speed, synchronized, regular old drive-it-to-work transmission in it, and it’s been my goal to put it in the eight’s in that configuration. I could probably throw an automatic transmission in the car and do it, but to me, that’s not a challenge. I’d rather dump the clutch, bang some gears, see an eight-second run pop up on the scoreboard, and still be able to drive the car on the street. I don’t have a lot of time to drive it because of the business, but I’d like to be able to say that I drive an eight-second stick shift car on the street. I think that’d be pretty cool.”

PTV: Do you have the desire to get back into racing full-time, or are you content with your current role

Burcham: “I’d definitely like to race on a regular basis again at some point in time. The new Coyote class that the NMRA is proposing is definitely an interest to me because it would be heads-up and a driver and tuner class, and I think it’d be really competitive with a lot of participation from the racers. I love heads-up racing, and it’s not something that you can just get out of your system by not going to the track. So, I definitely have the urge and I’m sure at some point I’ll get back into it, but right now I really need to focus on the business, because if that doesn’t succeed, then there isn’t any money to go racing.”

There is perhaps no one in the high performance Mustang arena more methodical in their approach to excellence in every facet of their racing business and racing efforts and the pursuit of victory than Justin Burcham. And he’s got the championships, world records, and a legion of satisfied customers to back it up. And we here at powerTV believe that as along as the almighty Ford Mustang roams the earth, Burcham will be under the hood, tirelessly working to make it faster than the competition.

Carl and his faithfull Border Collie, Peggy Sue.

DZ: Carl, I’ll start off by asking you what made you come to this decision?

Weisinger: Well, it really is simply a business decision. I went back and forth with this for months, but feel like it’s the right thing to do. With the national economy clearly in such turmoil and the local economy taking a big hit, losing 7,000 jobs at the Cape after the conclusion of the Space Shuttle program, I feel things are just very uncertain for the event in this climate. Travel costs are up and committing the resources for many racers is becoming more and more of a problem. I really don’t want to hold the World Street Nationals if I’m concerned it won’t be the premier event racers and fans have come to expect through the years, so I decided to postpone the race until next year and revamp some things.

DZ: I see in the press release you mention too many classes and too many rules. Are you thinking about switching up the classes for next year?

Weisinger: I’ve thought a lot about what to do. Some classes have split and developed so many rules you need a lawyer to figure it out. Not with our rules but some other events. I think it’s better to keep it as simple as possible, especially for a single event like we run here. So with that in mind, we’re pretty definite on Super Pro Street, Heavy Street, Extreme Import and I’m looking seriously at an 8.50 index class next year.

I’ve always been impressed with that class at Dave Hance’s Shakedown At E-Town and feel it allows many different cars to compete with each other that normally wouldn’t have that opportunity, and it still allows for fast and exciting racing. Off the pace big tire cars, Drag Radial cars and Outlaw 10.5 cars can all race and have fun doing it in that class. Plus, the class would feature a $10,000 to win payout. While it’s not all about the money, it never hurts to have a good pay day in addition to the jackets, trophies and gifts.

Mixing with the fans and placing bets at the World Street Nationals, always a good time and full stands.

DZ: Wow, so no 10.5 or Drag Radial in 2012?

Weisinger: I wouldn’t say that positively at this time. The Outlaw 10.5 class has struggled with car count in recent years with really only a handful of competitive cars, including here with only nineteen entries last year. I would say it’s a wait-and-see attitude right now for Outlaw 10.5. We may take a much harder look at the 275 class, but, at the World Street Nationals, running eighth-mile only means one is half way to the finish line.

DZ: The NMCA, NMRA and other series’ car counts have faced significant drops: do you think the economy is killing the series or are bigger picture things at work here?

Weisinger: The overall economy is of course a factor.  But, the individual racers’ financial status is also. This eventually always happens with true heads-up drag racing, regardless of the class. As I may have stated already, there’s also just too many races for all of them to survive.

DZ: On the topic of the economy, besides racer expenses, what other economic factors weigh your decision?

Weisinger: Really, there’s just a sour atmosphere and uncertainty in the country and across the world right now. People are unhappy with government, both national and local, they’re unhappy with the President, services and wages are being cut, people are losing benefits and jobs. I almost feel having the race would be like a birthday party at a funeral. I should also say now that I’m considering waiting until after the election on November 6th next year to hold the race to see how things shake out.

Carl and Diane Weisinger after taking out three hemi cars for the SS/BA class win at Indy in 1991.

DZ: How did you get started in drag racing?

Weisinger: I bought a ‘40 Plymouth coupe in 1961, and it was my very first car: a 6 cylinder stick shift. In June of ’61 I raced it for the first time and got beat by a VW bug. The car had sat for a while and a leaky rear main seal got oil on the clutch. A friend and I took a week to change it out because we barely knew what we were doing. I took it back to the track for the next race and beat the bug this time, came home with a trophy, and I’ve been at it ever since.

DZ: Great story, so how did you get started working in the business?

Weisinger: I started working at Orlando in 1972. I paid to get in and would work the front of the lanes pairing up cars, checking seat belts, ans things like that. Back then the racers just picked who they would race; it was a game in staging with some folks hanging back. One night the action had just stopped and I went to the front of the lanes and pointed a pair of cars to the burnout box and which lane to go to and they did it.  They thought I worked there and did what I said. It was quite a while before I became part of the crew. My first “pay” was getting in free.

DZ: When did you get involved with race promotion then?

Weisinger: I promoted my first race at Lakeland Dragstrip in 1976. It was the first bracket race in the southeast to pay $1,000 to win. I was hoping to make maybe $2,000 on it but ended up making about $9,000 after I paid everyone but the winner double what I had posted. Even the track workers got double. $9,000 was as much as I had made the whole year prior. After that I wound up managing the Orlando Speed World track, had a bracket series at different tracks and then went to the Jackson County Sports Park in Oregon for five years.

I had extensive experience racing and thought I knew how to run a track; turned out I knew a whole lot less that I thought, but it worked out and I got experience doing it. Then in 1985, I got a call from Dick Moroso. He had just leased the Miami/Hollywood track and wanted me to come down and run that facility and Moroso as well and I did that through mid-to-early ’86.  My heart was always really in the Orlando track though. Billy Herndon and I got together on a deal and I was back in Orlando. I was working for Billy when he sold the track to the Hart family from New Smyrna. They had absolutely no interest in running anything except the stock car track and I signed a lease with them the day after the sale closed. Billy had fired me several times anyhow and with the lease I felt more secure.

Randy Weisinger is 42 years old now and the same age Carl was when he began leasing Orlando Speedworld. With Carl considering retirement and interested parties looking to take over the track operation we wonder what part Randy will play in the tracks future.

DZ: That’s certainly a rich history, how do you see the future of drag racing right now?

Weisinger: That’s tough to say; there’s a beginning and end to everything, which is not to say there is no future, but new things will come along and old things will cease within the sport as they always have. As for me, it’s no secret that I’m wanting to retire soon. The natural progression would be for my son Randy to take over the deal and run with it. But, Randy has been here for over two decades as well and he may want to do something else. Randy is 42 years old and regardless of what has happened from injuries to arguments with me – and we’ve had some real doozies – he has never missed a race day here.

Ironic, but 42 is exactly the age I was when I signed the lease back in 1987. I personally don’t owe anyone a dime and got my first Social Security payment last month. I’ve never played a game of golf which I’d like to try and I want to spend more time messing with my small collection of cars. Dan O’Connell is updating a 600-cubic inch Camaro I have, there’s a 69 Camaro SS/BA car of mine my friend Tom Callis has been running, I finished a SS/JA ’64 Plymouth last year, we’re working now on a 1965 Plymouth Hemi car, three 1940 Plymouth Coupes and a couple other smaller projects. I may not have enough available time to retire.

DZ: Retire?  Care to expand on that?

Weisinger: Our options are open at this time. There are several people that have contacted me about buying our extensive inventory of equipment and taking over the lease. There are a lot of dreamers out there; a lot that can talk the talk but can’t walk the walk.

Mr. Weisinger with the famous Orlando girls in the tower media center.

In a new partnership seeded by Forth Worth-area engine builder Hans Feustel, Wolfe has teamed up with Houston native and car owner Charlie Osborne on a project aimed initially at the ADRL Extreme 10.5 category, utilizing what was originally a Rick Jones-built Pro Stock Chevrolet Cavalier that will of course feature some of Wolfe’s own enhancements.

“We’ve pretty much cut the car off from the firewall forward and it’s all going to be brand new. We had to get the motor and turbos and everything in there, so we sort of started over so we wouldn’t have to work around what was already there,” explains Wolfe.

Motivation for the new mount will come from a 5.300″ bore spacing bullet with twin Precision turbos on alcohol.

“It’s a really nice deal, and we’ve got some really nice parts. It’s going to have billet everything, and it should run circles around the engine we had in the Mustang. Hans is building the engine, and he’s actually going to be the crew chief on the car, so that’s going to work out real good. I’ll still do what I do, but he’ll take care of the engine and tuning.”

Wolfe has been pulling his share of late nights attending to the new machine, and he, along with Osborne and Feustel, hope to have the car on the racetrack and ready for its debut by late August or September.

“It’s hard to pinpoint that because we’ve got a lot of things that have to come together. We should have it finished up here in the next month, and I would hope we can get it out by September. we want to try and make it by the end of this year, and then take a run at it next year and run the whole [ADRL] circuit.”

With the screw blown combos of Dan Millen and Frankie Taylor dominating the Extreme 10.5 category these days, some might think a turbo combination would have a tough row to hoe, but if anyone can make it happen, it’s Wolfe.

“It’s not unattainable – it can happen. You’re going to have to be on your game, but I don’t expect to do any less. Turbo cars are notoriously slow to the 330, so that’s what we’ve got to figure out. We’ve got some plans and some ideas, so we’ll see what happens. If they work out that’s fine, and if they don’t, we’ll come up with a new set of plans and if those don’t work, we’ll come up with another set,” Wolfe explains jokingly.

While sights are presently set on the tough 10.5 eliminator, Wolfe led on to possible big-tire plans in the future, along with an interest in eventually campaigning in the NHRA Pro Modified series.

“A 5.300 motor isn’t legal for Pro Modified, but we’re going to build a 5-inch motor and I wouldn’t mind doing a little NHRA-legal Pro Modified stuff. If we can make it run to the 330, I wouldn’t mind running Pro Extreme, so that’s what we’re going to work on with the 10.5 stuff.”

DRAGZINE: You really burst onto the scene in the Pro Street ranks, but where did you get you started in the sport?

Chris Rini: “I didn’t get involved in racing until around 2000. I built a street car and went to a couple of car shows with it, and that gets really boring really quick. Everyone stands around talking about how fast their car goes, so one day I loaded my car up on a flatbed trailer, and took it up to Lebanon Valley to see what it’d really run. That car kind of started the disease.”

“I went back a couple more times and they threw me out because I had a street car with no roll cage, no chute, no anything. We went 12.20 the first weekend out with DOT tires and full exhaust. I came back and put some nitrous on it, removed the exhaust, installed some slicks, and we went 10.20 without a cage and only a helmet and a pair of gloves.  I may have bought a jacket. I made one or two runs and they ripped off my armband and said ‘you’re done,’ because the car just wasn’t legal.”

DZ: So how did you go from street car to race car?

Rini: “I bought a back-halved, purpose-bult race car in 2002 and that was my first real race car. It was a low nine-second, high eight-second car and I’d just take it up to the track and run test ‘n tune to see how fast I could make it go. That was really my only goal. At that point I realized up in the Northeast there’s really not any heads-up racing, at least not until the Northeast Pro Mods thing got moving.  There was nothing within at least five hours of here, and so after running that car for a couple years, I bought an older Dodge Avenger and the only place I could bracket race and run fast was Top Sportsman.

” I started out racing Top Sportsman in Division 1 and ran there for a couple of years, but it just got kind of old putting a dial-in on the window and hitting the brakes at the finish line. My first year in Top Sportsman we just worked on getting the program figured out, because I’d never bracket raced before. We built a pretty fast car using an older chassis, and my second year in the class we finished fifth in the division, and my third year – which was my last in Top Sportsman – we finished third. But until 2000, I’d never even done a real burnout on a race track.”

DZ: How did you end up in Pro Street?

Rini: “During my third year in Top Sportsman, we went over to the NMCA with the same car to see if we could be competitive in Pro Street, and we were pretty consistent, but obviously we weren’t near as fast as the rest of the field. We were bottom-half qualifiers, but we had a lot of fun. I was actually invited over there by Vinny Budano, who was the reigning Pro Street champion at the time. They were looking to boost the car count and wanted some good cars and people who were interested in following the series. We ran a couple of the NMCA races up in the Northeast that year and the following season we started campaigning in Pro Street full-time.”

DZ: When you’re not racing, you operate your own business there in New York, correct?

Rini: “I opened up my business, Chris’ Automotive Center, when I was 20, after putting together some money from family and what I had in the bank. I took over an existing three-bay garage, and started out just doing some auto body work. It was just me and one helper, and before long we had another helper and I was working seven days a week if necessary. I had just one truck at the time: a twenty-five year old flatbed that used as much oil as it did gas. It was just humble beginnings where I did everything.”

“Within a couple years, I had developed a strong customer clientele, had added a couple other guys, and we outgrew that three-bay garage in three years. I moved the shop to a nine-bay garage here in Carmel and it was a dump, but it had a lot of potential. Other than the four walls and the roof, that’s all that’s left of the original building. Now, we’re a full service shop that doesn’t sub out anything. We’ve got seven tow trucks, 17 employees, and we do everything in-house, which isn’t too common in my area.”

DZ: How would you describe the current state of Pro Street racing?

Rini: “Pro Street is awesome, and we have a lot of fun there. The quarter mile format doesn’t bring in a lot of the southern racers unfortunately, but we run at some great, national event-quality tracks. I think the class is certainly growing despite the economic situation, but the guys that have the equipment already have the equipment, and their costs are just the weekend, so hopefully racers continue to show up.”

“We’ve got a lot of regulars and there’s a couple new racers that have come aboard this year and hopefully will join in as the year progresses. There are a lot of IHRA Pro Modified guys that don’t have anywhere to race now and we’re hoping they’ll come over and race Pro Street. The rules have been sort of laid back some to allow a Pro Mod car in without many changes, and that makes it a little more appealing to those guys.”

DZ: so do you feel that Pro Modified and Pro Street are finally becoming one in the same?

Rini: “I think they’re almost identical, especially the way they’ve laid out the rules. We used to be required to run headlights, taillights, a horn, and other things, but that’s not the case anymore. The Pro Street rules now are pretty well mimicked off of NHRA Pro Modified, with a couple of weight changes. But it’s nothing extreme.”

DZ: Do you see a time coming when Pro Modified racers will cross over and run with the NMCA?

Rini: “I don’t know why they wouldn’t. The rules will let them right in and the tracks are as good as anything they race on. The payout is decent, and if they need a place to race other than the NHRA, there’s another venue they can compete. It’s a great testing ground and they’d probably be treated better than they are in the NHRA. Most of those guys aren’t doing it for the money, it’s just about being treated well and having some fun.”

DZ: Do you ever wish that you could step back 10 or 15 years and race alongside, Musi, Christian, Reiger, Dantoni, and others?

Rini: “Sure I’d love to race some of the old-timers. I’ve really enjoyed seeing those guys come back out. Pat came back and that was great. I always tease him and tell him I can’t wait to line up alongside him and beat a legend. And Tony Christian, as old as he is, is still racing.”

“When we go test early in the year at open test sessions like at SGMP, we get to run alongside guys like Shannon Jenkins and Mike Castellana, and that’s great. At one point, you just read about those guys in magazines. When I was a little kid, I found a HOT ROD Magazine and I saw Tony Christian in there when he was in his heyday. It was definitely in black and white. Tony and Pat are really great guys, and I think in years past the rivalries were really personal because they were trying to do it as a livelihood, but now we’re friends with all the guys we race with in the NMCA.”

DZ: A big part of your success is testing. We’ve heard stories of you making 10-15 runs a day prior to a race. How often do you test and how big of a role has that played in where you are today?

Rini: “Our involvement with ATI has been a big deal for us. We go try out a new transmission or converter design or make some minor changes, and their new parts have about a 99% success rate, but the only way to find that out is to test. ATI has been behind me since the Top Sportsman days, and that’s been a real feather in my cap in moving forward.”

“I used to try testing one solid weekend a month or at least one day before every race we went to, and sometimes that would give us the edge that weekend. You’re always testing at a different racetrack in a different environment, but the things you try to see if they’re working you can apply during the race or in qualifying.”

“I just love testing. Of course I love racing and that’s really what it’s all about, but testing is the search and discover. But it’s a lot of work; you wear a lot of guys out that help you and you wear out a lot of parts and every run is an expense. And you might make four changes and their all in the wrong direction, but that’s what it takes to excel.”

DZ: What have been some of the major engineering milestones in your racing programs that has really helped you success?

Rini: “The Superglide 1, which was the first high-horsepower transmission that ATI ever made was what started it all. I’d broken three transmissions in one weekend at a Top Sportsman race where ATI was displaying on the midway, and Jim Beattie came over to me and said, “I’ve got a transmission that won’t break behind that thing.” And I told him, “everything that I’ve got is broken.”

“Jim sent me a Superglide and told me wouldn’t cash the check until I was happy. We used his transmission with another manufacturers’ converter – which he wasn’t happy about – and within the next three events we won a race. So I called and told him to cash my check and he said he’d do me one better and send me two of his converters. Right off the bat we picked up four mph, and three-hundredths on the first pass and we never looked back.”

“But our involvment with and the knowledge we’ve gained from people and companies like Charlie Buck, Speedtech Nitrous, Jerry Bickel Race Cars, and others is the kind of stuff you need t win races. To go out there and run fast once or twice doesn’t do you anything. It’s being able to go out there and go six rounds and qualify well and focus on racing and not focus on fixing things.”

DZ: Are you continually doing R&D to better your racing program?

Rini: “We try a lot of new things with Charlie that we research and test on the dyno and on the car, and we’ve done quite a bit of R&D with manufactures that I’ve gotten involved with that come out with products that aren’t on the market yet. Right now we’re running the Octobase, which is a new nitrous controller that’s got a lot of advantages over our older controllers. We’re also involved with XS Power and their lithium battery development.”

“I think our R&D kind of keeps us ahead of the pack. We get to work with developers and tell them how we feel and how changes could be made to make it better. Sometimes it hurts to be in the land of the unknown, and other times it helps you.”

DZ: If the NHRA’s ban on lockup-style converters  was lifted, would you run NHRA Pro Modified?

Rini: “I can say with 100% certainty that we’d run there. And I don’t even understand why they have the ban in place. I think they just don’t understand it. A clutch car is locked up at the finish line, so why would a lockup converter not be allowed in Pro Modified in this day and age? I want to race there, but my primary sponsor is ATI and they make what I use and it helps my cars’ performance to have it in the car. But I’d be there in a heartbeat if we could get that rule changed.”

“Is it in there because they just don’t know any better, or because they don’t want automatics over there? Because honestly, the lockups help an automatic-equipped car compete in that format. It doesn’t offer any more advantage than if I put a clutch in my car. It just aggravates me because I can’t get a straight answer out of anybody.”

“I know NHRA is pretty sensitive about their oil downs due to time restrictions and scheduling, and I know in the past they’ve proven that they weren’t reliable and blew up and oiled the track, but we’ve made 400 runs between this and my previous cars with ATI transmissions and converters and never dumped a single transmission on the race track.”

“The advantage with an automatic car over in the NHRA is that they go down the track 9 times out of 10. This is all about entertainment and if you want to please the crowd, you need cars that go down the track, because eople want to see something pass by at 230 miles per hour and not shake or smoke the tires.”

DZ: Obviously you have a home with the NMCA, but you must have though about a full-on ADRL?

Rini: I think the ADRL is a great venue with an awesome environment, and I think it’s also the next level for financial exposure. To run with those guys that are the best of the best with unlimited funds, you’ve definitely got to put more money into your program, test more, and be willing to go out and wear your stuff out and replace it. And the costs just keeps rising. I’d love to run all of the ADRL races, but it’s a lot of time and expense for the travel, and if I had more money to work with, it’d certainly be an easier decision.

“If I went there, I’d want to be competitive. I don’t want to show up and just qualify. Right now, we’re running a Powerglide, which is a little bit of a disadvantage, but as we get a little faster and something falls into the schedule that’s closer to home, I’d love to run with them. I’d love to do a full-on ADRL program, it just takes a little more money and I think we’ve got to work on getting a little closer to the mark.”

DZ: Do you have any aspirations to advance up the drag racing ladder? Say, NHRA Pro Stock?

Rini: “Honestly, I’d love to try anything in drag racing. I think Pro Stock would be great, as would Pro Modified over in the NHRA, if we could get in there. I think the NHRA is a great place to race; they provide national exposure and the tracks are killer. I think it’d be fun and I’d like to run at Charlotte, but they won’t allow our combination to run right now.”

DZ: Your swim in the Hudson River has been well documented the last couple years. Do you still get a lot of fans that come up to you and ask about that event?

Rini: “Oh, definitely. That’s still a regular thing, although it happens less now than it did before. Sometimes they even still mention it when we roll up for qualifying.  But I guess the exposure was good either way you look at it.”

DZ: It takes blood, sweat, and tears to be a champion.  How do you make that happen?

Rini: “I do whatever needs to be done. If that means driving through the night to get to a race, test before a race because we’re not confident in something we’re trying, or we need to find some more speed and elapsed time, I’ll do whatever it takes to win. We’ll test all day somewhere and load up and drive twelve hours through the night to be at a race track, and if we don’t qualify or don’t run well, I’ll leave there and head to another track to test so we know we’re ready for the next one. Whatever needs to or has to be done, we’ll do. Thankfully, I’ve got great people and great manufacturers behind me.”

“We recently broke a driveshaft in qualifying and we changed everything but the engine that weekend and then we won the race. We go to the track with two of everything and we do what it takes, even if that means working through the night to fix something. We’re not just there for the barbecue.”

As anyone that’s ever lined up alongside the ATI-backed machine will attest, Chris Rini is as motivated and determined to excel as anyone in the sport and will admittedly only stop short of changing the race car at an event in order to do so.  It’s that kind of personal drive that’s made Chris the man to beat in the NMCA Pro Street realm, and suffice it to say that regardless of the venue, the ATI Performance team will be hurtin’ some feelings for years to come.

His father, Bob Stange, founded what would later become Strange Engineering in the early 1960′s, turning his side job as a machinist into a full-time business. His love for the sport and commitment to excellence forged a niche in the racing community that has made the Strange name virtually synonymous with the industry, and Jeff has followed right in his fathers footsteps.

The second-generation driveline and suspension stalwart entrenched himself in both the family business and the racing world from a young age. He would prove himself ready to take the reins and carry the Strange name into the future. We caught up with Jeff in Orlando, Florida, and took some time out to learn more about the man behind the Strange Engineering name that racers the world over have relied on for so many decades.

PowerTV: Strange Engineering is such a familiar brand to drag racers today. Hoe and where did your Dad get the idea for the company?

Jeff Stange: Like a lot of guys in the 1950′s, my father was a car enthusiast and he started making parts for himself and then for his friends - from complete chassis to chassis components. He really made a wide variety of parts, which was very common in that time period, because junkyard parts would just flat-out fail. A good friend of my father’s, Bob Summers, was out in California, and he actually worked with my dad, and helped him manufacture axles.  Bob was already making them on out on the West Coast, so they started making axle shafts out here for racers in the midwest and East coast. From there, Strange really just grew from word of mouth, and here we are today.

Jeff speaks with customer and chassis builder, Scott Weney, at a trade show in Orlando.

PTV: So you were you literally born into the axle business and the racing industry?

Stange: Yes. I grew up right in the middle of it and I was always at races when I was a kid. After school, I’d go to the shop and hang out or do my homework there until my father was done at Strange, which was often pretty late. As the years rolled on, I got into other sports, but I was always around the factory and the people. So my interest was not only the racing and the love of the sport, but the manufacturing side of it, the care that goes into making products and the importance of satisfying the customer. Racing is a very now market, you know, our customers want their parts now and they want them right. They expect a lot and I was raised to make customers happy. So to me, because my father was always that way, his slogan was… “whatever it takes to satisfy.” Ptting your customer firstas always important at Strange.

PTV: Your last name is Stange (pronounced Stang-ee), but the company name is Strange. Now, what’s the back story on that?

Stange: In the 60′s and 70′s, as my father became better known in the industry, he had a lot of articles written about the parts he was making.  Rather than putting Stange in the article, they kept writing “Strange” by accident. So everything was Strange Engineering and Strange this and that. So, when he incorporated, he named the business ‘Strange’ simply because it was easier than to fix the writers’ mistakes. It wasn’t a play on words, but just the fact that the name was misprinted so often.

PTV: You’ve taken over your Dad’s company – a company where you’ve literally grew up at – and really supercharged its growth. What have been your greatest challenges?

Stange: For me, it was the culture change. I went to a 4-year college and graduated in three years; so I went through school pretty quickly. I did have some offers to work for large companies like Hewlett Packard, but I decided that this – our family business – is what I really wanted to do. I guess the biggest challenge was the culture that was at Strange at the time, and changing that culture. As I grew into the business, I still performed different roles for three or four years - whether it was managing production, marketing or working with engineering. The main challenge was forming the culture into what it needed to be in order to grow. At that point – and this would’ve been around the early 1990′s – things were getting a little stagnant.

PTV: A lot of great companies in the racing world are hurting. Has the downturn in the economy had an effect on Strange?

Stange: Quite honestly, we run a pretty lean show, so we’re very generous with some of our expenditures. But, we’ve always run a pretty efficient ship manufacturing-wise. So for us, I didn’t really have to make many changes, but the economy did effect us. We were down about 6% in 2009, but this year we’re up about 6.5%. Strange kept a focus on new product development, because we knew that eventually we’d come out of it. At the time, we were looking to move to a bigger building, but we put that on hold. So, some plans changed, but we found ways to become more efficient.

Despite heading up the daily operations of Strange Engineering, Jeff admits to having a strong interest in the engineering and design side of things. Here, he assists in the programming of an aluminum strut being prepared for machining.

PTV: Strange is a company deeply entrenched in racing history. have you raced since getting involved in running the company?

Stange: I did Frank Hawley’s drag racing school and the Bondurant School when I was in my 20′s, but I just kept myself involved in the family business and that’s really what I do twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I tell that to a lot of friends of mine that are chassis builders. I have no idea how they can run their business and race. I truly have a lot of respect for our racers, because it’s a lot of time and dedication to invest and I just couldn’t dedicate that amount of time to both racing and my company. I live and breathe Strange, which in some way is also living and breathing racing. I travel to quite a few races during the year, which I’ve been doing since I was 20. I still enjoy it, and while I don’t get to every NHRA race like I used to, I do try to get out there, to see our customers and see what’s going on in the market.

PTV: You literally grew up at Strange. What kind of jobs did you have as a kid?

Stange: Before I was ten, I was already helping out with filing and things like that in the office. By the time I was thirteen, I was working at Strange on a regular basis during the summer. I did everything from digging ditches outside, to cleaning the bathrooms and the shop – you name it –  whatever it took. Then I graduated into broaching and milling using an old, redundant mill. I just did a lot of odd jobs and grew my knowledge in a hands-on way. Plus, it was good money during the summer for a kid and I really enjoyed the work and just being involved with cars and my Dad.

PTV: What are some challenges that you often experience in the R&D phase when you work with racers and chassis builders in the field?

Stange: I think the key for us is to get people that we can really trust. We have a lot of people that we work with. For instance, we do a lot of work with Warren Johnson and it’s important to have a person that gives you feedback as he does. Not just complaints, but legitimate feedback and suggestions. Its very important for Strange to work with people out there, really racing our parts because we’re not on the racetrack ourselves.

Engineering-wise, we have a tremendous amount of expertise, but we’re not at the track day-to-day, actually racing. We go to races and speak to racers - the best feedback we get is from racers and chassis builders. Our growth comes from these relationships and listening to what they have to say, and that provides us the path that Strange needs to follow.

PTV: What role do you personally play in the development and design of new products?

Stange: I have more of a marketing background, but I’ve picked up a lot of engineering knowledge over the years. My father did a lot of engineering, although he never went to school for it per-se. But we both have a lot of hands-on experience and, of course, a staff of engineers. But if I see a market that I want a specific product for, I’ll lay out what I want that product to do and provide some conceptual ideas. As it progresses, I certainly work with the engineers on a lot of the details. I look at Strange products like jewelry – I want them to not only be functional, but I want them to look like a race car part.

PTV: Do you enjoy the technical side of the business?

Stange: I love it. It’s always funny with our engineers, because I’ll do my research and come in with these new ideas that they’re unaware of, ususally in the manufacturing and design processes. I definitely love the engineering side. We used to work near Northwestern University and I’d go over there and buy mechanical engineering books to read, but now with the Internet, I can go online and get a wealth of information. I certainly don’t have the mechanical talent that our engineers have, but I think that part of the business is fascinating.

PTV: You make race parts, street parts and everything in between. What’s involved in the design of something as extreme as a rear end for a Top Fuel Dragster?

Stange: Honestly, it is not a profit maker at all. Fuel racing is really a love and one that my father had with those cars from growing up with them in the 60′s. Really, for Strange, its a process of nonstop research and development. A true race car part is something that’s always on the edge, because you want it to be as light as possible. And sometimes we step over that edge. But for safety’s sake, we try to stay well ahead of any safety issues, so that if we did have a failure, it wouldn’t be a catastrophic one. As well, a lot of the processes and technology that we use in those products trickle down to others that we manufacture.

Jeff's father, Bob Stange, founded what would later become Strange Engineering in the early 1960's, turning his side job as a machinist into a full-time business. Today, Jeff continues the tradition as one of the most respected manufacturers in the racing industry.

PTV: Nitro racing is a dangerous business; for the racers, officials and even the fans. Is there some inherent risk for a manufacturer like yourself to be involved?

Stange: There is, but there are so many customers in the nitro ranks that we have connections with, that we don’t want to just walk away from, and that’s what keeps us involved. It’s really not about the money, but the people that use our products having faith and trust in us. It’s also to continually advance our sport. We’re always looking at ways to handle situations where a lug nut might be left loose, something isn’t torqued properly, a wheel isn’t seated, or the lugs are starting to elongate. We actually have a new lug design that’s going to be mandatory in the NHRA next year and we’re hoping to push that through for Pro Modified as well.

None of us like to see catastrophic failures or harm to racers and fans, but these are race cars and things are going to break. I don’t think there’s any miracle cure, so we just have to keep making things better, as we have for the past 45 years. People in this industry are becoming more pre-emptive. As far as safety goes, I’m always pre-emptive. I’ll never take off that last quarter-pound if I don’t believe it’s structurally sound.

In any industry – even something as passion-driven as auto racing – heading up a major company can often become a case of pencil-pushing and bean-counting, with more interest in the bottom line than the product. If you spend just one moment with Jeff Stange, you will quickly find he is anything but. He is passionate about every facet of the business, the advancement of technology in the sport, and continuing the tradition his father built. It is a true labor of love for the sport and the people within it - a determination and commitment to excellence that is sure to carry Strange Engineering well into the future.

Moran first burst onto the drag racing scene at the very first HOT ROD Magazine Fastest Street Car Shootout with an eight-second Pinto station wagon, and in 1994 debuted his “Casper” 1994 Camaro that would come one of the most iconic cars in street legal drag racing history. After a stint with nitrous oxide that aided him in waging battle with the likes of Pat Musi and Tony Christian and earning the title of first Pro Street car run in the sixes and over 200 MPH, Moran switched to turbochargers for good in 1999. His business, Moran Motorsports in Taylor, MI, had been building turbocharged engines for years, and the swap was motivated by business as much as horsepower.

In 1994 Moran debuted his "Casper" 1994 Camaro that would come one of the most iconic cars in street legal drag racing history.

After having his infamous quad-turbo big block and subsequent twin turbo big block engine combinations banned from competition right off the bat, Moran embarked on a new mission to reach the five-second zone with a new twin turbocharged ’99 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. After several hard fought years of single-handedly leading the turbo revolution, including lobbying for the inclusion of turbos in NHRA and IHRA Pro Modified, Moran achieved the landmark goal on March 12, 2009 with a 5.97 at 251 MPH in Valdosta, GA.

At the conclusion of the 2009 season, Moran placed his record-setting Monte Carlo for sale to focus on the development of a new race car and engine combination, and with those plans inching closer to fruition, DRAGZINE sat down with the turbo wiz to learn more about the race to the five-second zone and what the future holds for his business and his racing career.

DRAGZINE: What would you consider to be your greatest achievement in the sport?

Mike Moran: It’s a close race between bring the first turbo car to break the five-second barrier in Pro Modified and six-seconds in Pro Street. Both are milestones, and they’re certainly at the top of the list. With the five-second achievement, I was trying a lot harder and it took a lot more time – around four years – and it was certainly harder fought to accomplish.

DZ: What were some of your greatest challenges in reaching the five-second zone?

Moran: With the six-second street car effort, I had a lot of people that I could go to for advice. With the five-second goal, there had been plenty of blower cars to do it, but with the turbo car, there was no one to ask. You’re the one leading the path, and there’s no one to ask “am I doing this right?”. There was a lot of trial and error, plus we were doing it with an old nitrous motor that was less than optimal.  The chassis consisted of an old Pro Stock car that was pissed off having to cope with that much power. The car kept breaking everything under the sun because it just wasn’t designed for it, so it was a fight – a hell of a struggle.

DZ: So you’d really just stretched the limits of the Monte Carlo?

Moran: That car had no business doing what it did, because it just wasn’t designed for that much power. The car never made a full throttle pass; there was always pedaling involved. It tore up three different rear ends and snapped an axle one time at Rockingham, where I almost crashed the car. We’d tear up one part, fix it and then it would break something else. The Monte Carlo just wasn’t meant for power like that. But I couldn’t afford to go build a Pro Modified car, I had to make what I had work.

DZ: You essentially pioneered turbo Pro Mod racing. Did you expect it to take off the way it has?

Moran: No, I didn’t think it’d happen this quick. I told everyone that it’d be ten years before you would see a lot of cars with turbos, and we’re not quite at ten years yet and already half of them are there. It was a long and arduous process paving the way for turbos in Pro Modified and I know many others have followed in my footsteps. Originally, I sat down with a clean slate with [Kenny] Nowling and we made the rules. We were the only car involved in the class; the first turbo car to run in Pro Modified, period. There wasn’t even another one being built. A year later, it was Annette Summer and I, in which neither one of us could run well. Then again, look at what we were working with; we had cars that weren’t meant for what they were doing.

There were a couple of achievements that I set for myself. First was becoming the first turbo car in the fives because, in my driving career. Secondly, and I said mark my words – and I told this to the guys at IHRA and Kenny Nowling [with the NHRA AMS Pro Modified series] – that in ten years time, that turbos will be the power adder of choice. And we’re on our way; we’re about 40% of the way there.

DZ: Even when you were fighting tooth and nail with your combination, you were still confident that this was the way of the future?

Moran: Most of my struggles were with the car, and there are some shortcomings on the turbo cars as far as short times, but with some of the new technology out there, I knew it would come to it. If enough people are doing it and it’s fast enough, people will start building parts for what you’re doing.

These cars still can’t be beaten on the back half of the track – turbocharged Pro Modifieds run about as fast as a Top Fuel car in the back half. They pick up around 57 [MPH] out the back, and that’s a statistic that most people don’t know. Those cars cross the finish line at 330 miles per hour, but they run 275 to the eighth mile. They always pick up around 55 in the back, but it’s nothing for a strong car to make up 50 or more. The first time that someone ever told me that statistic, it was Tony Christian. Most race cars pick up 40-47 in the back half, but turbo cars are the exception to the rule.

DZ: Would you say that your “dirty work”, so to speak, made it possible for other turbo racers to come in and run well?

Moran: I’d rather refer to it as the trickle down effect, because that’s how it was put to me. People send me links to forums all the time and that’s exactly what people are saying. All of these guys now are running pretty fast, but they had the trickle down effect from what we were doing when nobody was doing it. They didn’t have six year learning curve like me; they had a year at best because they were able to take advantage of the prior six years. We didn’t hide it from anybody, and they knew what we were doing. They got to watch, and when they knew it was close enough, they jumped in.

DZ: Tell us a little about your new racing effort.

Moran: The first car is being built by Jerry Bickel and it is going to belong to a customer. It’s going to be a situation where I’ll drive the car for the first season to get it worked out for them, and then I’ll look at building a car of my own. I’ve got another car being built right behind that one, and honestly, as long as these guys let me build their cars and supervise them and figure out what needs to be done for the combination, I don’t know that I’ll ever build a car. As much as I’d love to build another one, these guys are giving me the artistic freedom to do whatever I want, and that’s what I like. The only reason I built my own car was because no one was letting me use my ideas on their car. But I don’t have that problem right now, so really, I’m living a dream.

DZ: Do you enjoy the driving aspect, or would you be perfectly content standing behind the race car?

Moran: I do enjoy the driving end of it, but I like tuning as well. If I were just to work on making them fast, I could do a lot better job then doing both. It’s definitely an ego thing; I mean you like to go fast, but I’ll be okay if its one of my customers, as long as its my stuff. I’m happy with that.

Do I like driving and the the thrill of it all? Hell yes, I’m an adrenaline junkie. I’ve had a lot of fun doing what I’ve done, and I’ve got to be realistic about it. I just don’t have the money to run in a series for a whole season, so I’d usually go hit two or three races with my car and that was about it. I enjoy my business and getting to tune for other guys and get paid for what I’m doing.

In a perfect world, if I had a big sponsor paying all the bills and I had the money, I’d race a full season anywhere. But the reality is that I have a business that I love that allows me to think outside the box, and then use this knowledge to make my customers succeed in their racing program. And of course, I have to pay the bills, so I have to drive on a part-time basis.

DZ: Was the five-second chase hard on you financially?

Moran: It was very tough, because we were always chasing so many different things. We spent a lot of money on theories, because we couldn’t just call someone up for advice. We had to explore theories and see what worked and what didn’t.

If I had to go out and build a five second car tomorrow, I could do it for a third of the money I had in the Monte Carlo, because two-thirds of the money was spent on development that we didn’t know would work or not, and they didn’t. Now that it’s been done and there’s a template, it’s no problem.

The Monte Carlo was rebuilt and changed in different ways three different times, and we spent that money three times when it could’ve been spent once. We even lengthened the wheelbase. Most people don’t cut the front of the car off unless they wreck it, but we cut it off to lengthen the wheelbase because it wasn’t stable enough. There was a lot of wasted time and money in it.

DZ: Despite the tribulations of that car and the high costs of reaching your goal, what motivated you to keep tirelessly forging ahead?

Moran: When we got it to the point of running in the 6.0′s and teens, I was very close to a breakthrough, and if I took six months to a year break building a car, I’d have been last into the fives. So I was forced to push a limited car. We had to make it work, even though it was really past the point of being safe. We just had to push on, because someone else would’ve beat us to it. By the time we got to the low sixes, everyone had taken notice and started to say “hey, we know what he’s doing; he’s doing this and that and we know what he’s using for a rear gear and everything.” Well all they had to do was build it once rather than three times. We just knew that we couldn’t take a break.

DZ: Why did you opt for the Mustang body, and what are some of the design cues that you’ve incorporated into this version?

Moran: To be honest, it was mostly my partner, Bart Lemieux. He kept suggesting that we go with the Ford and I told him that we’d have to do a lot of work to get a body where we wanted it. We could do a Chevrolet body and I could have an aerodynamic body the way I wanted it, right away. He convinced me to talk to Joe King and Jesse Kershaw at Ford Racing and because they’re right here by the shop, they’d stop by every two weeks and ask “are you ready yet?” I told them if they were serious we’d sit down and talk, and we did. I told them I was going to run my own powerplant and it wasn’t going to be a Chevy, Chrysler or a Ford. I was going to design my own motor, but we’d put the Ford name on everything. We were going to have completely reshape the body and so they were going to have to supply a couple Pro Stock bodies and work with me on some parts.

It was a Pro Stock body that they were offering, but I needed a Pro Modified body, so we were going to have a year just in the development of a body. When we came to that agreement, I said okay, and that’s why we ended up going with Ford. They’re friendly guys and would stop by and talk to me on a regular basis and it seemed like a natural fit.

DZ: So tell us about this new engine you are designing?

Moran: We’re building a new HEMI-based engine that has a lot of our own ideas incorporated into it. I’ve been working with Danny Jesel and Charlie Weston to develop a whole new block platform that uses, what we feel, is some pretty innovative thinking. It’s been designed strictly for turbocharged alcohol, so it’s going to be really easy to maintain. We basically created the best of a Ford, a Chevy, a Chrysler, and everything I’ve learned in my 25-plus years of building engines.

I left myself a wide open platform with it; I can go as large as 770 cubic inches and as small as 500 and still have a nice package. I kept it at a reasonable deck height; not too tall, not too short, and by doing this, we have a platform that can really fit anyones needs.

The customer receiving the first car already owns the engine that was in the Monte Carlo and so we’re going to run that until the new engine is complete. We actually already have the first three MRE HEMI motors that will be built sold, so I wouldn’t even have one of my own until next year.

DZ: When do you expect to be back on the racetrack?

Moran: We’re tentatively saying July, and we’re comfortable saying that unless things take longer than expected, which everyone knows can happen when starting a new program.

The nose of the Moran-designed Mustang body at right, features a much smaller frontal area than the Pro Stock nose at left.

DZ: Where do you plan on racing?

Moran: We’re targeting the ADRL. That’s why my engine combination is the way it is. We don’t have any visions of being super competitive from the get-go, we just want to go out there and work on developing the low end performance that we lack against the blower cars.

We’re looking at it as a new challenge, and I really like the ADRL from the standpoint that they’re just outside-the-box thinkers. You can do whatever you want, just bring it and I like that. That’s what got me off the streets and into the NMCA. It was bring your car to Memphis and let’s see who’s got the baddest car, and it was heads-up racing. That was 1992 and I’d never seen it before. With class racing where there’s all kinds of specified engine regulations, weights, and things like that, no one is rewarded for any sort of outside thinking.

DZ: Although you’d sold it and moved on, was it tough to see the Monte Carlo torn up in the crash last fall?

Moran: Yeah, I felt really bad when I saw it. I’d been through a lot of hairy moments with that car at 250 miles per hour. That car was only designed to run 205, and I ran 252 with it. Everytime I pulled the chutes, it’d lift the rear wheels three feet of the ground because the location of the pull point was great for Pro Stock racing, but it was too low for Pro Modified. It’d dance around on its nose guardrail to guardrail, but I always able to get it under control.

Ric Fleck purchased Moran's record-setting Monte Carlo last season and went for a wild ride in Orlando during qualifying at the annual World Streetnationals last fall.

I thought to myself, “I don’t know how many times I’d been close to crashing that car and saved it somehow.” I guess it was a lot of luck and the grace of God, and some good driving. And then to see it go out and get balled up into the wall 300 feet out, I was just sick. But the guy was okay, Larry [Larson] did a great job building the car, and it did what it was meant to do it; it saved the driver.

DZ: At present, the ADRL Pro Extreme class doesn’t contain a single turbo car. Is it possible for these cars to compete, or does the nature of the turbo simply rule you out in the eighth mile?

Moran: There are ways around the current disadvantage. The ADRL doesn’t limit you within reason, and because we can do whatever we want, I’ve got a couple ideas that I don’t want to let out of the bag that I think exist that someone just needs to go out there and try. So that’s what we’re going to do.

Initially we won’t be competitive, but I’d like to think after a full year under our belt, we can be. Conservatively, I think we can run 3.70′s and then we’ll see where we go from there.

DZ: In Outlaw competition, would or could the quad turbo setup be viable today?

Moran: I think John Meaney [of BigStuff3] and I learned a lot from that whole program, and if anything, you’d be at a disadvantage with more turbos. The pulses per turbo aren’t enough to get the wheel speed that you need. The more pulses you have, the quicker you can get turbine speed, and when we cut it down to two pulses, we had a hard time getting it to make boost.

Back then, I built a really killer big block with a short stroke and we were spinning 9,200 RPM on the chip, just to get it to make the boost we needed before it left the starting line. That’s higher than most people shift. So we learned that with two turbos instead of four, the energy from the other two pipes could be put into one and now its easy to get it to build boost.

We definitely learned a lot from it back then, but I don’t think that’d be the way to go now.

DZ: What challenges do you face trying to run a business, build a new race car, and campaign a race season?

Moran: The biggest challenge is getting any sleep. There’s no time for sleep when you’ve got all of that on your ticket. I’d sleep two or three hours tops, and when I wasn’t doing one of the three, I might sleep for five or six hours. But when you’ve got everything going at once, there’s just no way that you can be a normal person.

The racing has always taken a backseat. I put all of my customers first and the racing has always been the thing that faltered. I could be mad at myself, but at least I didn’t have anyone else mad at me.

For Mike and his team, the road to the five-second zone was a long and arduous task, but in the end, their tireless efforts paid off with a place in the history books that no one can ever take away from them. And along the way, they opened the floodgates for turbocharging in Pro Modified and ushered in a whole new era for the Pro Modified category. And now, armed with a blank slate to carve out on an entirely new racing program from the ground-up, the future has never looked brighter for Mike Moran and his Moran Motorsports business.

Images courtesy: Steve Matusek/Aeromotive Inc.

Aeromotive Inc. President and founder Steve Matusek made the long-awaited debut of the new twin turbocharged Rough/Yates engine combination in Pro Modified at last weekends NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals in Houston, and despite coming just a few hundredths short of making the show, he and his team view the maiden outing as a clear success.

“The really exciting thing from our perspective is that the valvetrain isn’t moving around, the engine is happy, the bearings are happy, and the car is responding to the changes that we made,” Matusek explains.

The Aeromotive crew opened qualifying on Friday afternoon with a tire-chattering and pedaling 6.623 at 222.25 miles per hour, but made some changes between rounds and came back out in the later session to improve significantly to a 6.236 at 235.89 that was good for 15th on the provisional qualifying sheet. In Saturday’s final session, however, Steve was bumped from the field and like many others in the class, couldn’t get ahold of the starting line on his last attempt and was unable to improve.

“Unfortunately on the first pass, we had a problem and lost power to the boost controller, so we were behind the eight ball after that session,” explained Matusek. “On the second run when we went 6.23, that really should’ve been our first run. And if that had been the case, it would’ve put us in a much, much better position because the track really went away on the third pass. But all in all, we were extremely happy with how the car is performing and how its responding when we make changes. We changed rear end gears, transmission gears, and different boost strategies between runs, so we’re not even close to having a baseline yet, but we’re a lot closer.” After their earlier debut was scrapped to tend to issues regarding the brand new, untested engine combination, Matusek and company shook the new machine down at  nearby Tulsa Raceway Park before green-lighting the trip to Houston.

There, Steve made four passes down the race track, with the goal in mind of reaching a different point in the gear change with each successive attempt. On the first pass, they simply wanted to get the car into second gear, and did so with a coasting 7.20 elapsed time. On the next two passes, he took the car halfway through second gear and then into third gear. On the final run, Steve clicked it at 1,100′ and recorded an impressive 6.31 at 222 miles per hour.

Explained Matusek, “We tried to test in Houston some weeks back and we just had problems. I mean we had problems that we had to address, and we just weren’t ready yet. So we had to redo some things on the car, change some things around, and unfortunately, we lost the first two races of the year, but that’s what happens when you go into a new engine program. If you go in with a cookie cutter-type engine combination and other peoples’ power, you don’t have these kinds of issues, but at the same time, it’s a lot more fulfilling to us to take some new programs, partner up with some new people like Roush/Yates, and do things that no one has ever done before. And that’s why we’re so excited about this program.”

In the development of the new race car and engine combination, Aeromotive has developed a one-of-a-kind prototype fuel pump for such an engine, capable of moving  21 gallons per minute. Based on the results seen not only at Houston but during testing, Matusek and company see ample potential in the new engine combination and in their new 2010 Ford Mustang. “The ratios that we had in the car weren’t what we wanted, and we’ve got a lot more power that we could put in it,” said Matusek. “We were basically at 35 pounds of boost, so we didn’t have much power in the car. It was a very fat tuneup with no timing, and a very, very loose clutch setup, so there are a multitude of areas that we can go to to throw power in it. But it was more important for us initially to just get the car from A to B and start making laps and accumulating data so that we could project a strategy going forward so that we can go faster, as opposed to blowing the tires off because we’re trying to rotate the earth.”

Matusek’s biggest concern going into the Houston event wasn’t the performance of the car or whether or not the team made the qualified field, but rather, that they could bring everything home in one piece and be ready to forged ahead with the combination. “It’s not like we can call an engine builder and say ‘hey, we hurt it and we need a sleeve and a piston’ or something like that. This is the only engine like this in existence, and until we feel comfortable that we have a good combination that we feel can be reliable and durable enough, we’re not going to build another one. So it was a real testament to what’s been done so far, because we can’t go out there and get aggressive with it until we know it’s going to live. Right now we’re feeling a lot more confident with it, but we’re still going to continue to sneak up on this thing and see what it can take.”

Although spectators come Saturday afternoon, Steve and his team did pick up a little hardware to commemorate their first weekend in Pro Modified. So impressed were the NHRA officials with the ingenuity and keen attention to detail put into the Aeromotive Mustang, that the team was honored with the prestigious Best Engineering Car award. “We’re excited. We entered Atlanta so that’s going to be our next stop, and we’ll probably head to Tulsa and test again before that, but we’re extremely excited about what we’ve seen so far.”

Moving ahead, the Aeromotive team’s goal is to continue shaving that valuable elapsed time away, and Steve believes it would be a huge step in the right direction for their program to qualify at Atlanta in two weeks. From there, they’ll enter the car in Competition Eliminator in Topeka and pull out all the stops to entertain their employees and their families at their home event before embarking on what they hope to the balance of the NHRA Pro Modified schedule.

And after their first experience in the always-exciting world of Pro Modified racing, suffice it to say that Steve and the rest of the Aeromotive and Roush/Yates team are looking forward to what the future holds.

“This is as excited as I’ve been about racing in the last few years,” states Matusek. “We have something that I think is really competitive and we’re anxious to get back out there. The Pro Modified guys are great to race with. Sure there’s competition out on the track, but there’s also a camaraderie there, and we felt fortunate to be a part of that. These guys seem to have a different kind of bond, and it’s neat to be around.”

“Hopefully we can go some rounds and win some races; that’s ultimately where we want to be.”

Paul “Scooter” Brothers, President and co-founder of COMP Cams and chairman-elect of the SEMA board of directors, is a good guy to get to know. Involved in multiple forms of racing for practically his whole adult life, he currently leads a performance parts empire, yet remains one of the easiest guys to talk to in the business. It turns out that the head honcho of COMP has quite a few racing stories that you’d never think a CEO of a major corporation would tell you, but we think you’ll find that Scooter is no ordinary CEO. He’s a racer at heart, always has been, and always will be.

powerTV: OK, first of all, let’s get the question about the nickname out of the way…

Scooter Brothers: The name came from the lady in the hospital the day I was born. I don’t remember it personally, but I’m told that I was “scooting” around in the little basket they put me in, so she named me. And it just stuck. I should probably make us some really noble story, but this is as far as I know, the truth.

PTV: Let’s talk about more recent history. Over the years, you’ve been involved with racing of all kinds and at all levels, so you’ve got a bit of perspective on the topic. Are the more “colorful” part of racing – the rivalries, the shenanigans on and off the track, the personalities – a thing of the past?

SB: The last 20 years or so has been relatively cookie-cutter. When things got more refined and more professional, people got to be less of the “characters” they used to be. In the old days, it was not unusual to have some pretty big-time arguments – things went on that were a lot more cowboy-ish than you’d put up with today. It wasn’t unusual to have somebody threaten somebody else, “If you don’t let my guy win…” There’s just a lot of crazy things that used to happen, and today you can’t get away with that kind of stuff. In the early days you did what you had to do.

PTV: Do you have a few stories that come to mind about the old days? What was it like racing then? What stories can you share?

SB: <Laughing> OK, I’ll tell you a couple of funny stories, and then one that has stuck with me for my entire life that was really a life lesson. I’ll start way back, back in the early days of drag racing in the ‘60’s. Things weren’t very complicated back then, you know. They had very simple drag strips and a lot of things were approximated, and it just wasn’t a real nice setup over all. There were weeds everywhere and racetracks were basically put wherever they could be.

I remember one night where we had stock classes running, and they had big spots and some of the old racing cars were ’50 Oldsmobiles, so they were really slow, and they would get longer handicaps than some of the faster cars. So when they’d leave the starting line and be running down the track there’d just happen to be someone laying in the weeds right at the photo cell at the finish line, and just to “make sure” the cell was working he might’ve reached his hand out to trip the beam before the cars went by.

PTV: Just to make sure?

SB: Well, you know, you never know about those things. We always called it a hot dog wrapper blowing through there. Well, one night it got a little mixed up and the beam light got tripped early and the guy that was racing him saw the win light come on when he was only about 1000 feet down the track. He knew something was going on then! That’s one story that I wouldn’t have wanted to let out of the bag 40 years ago, but maybe nobody is still alive that remembers it happening. We’ll just say that I knew the guy laying in the weeds pretty well.

PTV: So, was it you?

SB: <Laughing> You’ll never know, but I wasn’t fat then like I am now and it was easier to lay in the weeks, I’ll say that!

PTV: Sounds very suspicious! Were you aware of any other “suspicious” activities that just happen to take place at races where you were in attendance?

SB: Oh, maybe. I do remember one other time we were out doing some oval track racing on the dirt races and I was supporting the engine of Billy Moyer, an Iowa guy, and this was in ’84 or ’85. Billy was and still is a National star and we were racing down in Lubbock, TX. He was in the front row and while they were going around on a warm-up lap he had a plug wire fall off.

We had always said back then that if the lights had gone out at the race track that it’d be a bad thing, and no one would know what to do. So, I happen to look up and there was a switch box by the lights, and all of a sudden the lights went out and the track went dark. The cars had to stop while they were figuring it out, so we went out on the track and put the plug wire back on.

PTV: Wow, what are the odds that the lights would just go out like that?

SB: Well, you never know, but they put a lock on that handle after that!

PTV: You had mentioned that there was one story that was a huge life lesson for you. What was that?

SB: Well, this is the one that I’m most proud of and it’s about John Lingenfelter. John and I were really tight. We had raced and traveled together, and he was a really special person. He was the kind of guy that would do anything, and I mean anything that he had to do to win a race.

The story that I want to tell you was back in 1977 or ’78. John had a super stock Corvette that was by far the fastest car anywhere, and this was before they had break out racing or anything like that. Basically the fastest car would win the race. We were at Indianapolis at the U.S. Nationals and this was on Monday morning, the day of the eliminations. They used to give the super stock cars a time trial first thing in the morning.

Well, he went up that Monday morning for his time trial and while he was doing his burnout the entire side of the engine block pulled out. He got around to the pits but had no spare engine. He lived in Decatur, IN which was maybe a little under 100 miles from there. It was about 2 hours before the first round started when all of this happened. For most people that would have been it, but John had seen a helicopter giving rides to spectators over the track, so he went and found the helicopter and had the guy fly him to Decatur so he could get a spare block. He landed in the middle of the street, ran in, grabbed the new block, and started prepping it in the helicopter on the way back.

While he was gone, a group of us racers got together, pulled the engine out and tore it down. In other words we had the crank, rod, and pistons laying there and we had everything as prepared as we possible could. We went out and borrowed ring compressors so that every piston had ring compressors on them. We had everything completely ready for when John got back. 45 minutes after he landed, the Corvette was in the staging lanes! It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. There were actually some pictures taken by Rick Vogel who did a series of pictures for Car Craft. It proved to me that you can do just about anything if you set your mind to it.

John Lingenfelter campaigned his super-successful Corvette for several years which would pave the way for the Corvette performance parts that Lingenfelter Performance is known for.

PTV: Could you say that was one of those life lessons that never seem leave you?

SB: It hasn’t and it never will! I guess it’s something that I’ll never forget. When they had John’s funeral, there were a bunch of pictures of his racing accomplishments in the foyer, maybe 100 pictures or so. We were all milling around out there and saw the pictures of that day and the memories came flooding back. It was really pretty cool.

One topper to the story was that when John went up to the starting line with the rebuilt engine the carb started to flood over. It turns out that when someone had put a bolt in the rubber fuel line to block the fuel while we pulled the engine, he just happened to choose a bolt that had a little piece of silicone on it. No one ever noticed. That piece of silicone came off of that bolt and eventually got stuck into the needle and seat in the carburetor. John couldn’t race.

The entire place knew that the race would have been his had he been able to run. I’ve never seen what happened next to this day, but the NHRA let him come back and make a run by himself during the U.S. Nationals just to show how fast he could of run, and he ended up racing way faster than anyone else. It put the icing on the cake and proved what would have happened had he been allowed to run.

Something else that stuck with me was that there was maybe 25 or 30 of us working on John’s car to get it ready, and every single one of us decided what to do to get the job done fastest. That’s the most fun thing about racing is that the people that compete against each other on the track help each other in the pits.

PTV: So you may have tweaked the engine in the pits that ended up beating you!

SB: Yes! Absolutely. But everyone sees that in racing and that’s what makes great. There’s no question that as far as someone learning values and learning how to work that it’s a hell of a training tool. It’s a great life lesson and had about as much impact on me as being in the service.

PTV: You had mentioned to me before the interview that the last car you raced personally was a Camaro that you and John Lingenfelter prepared together. Since racing has had such a huge impact on you, is it something that you miss doing?

SB: You know, people ask me if I miss racing all the time, but I just tell them that I never stopped racing. I actually race every day. I just race companies instead of cars. My partner is a lawyer, and he hasn’t practiced in some time, but I have grown to know that lawyers race just like we do on a racetrack. If you look around at successful people in business, they all race against the guy next to them, whether he’s in the next lane, or across the courtroom, or somebody else on the midway. We all race our competition. And I tell my guys that it’s not always necessary to play fair – we have to use whatever we can call an advantage. In some cases, that’s what a racer does. Fair means one thing, but as you get closer and closer to the competition and business side of things, it means a little something different.

PTV: Scooter, these are fantastic stories. It’s incredible how much racing has shaped your life. Thanks so much for sharing.

SB: It was my pleasure. Anytime!

]]> http://www.dragzine.com/features/interviews/unbelievable-racing-stories-with-comp-camss-scooter-brothers/feed/ 0 http://www.dragzine.com/features/interviews/granatelli-reuniting-with-ford-modular-combo-for-psca-in-2011/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=granatelli-reuniting-with-ford-modular-combo-for-psca-in-2011 http://www.dragzine.com/features/interviews/granatelli-reuniting-with-ford-modular-combo-for-psca-in-2011/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:54:10 +0000 Andrew Wolf http://speednik.com/?p=19733

J.R. Granatelli. Image credit: SEMA News

Longtime Mustang drag racer and performance parts aficionado J.R. Granatelli, president of Granatelli Motorsports, has announced his intentions to pursue building what would be the quickest and fastest Ford Modular-powered Mustang to date for the 2011 season and beyond. Granatelli will work closely with Aeromotive’s Steve Matusek, who carried the Ford Modular banner before selling his car to step up to the next level of doorslammer racing.

“Steve is moving up to Pro Modified and so along with Ford, we’re going to carry on and build a PSCA-style car and continue to promote the Mod motor. So basically we’re building a Mod motor Pro Modified car. Along with PSCA, we’ll also run it in NHRA Competition Eliminator,” said Granatelli. “We’re never going to be able to compete on the Pro Modified level with a Modular motor. We’re not going to make 3,200 horsepower, but we know we can make about 2,500. And that’s plenty, but it’s probably going to take a solid 5.85 to 5.90 every round this year to be competitive and our combination just won’t be enough.”

Aeromotive President Steve Matusek has helped to carry the Modular engine torch for the last handful of season and is readying for an NHRA Pro Modified venture in 2011 with the help of Roush Yates Engines.

Granatelli continued, “I think where we shine and stand to get the most exposure and do the most damage with a shot to win every race is the PSCA, where the car only has to weigh 2,400 or 2,500 pounds with a Mod motor and we can run 5.90′s to 6.0′s. And with that kind of performance over there you’ll be able to win a lot of races.”

The new ride, which will be draped in a 2011 Ford Mustang body, will receive power from a 5.4L-based, 331-cubic inch powerplant sporting a set of 80mm turbochargers out front. The mega horsepower mill will then be backed by a Liberty five-speed transmission. The chassis is currently under development and the debut is estimated at late spring for testing, with a full-on effort planned for late 2011 and the 2012 season.

J.R. describes this as a “no budget” effort that will have all the best parts and pieces for the rare Modular combination that he’s made waves with in other drag racing ventures in the past. In the early 2000′s Granatelli transformed an eight second Modular-powered Mustang into a six-second runner in the NMRA’s hit Pro 5.0 category, putting the combination squarely on the map and creating plenty of chatter regarding its surprising competitiveness. But later, rule changes in the class coupled with a loss of support from Ford hampered those efforts and Granatelli traded in the Modular engine for a conventional combo. Since that time, both John Mihovetz and Matusek have campaigned the Modulars with rousing success and now, Granatelli is excited to be reunited with Ford and carry the Modular banner once again.

Granatelli campaigned this Fox body Mustang in the NMRA's Super Street Outlaw class for a short time in 2006 and 2007. Image credit: Racecraft.com

“The Mod motor kind of died. But Matusek decided to go NHRA racing and wanted to get some exposure for the Mod motor and obviously he one-upped us, because a lot has changed between 2001 and 2010. COMP Cams developed better camshafts and better rocker control, along with the advent of the GT block from the Ford GT. So Steve was able to go super fast.” J.R. indicated he’s gone outside the automotive realm for sponsorship on the new car, with some backers already signed and negotiations ongoing with others. “We’re in some great sponsorship talks right now and thats all that I can say at this point. It should be good, but I don’t want to jinx myself. This to me is like my lust ‘hurrah’. I’m 40 years old and I’ve got an 18-year old kid who wants to drive. So I’d like to drive the car a little bit and then hand the car over to him and say okay, here it is.”

This new format would offer fans two opportunities over the course of the weekend to see the main event, which would include a booked-in lineup of Top Fuel dragsters, Pro Fuel dragsters, Prostalgia Nitro Funny Cars, and an assortment of exhibition vehicles to round out the program. This announcement was met with heated criticism from the series’ longtime diehard fans, media, and racers who weren’t keen on this new idea that, for some, took away the venue in which they had long called home.

However, with a debut season in the books that saw eye-opening crowds at nearly every venue, in addition to some exciting racing, there’s little doubt that the IHRA is truly on to something with their new venture. And along the way, the series managed to appease many of those early naysayers that all but wrote the series off last winter. DRAGZINE sat down with the IHRA’s Manager of Media and Publicity, Larry Crum, to learn how the series and Feld Entertaiment grade their first season and what’s in store for the future of the fledgling new Nitro Jam program.

Dragzine: Now that your first season under the new Nitro Jam format is complete, tell us your thoughts and how you grade the season overall?

Larry Crum: “In my opinion, I would say the first season would have to be around a B-plus. And the reason for that is, with the new format, this was very much a test year. We obviously enacted the new format, and we expected some success with it right off the bat, but not as much as we had. We had a great year, a lot of big crowds, and a lot of support. We also got a lot of attention with the new format. We experimented with some stuff, and it’s opened us up to try some new things next year. We plan to add some new classes, and our schedule, while we haven’t released it yet, is an expanded schedule that has a couple more events with three new markets. It’s opened a lot of opportunities and a lot of eyes to the series. But there is still a lot of room to grow, a lot of things to try.”

DZ: What were some things that you learned in this first season that you could or plan to implement changes to improve in 2011?

Crum: “We plan on adding more variety next year, for one. We started this first year with the three classes that we had just to sort of establish a base of what we wanted to go forward with, by adding more nitro classes. Next year we plan on having more classes on the schedule. And some of the thing like FanFest; we had certain parts of FanFest that really took off and so we plan on doing more of that. It was more of a ‘lets see how this works out,’ and it was a huge success. Particularly the nitro warmup’s that we have during FanFest. Because we used this year as an experiment on what worked and what didn’t, it has allowed us to go forward next year with a much bigger version of what you saw this year. We plan to continue growing it each year. Whether that’s more classes, more variety, or just adding more to the overall package.”

The cars and stars of the IHRA competed before eye-opening crowds at events all across the country under the new Nitro Jam format in 2010. All images courtesy: IHRA.com

DZ: What do you say to the detractors that said this format couldn’t and wouldn’t work?

Crum: “We did hear a lot of that, obviously. There’s nothing wrong with people being used to the old format and the way things used to be done – we still want their support as much as possible. But you almost have to say that times are changing. What we did wasn’t working – it just wasn’t working for us. So, we needed to branch out and find something that was our little niche in the market. And the new format turned out to be that thing. We knew it would be successful, we just didn’t know how quickly it would take off. There’s nothing against the traditionalists, and we had a lot of them that said it could not work and would not work that came out to races and said “you know, I don’t necessarily like the kind of racing you’re doing, but I had a lot of fun.” And that’s really the whole point of it. It’s not just a race, it’s a spectacle, and it’s a lot of fun. That was the point of our new deal – to make it fun again.”

DZ: What has been the response from the competitors, track owners, and promoters with one season in the books?

Crum: “For the most part, it’s been very positive. We had some new tracks come onboard in the off-season and we have three new markets in 2011 that we either haven’t been to in a while or never been to before. We’re even going to a new track out West next year. Some of them, like Rockingham, it just didn’t work out for. We knew that in some markets, the event just might not work, it’s as simple as that. And so we decided to take the events to new markets where the series could have a chance to grow and flourish.”

We’ve had several tracks that even we didn’t expect to get phone calls from saying; Wow, this seems to really be working, what’s the secret?’ We have some very big tracks that are not IHRA-sanctioned right now that are very interested in what we’re doing and have been in talks with us about things for the future. So overall, it has been a very positive response.”

Pro Fuel racer Bill Evans competes before a packed house at the Rockingham Dragways' Spring Nitro Jam.

DZ: Why was the traditional format no longer working for the IHRA?

Crum: “Our fan attendance was down, our car counts were down, and the economy was a huge factor in deciding a lot of these changes. And combining the economy with the fact that when Feld Motorsports came onboard, they are a very entertainment-oriented company. They loved what we were doing – I can honestly say that despite outside perception, Feld loves the sportsman portion of what we’re doing – they love touching our membership base all over North America.”

“They wanted to leave the sportsman portion as it was, but they wanted to grow the entertainment portion. And with the traditional format not exactly working for us, we decided to go forward with a new plan, a new direction. Let’s keep the core of the IHRA, and take the rest of it and make it as much entertainment and fun as possible. And that’s what’s worked – just getting away from what wasn’t working and trying new thing to make the series grow.”

Pro Modified, a longtime staple category created by the IHRA in 1990, was included at select events on the 2010 Nitro Jam tour.

DZ: Was there a “plan B” so to speak if this format didn’t take off?

Crum: “The one thing that we always want to get across is that if Feld Entertainment were ever to just say this isn’t working anymore and drop us and the professional racing went away, the IHRA would continue to exist in its sportsman structure. We want to make it clear that we are sportsman first, and the show is just the added element to it.”

“In terms of a Plan B; not really. It was more a case of we expected this to work and we knew this could work. People love seeing these cars, and they love nitro, the jets, the fireworks, and the whole spectacle of it. So we sort of went in to it saying,’This is what we’re going to do and we’re not going to look back.’ We’re going to go all-in this year and see where it takes us. Obviously it worked out for this year, and it’s by no means a perfect system and it’s still a work in progress. But for the first year, we’re very pleased with the direction it went in and we hope to continue to grow for next year.”

Prostalgia Funny Car competitor Mike McIntire Sr.'s McAttack '69 Camaro at Palm Beach International Raceway

DZ: Much has been made of the parting of ways with the staple Pro Modified and Pro Stock categories that put the IHRA on the map. Are there any talks of bringing these classes back into the fold?

Crum: “Obviously, we continued to have Pro Modified racing at four or five events this year. We still talk to those groups, and right now there isn’t a plan to bring them back into the fold as a full-time class, but we’re continuing to work with different Pro Mod groups all across the country. We still love that kind of racing, and it’s very much a part of the IHRA, and when we works with the tracks to set up the individual events, a lot of them have said that’s what they want to be a part of their show. We have worked Pro Mod into some of them, and while it’s not on the schedule to bring them back full-time, it’s always a possibility to have the, at different events.”

DZ: You had large crowds at virtually every race, but would you say that your demographic has shifted from the diehard fan to those coming out to see their first drag race? And if so, can you maintain those customers at the same venue year after year?

Crum: “Sure, we’ve absolutely seen a shift in the balance. At different tracks, it’s been a different mixture, I guess you could say. Some of the events we’ve had a lot of our diehard, core crowd out, and others we’ve had a lot of brand new faces. And a lot of the brand new faces have come in not knowing much about our sport.”

“We’ve conducted surveys at some of the events this year and some have been our diehard crowd and some the fans who either saw a commercial on TV and thought it looked like fun, or knew a little bit about drag racing and liked the price points. But, we’ve definitely seen a shift, with a lot of new fans. As well, we’ve seen a lot of families, which was one of the keys this year with the FanFest and the short time schedule. We had an incredible increase in attendance from children this year from any other year in the past. We had a lot of kids. And that’s something that we hope to continue to grow.”

The IHRA's new Fan Fest was designed to give fans a chance to interact with the stars of the series, and included autograph sessions, christmas tree competitions, and other activities, concluding with "Thunder in the Pits," in which every nitro car in attendance fired their cars in unison.

“The idea is that we don’t want to go into the same event every year with the same exact show. I think we can continue to draw out the new fans and bring the ones that maybe aren’t diehard fans that came out this year. I think we can definitely bring them back next year, based on a different variety. Our idea is to make some changes to show every year. We’ll still see many of the same classes, but we’ll also bring some new ones with different size car counts and some new headline attractions. And sticking with a variety and adding in the price point, I think we’ll continue to draw new fans and bring back the ones that saw a great show the year before.”

DZ: Are Feld Entertainment and the IHRA committed to giving sportsman racers a venue with which to compete?

Crum: “Oh, definitely. The idea is that we want the IHRA to have its identity as sportsman first. And we stress that in everything we do. We want to make sure that all of our sportsman racers know that Fled is very committed to this. We have members of the Feld organization come to many events during the year and they love the reach, they love the family atmosphere, they love everything about sportsman racing. The Nitro Jam event is our way of putting on a show, but the sportsman racing is still our core. And Feld Entertainment is definitely 100% behind the sportsman part of what we do.”

DZ: Will we ever see the IHRA return to a standard race format with true qualifying fields?

Crum: “With the way it’s working right now, I think it’s going to stay the way it is…for now. There may definitely be some tweaks or changes to the system and the way we do it now, but as far as returning to the old format, there is no plan right now to return to the traditional format.”

Bruce Litton and Bobby Lagana square off during the Salt Lake Nitro Jam at Rocky Mountain Raceway

DZ: Where do you see the IHRA in 10 years?

Crum: “Our goal is to make the Nitro Jam brand as recognizable as NASCAR or Monster Jam. We want to see Nitro Jam stickers on the back of peoples’ cars. We want people to immediately recognize the brand Nitro Jam. We hope to continue to grow this, to reach out to new arenas, new venues, and continue to bring in new classes and new talent. We just hope to grow the series to where it can become a nationally-recognized and I think that’s something we can achieve with the reach and the help of Feld Motorsports and the Feld Entertainment Group.”

In Conclusion

Whether the new format tickles your fancy or not, you have to hand it to the IHRA and Feld Entertainment for stepping out of the comfort zone of traditional drag racing shows and trying something truly unique to help grow not only their organization, but the entire sport. With tens of thousands of new fans flocking to these events, many of which are introducing a new generation of followers to this great sport, the scope of what they are accomplishing with this exciting new venture is immeasurable, and we look forward to seeing what’s in store for the IHRA and Nitro Jam in the years ahead.

Ask around in the business and you’ll hear Chris Alston, Sr. called a lot of different things: innovator, leader, inventor, opinionated, strong-willed, and probably a few more terms not often heard in polite conversation, but “boring” is definitely not on the list. More than twenty years after setting out on his own to found Chris Alston’s Chassisworks, he’s currently at the helm of a business that dominates multiple sectors of the aftermarket, and he did it without compromising his core belief in building and selling products he’s proud of, and nothing else. We recently got the chance to talk to Alston (though to be honest he did most of the talking) and find out what’s on his mind.

Dragzine: Everybody knows you now for the company that bears your name, but you actually started out in the racing aftermarket long before you started Chassisworks. How did all that get started, and why did you end up striking out on your own?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “It’s a great story. I started a business with my brothers in 1975 called Alston Racecar Engineering. In 1987, we had a thermonuclear, ugly divorce that revolved around the fact that we had extremely divergent personalities, needs, and wants. It’s difficult to keep them all focused on the same thing. We were the most successful chassis parts builder, ever. And after 12 years of working like dogs to become so successful, peoples’ priorities changed. Personal stuff that should have been left at home, it all percolated up to the top.

We started that company as very young men, not understanding that partnerships are hard to hold together. The fact that it was so successful and lasted so long was a miracle. But at the time you just wonder why it’s not working. You do something for a long time and your priorities in it change. Basically what happened was that the two brothers who worked there (the third was a silent partner), myself and my older brother, we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. But it was an excellent combination because he was a very good promoter and knew how to sell stuff, and I am basically a mad scientist and invented just a phenomenal amount of things in the drag race world that are industry standards. That was a real good combination, but as you get successful and get money, some people lose sight of where they came from and what their contributions were. As I grew up, I spent a lot of energy figuring out what my brother did that was important to the company. So I had some understanding of what he did and had some respect for it. But he never spent any time trying to figure out what it was that I did in my part of it.

I basically ran the entire daily operation, I invented all of the stuff, and I was responsible for manufacturing it. His contribution was that he was responsible for selling it. I learned how to sell parts, but he never learned how to manufacture them. You know how when you look at something you don’t understand, it looks easy? He never had any respect for my unique skill. He never realized that the success was a combination of incredibly cool products manufactured in a way that they were affordable, coupled with a strong selling method. A very substantial rift opened between us and I left in 1987.

I started my own company doing the exact same thing, and we ended up as the kind of competitors where we couldn’t even cross each other’s path in the hall – that kind of thing. It was just bad. Really bad. So here we are 23 years later, and I still own the largest manufacturer of chassis parts in the country and they went bankrupt 15 years ago. So that’s my version of the story.”

DZ: The Chassisworks catalog has evolved quite a bit over that time, from mostly hardcore drag chassis parts in the beginning to a lot of bolt-on and street-oriented items today. Was that an intentional thing, or just the way market demand took you?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “We always built drag race cars and Pro Street cars. It’s really comical to me that people think Pro Touring cars (and I hate that phrase, by the way) are a new thing. Cars were built to handle years ago, and personally I built Trans-Am cars, so I understand that market. But Pro Touring cars were just a natural growth from Pro Street – completely hand-built cars, and in the old days people just wanted them to accelerate, but they had to be really fast and stop really good, and now you expect them to turn, too. It isn’t some brand new thing. It isn’t even a monumental shift. We built cars like that in the late 70’s. It’s just that what has really happened in the market is that the whole awareness of the musclecar is based entirely on the fact that as people get older, you want what was cool when you were in high school. The whole Pro Touring/G-machine market is the 100 percent natural progression of the aging of the marketplace. Those are the people who would have built street rods if they were 15 years older. But the problem is that if you grew up with 60’s muscle cars, you have no affinity for a ’32 Ford. That’s just an age-driven thing. So there already was an established market to completely build everything on a car, and as the market desire moved to muscle cars, people think it’s a new market segment? It’s the natural progression of the street rod market.”

DZ: So that explains how the core business got started, but it doesn’t really explain how you got into so many different markets – making shocks, doing exhaust, all the different race, street, and truck stuff. What’s the story behind that?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “Every brand we have is the direct result of a giant problem. You can imagine that if you were the largest chassis producer over several market segments, you’d have a phenomenal need for shock absorbers. We use thousands of shock absorbers a year just in our own products, and we have some really unique requirements that a shock absorber manufacturer could care less about. I want to be able to offer different valving sets in shock absorbers that are the same size, and I want different kinds of mounts – a lot of them that you’ve never seen anywhere but in our product line. I want to be able to have bases that are different, that have extensions machined in them to help clearance. And the manufacturers are like, “We don’t make that!”

We were working with an American shock manufacturer, and we were by far their largest aftermarket customer for this one specific shock they made. They got up one day and redesigned it, and never bothered to call me. Somehow a quarter inch of travel had magically disappeared. Their attitude was that it didn’t really matter, but it mattered a lot to me because that was one of the coolest things about it was that it gave us more front end travel than anybody else. Now, it still does, just not as much as it used to, and they didn’t give a damn. So I filed that away, and getting into the shock absorber business went from being number seven or eight on the list to being number one.”

DZ: Is that something that happened a lot, where you got into those different areas to get control of what components were going into your products?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “People don’t understand that in the automotive aftermarket, the parts you buy constantly change. I’ve been subjected to this way too many times. I’m buying a caliper from this guy, and now it doesn’t fit because they changed something. I’ve had that happen with every part we buy from another company in our industry. They decide to change something, sometimes improve it, but usually just make it for less money, and that kind of thing makes a guy like me crazy. If you buy a chassis from anybody else, what you get is some welded up tubing and a bunch of stuff that they bought from somebody else that goes on it. If all those vendors are constantly changing and modifying their stuff for whatever reason, eventually parts don’t fit on your car any more.

So I want to make a front clip, and I decide that I want to use a particular rack, and I am buying it from some other company. Time marches on, and that company goes out of business, or he has to lower his price because his competitor has gone to China… A perfect example is the Pinto rack, which is on everything. The original Pinto was the first real American car with rack and pinion steering, so they promptly dried up. Some enterprising person found out who made the racks for Ford in Europe, and got them to make racks for them. They were nice, as nice as an OE rack can be, and they were selling them and doing OK, but then some weasel decided “hey, we can sell racks too, but since the factory will only sell them to one guy, we’ll find somebody else to make them.”

The quality of the rack headed down, and a few years later, there are even more competitors, and you’ve reached a point where you can buy a Pinto rack at such an unbelievable price that you wonder how the hell they can even make it for that, let alone get it over here in a box. When you start taking it apart and dissecting it, it’s just trash. In the gear world, there is a standard for gear quality, and the quality in these racks is worse than the lowest standard. The best part is that because they were overengineered in the beginning, and the gears are turning pretty slow, you’d never know it needs to be in the dumpster. So anyway, that’s why we started making racks. We make a high-end part. I don’t need a $119 steering rack. I need a nice one that’s a few hundred bucks, so we make one.”

DZ: Hot rodding and racing was built on stuff like that, though – taking OEM pieces, mixing and matching, and putting it to purposes the factory never intended. But you’ve taken the time to design and manufacture almost everything yourself rather than taking a parts bin approach when you could have. What’s the reason for that?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “Even a Corvette spindle is built to a price. You can’t race on it because the wheel bearings fall out. It’s a nice and top of the line for what you can get from an American automobile manufacturer, but it’s not top of the line in the car manufacturing world. We have literally hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in engineering software, and when you tell people that they just don’t believe that it’s true that you can spend that much on software to make parts.

We make a lot of stuff different from everybody else, because that’s the way they should be made. For the longest time, we were the only company that made brakes that didn’t make your track width wider than stock, because we put a lot of effort into it, or we made the spindle to go with them. That’s what you get when you buy from us. We’re extremely aware of the entire system and its configuration. Right now, if you buy a whole front suspension from us, we don’t make in our factory the actual coil spring, and we don’t make the calipers, and that’s because Bill Wood of Willwood and I go way back, and I don’t have much trouble with his stuff. Who else can even pretend to make that statement? Nobody.

We’re also the only manufacturer who can say that every part on our front suspension was designed by us, using new software in the last 10-15 years. We don’t have anything on our fronts that came on a car you could have bought from a dealer. There’s a huge reason for that. It’s extremely difficult to design all the little parts that the other guys can get from someone else, and that’s why they don’t do it.”

DZ: It’s easy to understand how you go from the chassis parts business to shock absorbers, but what about stuff like branching out into building your own headers and exhaust components?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “We use a phenomenal amount of exhaust components, plus so much of it isn’t made the way it needs to be made to fit good. The biggest problem I have, and the reason we make headers for our clips, is that most people make headers that drag on the ground. Well, why do they drag on the ground? It’s easier to make them like that. It all came down to the fact that we consume a lot of components, and we make them for two reasons – so we can get what we want, and so we can keep our customers’ cost down. It’s hard to mess with us on price, because we have very good control of manufacturing costs for an elaborate product. That puts us in the enviable situation of being able to sell a superior part for a similar price to something ordinary.

That’s not to say we don’t have any outside help – we have some companies that do machined parts and stampings, but they’ve been vendors for us since the stone age. But nobody makes as much of what they sell as we do. Things people don’t even think about. Chassisworks has, maybe 150 different custom boxes. It’s attention to detail. If you buy my part, it’s going to magically fit in the box we ship it in. It’s designed so that the part isn’t messed up when it gets to you. Those are the kinds of things we do that set us apart. Another example is that we’ve always had good instructions. If you buy our bolt-in rear suspensions, some of those are 30-35 pages long. Our bolt on front clip instructions are over 100. The biggest instruction sheet for a front clip my competitors have is 6 pages. We have 113 in one and 136 in the other. Not because we think people are stupid – if we explain exactly how it’s supposed to go on the car, exactly how to align it, exactly what all the options are, then you’re going to have a much better chance of ending up with something you’re proud of.

DZ: With as large as the business has gotten, most of it has to be cataloged, off-the-shelf parts now. Do you still do any one-off work?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “We do a ton of custom stuff, but we don’t really build cars – we make a lot of custom parts out of things we already make. We have a huge amount of custom rack lengths, stuff like that. One thing that we are really big in is making custom shock absorbers with different kinds of mounts. In the coilover world, you have basically two choices – you can get a spherical bearing or a poly bushing in it. We make about 15 different end effectors for shocks, and it’s all based on us needing a shock that did that. A huge amount of our shock absorber production goes private label to other companies because we’re really strong in making exactly what you want, without having to buy four billion of them.”

DZ: It’s been a rough couple of years for the entire aftermarket, and I’m sure Chassisworks is no exception, especially considering you’re kind of on the high end of the spectrum. How’s business lately?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “Because we are extremely diverse, parts of it are up, and parts of it suck. I wish that less of it sucked… It’s very difficult to be around as long as we have and still grow in a recession. Some guys can if they’re small and new, but it’s hard to grow if you’ve been around a long time and already have a huge part of the market because more of your customers go away when it goes bad than a guy who just started. Some segments of the market are in huge, just unbelievable trouble. I’ve been in business since the early 70’s, and this is my fifth recession. It’s probably going to be the worst one, and I think that if you’re under 30 and you’ve never lived in a down economy, or worked in one, you need to understand that it will get better. Some parts will come back, and some won’t. That’s just the way it is. But I think that all the companies that are going to be around are doing the same thing we are – making boxcar loads of new parts, moving forward the same way we do when things are good. Because eventually people will want to buy again, and you always have to be looking forward to the next big thing.”

DZ: Speaking of the Next Big Thing, how has the way you do business changed since 1987?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “The biggest change is the Internet. It’s amazing that you would believe something from somebody who you can’t meet and have never seen. You have to remember that every time you ask a question, you’re getting a reply from someone who’s willing to answer. Some of them are well qualified, but the vast majority are idiots. There’s no way to be an accredited “Internet Answering Man.” We get stuff forwarded to us from time to time where somebody’s had a problem with our product, and the question is always, “Where’s the part of this where he called us and we wouldn’t help him?” He never bothered to.

One of my favorite stories has to do with a guy who called in and was having trouble with his shocks. He calls up and says, “I was dumb and didn’t put the transport bags under my dragster and they got beat to death driving 1500 miles home, and I need to get them fixed.” I told him it was his lucky day, because I was going to give him the “you’re not a lying MF’er” discount and I would fix them for free. Some of these guys say, “I wasn’t doing nothing and the top fell off and all the oil came out!” and it’s caked in mud and grass and sand.”

DZ: Any new stuff on the drawing board you can tell us about?

Chris Alston, Sr.: “We’re really heavily involved in several things. We’re expanding our Ford products into the S197, 2005-up Mustangs. We’re making more bolt on clips for more years of Camaros. We have some full frame stuff for more of the middle-60’s cars that we’re working on. We’re expanding our rack and pinion line, and we’re actually developing a line of supercharger drives. We have this cute little thing with a gearbox in it that will let you attach your Procharger to the front of your engine and drive it that way rather than through a belt. We’re not the only company who makes something like that, but we needed one for one of our factory racecars. We actually make them for big block and small block Chevy, LS motors, and small block Fords right now. We don’t advertise them, and you have to kind of know somebody here to get one right now, but in a year it will all be finalized out and we’ll start advertising them.

We don’t normally talk about what we’re doing very often. A lot of guys say that they’re going to do something and then 15 years later, you can finally get one. By the time we talk about it, it’s done, or so close to being done that it’s practically the same.”

Charlie Booze, Jr. is the poster child of NMRA’s Hot Street Class. With three championships in the all motor class, most NMRA followers will agree that no single driver has done more to grow the class than the hard working racer from Marion, Pennsylvania. Always a Ford fanatic, Booze’s drag racing career started back in 1988 with his first pass down the 1320 in a four speed 1970 Mercury Cougar. Booze’s father Charlie Booze, Sr. was a longtime drag racer and encouraged Charlie and his brother Brian to pursue their passion to race, and to run Booze Brothers Performance, an automotive performance shop in their hometown.

Since the beginning of his racing career, Booze has taken a methodical approach to drag racing and is known for making oddball combinations go fast, winning races, and ultimately earning multiple championships. He is also a student of the track, taking time between rounds to study the conditions and how cars in other classes are performing.

In the early days, Booze campaigned a 4-door Torino at local tracks around Marion and eventually in the NMCA’s Top Stock class. After racing selected events in Top Stock for four years, he set out on the full tour in 1997 and won his first class championship after winning six of seven events. With a championship now under his belt, Charlie was hooked to go after more.

After a few years of racing and winning in big cars in the NMRA and NSCA series, 2002 was the first year Booze was introduced to the world of racing the smaller and lighter Mustang. That year he tuned the Hot Street Mustang of Joe Johnston on the NMRA tour. Working on eight-second land yachts taught Booze the art of engine tuning and suspension set-up so it was a natural that the switch to the Mustang platform came easy. That year, Johnston won the NMRA Hot Street Championship and the success gave Booze all the incentive he needed to switch to the Hot Street class.

Changing Classes

Longtime engine builder and Ford engine guru Jim Kuntz encouraged Charlie and brother Brian to make the switch over to Hot Street. Kuntz recognized that the naturally-aspirated small block Ford market was where the action and notoriety was. In 2003 Booze commissioned chassis builder and friend Matt Wirt to build the car that was affectionately known as the “Freight Train”. In a mere 80 days the team built the car and made the first race of the NMRA season.

Jim Kuntz has worked with Charlie and Brian Booze since their early days in racing. “I knew Charlie since he was running the 4-door Torino in Top Stock,” recalled Kuntz. “He was running the 460 engine, and I started doing cylinder heads and camshafts for him.”

In 2003, the Booze brothers learned a lot about how to win and lose races in the competitive class. By the end of the season, Booze just about won the championship, with the title decided at the last race of the year in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Shane Long won the 2003 title, but Booze would come back hungry the next year and set the class on fire.

In 2004 Booze made NMRA history by winning the Hot Street class at every NMRA National event and went on to win the NMRA Hot Street and 2004 Pro Edelbrock Pro Stock championships. In 2004, Booze won 13 events and had three runner-up finishes with a 55-4 round win ratio, a feat that is quite the accomplishment considering the number of races and stiff competition. Booze again repeated the NMRA championship in 2005 and 2006, and established himself a the man to beat in the class.

“Familiarity and knowledge of the car has paid huge dividends for us,” said Booze. “These cars have gotten progressively faster and faster since the first time we raced in NMRA Hot Street in 2003. We started out running 9.20 ET’s and now we are almost running 8.20’s. So it’s really the same car, and a second faster.”

No Shortcuts to Victory Lane

Having owned the car for eight years is a big plus, and the car was built right the first time instead of adding on tubing or cutting out metal for weight reduction. From the beginning, chassis builder Matt Wirt built a 25.5-spec cage to make the car legal to run into the 7.50 range. Booze credits being competitive all those years and in 2010 a result of knowing what the car needs to run quick.

“In NMRA trim this year, we dropped the weight 150 pounds across the board to comply with the rules in NMCA,” said Booze. “They made those changes to try and get more crossover from the NMRA cars. Naturally, we were the only ones to run 8.50’s in NMRA last year and we’re used to dropping weight out of the car to run NMCA Pro Stock or the RAM N/A Regional Shootout. So the powers at large decided ‘why does this class have to weigh so much more than the other classes?’ and they want crossover, so we were already prepared for the NMRA weight. That’s why there’s the big step up in ET’s. We just looked the car over and got it ready for the season. That being said, we are always looking for something. You get pushed and you’re always trying to improve your program.”

On the topic of pushing, the Hot Street and Pro Stock class is filled with some big money programs from names like Roush and Baskin. For 2010, several new cars are in the works, but Booze has no plans to retire the familiar red 1992 Mustang Hatch. “Folks always think that I have the coin but I have the same old clunker that I’ve been racing for eight years,” said Booze. “It’s not always a lock, knowing you car is going to work out. At Bradenton this year, I made the wrong call and missed it in the finals. The track pretty much stunk all weekend. It had its good moments but it was never better than it was at the end of that weekend and that run. I had made changes to the car to adapt to a crummy racing surface and it changed on us. In the Bradenton NMRA finals we screwed up and gave the race away to Blankenship. It was ours to lose.”

Being pushed by the competition is something Booze welcomes. When asked about some of his Hot Street rivals’ new combinations, he says he has only heard of new cars from gossip at the racetrack. Per Booze, “On the NMRA side we’ve seen reports of Ben Mens redoing his Fox-body Mustang for Hot Street and the Baskin team building a 2010 Camaro for NMCA Pro Stock competition. With Baskin, those guys have two or three Camaros now; one was Bruce Michael’s car and the other two were Jamie Stanton’s cars. I heard rumors that they might build a Mustang to race NMRA, but with anything like that I say knock yourself out.”

Familiarity also comes to mind when Booze talks about his engine combination and engine builder Jim Kuntz. “We treat each other like a father/son or uncle/nephew type deal,” said Booze. “We’ve always been naturally aspirated and it’s simpler, yet challenging at the same time. We break parts but I look at the nitrous guys and some of the power adder cars being really hard on parts. Now the turbo guys never seem to break a lot, but the NOS or supercharged guys wreck all kinds of stuff.” While Kuntz will build boosted engines and happens to build the engine of four-time NMRA Super Street Outlaw Champion John Urist, naturally aspirated engines are his main focus. He enjoys the challenge of finding more horsepower the old fashioned way.

If it Ain’t Broke…

When talking about Charlie Booze’s combination, Kuntz is happy with the direction of the program. “Charlie’s 400 cubic inch engine is something we’ve been working with for the past five years and we just keep updating it. It basically has the same block and heads for the past four years.”

In regards to their main Hot Street challengers from Roush Competition Engines, Kuntz welcomes the rivalry between what the calls ‘just two good old country boys.’ “He’s a Kentucky country boy and I’m an Arkansas country boy,” joked Kuntz. “We really don’t have business competing against Roush, Bischoff and Kaase, but a country boy like myself is going to find out a way to win every once in a while.”

For Kuntz, Comp Cams has been a vital part of his engine building program. “Comp Cams is a really good bunch,” said Kuntz. “We work with James Fry and they have a lot of good cam stuff for our program. In this business you kinda learn what works and what doesn’t, and their cams have always delivered. Plus, being so close to Memphis, their one-day service really helps.”

“Comp Cams is in everything we do, from our crate engines to our niche work, which is helping someone build a motor that wants to win a class, set a record or win a championship. We’re big on helping racers come up with a new innovative combination, especially the Ford stuff, and Comp Cams helps us with new cam profiles and other parts. From Charlie’s Hot Street engine to Ron Anderson’s or Brad Meadow’s NMRA Pure Street cars to Jeff Colvert’s NHRA SS/G record holder – Comp Cams has helped us with custom grinds for all those engines.”

The Five “P’s”

One of Booze’s bits of advice for being a championship contender is prep work before the race. He goes by the motto, ‘Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.’ “At the track I don’t want to thrash that hard,” said Booze. “I thrash at home so I can go to the track and sit around, watch the track conditions and concentrate on the racing. There is an occasional race that I may have to swap an engine or transmission at the racetrack but we try to go to the race with a prepped car.”

Booze also admits that he would be nowhere without a data recorder on the car. He’s used one ever since it was built and Booze is always reviewing run data. “If you’re not drawing run data after each run you’re wasting your time,” said Booze. “I tell everyone to get a data logger – today they are as cheap as 500-600 dollars and it’s hard not to use with today’s technology.”

While Booze has always had focus on making his own program a championship contender, he has been a sounding board for other Hot Street racers looking to step up. “A lot of us still watch our pennies and try to get the most out of what we can buy,” stated Booze. “I don’t mind helping other racers because that’s my business and I’m always trying to help.”

Booze was instrumental in working with Neal Chance Converters on developing a torque converter for Hot Street and Pro Stock cars. “We started developing that converter for N/A cars back in 2005 when Marty approached me about helping him,” recalled Booze. “No one really saw him as a N/A converter guy. He had the Outlaw 10.5. and Pro Street market covered. He was the mastermind; I just gave him some feedback but he was able to build a fantastic piece.”

The Neal Chance unit is so popular it’s the hot ticket in the class with Baskin, DeMayo, Bowles and Blankenship running them. The Booze and Neal Chance relationship has delivered the converter manufacturer some new customers and moved the class forward.

Crossovers aren’t just limited to within the world of drag racing, either – Kuntz also builds Brian Booze’s Dirt Late Model engine for the past four years in addition to late model dirt engines that run all over the country. When asked about technology transfer from dirt track to drag racing, Kuntz sees a lot of crossover that has helped his program. “We learn about the power from the drag race program and we learn about the durability and the drivability from the roundy-round stuff,” Kuntz explains. “I think if somebody just does one and not the other, they are not going to be as good of an engine builder as they could be. I think doing both really opens your eyes to two different worlds, and it’s really helped us.”

From drag racing to dirt racing the relationship between Kuntz and Booze Brothers Racing has paid dividends to both clans. “The Booze family is a very good bunch of folks to do business with,” said Kuntz. “They are really good people and very smart and ultra-competitive. They have helped showcase our products for years and I appreciate the relationship we have.”

The End of an Era?

After not running the full season in 2009, current plans are run as many races in 2010 as time and money will allow. At the first two races of 2010, Booze scored a win at Bradenton in NMCA Pro Stock and a runner-up in NMRA Hot Street. “Weather and help will play a big part in making events,” said Booze. “Ultimately I want to go to these races because we have a good product, and win as much money as they have up for grabs. The economy has dwindled but I have a good car that I don’t have to put a bunch of money into from year to year or race to race to be competitive.”

Anyone who’s spent more than an hour on the internet has been shocked and surprised by something they’ve found, but when you visit a website with the motto, “Where the weak are killed and eaten,” you’ve been fairly warned. That’s the tagline for Yellowbullet.com, the brainchild of Monty Mikho, and one of the most active drag racing message boards online. With more than 30,000 registered users, Yellowbullet is the 24-hour, 7-day hub for racers from as far away as Australia and the Middle East, and if it’s happening in the world of straight-line competition, it’s being talked about in the forums.

Intentionally advertising-free, Yellowbullet is about more than just tech, news, and bench racing (though there’s a constant flood of both good information and trash talk) – politics, guns, hunting, and even cooking all have their own sections. But as you might guess from the tagline, it’s a rough-and-tumble environment where nobody pulls any punches, and everyone’s free to have their own opinion, as long as they’re ready to be told exactly how wrong they are.

We sat down with Mikho to find out how a hobby site grew over just a few short years into one of the most influential gathering places for drag racing on the web.

powerTV: If somebody who’s never heard of Yellowbullet.com asks you what in the hell is going on, what would you say?

Monty Mikho: “I would tell everyone to keep away, to be honest to you (laughs). I think the word is out on the Yellow Bullet. I think the community has built up itself. People coming around now are probably just there to post up that they are angry with a manufacturer, they got screwed, or got robbed. We see that more and more frequently; that is why I closed it for awhile. We started getting idiots that would come on and register with multiple names and create all sorts of problems. The idea of the site was to be responsible for you own actions. You don’t run into a court room and yell at the judge – you have common sense not to do that. But if you are going to bash someone, make sure your name is on it or underneath it so they know who to come to. Then I started getting a crazy amount of emails from people that genuinely wanted to contribute, and that is why I opened it back up.”

powerTV: So how did you create Yellowbullet.com, and why?

Monty Mikho: “Yellowbullet started out as a car website. Like any other racer that you know, we started out just having a car site, trying to get sponsors and just seeing what was going on. My personal reason for starting the site was visiting the other message boards and mixing it up and having a lot of fun. Sometimes a little bit of contradiction or a disagreement would happen, tempers would flare, and someone would tell me to go get lost and share my opinion somewhere else. Some guy from one website even told me if I thought it was so easy, ‘start your own website.’ Being the computer dummy that I am, I had no idea how to do that but I started looking around and sure enough there was an icon in Windows for [Microsoft web creation application] Front Page. I double clicked on it, and holy shit, it started a website! Then the bulletin board was added and we were on our way from there.”

powerTV: How do you get from a little web page about your car to a monstrous message board with a thousand or so people looking at it at any given moment?

Monty Mikho: “We’ve never really asked for people to come aboard. I know a couple of people that went out and solicited the site. But after a little while the word got out and it grew quickly after that.”

The titular "Yellow Bullet", Mikho's 1970 Camaro Z28, in action at Milan Dragway.

powerTV: Where did the name Yellowbullet come from?

Monty Mikho: That’s the darndest thing. One of the members on the website had a site name that I wanted, smallblockpower.com. I was asking him for the name because he wasn’t really doing anything with it, but I knew there was no way he was going to do that. I just started looking for names and Yellowbullet popped up. It was the name I was using for my car at the time and it stuck when we got the bulletin board up. After being the site address for a while it just stayed.

powerTV: The forums are a pretty vigorous free-speech zone, and users can’t delete their own posts, or even edit them after more than a couple minutes elapse. Moderation is kept to a bare minimum, and people really have to work at it to get their username banned. That’s gotta lead to some interesting situations… What sticks out in your mind?

Monty Mikho: “I actually did get served with papers about three years ago. It gets you out of your shoes and shakes you up a bit. It wasn’t even a member of the site; it was a eBay seller that sold a lot of product. What happened was someone bashed him, but the bash wasn’t that bad. But since the board got pretty popular, when you searched the guy’s name in the search engines, that thread came up at the top every time. It would come up as ‘Don ____ is a *&@#ing crook.’ He obviously wanted to get that removed and hired an attorney to do so, though it took him a year to get the paperwork served. I basically got a letter that said I had 14 days to comply, and we did. The funny thing is, it had still even been there for a year.”

powerTV: Who were some of the original members of the site?

Monty Mikho: “Jimmy Biggs was there from the beginning. Ray, who posts as 7DMach1, was another one. There were several of them and I’m sure I’m leaving out several important people but everybody that has been part of the site has really helped. The site isn’t really from me starting it; it’s from people liking it and pushing it forward.”

"If I had unlimited funds I would have a big fishing boat..." - Monty Mikho

powerTV: When you go out to the races, do people actually recognize you and come up to you like you’re a celebrity?

Monty Mikho: “I don’t know about all that (laughs). You get that sometimes, though it is kind of embarrassing – I just want to fit in with the crowd. The members have just made the board what it is, and I have nothing to do with that. You know, there was a concern. I am putting this race together now with [Pro Mod racer Jim] Halsey and there was some concern that people were going to come and burn the place down. What I explained to them is that the people on the internet are like the beer drinkers – they become assholes when they drink beer. Well, the internet is the beer for these guys, though when you go the dragstrip, these guys are overly nice. You know, I met Jeremy Glass, probably the most hated guy on the internet. He really a super nice guy – but behind the keyboard he becomes an asshole.”

powerTV: Speaking of putting on races, do you really hate eighth mile racing or is it all a ploy?

Monty Mikho: “(laughs) I love racing altogether, I really do. If it comes down to racing, I would race eighth mile. But if it comes down to watching, I want quarter mile. The NMCA tried to go to an eighth mile format a number of years ago and it was just a flop up north. From a racer’s perspective, you would have to be an idiot to say you wanted to go the extra distance. You save the parts and its definitely scary getting down the back half. I know a lot of people say that you’re just driving the back half of the track – the people that say that have never driven down a race track. The back half is where your brain is thinking the most and where it goes wrong, and I know that’s is where it goes wrong for me (laughs).”

powerTV: Back to Jim Halsey for a second, if you don’t mind. How did you end up with that big Yellowbullet sticker on the side of his Pro Mod Camaro in 2008?

Monty Mikho: “A lot of people were under the impression that I paid him to do it. It’s really odd. I got a call from Jim Halsey out of the blue – I did not even know the guy or have a direct relationship with him. I knew he ran Cecil County Dragway and had seen his Pro Mod Camaro on the internet. That’s all I knew of him. Jim calls out of the blue and asks me where he could buy a really big Yellowbullet sticker. I asked him what he needed it for and he said he wanted to put it on the side of his car. I said that I can’t really afford that, and he told me he wasn’t asking for nothing and he actually wanted to buy the sticker. I told him if he was going to stick it on the side of the car for nothing I would buy it. So we argued back and forth and I went to a local printer and had two big stickers made the size he wanted. I met him down at Milan Dragway and it was a phenomenal experience. It’s heart moving to actually see your stickers go on the side of a Pro Modified car. At that time he was number one in the Pro Mod points. So he put them on originally for one race here in my hometown of Detroit, and after that plans were to remove them. We’ll, after putting the stickers on he was seeing more and more Yellowbullet members walking up to the car and talking. He had never had that many people walk up and introduce themselves. He decided to leave them on for the rest of the year. After that, several Pro Mod guys started emailing me for sponsorship. In reality, there was never any money in the deal.”

Wearing one of the popular Yellowbullet T-shirts is a good way to meet new people at the track - here, Outlaw 10.5 racer Jim Monson demonstrates what his mugshot might look like if he was arrested in one.

powerTV: There are some users on the board with thousands of posts, and of course new people joining all the time, and they’re not always the kind of hardcore racers that first filled out the ranks. How do you make sure Yellowbullet caters to both groups?

Monty Mikho: “It’s like any small group of people. I’m in the machine tool business and any time you work in a small shop, you become like a small family and you get along pretty good. With any outside influence or a different view, it’s a natural to beat up on people. As the message board expands, like anywhere else, you’ll see that spreading out. The people that are used to being at the top of the list like to express their opinion. To a new guy, it can leave you a little left out and some folks won’t put their opinion out there as much. The core group of people are the bread and butter of that site and I don’t want that to go away. Nowadays seeing the caliber of people that are coming in combined with the caliber of people that we did have, it’s not really balanced to a racer/non-racer ratio anymore.”

powerTV: Yellowbullet has become a hub for information and news about heads-up racing, and it seems like you’ve been doing a lot to help promote the growth of the sport at a grassroots level.

Monty Mikho: “Having done it for a couple of years, we are all about promoting heads-up racing. I have not done it as of late but the site has always been about people promoting themselves and the series they race in. That’s what the whole concept of the site is. The whole drag racing community has always been about helping one another out. We’re not a very, very big bunch, so any resource we can have and use is beneficial for everybody.”

Though the Yellowbullet.com home page has links to photo galleries, videos, and the sometimes-open YB store, all the action happens on the forums.

powerTV: There’s always a bit of a divide in the real world between heads-up drag racers, and the guys who run index classes or brackets. Do you feel like that’s an issue on the board, too?

Monty Mikho: “We’re really open to any type of racer that wants to participate on the site. While heads-up racing is popular, I’ve street raced and bracket raced and I’m open to anybody that’s racing and having fun. Who cares what they are doing or what they are driving or how fast they are going? We are open to everybody. I know on the board some of the heads-up racers kinda look down on the bracket racers and the bracket racers look down on the heads-up racers. I really enjoy having the bracket racers out there [at the track] because it gives us a little more time to get prepared for the next round. If you talk to the bracket racers at the track you can get a good read on how good the track is so there is a lot we can learn off them as well. The heads-up stuff is rather expensive, so when i can’t afford that I just take my little truck and go bracket racing.”

powerTV: If you had unlimited funds, what racing class would you run?

Monty Mikho: “If I had unlimited funds I would have a big fishing boat (laughs). For a racing class, I always wanted to run Top Fuel. The adrenaline rush driving a Top Fuel car would exceed what I have experienced so far. If funds were unlimited, it would be a Top Fuel car and I’d be choking up on the nitromethane.”

powerTV: Who were some of the drag racers you followed back when you were getting started in the sport?

Monty Mikho: “My favorite racers growing up were the C.A.R.S., Inc. guys like Rick Dyer and Danny Scott. I have a friend that works for C.A.R.S., Inc. so I’ve always been attached to their cars. Those guys are what got me to the track, rather than being a young punk racing his 15-second car on the street. The car I built was modeled after one of their cars. By the time I got it done it was a 9-second car, and that streetable set-up became a thing of the past. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world to get it done, and when I hit the track everyone else was running in the 8-second zone.”

Like a lot of racers growing up in Michigan, Mikho was inspired by the "all steel" Fastest Street Car Shootout C.A.R.S., Inc. team.

powerTV: So what does the future hold for Yellowbullet and its users?

Monty Mikho: “My plans are to make it as beneficial as I can for the racers. Make it a site where they can promote themselves. That’s the reason the site was started in the first place. I don’t charge anybody any money to post their company name and banner on their signature. If they want to look for sponsorship through the site, that’s great. A lot of people have been successful in that. I get a lot of ‘thank you’ letters as well as some ‘screw you’ letters. The racer resource side of the site I’d like to harness so people can benefit from being a member, either by sponsorships or classified ads. What better time than right now with the economy to have a site where the racer can sell themselves and help themselves out? It would make me happy. The front page, a lot of people ask what I’m going to do with that. I’m just not talented or smart enough to really move that forward. I’d like to use that front page to try and move racers forward with their programs. We’ll see what happens to the front page.”

powerTV: Did you ever think the site would get this big in general?

Monty Mikho: “Never. As a matter of fact, I only started the site to say a few things and shut it down, but then it just kept growing. It is the freedom – the ability to express yourself there. People knew me from all around the net for posting on message boards and that I have been pretty outspoken, getting banned from one place to another. People see that and they think they can have the same freedom here.”

Yellowbullet's association with Jim Halsey's Pro Mod Camaro brought thousands of new visitors to the YB site. Photo Credit: ADRL

powerTV: With so much web traffic, there has to be the temptation to cash in, but you’ve steadfastly stayed away from selling ad space. You will take donations but you aren’t about the banner ads, and you pretty much let people promote themselves and their businesses without much interference. What’s the deal there?

Monty Mikho: “I am a small business owner as well, and I think everybody should be given the opportunity. And then there is the small guy that might not always have the budget. I have a lot of members that have started businesses and been successful with them, knowing they always have the freedom to post up what they want free of charge. There is some good and bad that goes with that. I have seen some sites that have gone bad by governing what is being posted because a sponsor might not be happy with it.”

powerTV: With as big as it’s gotten, how has managing the site affected your “real life” and business?

Monty Mikho: “It becomes more and more work and less enjoyment for me than when the original site started. In the beginning, I got to enjoy the site along with everybody else, but now it becomes more of a job. There is always a middle point with the site, and it has gone past the middle point with me because now it’s more work than enjoyment. I can still post my garbage just like everybody else, but other areas of the site consume a lot of time. I never really let it interfere with my business, and I work on the site when I can.”

powerTV: With the popularity of Twitter and Facebook, what effect do you think those social media sites will have on the traditional message board?

Monty Mikho: “I wish I could tell you about Twitter and Facebook. I know they exist but I have no idea how they work. With Facebook, the guys I went to high school with ask if I have an account. I’m just not into that thing. The message board always seems to work for me and that’s what I stick to.”

powerTV: How do you feel the site has changed since you first started it?

Monty Mikho: “Obviously things have changed over the years. The overall thing is that it’s more popular. It’s probably the same amount of idiots there percentage-wise; just the numbers are bigger now, so the idiots are more apparent.”

powerTV: Has anyone tried to buy you out and run YB themselves?

Monty Mikho: “Yeah, I actually had a bunch of people that came in about 1.5 years ago that wanted to buy it. Though what it comes down to is, will you be happy with that? The members have been buying the site [with donations], so why not let them keep the place they built?”

When talking about the pioneers of Fastest Street Car racing, the name Pat Musi will most likely be brought up. But even before he made a name for himself as a Pro Street Champion with the NMCA and NSCA circuits back in the 1990s, Musi raced against the likes of Warren Johnson, Bob Glidden, Lee Shepard, and the rest of the NHRA Pro Stock legends of the late ‘70s and ‘80s.

Now he’s returned to the NMCA wearing a crew chief cap, and has already tuned one of customers, Joe Dunne, into the Scorpion Performance Winner’s Circle. Musi is a smart racer, engine builder and crew chief, and you can bet when one of Musi’s cars shows up to event, the other competitors know it. Talk with Musi for a bit and you can tell he still has the passion for this sport and he even mentioned he’d like to run his rival Tony Christian again in a match race if the NMCA will organize it. Will it happen? We sure hope so.

Interview with Pat Musi

Fastest Street Car: How did your career in drag racing begin and at what point did it escalate into Pro Street type drag racing? Was it a gradual progression?

Musi: “Started racing in 1969, got into Pro Stock in 1974, and Pro Street in 1994.”

FSC: Making a thousand horsepower has become pretty common these days, was there a time in your career where you remember when 1,000 seemed unfathomable?

Musi: “We were making around 790 with a killer 360 inch big-block in the late 1970s in Pro Stock and then when we went to the 500 ci engine, that’s when everyone was trying to make that 1,000 horsepower number. I remember we had like 980 going into the first race at Pomona, but we were right at the 1,000 horsepower mark in ’81. Forget about that, what about the displacement these days? We’re up to 903 cubic inches and we’re working on one now that’s over 1,000 cubes.”

FSC: Do you miss the old days of Pro Street?

Musi: “Absolutely, however, letting the turbos win by the rule book ruined the class in my opinion. Back then, they (the old NMCA) were underestimating the turbocharged combinations and [Bob] Reiger was what I call a ‘rulebook racer.’ He had enough money to look at the rulebook, pick a loophole combination and come out and win with it, he was also good when it came to sandbaggin’ too. Meaning, until we pushed him hard enough [got our cars running quicker], he wouldn’t have to show what he had. My suggestion back then was, ‘why don’t you put enough weight on the turbo cars so we know what they got?’ But we all were fairly certain about what he made. When we barely had 2,000 hp, he had 2,500, and you’re not making up 500 horsepower on the track. And then to top it off, he had a small-block weight break, so he was lighter than us, it was a joke.”

FSC: You’ve been working with Joe Dunne lately, how is that going?

Musi: “He’s one of the guys that really stepped up to the plate and became a customer. He’s a good driver and I really enjoy going to the races with him and his car is fast. We just went to a Pro Mod race, at only 45 pounds lighter than the NMCA Pro Street rules, and went 6.23 at 221 mph. We figured out some suspension issues, I knew something was wrong because we had to take too much power out of it to get down the racetrack. We try to leave with the most power we can, if you have to crutch it, you’re doing something wrong. You have to race the racetrack, so if you have to crutch things for a bad racetrack, sure, but you shouldn’t have to pull power at every race. You have to make the car work with the maximum amount of power available if you want to be fast.

FSC: You actually have been driving a bit yourself lately, right?

Musi: I’m actually building a car that will be heading overseas. I also have another good driving deal for next year. I’m going to race a car at least four races at Curacao Dragway, in the Netherlands and then probably two or three in Aruba. But to just jump into the NMCA Pro Street deal now with all the automatics, turbos, blowers, doesn’t make sense for me. I understand they have to leave it open for the car counts, but it’s not for me. I liked Pro Stock, you don’t have all the gadgets they do in Pro Street now, it was pure, move you foot not your finger

FSC: Are there still some guys in this sport that you would like to line up against one day?

Musi: “Vinny [Budano] got to run me in Atco after a year off and he wasn’t happy. I would love to run Tony again. The thing about me is, some people have said in the past, ‘you don’t want to run this guy, or you’re a cryin.’ I ran Warren Johnson, I ran Don Nicholson, Ronnie Sox, Lee Shepard, I’ve beat them, they’ve beat me, I am not afraid to race anybody, but I refuse to be beat when I’m already beat by the rules. I’d like to have a match race with Tony Christian I think we’d have a big draw.”

Dan Millen is the NMRA Pro Outlaw 10.5 Champion and record holder, along with many other championships in different racing series’ since 2001. Dan and his line of Ford Mustangs have gotten him to the point of 9 different championships and event wins along with 6 different records. One of the records being an ET of 6.66 @ 218 MPH.

Not only is Dan Millen winning races over here in the United States, but now he is winning them in different countries. The ADRL (Arabian Drag Racing League) is another series Millen is starting to compete in.

The ADRL runs as many as nine events at the Qatar raceway including: Pro Mods, Pro Bike, Super Street Bike, Street Bike, Outlaw 10.5, Top Sportsman, Super Street 8c, Super Street 6c and 7.50 index. Millen was able to bring home a victory in round 5 of the ADRL Pro Outlaw 10.5, and we got a chance to sit down and speak with him on the win.

Q&A With ADRL Outlaw 10.5 Round 5 Winner Dan Millen

PowerTV: How hard was it to get your car over to Qatar?

Dan Millen : Well I definitely have to thank Sheikh Khalid for getting my car over there, I called the guy that he deals with over here and it was a real simple process. It was a lot easier than I initially thought. I was expecting it to be a real drawn out process but as long as you have your paperwork in order it’s no big deal. So we took the car to JFK in New York i gave him my paperwork, it was all scheduled, and it was about a twenty minute process.

PowerTV: Besides the car did you have to ship any of your equipment over there?

Dan Millen : What I did was shipped my car and three boxes. My tool Box, an engine, and miscellaneous parts that I would use for my car.

PowerTV: What was everyone’s reaction to seeing your car?

Dan Millen : I’ll tell you, the people over there are very appreciative of everything. They were happy to see us over there, and a lot of people were surprised we were there. But I got to know some pretty good guys from over there, and when they were over in the States testing, they convinced me that I needed to come back to were they are from and race.

PowerTV: Was your overall experience good, both on and off the track?

Dan Millen:It was an awesome experience, I actually can’t wait to go back. I went there for three weeks, then went back on February 7th and plan on going back there again very soon. It really is a great place.

PowerTV: In the future do you see yourself building a car and leaving it over there for those races and also having a car here in the States?

Dan Millen: I did sell my car over there, so I do plan on building a new car for next year. I do want to start racing the full series over there, that would be awesome, I don’t know what is going to happen in the immediate future but I can see that happening. The people that are over there are very very nice – I couldn’t have been treated any nicer, and it wasn’t like they just treated me nice, they treated everyone nice.

PowerTV: Were the rules any different over there than in the NMRA/NMCA?

Dan Millen :Yeah, we were 100 pounds lighter over there than here, but other than that the rules were the same

PowerTV: How was the competition in Qatar?

Dan Millen : There was only five or six cars in our class and honestly, I only won one of the first four races I went to, so the competition is pretty good. Anybody can win over there – it was anybody’s race at anytime. We did qualify number one twice I believe, and that really played in favor for us but anyone could have qualified number one that is how good the competition was.

“This just did not just happen. No way.” It wasn’t a reaction to running the first pass in the sixes. Instead, that was David Hance’s first reaction after spinning out and hitting the wall at the Shakedown at E-Town late last year

“It was surreal, like a bad dream; no way this just happened,” Hance recalls. “Fast forward to Bradenton, January 24th, a little over three months later, and we met our objective. Through a lot of hard work and a lot of help from a lot of people, we were able to get it done.” Hance’s 6.93 now stands as the high-water mark in Drag Radial racing, an achievement made more remarkable by the fact that it wasn’t done with a racing four-link or ladder bar car, but on a stock suspension.

To really understand Hance’s quest to be the first to run a six on drag radials, you have to look back on the history of the category, street racing, and the late model Mustang revolution.
In the late 1980’s, the 5.0 Mustang was the most popular car at the time for gear heads; it was relatively quick, easy to work on, the aftermarket was abundant with bolt-on parts for the cars, and Ford was heavily involved in promoting the Mustang within the performance aftermarket.

In 1988, Super Ford Magazine sponsored a 5.0 Invitational in Ohio as a showcase for the 5.0 movement. ‘Big Daddy’ Dwayne Gutridge was working with Steve Chris at Dynotunes at the time, and they drove a car from New Jersey on street radials with Bill Gammons and Keith Saundall. The car ran mid 12’s, which was considered fast at the time for the mods it had.

During the 1991-92 timeframe, Michael Knapp, one of the owners of Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, and Big Daddy got together to discuss ways to speed up the racing program there. They were often running past curfew and the track was looking for input for ways to help. Often there were in excess of 400 Mustangs on the grounds, with many cars switching to slicks after driving in and having to lock up jacks and tools on the fence. Gutridge suggested that they start a radial tire class so racers would not have to switch tires or leave tools and wheels locked up. He also predicted that there should be less downtime due to broken parts caused by street cars and less experienced drivers on slicks. Thus, ‘Heads-Up Radial’ was born. During the same period, E-Town was running a Mustang Showdown. Big Daddy had established his Outrageous Mustangs shop in 1990, was running Pro 5.0, and had several customers interested in the radial classes popping up. They were running mid-twelves then, so it wasn’t a ‘cubic dollar class’ to race in.

In 1995, the first pair of BFGoodrich Drag Radial tires were received by Troy Pirez out of Florida. Big Daddy wasn’t aware of them until ‘96, when his friend Oris Williams brought a set to the shop for him. At that time, you had to get the tires at special events or have an ‘in’ with the manufacturer. Early on, BFGoodrich was concerned by lackluster sales and considered ending production. Frank Heygard talked with Dwayne and was told, “I’m gonna make your tires a hit.”

They bolted a set on a customer’s car and went racing. The car, equipped with a 347 small-block Ford and a Vortech supercharger, ran 11.0’s. By the end of 1996, Gutridge was the first to break the 10-second barrier, running a 10.98 against Daryl from SLS Motorports in the Heads-Up Radial final of the year.

Back down in Florida, Troy Pirez was racing in the Street Car Shootouts at De Soto Speedway in Bradenton, eventually running 9.50’s The BFG tire was much better at putting power down than anything else available. Lots of people were running soft compound recaps available from Coker tire; they were very popular with the turbo Grand National crowd. Around 1999, radial tire racing started to take off, and in 2000 the Orlando World Street Nationals picked up a Radial Tire class for the first time.

Willie Figueroa was number one qualifier out of the 24-car field that year with an 8.67 at 164 MPH. He went on to win the event, with John Fernandez the runner up and Troy Pirez a semifinalist in the silver Nova. Other prominent competitors at that inaugural event were David Burgess, Armando Navarro, Tyree Smith, Dennis Ramsey, Shannon Wren, John Sears, and Dave Rudisell. The first year had no ladder; you just showed up and ran the guy next to you. Pirez had been running with the NSCA in Factory Street, and in 2000 the BFG Traction Advantage class with Jim Filipowski and Chris Singleton, but the organization was quite restrictive on what engine modifications were allowed.

The next year there were 55 cars vying for a spot in the full 32-car field, and more well-known names to add to the list; Mike McConnell, Lamar Swindoll, Jr., Chris Singleton, Dennis Lugo, Walter Drakeford, Dino Stavrinos and Michael Fratena. Pirez had led qualifying, and Shannon Wren had low ET in Project X, but it was Lamar Swindoll, Jr. who came home with the win, running 9.03 at 161.

By 2003, the field had swelled to 77 entries and the ET had dropped to 8.29 at 174, posted by Mike Dees. California resident Bobby Frye won Orlando that year, which would be the last time the fast guys would be running on BFGoodrich Drag Radials.

2004 saw the introduction of the Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial and elapsed times fell like rocks. That year, Rick Head came from California with a twin turbo Camaro and blistered the track with a 7.66 at 186, taking the trophy. By 2007, the top cars were mostly still in the high seven-second range, though in 2006 David Wolfe had run a seven-forty pass at the World Ford Challenge in a back-and-forth battle with Big Daddy for the outright Drag Radial record. Wolfe was told to keep it slower than 7.50 or result in a DQ for exceeding the chassis certification limit for his car, and as a result, the true potential of the car remained unknown.

In 2008 that all changed. The turbo cars were finally starting to get a real handle on power management. In February, Shannon Wren went to the Mid-South Street Shootout in Memphis, Tennessee with his SN-95 Cobra Mustang. I took a ride up with them and covered the race for Drag Racing Online. He managed to go 200, not once, not twice, but three times in a row. That trap speed set a new mark and showed that, at least in terms of raw horsepower, a six second pass is possible. Up until then, the short-half numbers on the top cars in the race to break the six-second barrier were good enough for the number, but no one had made the back half work as well. Those runs were it. Seeing Wren’s trap speed, Troy Pirez, Sr. remarked, “I knew right then someone would go sixes on a radial tire, and soon.”

That someone grew up in Queens, New York and the Five Boroughs were his stomping ground. Hance got started on the streets, like most of us, racing motorcycles on Fountain Avenue in Brooklyn in the late 80’s where he earned the nickname “Cycle Dave” for his ability to get on just about anyone’s bike and perform well. In the early 90’s, Dave left the bike scene and got into cars, along with most of his friends. Still on the streets, he raced an early box Nova with a 303 cubic inch Comp Eliminator engine and a five-speed that was renowned for hooking hard and taking home the cash.

Hance raced the streets until around 1997, when some close encounters with the law and some scary moments led him to the track. He went to Englishtown to run Ultra Quick 8 and raced two years there without qualifying for a single event, then bought Chuck Fest’s car from Tampa, Florida, a state-of-the-art 10.5 car built by Ray Miller Race Cars and maintained by Ramsey Performance. That car was later sold off, Donnie Walsh’s car was purchased, and Dave raced NMCA Pro Street and Pro 5.0 in the Fun Ford Weekend series.

In 2006, Hance debuted a new car in 10.5 and won three championships; NMRA 10.5, Ultra Quick 8 at E-Town, and Atco Outlaw 10.5, and capped it off by also getting the NMCA Super Street record. After some ribbing by locals on internet forums and watching the radial classes, he answered the call and bought David Reese’s EZ Street Mustang. Reese had campaigned the car in ORSCA and at various outlaw events and was moving to Pro Street. On the first pass after the purchase the engine gave up. Hance seized the opportunity to convert from the ProCharged alcohol combo to something he knew, twin turbos on gasoline. That would ultimately be the platform used in pursuit of a six.

I met David Hance last October at the First Annual Outlaw Drag Radial Championships in Bradenton, Florida. Prior to that, I knew him by reputation as the promoter of the Shakedown at E-Town, and he is good friends with a friend of mine, Scott Gaudagno of Scotty’s Racing Technology in Spring Hill, Florida.

Scott Gaudagno, a long-time friend, has done maintenance on Hance’s cars for years.

Hance made his first passes on the new combination at last year’s Shakedown, and the car got loose and into the wall. It was repaired by Crazy Don’s Chassis Shop in Island Park, New York in short order to make the Outlaw Radial Tire Championships in Bradenton.

At the ORTC race, Hance struggled early, and wound up in the second chance race, where the team did find the consistency to win as well as get best ET, breaking into the 4’s, the only car to do so in the second chance race.

Hance with ORTC Promoter Donald Long after his second chance win.

After that, the car was taken to Ford Speed Racing to get some TLC from Rob Wells and the gang to prepare for the Orlando World Street Finals.

Hance was qualified fifth after the third qualifying session with a 7.57 at 194, but the engine gave up on the last qualifying run and was taken to Pro Line for repairs. The race was won by Paul Major who swept it all, getting a bonus for top qualifier and top MPH, which he donated to a fund that had been set up for Leo Barnaby’s Daughter Jenna. Barnaby was killed in a car accident on October 18th, 2008 and was a friend to many racers.

Hance’s car was back in order a week later, and the team was off to the Snowbird Nationals in Bradenton where Dave ran a 7.52 off the trailer. After making some changes, he put a 7.22 at 207 on the board. Kevin Fiscus took the top spot in qualifying with a 7.18 and reset the record, just edging Dave Hinzman’s pass at the Shakedown.

In the first round, Fiscus would shock the world with a 7.06, only to come back the next round, stand it up on the bumper, come down hard and wind up in a nail-biting spin. Thankfully he hit nothing, though the car did suffer some damage to the suspension.

Hance witnessed the run from the water box and, “wanted out of the car bad,” but could find no one else to drive, and ran 7.15 at 210 for a new MPH record on the pass. He had built the car to run sixes, and now with Kevin’s 7.06 and his own 210 MPH horsepower, it was clear the race was on to be the first. Hance went on to win the event, but the first six was still on the table.

Back at Bradenton after PRI, Dave was testing again on Saturday, getting the best hit on the first run, a 7.13 at 211. He made four hits the rest of the day, but it was not to be. On Sunday, Bradenton was having a private club rental for Need2Speed.com. I was there running my own car and was able to film Dave on his first pass of the day.

Unfortunately, it would be the last pass of the day as the engine let loose. Hance returned home empty-handed, and the car went to Scotty’s Racing Technology in Spring Hill for repair.

I went with Ed and Lenny up to South Georgia Motorsports Park the next Friday night. At the time, there were massive snow storms in New York and Dave’s flight had been delayed. He was able to secure a later flight and flew to Jacksonville. We were basically flying blind in the rig, wondering if we would have to drive to pick him up at the airport or what. Once back on the ground he was able to get a ride on I-10 east to just north of the I-10/I-75 intersection, and we picked him up at 4:59 AM then drove on to Valdosta, now with Dave behind the wheel. We spent the night in a Super Wal-Mart parking lot and did some early morning shopping at 8:00, stopped by Mickey D’s for breakfast, and headed to SGMP.

In Georgia, Hance’s best pass netted a 7.179 at 210, and after staying late at the track to make some repairs to the headers we rolled out and ate some really good BBQ at a plate called the Smokin’ Pig. Once we were properly fed, it was off through the fog and back to Bradenton’s Runday Sunday Grudge fest for more testing.

Back at Bradenton, Hance’s best on Sunday was a 7.23 at just shy of 212, with a 1.31 60-foot and a 4.86 at half-track. After that session, the engine was removed and the exhaust valves were all replaced. The transmission was also sent back to ATI for freshening. When it was all back together again, Dave went to BMP once more for testing before the US Nationals. On Wednesday, he got a 219 MPH pass out of it, and on Thursday morning I drove down to catch whatever happened on film. He ran a 223 MPH pass and later backed it up with a 221, but the six still remained just out of reach.

Friday would be the day – as I was headed down to Bradenton, I got a text from Mark Gearhart asking if I had got the pass. Sadly I did not, but fortunately others had their video cameras at the ready.

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The Pass, Filmed by Bill Scrivener of Scrivener Performance.

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From my perspective, I am so happy for Dave, because he did what he set out to do. I have been there for many of his runs during all of this and the fact that I missed it actually happening is very disappointing. Sometimes life gets in the way of things. In December, a friend of Dave’s started a thread on YellowBullet.com listing sponsors and a bounty for the first car to get in the sixes. Many people and businesses responded, and the total eventually climbed to somewhere in the neighborhood of $7,000. Dave said from the start that if he was the one to do it he would also donate the money to Jenna Barnaby’s scholarship fund. Congratulations go out to David Hance, the first Drag Radial racer in the sixes. With that incredible milestone reached, what mountain is left for radial racers to climb? It’s hard to imagine, but they’ll come up with something, for sure…

Recently, I had the esteemed pleasure of chatting with Paul Major for a few minutes to complete our latest interview. Over the past year, I had seen Paul and his crew at the races several times, and did this interview – but never had the opportunity to actually meet him.

I can tell you that it is on my list of things to do in 2009. After speaking with Paul, I have come to feel like I have known him for a long time. He is a sincere person in everything that he does – whether it’s inside his record setting LSX Drag Radial Car – his true love for his family. Major hails from Fort Solonga, New York, and is a successful businessman as the owner of PM Construction and PM Maintenance, both well established in the Long Island, New York area.

This is his story.

Paul Major shares the joys in his life with his wife and three children, as well as his extended family in the drag racing community. Major was like any other high school kid: he had a love for cars and was into street racing. His first car was a 1972 Monte Carlo that was packed with nitrous, running in the high 12’s with a small block nitrous combination, it fed his fever early.

Eventually, Major found his way to the drag strip for some legal racing, and his obsession just went from there. Suddenly, today, he finds himself in this midst of a mid-life crisis (as he calls it) – deep in the mix of things as a top racer in Outlaw Drag Radial and probably the most feared LSX racer in world. Let us tell you though, he’s not just a racer, but a Corvette guy through and through.

That’s why this scene, depicted below from the 2008 LSX Shootout, was a difficult one for him to experience. In some ways, it almost less about the race, and more about the car.

Let’s take you back to 2001. Corvette fever kicked back into high gear with the purchase of a 2001 Quicksilver Z06. Yes, the same car as you see above. His friends and fellow racers kept him in the loop with all the local Vette racing action, which lead him into racing the Corvette Challenge events at Raceway Park.

The classes at Englishtown evolved quickly, and soon Paul was the front runner with his LS-based Z06, with the rest of the pack falling behind in a hurry. Over the last few years, with the encouragement from tuner Job Spetter, Major jumped to the dark side: his Z06 has gone from serious street/strip car, to one of the most feared LSX race cars in the world competing in the fast growing Outlaw Drag Radial classes.

We talked to Majors about what will this year will bring, and look back on the highlights of 2008:

LSXTV: Paul, please tell our followers about your car and the combination that you run as one of the top LSX Racers in the World?

MAJOR: “The car is a 2001 Z06 Corvette that has been completely set up to compete in Outlaw Drag Radial. For power, we use a World Products Warhawk 454 cubic inch motor that has a lot of great parts on the inside. A Sonny Bryant crank is used, along with components from Competition Cams and all Jesel valve train.

For the heads we use Performance Inductions, and a manifold from them will be used on the engine for this year as well. American Racing prepares all the parts for the headers and exhaust system. The new setup as a whole is very similar to what we ran last season (twin rear-mounted turbochargers), but there just may be some changes in the works for the later part of the season.”

LSXTV: In the future do you see the LS based power plants becoming the premier choice as the small block Chevrolet has been for so many years?

MAJOR: “There is no doubt that the LSX stuff makes crazy power. I would put it up against any setup out there. The prices (for LS-based parts) have come down considerably from what it was a few years ago, and with that happening you will see more and more of these setups coming out. There is more LSX aftermarket stuff coming into the picture, and with the money we have spent to get where we are – I wouldn’t go back. The guys that have been successful with the LS stuff are able to be counted on one hand. In a small block world with the turbo technology that is out there, I don’t think that you can beat LSX power.

LSXTV: What kind of power are you making with your LSX7 Warhawk 454 and twin turbos?

MAJOR: “Last year, we saw around 1,900 horsepower on the dyno at the rear tires. With the few updates, it should be slightly more. We never really turned up the combination on the dyno. We switched transmissions this year to try and solve the problems that we had last year, and hopefully no more fires. It is a Rossler Turbo Glide, which is basically a Turbo 400 that has been converted to a two speed. It really gives a lot of options to what we can do with the setup as well as being much stronger than the previous transmissions.

LSXTV: Tell us about the rear twin turbo system? Is it effective? Why did you choose to go this direction?

MAJOR: “The rear mount turbo setup was our way to deal with the lack of room in the C5 Corvette. As a result, we moved everything out back and it alleviated the car from being so nose heavy when we originally set the car up with a single 106mm turbo. We dealt with some issues early on, but with some testing those problems were solved. In time, we went to the twin 88mm turbochargers, and that’s where we are at now with the setup. Of course, we have something new in store. But we will save that for the next article! Being able to place the weight over the rear tires with the intercooler, and all (that staff) that is back there now — it really helps to balance out the car.”

LSXTV: Can you tell us about your current chassis configuration and the updates that were recently done by DMC Racing.

MAJOR: “Dennis at DMC narrowed the rear, and notched the rear frame rails to help get rid of the problem that we were having staying in the groove. The rear stance of the car was so wide, we were having a hard time staying in the center of the track, and ultimately loosing traction. Also, we added a floater rear that was fabricated using the exact same suspension setup we had used previously. The rear housing was fabricated by Skinny Kid Race Cars and it is truly a piece of art. Dennis also added in some more bars in the back to stiffen the chassis up.”

LSXTV: What do you think about the controversy that surrounds your Corvette’s non-stock IRS suspension?

MAJOR: “As for the controversy, you know I truly don’t understand it. You have Florida, and drag radial is big down there, and always will be. Now with the growth of the 275mm Radial classes, the rules will have to loosen up a lot (for Radial racing). I see with all the new cars that are being built from the factory, and you have the guys that are wanting to build them to race the class, but they come with independent suspensions that are not suitable for the horsepower that is needed to be competitive.

Racers shouldn’t be excluded because of what car they choose to run. You can’t close the doors to the class, or it will hurt the class. It all comes down to if there is a advantage for these setups. Is there? I wouldn’t think so, because you look at these stock suspension racers that are going low 1.20’s in the sixty, and they are faster than these true ten five racers on 4-links and slicks. So there is no advantage to my setup or any other that is out there.”

LSXTV: On the performance side of things do you feel that your car sixty foots well and if not what can be done to improve it?

MAJOR: “Oh, my car is probably the worst sixty footing car out there. It has to be. I think last year our best was a 1.28, with a 1.30 average. That is one of the main reasons we had DMC narrow the rear, and try to keep the car in the groove. With that being done, we should be able to really get after it on the starting line. Compared to any stock F-body out there, if you were to measure from the center line, my car was seven inches wider than them. We are close to where we need to be, but compared to a Mustang we are still much wider. Realistically, if we can get a 1.25 sixty we can definitely get to the 6′s.”

LSXTV: Who is responsible for the tuning on your car and what is the fastest e.t. and mph to date that you have been?

MAJOR: “Job Spetter. He is “the man” — we are very fortunate to have him be a part of our team. Aside from being a tuner, he is a teacher as he has taught me a lot through the years, and I can even get through some of it on my own. Also, we have Chris from NRG that comes out to help us.

The entire team puts forth a lot of effort, and I am thankful to have them all being a part of this with me. As for the times, we went 7.23 at the Shakedown last year, and 208 mph in Orlando. I think the 208 was a one hit wonder, so I say we are a consistent 205 mph car because we have ran that at like five different tracks.”

LSXTV: Just to find out a bit more about you, What do you like and dislike the most about drag racing?

MAJOR: “Drag racing as a whole – I love it, I couldn’t do it any other way. I have to be out there to run all out, all the time. It’s all about pushing the limits to see what we can do. As to what I like the least, well I guess I do get tired of all the cry babies and the whining. It all seems to surround the controversy of my car. But overall, I love to be around the majority of the people in this sport because they are all so willing to help. It is always a good time but when you look aside from the keyboard warriors, it is a lot of fun.”

LSXTV: Who would you say that is your biggest rival?

MAJOR: “I don’t have any rivals…really I don’t. I love the competition. There are a bunch of great guys out there. I would rather see a guy like Dave Hance sell the Pro Mod, and stick with his drag radial car. We have a good car, and it is a consistent 205 mph car. Dave has been 220 mph at three different tracks. That’s real. There are so many others that will be pushing hard once their combinations are done. All these guys are working hard at it, and deserve what they get.”

LSXTV: Are Outlaw Drag Radial cars going 200+ Mph Safe?

MAJOR: “Well, you know I feel a lot safer just because of the tire that we are on. As far as a guy that is going to go 200 mph, it has to be a car that is built to do so. You just are not going to throw something together and do that. The racers that want to compete at that level are running good parts and there is no junk in that level of performance.

With the whole 25.5 and 25.2 dilemma, I wouldn’t even dream of going as fast as we have with any less than what we have now. We may run across some cars that are not up to specification at the 1/8 mile events, but for the most part everyone has taken the initiative for the safety of themselves and others. I do everything in my power possible to know that I am going to come home to my family at the end of the day. I think the majority of the guys feel the same way.

LSXTV: What was it like to win Orlando after the loss of your good friend Leo Barnaby, and to be able to dedicate the win to his daughter Jenna?

MAJOR: “It was great. We got back from Memphis with a toasted car, and we were on a mission. We needed a ton of parts and on the way home, I was on the phone with Leo. I told him we had a lot of work to do, and I wasn’t going to miss Orlando again. We didn’t go the year before, you know, with (with the problem of) keeping the heads on the block, so we didn’t make the trip.

Leo got on the ball with Chris at NRG, along with many others — scrambling for parts all over the place. Then, it was like I got the call about what had happened to Leo (he was killed in car accident) and I was just blown away. Not only did I lose a friend, but there were parts at his shop that we needed. Leo’s competitive nature is what made me the way I am .With this happening, it was no doubt that we had to get this car back together and make to Orlando. We had a strong car when we got to Orlando, and we chased around the tune up and it all came together to come out with a win for Jenna.”

LSXTV: With that being said would you consider 2008 as a success?

MAJOR: “Without a doubt. It was a very exciting year, and we made a lot of progress with the setup. Performance was where we needed to be, come the end of the year. Along the way we made some really great friends. I am so excited about 2009, I just can’t wait to get out there and get racing. What we did last year was a definite motivator.

LSXTV: With constant rule changes and new classes, where will we see Paul Major in 2009? What are your goals for the season?

MAJOR: “One thing is for sure: I want one of those 6-second jackets this year at the Shakedown. We are going to have to work on that six second pass real early in the season, because we know there are tons of people shooting for that, and are well capable of doing so. Right now, our sights are set on running the entire Drag Radial schedule at Cecil County Dragway, as well as a few of their limited ten five events.

Dave O’Donnell and Jim Halsey have created a great place to race, and a awesome series with the Street Car Shootouts and now with the new 275 classes and limited 10.5 they show why they have a premier racing facility that will continue to give us a place to race. I also plan to support the 1320X series, and will run as much of that schedule as possible, unless there are conflicting dates. Shakedown is a definite, and we will go back to Orlando to defend our title. Plans are also to go back to Vegas as they have a great thing going out there and a awesome facility as well.”

LSXTV: Will the Shakedown field grow this year?

MAJOR: “I really hope to see more support from the drag radial racers at the Shakedown race this year. It was disheartening to see how many of the northern racers headed south to Orlando and Bradenton, but there was no support from the south at our races. Dave Hance deserves more credit than he gets, and if we don’t see this happen I would hope a lot more people wouldn’t go to Bradenton. If they won’t support our races, we shouldn’t support them. They have the no Paul Major rule down there so I don’t have to worry about it.

LSXTV: To wrap this all up, What do you feel will be the drag radial record will be next year this time?

MAJOR: “I can see them running 228-230 mph, and it all depends on who steps up their combinations to the big block twin turbo setups. You should see the low 6.80’s with just two or three in that range. I never imagined we would be where we are at now, with two racers in the 6′s already. My prediction was that we would have to wait to see this happen at Shakedown in October. With going from the 7.18 that Hinzman, ran to the 6.90’s, in a few months – it is crazy. I ask myself – where will it stop?

Jim is a busy man. He spends his time running his Fort Lauderdale, Florida based Able Car Rental company, tending to his family, and racing his car while constantly tweaking and adjusting his parts and combination to make sure he stays competitive.

We were very pleased that he took the time to answer some of our questions and tell us a little more about himself.

Jim, how did you become interested in Drag Racing?

Actually, my first trip to a drag strip was in high school. I had my mother’s Dodge Dart slant six. I didn’t go to race, I just went to watch at La Place Drag Strip in Louisiana. It’s a small drag strip just outside of New Orleans. I went with a couple of friends, they had big cubic inch Chevelles, Corvettes… mainly Chevy’s. The muscle cars of the late 60’s and 70’s.

I didn’t really see myself being able to participate at that level at that age. I was barely in high school…probably about 15 years old. They had a wide range of street cars. At the time I didn’t know what they were but there were Altereds and big tired cars. The main thing was they were mainly GM style cars. All the really fast cars were GMs.

Did that trip make you want to race?

From that point I thought it would be something I would be interested in, but I didn’t quite know how I would fit into it. It wasn’t until much later that I decided that I wanted to get involved in some form or fashion. I met Ron Cox through some friends and he had his red stick shift 95 Mustang that he was getting prepped and ready to race in Super Street Outlaw. I told him that I would like to be part of his pit crew, or basically go to the races with him.

So I spent a year going with him to different events around the country. Some were Fun Ford, some were NMRA. That was the end of ‘99 and beginning of 2000. At the time I owned a 95 Cobra R I bought through a Ford Dealership in Hollywood.I bought it because I knew it was going to be the last pushrod Mustang period and definitely the last Cobra R.

I had the car and had been driving it and doing little tweaks and different things to it, but I really didn’t have any idea of racing it, although I had taken it to a couple of the All Ford races at Moroso. I got spanked pretty good by another guy with a Cobra R. That basically made me want to go faster. After he beat me I went over to his pit and looked at his car and saw the little tricks and things he had done to his car that definitely made him faster.

How did you hook up with Ronnie Crawford?

I met Ronnie Crawford through Ron’s son, Mike Gillette. Mike had a pretty fast street car, and we used to run around in the streets with that. I would bring out my Cobra R and Mike had a blown Mustang that he would drive on the street every day…it was about a 900rwhp car. So we hung out a lot.

Eventually in 2000 I went to Ron’s first NMRA race in Columbus and I was definitely shocked at the quality and size of the field, the speeds and the number of cars competing.

Lynch was there with a nitrous car and Bill Devine was there in Pro 5.0. I believe Jim Summers was there. The Scranton brothers had brought out “The Silver Bullet” for the first time and were running Pro 5.0. They were pitted right next to Ron Cox. I remember the line of people “oohing” and “ahhing” over “The Silver Bullet”.

That was the race that I finally made the decision that I wanted to do it. I thought I could be competitive, I thought I understood it, and I made the decision based on what I saw at that race that I wanted to participate.

So you decided to take your street Cobra R and get it ready for full on drag duty?

We had a lot of work to do to the Cobra R to even think about getting it competitive. I went through a lot of variations of transmissions and motors and blowers and different things until I hit on a combination. Back then I was just like everybody else. I was just following the leader. I just wanted to go fast and I never thought that I would be able to race on a high level with these guys. I just wanted to go out and be competitive and go a few rounds.

I never dreamed when I started this thing that I would have any real success. I just thought it would be something that I would like to do, that I would enjoy doing, and would have some fun while I was at it.

It was a steep learning curve from our first race. We couldn’t make a pass without losing a blower belt. We had potential, but we had a lot of little issues that we had to sort out.

I was at a test session at Moroso and broke a transmission. Somebody had mentioned that Jason Gatlin of The Automatic Transmission Factory (better known as ATF) was a good transmission guy. So I went and met Jason and we got to talking. I started telling him what I wanted to do and he was interested, even though he had a car at the time.

A look under the hood of Jim’s original ’95 Cobra R shows almost no trace of its original 351W factory engine. Here you can see it has been converted over to a Procharged, Yates headed Super Street Outlaw contender.

What happened at your first NMRA race in 2001?

First race I am pretty sure I went out first round against Chris Derrick. It was funny because we would be on a good pass and about 1000 foot I would lose my belt. So even though my times were decent, maybe 8.20’s, my miles per hour were real low. I think some people thought that we were sandbagging and that for whatever reason we weren’t showing our hand.

I guess nobody realized that we were shredding belts at 1000 foot. In the car it looked like black snow was coming through the car from the belts. I think we made one clean pass where the belt stayed on, and we qualified 5th or 6th. After that, I was buying belts. Travis Franklin was selling me all his spare belts as we were going through the event.

What did you do after that race to prepare for 2002?

That’s when ATF and I started doing a lot of testing. We started getting a more professional attitude about it. We started looking at the belt alignment, the tension issues and putting on idlers to get rid of the slap. We started realizing that once we got the belt issues ironed out we started snapping crank snouts and stuff like that.

So you got the belt issues figured out but other parts started to break?

Correct. We started doing a lot more testing and a lot more R&D and buying the best parts available, making sure that once we found a problem we addressed it. During this time I was working with Ronnie Crawford trying to get a better combination, better parts, better cam profiles and different things that we felt we needed. And it just went from there.

Jim came out to his first NMRA race in 2001 to a packed crowd at the Bowling Green Finals.

Were you ready when the 2002 season began?

We went to Bradenton NMRA and I lost first round. I think we were still fighting issues with the transmission at that point so we changed converters.

We went to Reynolds, and in the first round of qualifying it was nice dense air and we ran a 7.80 that pass was faster than Millen’s 7.89 record at that time. That’s when I got discovered. That was a pretty big deal at the time. We made it to the finals against Murillo and lost, spun the tire.

How was the 2002 NMRA season as a whole?

I think we finished in the top 10 that year. We had parts break and various things we went through, but we were definitely moving in the right direction. We were starting to realize the potential of the combination.

I think we went to every race that year. We had finally got to the point where the motor and tranny were dialed in, so we were fighting chassis issues. We were king of the power wheelies. It made for some dramatic launches so I never knew when it came down which way I was headed.

The car was definitely a handful to drive and definitely an issue every time whether the car would come down straight or go left or right. It was famous for either going into tire shake or spin while the wheels were up. Tire shake wasn’t too bad because I knew I was coming down immediately. Tire spin was bad because it would come down very hard and the chassis would unload, then I would be all over the place.

I remember thinking that these cars are really hard to drive. (Laughs) I didn’t understand how these guys could drive them consistently. I never knew from pass to pass what to expect. I basically had one out of three possibilities every time I let go of the trans brake, and two out of three were bad.

You got rookie of the year because obviously you went from nobody to setting the record and a force to be reckoned with….

To potentially somebody…that was a cool race at Reynolds. I got acknowledged by people I really respected. People who I always held in high esteem seemed to recognize what that 7.80 pass represented. At the time I didn’t even realize it, because I didn’t know enough to know what an accomplishment that was. But I remember getting big props from Donny Walsh and Doug Mangrum and the Pro 5.0 guys. They were impressed with that.

The Outlaw guys were probably not too happy, but I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, I guess if the Pro 5.0 guys are giving me props that must have really been something!” We had been working really hard and I always thought the car was capable, but the pass was itself didn’t seem special. The car stayed down and behaved itself and it seemed like a pretty uneventful pass.

I remember Jimmy Dahl rode his 4 wheeler all the way down to the end of the track, walked up to me and shook my hand and I was like “what was that for?” He goes, “man, you just ran a 7.80!” I said “Seven Eighty what?” and he says “Seven EIGHT EEEEE.” So I say again “Seven Eighty WHAT?” He goes “SEVEN – POINT – EIGHT – OH!” and I go “OH!” I remember thinking after that “Wow, not bad.” (Laughs)

It seemed like a different time. In ’02 and ’03 the fields were pretty full. There were more possibilities then. The turbo thing was really starting to catch on. I think in ’02 Murillo won the championship. George Gallegos told me that he went over to Murillo’s trailer and Mike was staring at the computer and George asked him what’s up with that white car. That’s what I was then: “that white car.” So, Murillo is looking at his computer and he says to George, “I don’t know what’s up with him, but I am looking at my computer and I don’t see any seven eighties in this tune up!” (Laughs)

“King of the power wheelies.” Jim amazed the Outlaw field at the Reynolds NMRA race in 2002 with a record setting 7.80 pass.

You did better in ‘03 but didn’t win the championship, correct?

At the end of ’03 we finally got a handle on a lot of different things. In ’03 we had finally gone to the Blue Thunder heads. In ’02 we were still running Yates heads. We started realizing that we had a lot of power on tap that would have destroyed the Yates head, but didn’t seem to bother the Blue Thunders.

At that last race in ’03 we had the chassis sorted out, the tune sorted out – and a 50 cent rotor shut down the whole operation. We knew at the end we had a lot of potential that we were just now able to tap into. Jason found it in the tune and the chassis. On one hand it made it more comfortable for me, but on the other hand we still had 50 cent parts that would break. We had worked our way from one end of the car to the other.

In ’02 I had some good times, but in ’03 I started getting serious about it. We started getting our ducks lined up for ’04.

Was ’04 a really successful and dominating year for you?

Jason had made some converter changes and we had tested at Moroso the weekend before Bradenton, at that hot nasty track, with me pedaling most of the way down the track and the car would run 7.70 to 7.80. Manny Buginga had been testing over at Bradenton before the race and he had run a 7.66 so that was all the talk of the internet.

We showed up Thursday night at the test and tune, and it went right down Broadway. I clicked it off about 1200 foot and it ran a 7.55 and the world changed.

’04 was basically the year we either beat ourselves or broke. We never really ever got outrun in ’04. I take that back. I think I lost on a hole shot to Zack Posey. I had mechanical failure or driver failure, but the car itself never got outrun.

We had turned it down and kept turning it down until we got to Chicago. We won Reynolds that year with a hurt motor. We had pinched a ring land and it was pumping smoke pretty bad. I think I even had mismatched tires. I was still able to win.

Kansas City the car shut off because a connection came loose on the battery. That was our own fault, shoving the charger on too hard. In Maple Grove we blew up blowers left and right.

I won Bradenton, Reynolds, Chicago and Season Final Bowling Green.

Jim’s ’95 Cobra R dominated SS Outlaw in 2004. Jim was able to capture the championship and then sold the car to focus on 10.5W tire racing.

In Chicago you went 7.508 at 186.54. Urist was number two at 7.658. How good did that feel, and did it set the pace for 2004?

I actually raced against Urist on that pass. I think that’s the day Urist decided to put a blower on his car. (Laughs) We won that race and I had a broken intercooler. Every time I would go up on the brake it would take a big gulp of water and stumble like crazy coming off.

I think some of my lights were .150 to .250 range because I couldn’t let go of the trans brake until the engine rpm would come back up. We couldn’t figure out what was going on, but once it cleared up the car would run real good.

How did you feel after winning the NMRA Super Street Outlaw Championship?

I felt like we had finally accomplished what we had set out to do. I thought we dominated. If it were not for some untimely parts breakage we probably would have won maybe five or six races, which would have been pretty outstanding for that time. It was definitely time to move on.

What made you decide to move up to another class?

I had already bought the Bullet in the winter of ’03. I didn’t really know if I was just going to park the white car and race the Bullet, but there was actually a point in time that we were dumb enough to think we were going to race both cars at either the same events or different events.

But knowing how much work it took to run one car, well, we dismissed that idea pretty quickly. We knew we couldn’t compete in the high level with both cars without having a traveling circus. So we decided to sell the white car and concentrate on the Bullet.

The old Scranton Brothers “Silver Bullet” was resurrected by Jim to start racing in 10.5W tire classes. The car originally sported the same turbo setup that the Scrantons used. However, Jim later switched back to the tried and true Procharger based engine.

What happened in 2005 and 2006 after you decided to race the “Bullet?”

We were trying to get the Bullet to run as a turbo car. I thought we gave it a pretty fair shake. We tested a couple of times with it. It seemed like we would get a handle on it and it would get away from us and then we would get it back. The decision was made to convert it back to the blower, since that’s what we knew and that’s what we were comfortable with. That’s what we could be competitive with.

We did some local races in ’05. Raced a couple of times in Bradenton and Orlando with a turbo. We yanked that out and went to what we knew.

The car was state of the art when it came out for what it was in 2000. It was ahead of its time. By ’05 and ’06 it was woefully inadequate for what we needed to do. The car itself was well built structurally, but it was heavy.

You have to realize it was a championship-winning car…they (Scranton brothers) won every race they raced with it in NMCA. The way things are evolving so fast, you have got to constantly re-evaluate and upgrade and change things to maintain any kind of competitive advantage.

2005 was testing with the turbo. 2006 was putting the supercharger combination back on the car, sorting it out and seeing if we could be competitive with it.

Jim stopped by to show me his new Wilson Manifolds sheet metal intake. The cast manifold was limiting power because of unequal air distribution to the corners. The sheet metal piece allowed him to open up the tune.

In NMCA Atlanta of ’06 you showed up and qualified with a 7.21 at 197. Were you ready for 10.5W tire racing?

Atlanta we thought we were ready. On a test and tune pass the car I think ran a 7.06 just prior to qualifying. We snapped the input shaft and buzzed the motor, which dropped a valve. Later on that year we raced at Orlando and the US Nationals.

In ’07 you qualified #2 at Bradenton with a 7.09 at 203 with Millen at 7.08. Were you making progress?

Yeah. We won Bradenton because Markwiecz was broke in the final. I ran a couple of 7.14’s and 7.17’s.

We also ran NOPI that year and won Texas and Phoenix. And we made it to the finals in New Jersey.

Jim’s intercooler exploded, ripping the roof off his car at this NMCA race. His diligent crew was able to patch it back together in time for the next pass.

You wont the championship in 2007. Did you dominate like you did in NMRA in 2004?

No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I was outgunned in the end. I was equal in the beginning, but by the end I was outgunned. Basically I just had enough of a lead that I managed to hold on. If Spiro wouldn’t have crashed in Ohio and fixed the car, no telling where he would have been.

What happened in 2008?

2008 had the same combination, but we had changed the…well, I had some rules issues concerning the chain drive and the removable nose so we had to address those issues.

It sounds like some people complained about the legality of your car in 2007. Were you in a gray zone?

Yeah, I would say I was. I mean, we are all in a gray zone. But yeah, I was close to the edge as far as rules, although nothing that offered a competitive advantage.

Like the chain drive – they needed an SFI certification. Well, guess what? There is no SFI certification for a chain drive. Nobody ever created one. Procharger started to get one and then they went away from it. We put a lot of R & D into that chain drive and basically had to toss it after we perfected it.

Hold your ears when Jim does his burnout. People have said his car sounds like a “huge mountain motor” when in reality it barely topped 400 inches.

Was the chain certification requirement a safety rule?

Yeah it was a safety rule thing. As far as I can tell I never took out anybody in the third row, so I don’t think it was unsafe. In the spirit of the rules I had to change. I realized that I couldn’t win that battle. I had to convert to a direct drive because I really had no option. This changed the position of the blower, the radiator, the steering rack, pretty much the entire front nose of the car.

You have to always sort of evaluate the letter of the rule and the spirit of the rule. The intent versus the spirit of it, and you’ve got to be able to differentiate from something that is well meaning and valid versus well meaning and inane for lack of a better term.

There are rules that strike you, like the removable hood is cosmetic. There is no competitive advantage. Everybody basically has a one-piece front end. A removable hood is an illusion. I didn’t have one so we had to create one.

The chain drive was something that required a lot more work and a lot more effort, yet I felt in the spirit of safety I had to address it. We addressed them both. One was a cosmetic easy fix. The other was a mechanical reengineering of the whole front of the car, and we didn’t know how the car was going to react as far as movement of the radiator and replumbing the cooling and stuff like that.

This cool transparency that Jim and ATF supplied was shot with the nose on and off the car. Note the direct drive blower and relocation of the front accessories.

How would you sum up the 2008?

Suck city! I used up all my luck in 2007.

It wasn’t bad. We ran the first and the second and the third six-second small block passes with a blower car, and we did it in less than ideal conditions on less than ideal tracks. It gave me some ideas on the mechanical side of the combination of what I could do to increase the longevity, while maintaining the power level.

I have seen some things now that I hadn’t seen before that made me address items that I thought were holding us back. We got the chassis sorted out. I think we are going to have the motor sorted out pretty soon, and we are working on some things with the transmission that I think are going to be fruitful.

What do you have planned for 2009?

Basically building on what happened in 2008 as far as the structural integrity of the block with the addition of a billet block. We are going to do a converter with Marty Chance. Jason has developed a new input shaft and pump stator to replace what we were breaking. We broke six of them at the end of 2008. We hadn’t broken that particular part in over two years. We broke six in four races.

We are kind of evolving the whole program. We are getting to the point in the program where whatever part we need to evolve, we now make it ourselves. This is a big help. ATF can manufacture anything now. We can draw it and make it out of plastic. We can look at it and measure it. Like for gear tooth and pitch, stuff like that for input shafts, we can make it and actually examine it, install it, look at the clearances with the spacing and everything and see if we need more or less.

We are at a point where we are evolving into areas where we are manufacturing parts, where before, we could only buy off the shelf. We are using the car as a test mule to not just build the part for ourselves, but if we don’t break them, and market them, then nobody else should break them either…I am sure.

What’s been the highlight of your racing career?

Probably the first SS Outlaw Championship. That would probably be the time I felt I accomplished something I set out to do. At certain points along the way I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do it. It really gave me a sense of accomplishing a very difficult task.

Always a respected competitor, Jim has become an important fixture in the Heads Up racing community.

What was the low point?

I have thought about that. There really isn’t one. To be able to do what I do, you know, have a car and be competitive in this venue and this world is an accomplishment in itself. Like I have said before, for every car you see on the track there are ten cars that got started and never finished. So just that alone is saying something.

So yeah, as a racer, I can’t really say I’ve had….I have had momentary low points. I’ve had disappointments from problems I solved that I really didn’t, but overall I don’t have any great disappointments.

You stuck with the small block supercharged combo while other combinations seemed better. Why?

Well, like I have said, I don’t think we have exhausted the possibilities. I think that the origin of the sport was with a small block. I think that with all the technology and advancements that are available to the racers today, until you have completely exhausted all possibilities and all tuning issues and questions, chassis issues and questions…I don’t think the small block has reached the point yet of not being competitive. I believe it needs certain advantages, i.e. weight breaks, etc. etc..

But I still believe that the small block in the right hands will always be competitive.

Do you like the small block blown combination’s weight advantages?

When available. I honestly feel like if you haven’t given your combination at least five years of R & D then you haven’t really worked your combo to the 9th degree, to its infinite possibilities. That’s my opinion. What I have learned and how long I have worked the combination and what I feel is still possible is a minimum of five years of tweaking, checking all the mechanical possibilities and improvements, tuning issues, and chassis issues.

I think a lot of people don’t look at the whole combination either. I think that sometimes there are literally tenths of seconds left in chassis and transmissions that don’t ever get looked at and evaluated because it’s easy to put in a big block with twin turbos and basically run the track backwards. Leaving soft and letting the turbos pull the car through the back half of the track instead of the front half of the track.

My theory of drag racing is that you need to run hard in the beginning of the track because that makes the combination of tune, chassis, and race track conditions more equal across the board. I see that turbo big blocks by their mph and by their incrementals run the second half of the track much harder than the first half of the track. That kind of eliminates the need for excellent chassis balance, ability to read a racetrack…especially at the starting line it is not as critical.

It basically allows people to not have to address tuning issues, chassis issues, tranny issues. There’s no doubt they are making horrific power, it just seems like they should be capable of more. If they were having to leave hard like if they were a nitrous car or a blower car, then they would have to pay more attention to the chassis.

Jim’s Mustang is powered by a Small Block Ford 9.5 deck Windsor engine with a hair over 400 inches of displacement. It features Blue Thunder heads, a Wilson Manifolds sheet metal intake, Procharged big boost, and a ATF transmission.

What do you think about the recent trend of 1/8 mile racing? Does it even things out more?

Absolutely. It’s a great equalizer, especially if they are not addressing the front half of the track there is no time to make it up. Cars that can leave hard are going to run the eighth mile in relatively close proximity to the turbo cars or the nitrous cars.

What has been your best 1/8 mile time?

The best we have ever gone is a forty flat. We have done it a couple of times, and I think that with some transmission tweaks we are incorporating right now, the car is capable of mid to low thirties.

Where does that put you against your competition?

As far as a small block combination it puts me right at the front. As far as an alcohol screw blower, it puts me in the back. It all depends on the application. For a small block blower car to run mid to low thirties in the eighth, I personally will consider that an achievement….a large achievement.

What weight was your car for those types of times?

The eighth mile races around here I am basically required to run 2800lbs. I can get my car much lighter.

Did you run the forty flat at 2800 pounds?

Actually, I was at 2850.

If you were the guy making rules for W tire racing, what would you change? Would you go to 1/8 mile to make things better?

Don’t give me that power. That’s a tough question because no matter what you say there is going to be somebody not happy with the answer.

1/8 mile racing is safer for the drivers, less hard on the parts. It equalizes the advantages turbos have over most combinations, but I don’t know how it looks to the fan. I wonder if the fan enjoys a four second race or not.

It seems to me that everything appears to be pretty close but there’s no pulling around them on the big end like quarter mile racing offers. From a driver’s perspective I enjoy quarter mile racing. From an owner’s perspective I enjoy eighth mile racing.

I think you have a lot of different biases and different perspectives depending on where you are: from the driver’s seat, from the stands, from the starting line, or in the tower. The racing would appear close to the untrained eye. But I personally enjoy quarter mile racing from a driver’s perspective.

As far as the rules, it’s hard to say because everything evolves so quickly that by the time the rules makers come around its too late, the cat’s out of the bag. I do see that all the sanctioning bodies are trying to get a handle on the new combinations out there.

ORSCA and other sanctioning bodies that used to not allow certain combination weight breaks are offering it because it’s a sport and a business but you have got to have something that has appeal to the fans, the person in the stands.

You have got to have something that is dramatic that has different combinations that people can root for so that it’s not all big block turbo all the time. It’s not all screw blowers on alcohol all the time. There’s a reason people like to watch racing. It’s because they can identify with a particular car, or a particular combination, or a particular motor, or a particular power adder and that’s what makes it interesting. That’s what people come to see and root for, whatever their emotional attachment is to a particular car or a particular combination.

If somebody runs away with it, it takes away from the entertainment value. In this economy, in this day and age, you have to have something that appeals to the people in the stand, which is wide varied.

I don’t envy the rule makers. I see where they have a real problem on their hands because you can’t cater to one particular combination or style or you’ll lose your appeal.

Jim and his crew have set the car up to run the front half of the track as hard as possible, netting him some astonishing 1/8 mile times for a small block combination.

With NASCAR and NHRA making rules so that cars are so similar, do you this type of racing is more appealing to the fans?

I think NASCAR and NHRA have a problem getting into a comfortable rut. While it seems to be working, they are losing their origins and where they came from. NASCAR came from southern boys and moonshiners with cars that people could identify with and relate to and drive home from the track in.

What you see now, there is no way to identify with the car on the track. There’s no way to identify with the drivers who all seem to have the same cookie cutter look and corporate speak routine whenever the camera is on them. It might be nice for mass marketing appeal, but who do you identify with? Who is your favorite driver? What is your favorite car?

And I think with NHRA, they kind of suffer from the same problem when they are afraid to bring in new ideas and new classes and give people something new to get interested in. It is kind of a rut, but it’s a comfortable rut and when you get so big it’s not easy to change.

That’s the beauty of heads up racing and grass roots racing. It has the ability to adapt and to change and it’s not caught up in the same vicious cycle of regurgitating the same things over and over again. Of course, the NHRA would point out that Sportsman racing was killed by cars going faster and faster, well-financed teams dominating, and that’s why they bracket race at the sportsman level.

But I think what we have today is a new dynamic. Heads Up racing is definitely what people want to see and we offer them something to identify with. We offer them something they can recognize, power adder combinations that they are familiar with. And the technology in heads up racing is actually far advanced from what’s in an NHRA pro stock car.

Last year you showed up with “Scorpion” on your car and trailer. How did that transpire?

Jason heard in the beginning of 2008 that Scorpion was looking for a car to sponsor and they were involved with NMCA in sponsorship of the PRO class. We had known the marketing director for a while. I was familiar with their products. We met Rob, the owner, and he stepped up and sponsored us and it has been a lovely experience.

For everybody out there who thinks sponsorship is such a wonderful thing, it carries some serious responsibilities and I don’t take them lightly. It’s like another job on top of the job you are doing there at the racetrack. You are representing a company. You have to be attentive to the needs of the company. You have to project yourself as a person that the company would want as a spokesman and a representative at the racetrack, and it’s a lot of work. It really is.

We handed out a lot of brochures, t-shirts, hats, talked to a lot of people and helped promote the Scorpion name in a fashion that I thought they would be happy with.

Did you choose to be with Scorpion because of their sponsorship of the NMCA Pro Street class?

I knew they were a local company that was looking to expose their products and services to our form of racing. I knew that they made a very, very high quality product. I knew that they would benefit by the exposure that they would receive.

Of course, no one would have dreamed that the Pro Street class would have been as big and popular as it was. They basically gambled going in not knowing what would happen, whether the Pro Street class would even show up in 2008. It was probably one of the best years that I can remember for Pro Street as far as car counts and ETs. I think the class was definitely the flagship class of the organization.

I thought that they were extremely fortunate to grab that sponsorship when they did. Nobody could have known going in what to expect to happen, especially with the demise of Pro 5.0. I saw a thread on the internet – “it was the end of big tire racing as we knew it”. Ironically, it was the rebirth. It was a re-emergence of the class and the people in the class.

Scorpion was there at the right time to be able to cash in on what was a great year for Pro Street.

Will we see Jim in Pro Street some day? Jim says it’s a definite maybe.

Speaking of Pro Street, do you have any plans to step up again?

I wouldn’t mind it. I have to admit, there is definitely an appeal to the big tire cars. There is something about those guys, the Mickes and the Budanos. There is definitely something there that appeals to me.

Whether at this point in my life I would be willing to make the financial commitment or not is hard to say. Probably not with the economy the way it is. Had I been in this position maybe three or four years ago, perhaps.

I wouldn’t close the door entirely that there wouldn’t be a possibility at some point in the future. I am definitely interested, but at this point in time I have my hands full with what we are doing right now. So that would be a maybe. (Laughs)

If some sponsor came along and said they were paying for the whole thing, you just had to pick a class to run, which class would you pick?

It would be Pro Street. No doubt. If I had a complete free ride I would build a Pro Street car. Definitely go that direction. It just appeals to me on so many levels. It really does. It is basically all out warfare. That appeals to me.

Along the way who were the people who have helped you get to where you are today in racing?

First and foremost would be Jason Gatlin, of Automatic Transmission Factory. We have kind of grown together in the sport. If you told us where we would be seven or eight years from then, I doubt either one of us would have conceived it. He is the number one reason that as a driver I am able to get in the car and be totally comfortable.

These cars are dangerous…eighth mile, quarter mile, whatever it is. And when you get behind that wheel you have to have a level of confidence, a level of comfort, to be able to drive them. Whether this part was tightened down or that part was tightened down, whether this part is going to fail or this bolt is going to break. You have to put that out of your mind. You have to be able to go up to the tree and rest assured that everything is going to work out, even though there are several hundred moving parts which any could fail at any given moment.

When he lines me up I only have one job to do and that’s drill the tree. That’s a very comfortable feeling to have. That gives the driver a comfort zone that he can concentrate on, just getting the car down the track, cutting a good light, doing his job, and I can rest assured that everything else in the car is taken care of.

I know people that try and do everything and it amazes me that a racer has that ability, to have the mechanical part of it, the tuning part of it, the chassis part of it, and just the regular service part of it and still be a good racer. They are few and far between, but there are people that can do it and my hat is off to them.

For me Jason is the reason I can pull into the tree comfortable 99.9 percent of the time. There have been times I didn’t know what was going to happen when I let go of the trans brake, but I would say 100% of those times everything was fine.

Also of course there are the crew guys. David, Danny and Patrick all from ATF. A great bunch of guys.

David is probably the best or the most willing to do whatever is necessary, as far as tearing out a transmission, tearing out a rear end, pulling out a motor, breaking down a motor and driving the rig. The boy will do it at the drop of a hat with a smile on his face and never complain. David is in charge of the tear downs, freshening up of the motors, and rebuilding of the motors.

Danny is new to the game. He is a recent Wyotech Graduate. He is learning quickly how to help with the car. He does some of the fabrication work and welding on the car and round to round maintenance.

Patrick is in charge of the starting line routine, also helps with the round to round maintenance, fuel and ice checks, video filming, in car camera, picture taking and driving the rig.

And then there is Procharger and Scorpion of course.

My wife Janet, daughter Jessica, and everybody at Able Car Rental that put up with me when I’m in race mode.

I saw a documentary one time about big wave surfers. They say that just before they are ready to go surfing they are insufferable to be around. It struck me. Drag racers are kind of the same way. Once we are out there in the car everything’s all calm and fine, but all the anxiety and the drama and the thrashing that leads up to it must make us pretty miserable people to be around.

So I thank my wife, daughter and all my employees for being able to put up with that.

Jim’s crew is an important part of his success and he is quick to credit Jason and ATF for their work. Scorpion and Procharger have also been a big help to his racing program.

Anything else we should know about your racing program?

Just that I think we will have something this year that should be the culmination of five years of R & D as far as motor, transmission and chassis.

Do you plan on running the whole NMCA season in 2009, going for the championship again? Or are you going to do something else?

That kind of remains to be seen. I think we are probably going to have to take it on a race-by-race basis. A lot of it is going to be determined by how well we do and how the recession rolls on, or doesn’t. It’s looking like my worst-case scenario is to stay around and race locally. I think that Bowling Green and Bradenton are definitely on the dance card. Probably ZMax, and possibly Chicago. But, unless we recapture some of our racing luck from ’07, it is hard to say at this point.

So if you end up winning a lot of races it might prompt you to go to more?

Yeah, exactly. It all depends on if all these issues that we think we have dealt with work out for us, then yeah. If we have some early success, we may be able to run the whole circuit. But, I am cautiously optimistic, as always.

In what might be the toughest class in all of Mustang doorslammer racing, Urist has climbed to the top and stayed there, despite a grueling commute from his New Mexico home to the east coast race venues, streaks of bad luck that would have been season-enders for any other team, and the constant pressure of competition in a class that is seeing low sevens at 200 MPH on a true 10.5-inch tire. Urist always has something interesting to say, so here at the start of the 2009 season, we thought we’d ask him to take a look back, and a look ahead.

Visit Nitto Tire’s John Urist Microsite

Three years, three consecutive Super Street Outlaw championships. Are you worn out?

No, I don’t think so. It feels the same as it does after every season; I’m glad it’s over. I can get back to concentrating on keeping the lights on around here, along with everything else. I think that’s one of the things for me – I view every year as a challenge and something I look forward to

Back in 2000, you came out of virtually nowhere, and in the years since you’ve almost become the public face of the NMRA’s racer community. What’s it been like?

It started out as a hobby, something that I wanted to do; I always enjoyed cars, and then I got involved in drag racing. My father wasn’t involved at all, so I didn’t have a foot in the door, so to speak. I basically did it all myself and decided that this was what I wanted to do, and the last ten years have been great. Things have gone basically the way I wanted – we didn’t have success at first, but we’ve worked on it until we’ve gotten to where we wanted to be.

What about before coming into the NMRA? You were just a college student at the time. Where did you get your experience?

I was in the engineering program at my school, but then I switched to management and got a degree in business management. At the time, I was building custom headers and cars for local people, and I’ve always enjoyed being hands-on. That’s when I decided to give it a try being in business for myself, and that’s when I started Urist Racing and started doing some Mustang and street-car fabrication and race-car stuff that catapulted me into what we’re doing today.

The experience has come from many sources. When I started out, I learned from good friends of mine that had been racing and working on Mustangs for years before I started. Mike Abdalla was racing back then, and I was able to pull information from those friends, and then just used trial-and-error over the years of trying different things and doing research; reading the different articles in the magazines, stuff just like what you guys are writing today just trying to gain the information and build upon it. You can’t beat hands-on experience, so we were just taking it to the track to see what we could do.

You’re so remote from the epicenter of the NMRA, being all the way out in New Mexico. Do you feel like that hurts you?

It definitely does. We basically haven’t been able to test for ten years, because the elevation difference is so great. We have a local track, but it’s at 6000 feet of altitude. The horsepower of the car is different because of that, which affects how the chassis works, so we’re not really able to test. We basically have to show up at the track and go from there, or we’ll drive to Phoenix or Oklahoma City to test. There’s minimum of at least an eight-hour trip for us every time we want to go to the track, which is different from those guys who can just make an evening of it and can get to and from the track and test every weekend. We have to work a bit harder to have everything together when we show up.

Having run all three combinations, were any significantly easier or harder than the rest in terms of maintenance/upkeep or tuning?

I would say that the supercharged car will have more engine maintenance, while a turbocharged car will definitely have more transmission and torque converter maintenance. Not necessarily breakage of the parts, but an attention to detail while inspecting everything between rounds and races, because they put an added strain on the car. You need to make sure you’re checking everything all the time.

How difficult is it for you and the rest of the team to coordinate keeping the car at the top of the heap?

We have a great team that pays their own way. Our budget is not what I believe most people think it is – our crewmembers are dedicated to helping our team win. They come to the racetrack early, where everyone meets up and we get started working on the car to maybe get a couple of test runs in early. We try to make sure we’re ready to go on Friday. Everyone knows the car real well, and we try to take that into consideration when we’re making plans.

What about the crew? The Hellion gang is legendary for its work ethic. How do they make it easier for you as a driver?

I think they understand that everyone has a certain job that they need to get done in order to be successful, and they don’t expect everyone else to do that. They work together to make sure that all of the maintenance is done so that I can spend time looking at the computer and the tune from round-to-round so I can make changes. When you have a crew that’s seen pretty much every scenario that you could have at the racetrack with the car, the information that you get from them is very important. If they see a crack in a pipe, or something else that’s wrong, they’ve seen those parts and potential failures for years already, so they know what to be looking for. It keeps the car running and it keeps us having fun at the racetrack.

I start with all of these ideas, but I couldn’t follow through without all of the support that I get. When I started, it was my grandmother and my family, and since then it’s been my partner and my team and all of the friends and sponsors that support what we do. I couldn’t have gotten to this level without the help and support of all of those people combined and I think it’s definitely shown.

Is there a set routine that your team follows every single time down the track?

Absolutely. We have a process that we try to follow every time. Obviously, there are times where it doesn’t go the same way, if you have to repair the car between rounds, or weather, something like that. There are many factors that play into it, but everyone stays calm and collected, and that makes its way through the team all the way to me. We just show up and try to make a good pass.

Take us through a run in a Super Street Outlaw car.

It’s pretty similar to most runs that anyone would make in their racecar. Once we tow to the lanes, I usually don’t get out of the car. I started that after watching Mike Murillo sit in his car while waiting to run. I remember watching him sit in the car instead of getting out and walking around, so I basically started staying in the car as well. I believe that’s the best way to stay calm. Once I get the car started and pull to the line, Nate gets me through the burnout box and we wait and see how much time the other guy needs. One of the big things is that we race in the summertime, and staying hydrated with all of the gear on becomes an issue. Heat and humidity definitely play a part. Your body temperature will play a part in how you feel at the starting line, so I try to keep that as consistent as possible. Once I make the run, I pull the chutes, go around the corner, and hope we won.

Did you find it a challenge to step right into a brand-new car just before the season began?

Oh, definitely. It was the biggest challenge that we’ve had. My previous car had been a work in progress that we had maintained over the last seven years – it took us that long to really have success with that vehicle. I saw a possible performance advantage to going to the new car, so we tried to build one for the last year and on top of that keep it a secret, for the entertainment value. It’s amazing how well everything went as planned with the new car. We decided that we were going to do a bunch of updates that we had realized needed to be done with the old car and were able to implement those right into the new one; maintenance and safety issues were at the forefront of that.

It worked out perfectly. The first race we had a few bugs, but given that we were able to put it into the 7.50’s and win the first event out with it made it easy for me to consider it a success. We focused on making it easier to work on, and I felt that the performance advantage of less surface area with the Fox car made it worthwhile to build. Mainly, the biggest thing was to modernize our program. There are always inherent things with certain cars that you can’t change unless you start from scratch. We took a championship car [the ‘00 Saleen] and applied all of the things we had learned with it to this one [the ’93 notchback]. I thought we were at a disadvantage with the old car, and we built this one in order to try to stay ahead of the curve.

How much different is it to drive this car compared to the chassis you were in before?

Driving is much different. From where I sit to how it feels sitting in the driver’s seat, it’s completely different. The vision in the older cars is better – you’re sitting much higher in relative position to the top of the door. Where the hood is positioned, the steering wheel, it’s just a different car. When you’re used to the same car for seven years like I was with the Saleen, you’re just used to certain things being a certain way. The new car is 180 degrees different from the old one as far as that ‘feeling’. That took some getting used to – I’m still getting used to it, and where everything is located and how we drive the car.

Do you think there’s a limit to the 28×10.5 tire?

There will never be a limit to it – as long as you can make more power you’ll always be able to go faster. However, I do think that there’s a pretty good threshold on how fast you can short-track at a certain weight. One of the things that people haven’t touched on over the years that I think is important is track prep and technology at the racetrack, not necessarily the car. It seems like every year we’re getting on better and better racetracks – companies like VP that are doing their best to create traction compounds; track owners that want to have a reputation for the best track around, that all makes the tracks better. When the tracks are better, we go faster. That’s part of what makes it fun. This year we’re going to have to learn a new track, too, by going to ZMax in Charlotte – that’s one of the tracks nobody’s been on yet. We’ll have to see how it goes.

Who handles the tuning on the car?

I handle all of the tuning. We’ll talk about track conditions and make changes round-to-round, but I make the final changes on the computer for the car.

Some of the most legendary drivers in the street-legal arena have ‘made their bones’ while piloting an NMRA Super Street Outlaw car. What’s kept you coming back to the class instead of moving on to something else?

I think that some of the other drivers have decided that they succeeded and wanted to move on, or wanted to go faster. I’ve just promoted wanting to go faster with the class that I started in. I feel that Super Street Outlaw is the basis for many of the classes in the NMRA today. Drag Radial, for example, and some of the other ‘street’ classes are really just derivatives of Super Street Outlaw. You know, a full bodied car with windows and glass, with no huge tubs and a small tire, so it looks like a normal vehicle, and then you just put a large engine in the car that makes tons of power to see how fast you can go. These other classes have basically gone with out rules, no engine restrictions or anything.

I feel that the challenge for me is to work within the class that has restrictions; if everyone’s handed certain guidelines, you really have to work that much harder, and it’s that much more scientific to figure out how to go fast with those constraints. I’ve enjoyed the challenge year-to-year, and with all of the racing we’ve done over the years on this tire I feel like we have a pretty good grasp on how to make it work.

Where did the idea for Hellion Power Systems come from?

Hellion is the first song on the Judas Priest album ‘Screaming For Vengeance’. During the time that Urist Racing was my main focus, I had been asked to build a lot of custom race turbo kits. I was getting a lot of phone calls about the turbo kit companies that were in business at the time, their products, the wait times that people were experiencing when ordering from them, and I knew I could do it better. I decided to build street-car turbo kits the way that I wanted to build them, the way I thought they needed to be done, which was to have them fit and be in stock when people wanted them. We worked with Bassani Manufacturing to meet that need, and basically that’s what we’ve gotten into and I really enjoy it. It came out of a need that had been there for years. We’re ready to take it to the next level.

Where do you find the time to actually work on the car? Your business must keep you pretty busy.

That’s just our work ethic. If it’s really early in the morning or late into the evening, we’ll do what we have to do to get it done. Everyone trusts everyone else to work on the car, so it’s not just one person that can do a particular task – one person can do many things, so that doesn’t hold us back. As a team, we spend most of the time getting the car together, but I’ll stay until 1 or 2AM if needed to get the car ready without impeding on business and daily operations that we have going on over here. If there’s some free time during the day, we might work on it from time to time, but it’s usually either between 6 and 8AM or after 5:30 when the shop shuts down and we’ll work as late in the evening as we have to. Most of the racecar preparation is done by me before we get to the track, and the maintenance is done by the entire team at the track. We used to bring the car home between races, but with fuel costs the way they were last season the car never came home all season. We did all of the maintenance on the road, and Nate and I even changed engines a couple of times that way.

Is there anything left for you to achieve in SSO? Also, do you plan to switch to Pro Outlaw 10.5 at any point?

I can’t say what we’re going to do or not do. We’ve worked with Nitto Tire on the development of their new 28×10.5 drag slick, which fits right into Super Street Outlaw. Also, since we run the two-car team with Dwayne [James] driving the Pro Outlaw 10.5 car, we’re looking to gain some data and experience with that car and class. You never can tell what the future brings. We tend to go on a yearly basis – I don’t tend to view my success on a long-term outlook like many people tend to do. We just love doing it, want to be successful every year, and be challenged while doing it. That’s by racing other people that are very good at what we do, and that’s probably the biggest challenge.

How much does the time and travel affect the personal life?

I think any partner that’s going to support a racer really needs to understand the racing and what it involves. I don’t think you could take someone that’s outside this circle and throw them into it to where they’ll understand the need to work until midnight on the racecar, or the need to drive all night to make it to the race, the sense of urgency and desire that it takes to be successful at this. I’ve had many people around me in the past that appear to enjoy it, but I don’t think that they understand what it’s about. Even after me being very clear, they still didn’t understand.

Anyone that supports one of our racers and travels along, as far as a wife, girlfriend, or family, those people are very important. My immediate family, my parents and my sister, they’ve grown up with me and know what it takes, and that’s why they are the most important part of my support system race-to-race. They understand the needs and they’ll always be there for me. Even with my friends – I’ve had friends that have come and gone as far as race support goes because it’s so difficult.

What does the future hold for John Urist?

Racing, production, development of new turbo systems, development of new racecar parts and excitement. With the economy being up and down right now the future is always somewhat uncertain, but you’ll always have competition of people wanting to race at different levels, and we’re going to try to meet those needs here or there.