We stopped by Advanced Engine Design’s (AED) PRI booth to see our friend John Dickey and crew at the annual trade show in Orlando, Florida. Dickey, who is always very proud of his products, was noticeably beaming this year so we asked him to share with us the reason for his aire of confidence.

Dickey explained that BLP Racing Products hosted a carb shootout that was held prior to the start of the 2011 PRI trade show. According to the BLP Racing Product crew, the shootout was designed to imitate what a racer would go through when buying a carb as far as carb selection and application. The rules were pretty simple, any style and size of carburetor could be used as long as the bowls vented to the atmosphere. A spacer or adapter could be used as long as it did not exceed 2 inches maximum height and no part of the spacer could protrude into the manifold.

The contest would be conducted on a Small Block and a Big Block in four different divisions. Each block size would have a competition with a carburetor straight from the box as a customer would receive it (Out of the box) and run on the the dyno, and another competition where the carbs would be ran on three successive dyno runs allowing the teams to tune the carb between dyno runs.

Fourteen different carburetor companies entered the competition which included the biggest names in carburetor manufacturing and tuning. When the smoke had cleared, John Dickey’s AED crew had won three of the four classes and placed as runner up in the class that they did not take first place.

The AED crew had won the Big Block Shootout and the Out of the Box Big Block Shootout, placed as first runner up in the Small Block shootout and won the Out of the Box Small Block shootout.

Winning three of the four categories and finishing second in the one you did not win is enough to make anyone smile and do some chest pounding, but that was just not Dickey’s style. He was already thinking about what he could do for the next annual BLP Carb Shootout to take a clean sweep and win all four. “This was a really great idea and we are very happy to have been a part of the first of many annual BLP Racing Carb Shootouts to come,” said Dickey.

In a written statement to BLP Racing, Dickey said “I just wanted to express my sincere thanks to our friends Joe, Mike, Rick, & all the great guys at BLP for this incredible feat! I can’t believe all the work & thought that went into this huge project & pulling the whole thing off while making it look almost easy (even though it wasn’t). They are true professionals & we are proud to be associated with them. The revolution dyno is a true work of art. I also want to thank Mullins & Steve Schmidt for great engines that were flawless throughout the testing. One other note of interest was the camaraderie & sportsmanship displayed throughout the competition. Dave Braswell went beyond the call on duty helping others including us. Hats off to you Dave. Again thanks so much for including us in this wonderful event.”

Our congratulations to John Dickey and the AED crew for a job well done. The crew at BLP Racing and all of the competitors in the inaugural Carburetor shootout deserve a round of applause for being a part of this highly competitive shootout.