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Some of the NHRA’s top professional and sportsman racers utilize JE Pistons in their power plants, and several of those competitors enjoyed considerable success at last weekends events: the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio and the NHRA Lucas Oil Series race in Woodburn, Oregon, with seven class victories and six runners-up finishes overall.
For more on JE Pistons and their product offerings, check out their website.
Antron Brown’s Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster qualified second and advanced all the way through eliminations before falling to points leader Larry Dixon in the money round by a 3.88 to 3.90 count. In Funny car, JE-equipped Tim Wilkerson won his second event of the season in defeating John Force. Nearly half of both the Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car fields were represented by JE customers, with Frank Manzo and Mickey Ferro meeting in the final round of the flopper class, with Manzo ultimately claiming another victory. Engine builder Pat Musi also returned to an NHRA final round in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge for the first time since 1981 and outran Brad Personett to claim his very first NHRA Wally. Veteran super class racer Dan Northrop took home the Super Gas crown, while James Monroe did likewise in Top Dragster.
In Woodburn, Brian Hough and Tom Malicki grabbed wins in Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Dragster, respectively, while Shawn Cowie fell in the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster, and Quentin Chambers in Top Dragster, Ken Heard in Super Gas, and Shane Molinari in Top Sportsman all advanced to the final rounds.
JE also provided us with some interesting facts and specifications regarding their Top Fuel and Top Alcohol pistons:
Top Fuel:
– 2nd and 3rd ring are similar to a Small Block Chevrolet
– Typically 3-5 runs per set
– 800-900 grams per piston weight, twice as much as a typical small block Chevy
– Hard anodized coating specifically for the nitromethane fuel
– Skirts are .250 thick, with decks at .356 thick
– 6:1-7:1 compression, typically changed on altitude races by varying the head gasket thickness
– JE has been manufacturing these since the early ‘70s
– Small 4.187 bore, though 4.500 stroke
Top Alcohol:
– 4.446 bore with no coating
– 750 grams piston weight
– Skirts .140 thick with a .300 thick deck
Parts failure at 8000HP is still apparent no matter how good the quality.
