Over the weekend, our good friends Bob and Anthony Niemczyk came out of the gate swinging with their ultra-trick Mitsubishi-powered I/Dragster at the NHRA Lucas Oil Series Northeast division season opener in Virginia, making their quickest pass ever and climbing up the ranks of the quickest four-cylinders in the world with a newly-installed AEM Infinity Programmable Engine Management System onboard.
As we shared in an season wrap-up back in December, the Niemczyk’s — with Bob, the family patriarch, turning the wrenches and son, Anthony, at the wheel — were making preparations in the off season to move to AEM’s new Infinity system, in search of additional horsepower and consistency in a class that demands continual advancement in the performance department: Competition Eliminator.
In Friday’s qualifying, Anthony proceeded to rip off a 6.543, more than seven-tenths of a second under the I/D index of 7.24 with the single turbo, Mitsubishi 4G63-powered dragster, putting them on the provisional pole for the day. The run ultimately placed them fourth on the sheets going into eliminations, where Anthony benefitted from a single in round one and troubles by second round opponent Ronnie Boyd to advance into the quarterfinals. There, with opponent Pat Ross out of the gate first, Anthony wisely lifted at the top end to save the class index for another day, but even without the hardware in-hand, it was a banner weekend for the Niemczyk clan, having posted career-best numbers to begin the season with their new Infinity setup.
According to Drag Racing Times, that run also puts them at No. 5 in the world for a four-cylinder, with their 2.0L, Powerglide-equipped Extreme PSI/Turbo 4 machine.
To learn more about AEM Performance Electronics and the racers that use their products, log on to aemelectronics.com.