Wednesday

Testing was in full swing today at Beech Bend Raceway Park for the Outlaw Street Car Reunion VI. There were plenty of Pro Mods and radial tire machines taking shots at the track to get ready for three days of hardcore racing. Teams were gathering as much data as possible to prepare for battle.

Esselman Returns To Action

Small tire veteran Travis Esselman is kicking off his 2019 season at the Outlaw Street Car Reunion with a new bullet in his 1989 Corvette. Essleman is also stepping up a weight class to Radial vs The World and he’s ready to show everyone he can be a player in the craziest class on radial tires.

“We put a 481X with parts from Alan Johnson Performance Engineering in the car in the offseason. The transmission and converter have been changed up for this year too. The switch to a 481X was made because I was running a big cubic-inch Chevy engine forever, but I wanted to step things to the next level. I wanted to put a Hemi in the car, but since it’s still a stock front clip car that wasn’t going to happen. The car has worked so well and I didn’t want to cut it up to make that Hemi fit,” Esselman explains.

Making such big changes can be accompanied by some growing pains and new car blues but Esselman is ready. He has faith in the car he’s built and with assistance tuning the car from Patrick Barnhill Esselman is coming out swinging this season.

“We think that this car will have something for the Radial vs The World class. Right now we just need some time with the old girl to get things sorted out. After we get some data it will be time to start getting after it in the tune-up,” Esselman says.

Marty Robinson Puts Big Teeth In His Cuda 

Marty Robinson’s Badfish Barracuda has been a work in progress as he tried to perfect the Mopar’s capabilities. Robinson has brought the car back out this year with a new power-adder combination and assistance from the Bruder brothers.

“We took the car to a twin turbo combination after the ProCharger and roots blower that was previously in the car. In my opinion, the turbo cars were starting to get an edge on the field and they were also getting a lot of support from companies. I hired the Bruder brothers to come on board as teammates. They are more than teammates, they are friends and that makes this a great partnership,” Robinson explains.

Bringing Nick and Rich Bruder into the fold has allowed Robinson’s team to expand its capabilities in a major way. The Bruder brothers have already made an impact in the program’s progress and that’s exactly what Robinson wants.

“We have created a super team and found the right combination of people and parts so we can run at the front of the pack in Radial vs The World. They’ve brought the team to a new level after working on the car for three months with the suspension and engine combination. Jeremy Evans has also played a big role with the team and he has been here since day one. He basically built this car front to back and knows it better than anybody. The Bruder brothers have found a way for this car to make more power than any other tuner and be consistent too,” Robinson says.