Road Rumblings

Rat Trap Racing Announces New Team Member

Mount Pleasant, TN — Ron Hope, owner/driver of the infamous Rat Trap AA/Fuel Altered has announced that his grandson Michael Hope is to take the wheel of a new Rat Trap Altered.

“We purchased the PRO 7.0 car ‘Mechanical Bull’ from Ronny Robbins,” said Michael’s father Brian who can most often be seen driving Rich Guasco’s Pure Hell AA/Fuel Altered when he is not wrenching on father Ron’s Rat Trap.

“The Keith Black Hemipowered T-bodied car will be run under the Rat Trap Racing banner,” continued Brian, “and it will, of course, be painted in Rat Trap style by Jeff Embrey at Embrey’s Customotive and lettered master striper by Dennis Jones.”

“Ronny’s quickest and fastest times on alcohol were 6.94/199. Not quite the magic 200 but hopefully with a little time behind the wheel Michael will be hitting the magic numbers.”

22-year-old Michael is no stranger to the dragstrip having been around the family’s numerous racecars, including Rat Trap, since Ron resurrected the car in 1995. He is currently the clutch man on the Hilton Family Great Expectations II Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster and an all-rounder on Tony Lombardi’s PRO 7.0 front engine dragster. Prior to these duties he was the clutch assistant on Mike Morrell’s ‘Little City Charger’ fuel Funny Car.

“I’ve been around drag racing and Bonneville cars my whole life,” said Michael who works at the family business Trailer Cabinets/Technocraft in Mount Pleasant, TN. “Now, it’s my turn to carry on the family tradition of driving an altered and we thought a PRO 7.0 car was a good place to start. We’ll have the car on display at the Goodguys 16th BASF Nashville Nationals and at the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion but I won’t drive it until later in the year.”

Greenbriar Equity Group, L.P. (“Greenbriar”), a leading middle market private equity firm today announced that funds managed by Greenbriar acquired a majority position in JEGS Automotive (“JEGS”), a leading online national retailer and distributor of high-performance aftermarket auto parts and accessories. The investment, which represents the first commitment of institutional capital to JEGS, aims to support continued product and market expansion while enhancing its technology and distribution capabilities. JEGS is Greenbriar’s eighth platform investment completed in the last twelve months. Since its founding in 1960, JEGS has transformed from a local performance shop to a national online retailer and distributor of aftermarket auto parts and accessories. Today, JEGS offers its significant base of automotive enthusiast customers more than two million product SKUs from over 800 vendors through its online website and modern fulfillment center near Columbus, Ohio. The Coughlin Family, which has successfully guided the Company’s expansion across three generations, said “After more than sixty years in business, our family was very focused on identifying a growth partner who shares our values and has a clear vision for the future of JEGS. We’ve found that partner in Greenbriar and we look forward to remaining significant shareholders alongside them.” The Coughlin Family will retain a minority ownership position alongside Greenbriar.

Jeg Coughlin III, President of JEGS, added, “The entire JEGS team has never been more excited about the opportunities that lie ahead, and we look forward to partnering with Greenbriar and their extensive network of sector experts as we focus on enhancing our customers’ online experience, onboarding new products and services, and expanding our reach through organic and M&A-led growth.” “As an iconic brand in the performance enthusiast segment, JEGS is extremely well-positioned to take advantage of the continued growth of eCommerce in the broader automotive aftermarket, and we are proud to have been selected as their first institutional partner. The Coughlin family has built a unique culture underpinned by passionate employees with deep technical expertise and we look forward to preserving that foundation while working with management to drive accelerated growth,” commented Matt Burke, Managing Director of Greenbriar.

Editors Note: This is one of many companies in the aftermarket Industry being bought by investment groups. Our opinion is that while good for the original owners of the business, this will have an effect on pricing of the parts you as a consumer will be buying. As more companies are bought up, monopolies will happen and choices will go down and part pricing up. May not happen today, but watch out in the near future.

We have been working hard over the past 18 months or so to get TRJ back on track, including a move to our new facility in Denton, Maryland, photographing new articles for the upcoming issue and a host of other business related items. In 2022 we plan to resume a normal publishing schedule. We are working on two immediate goals to get us back on track. First, we are very far along in publishing TRJ #85 and aim to get it out to subscribers and dealers as soon as possible. The second is that we are working on shipping/reshipping all orders that have been placed but have not been received. Until we have taken care of these issues, we are not accepting new orders for subscriptions, back issues or merchandise. We feel we must take care of existing obligations before accepting new business. Thank you for your patience, support and stay tuned for further updates here and in our email newsletters. Steve Coonan

Holley Nomex Wire Loom: Heat Protection For Your Wiring Circuits

Racing engines and heat go hand-in-hand at a very comparable scale. Combine that with the complex wiring circuits related to everything from fuel injection to data recording, and you can imagine how paramount Holley Performance‘s new Nomex Split Loom is to protect your wiring systems from damage. Holley now applies Nomex material into a woven wire loom to battle not only extreme temperature within your engine compartment, but also short-term flame exposure. Widely known by drag racers as a material used in firesuits and other flame retardant safety equipment, Nomex is a polymer developed in the 1960s best known in fabric form wherever resistance from heat and flame is required. Do not consider Nomex an old technology due to its age. Nomex has been used effectively in recent times on the Mars Pathfinder and Rover missions and is currently incorporated into the new Crew Exploration Vehicle that will replace the NASA Space Shuttles. This Nomex split loom protects with an operating Fahrenheit temperature range from minus 76degrees to 392-degrees. The self-wrapping roll makes installation quick and easy. The Holley wire looms are offered in diameter choices of 5/16-, 1/2-, 5/8-, 3/4-, and 1-inch diameters and in 10-foot lengths. The loom material cuts easily to length with a sturdy pair of quality scissors, so no specialty tools are required. Burning up a network of wiring that performs critical race car duties can be catastrophic. Wrapping the same material used with your firesuit—around that intricate wire in your engine bay is a simple process providing exceptional protection. For more info go to https://www.holley.com/brands/holley_efi/