TIM McCREADIE TELLS IT LIKE HE SEES IT
THE DIRT TRACK RACING MAGAZINE
CRATE DEBATE THE UNTOLD STORY
KEN SCHRADER TALKS ABOUT HIS CAREER
CALL TO ACTION RACING NEEDS YOUR HELP
HOT
PRODUCTS
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TECH TIPS FROM INDUSTRY LEADERS
GEAR TO GIVE YOU AN EDGE
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UPCOMING SEASON EVENTS YOU JUST HAVE TO SEE!
The Difference Is Clear DRIVEN PROTECTED
SCORCHED OIL
HEAT DAMAGED
SPEND A LITTLE ON OIL. SAVE A LOT ON PARTS. Oil not only reduces friction and wear, it provides vital cooling. Extreme temperatures in the valve springs, camshaft and pistons will break conventional oil down faster than synthetic, which has a greater “specific heat” capacity. The “viscosity index” measures a base oil’s quality and is based upon the highest quality conventional oil – Pennsylvania Crude. PA Crude’s viscosity index is 100. Historically, the preferred synthetic base oil has been PAO, with an index of 140, until the recent development of mPAO, which has an index of 200. Driven uses mPAO to create a lightweight oil with a high HTHS quality (High Temperature High Shear) that’s less sensitive to heat and won’t break down under extreme friction.
"WE HAVE TO RUN STOCK ROCKER ARMS, & THE XP9 OIL TRIPLED THEIR LIFE. THE OIL MORE THAN PAYS FOR ITSELF." DENNIS WELLS, WELLS RACING ENGINES
To support lab tests with real world results, Driven had to look no further than Dennis Wells of Wells Racing Engines, who actually mailed in a bag of used rocker arms. Dennis’s class rules require stock rockers and he was hesitant about spending a little extra for oil on his claimer motors. HighRPM circle track racing creates extreme heat and scorched oil that breaks down, burns off and gums up on parts with the carbonized, heat-retaining residue. Reduced viscosity causes heat friction that changes the properties of the metal, making it brittle and fail.
Fortified with mPAO, Driven won’t break down under extreme heat or friction and cause part failure.
1.866.611.1820 | DRIVENRACINGOIL.COM
Join Us:
#DRIVENTOWIN
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After repeatedly replacing failed parts, Dennis switched to Driven’s mPAO-fortified synthetic racing oil and was impressed enough to mail that bag of parts to show before and after making the switch. That’s real-world feedback no lab can beat. Change to Driven or change parts. It’s that simple.
CONTENTS FEATURES
TECH
14 UNRESTRICTED
16 FITTING IN
58 NEW DEPTHS
Cup-quality hoses, fittings made for dirt racing
How to properly check tires with a durometer
26 FAST & EASY
66 ALL ABOARD
Connections to help improve racing performance
Valvetrain advancements are improving dirt track racing
30 GET REGULATED
72 NO MYSTERIES
Tips on how to grow our sport
Stumbling out of the corner doesn’t have to be an issue
Making motor oil a little less puzzling
70 DECLARING INDEPENDENCE
36 MAKING MAGIC
76 GETTING DOWN
Tips for keeping your magneto happy
Downforce is as simple as a nose
46 GET DIALED IN
80 THE ODD COUPLE
Setting the front end to get around the corners
How Ethanol and a carb are able to coexist successfully
48 FORGING AHEAD
82 POWERING UP
There are piston options for every race level
Your starter is key to a good night at the track
50 WHOLE PICTURE
90 LOOK INSIDE
Be aware of how one change can affect everything
Breaking down the brains of a Crane ignition
54 COG IN THE BELT
92 TOOLS YOU NEED
Tim McCreadie tells it like it is
18 AN INVASIVE SPECIES
Crate engines are affecting our sport
34 WINNING ENGINES
Kevin Stoa talks engine building
40 LEND US A HAND
Aftermarket Nationals keeps crates at bay
78 BEHIND THE SCENES AT ELDORA Larry Boos talks about his career
86 HITTING THE BIG TIME
How Lucas Oil is raising the bar in Late Models
94 KENNY’S QUIPS
Quotes from Ken Schrader about 40 years of racing
The right alternator won’t drag you down at the track
56 QUAD’S UP
Making that old Rochester race worthy
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Mittler Bros. most popular items to help ease your mind
SPEED SHOP
Signature Series Crankshafts Lunati.................. 60 JEGS Aluminum Jack Stands.................................. 60 Custom Tool Steel Camshafts Crane Cams........... 61 Ultra-Duty Quick Change Gears Quarter Master.... 62 Pro-Compact Series Fittings Jiffy-tite................ 62 MaxJet Kits Powerhouse....................................... 62 Double-Adjustable Bypass, 2-Port Regulator Aeromotive................................. 63 GM Crate Upgrade Valve Springs COMP Cams.... 64 Speed Shield Driven Racing Oil............................. 64 Max Shift Circle Track Fluid TCI......................... 64 LS Race Block RHS................................................ 65
See more new products updated daily at OneDirt.com.
DEPARTMENTS 04 SHOP TALK
Letter from the editor
06 SPEED NEWS
All the “dirt” from the dirt racing world
08 DIGITAL GUIDE
The best sites, apps & social media centered on dirt
09 SOCIAL MEDIA SOUNDOFF
Your online comments to OneDirt topics
12 VIDEO REWIND Racing, product & entertainment videos
60 SPEED SHOP
Hottest products to hit the dirt
95 FAST FORWARD
Schedule for dirt track racing’s main events
96 PARTING SHOTS On to the next race
Photo by Rick Schwallie
Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 3
Shop TALK FROM THE EDITOR
100% Dirt Track Racing
Racing is best when it’s a family sport I once was interrupted while shooting race cars on the track by a mom who wanted me to come interview her son — right at that moment, apparently — who was, in her words, “Better than most of these old guys out here already.” It has been a few years, but if memory serves, the young man couldn’t yet legally drive and was in his first year driving a Mini Stock race car. He still had a long way to go and a lot left to learn, but his mom thought he deserved a feature story in a national racing magazine. Jeff Huneycutt And the cover wouldn’t hurt, either. When I told her that we only did tech stories and no features (this was before OneDirt), she simply replied that the magazine needed to change its format. Hopefully, you found that story humorous, but the real reason I’m passing it along is because I really admire how much that lady stuck up for her kid. That was the only time I’ve ever been told that a magazine should abandon its format to run a feature on someone’s child, but it’s just one of many dozens of times I’ve seen families stick together at the race track. That’s one of the things that makes dirt track racing so great. Moms aren’t the only ones. You practically can’t swing a stick at most dirt tracks without hitting a dad doing all the dirty work on the car so his kid can enjoy their time behind the wheel. On the other side of the coin, I love seeing kids cheer for their dad (or mom) louder than anyone else in the place — even if it’s just hot laps. Or kids playing with toy cars in the dirt while their folks work on the real race car nearby. Or watching entire families, all smiles and happiness, gather to celebrate in victory lane. There are a lot of great reasons to love racing, and family is just one of them. But I think it should be pretty high on the list. I know families sacrifice much to go racing. Vacations don’t get taken. Spouses make do with the old car for another year or two. And too many nights a mom or dad misses tucking their kids into bed, because the work isn’t done in the race shop. But somehow, Saturday nights at the race track — when the entire family is together and working toward the same goal — makes it all worthwhile. Keep your foot in the gas. Jeff Huneycutt jhuneycutt@xcelerationmedia.com
Group Publisher
Shawn Brereton
Editorial Director Jeff Huneycutt Senior Tech Editor Jeff Smith Contributors Ben Shelton Manufacturers
Dan Hodgdon Todd Ryden
Advertising Dave Ferrato
Brett Underwood
For advertising inquiries call 901.260.5910.
Production
Hailey Douglas
Art
Jason Wommack Zach Tibbett
OneDirt is published semiannually to promote the growth of dirt track racing as well as recognize the parts and services from participating manufacturers. The magazine consists of dedicated information from partner companies with the mission of disseminating unfiltered editorial on companies, products and services directly to dirt racing participants and fans. Editorial content and advertisements for each issue can originate from partner companies participating in the magazine. OneDirt is a hybrid of content that was originally published at OneDirt.com and original content that was created for this biannual print magazine. Magazine distribution occurs through direct distribution from parent company Xceleration Media and partner companies. OneDirt is a property of Xceleration Media. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written consent from Xceleration Media. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
SPECIAL THANKS
TIM McCREA DIE TELLS IT LIKE
ON THE
Staff
The staff of OneDirt would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the talented photographers that supplied the images found in this issue. Without their talents and willingness to help, there would not be a OneDirt print magazine.
HE SEES IT
Rick Schwallie latemodelphotos.com
COVER
THE DIRT TRACK
DEER CREEK SPEEDWAY JULY 24, 2014
RACING MAGA
Bruce Nuttleman ultimatelapphoto.com
ZINE
CRATE DE BATE
THE UNTOLD
Photo by Bruce Nuttleman ultimateappphoto.com
STORY
KEN SCHRAD ER TALKS ABO UT HIS CAREER
CALL TO ACTION RAC
ING NEE YOUR HEL DS P
HOT
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TECH TIPS FRO M INDUSTRY LEAD ERS
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Seth Lacewell slpracingpics.smugmug.com Woody Hampton woodysracingphotos.com Scott Frazier sfrazierphotography.com
Speed NEWS NEWS / HEADLINES / HOT TOPICS
All Star Sprints schedules 54 races The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series, recently purchased by three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, will consist of 54 total events spanning six states, including 29 events in Ohio and 14 in Pennsylvania. While the schedule began in February with five non-points events in Florida between Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala and Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, races counting toward the season-ending championship get underway in late March. The kickoff race for the 2015 All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series was March 28 at Atomic Speedway in Waverly, Ohio. “The schedule we put together for the 2015 All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is filled with great venues on a timeline that works well for our participants,” Stewart said. “Our first five events in Florida went off extremely well and we look forward to carrying that momentum into Ohio with our first point-paying race at Atomic Speedway.”
Photo by Paul Arch
Ohio Sprint Week will again kick off the summer stretch with stops at Attica, Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Waynesfield Raceway Park, Wayne County, Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Atomic, Fremont and Limaland Speedway in Lima before closing out with a $10,000-to-win show at Fremont.
VP Racing Fuels extends pact with World of Outlaws VP Racing Fuels announced the extension of its sponsorship of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car and Late Model Series through 2017. With the agreement, VP will continue as the “Official Fuel” for each series and provide trackside fuel service at select events from the season kickoff DIRTcar Nationals in Florida to the Bad Boy Buggies World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Racers can contact their designated VP Regional Distribution Center to confirm the trackside fuel service for each scheduled event. “Extending our partnership with VP Racing Fuels is an easy decision,” said Brian Carter, World of Outlaws CEO. “Not only does VP have excellent products for our competitors, but their promotion of short track racing and attention to detail is second to none. Our two companies work extremely well 6 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
together, and we’re looking forward to continuing the growth of short track racing.” “The World of Outlaws has been a great partner and we value our relationship, which is now in its eighth year,” said Chris Wall, VP’s Chief Marketing Officer. “WoO offers a great platform to promote VP’s industry leading race fuels which racers and engine builders alike have come to embrace for increased power, consistency, and superior engine protection. “A great example is VP’s Late Model Plus which was Darrell Lanigan’s exclusive fuel of choice in his record-breaking run to 17 race wins and third series championship this past season.”
The All Stars will continue the summer months with a strong presence in Ohio and the season winds to a close with events at Fremont Sept. 18–19 before the season finale Oct. 10 with the UNOH Sprintacular at Eldora. To see the full schedule go to allstarsprint.com
Chili Bowl champ makes stock car move USAC National Midget champion and open-wheel standout Rico Abreu has signed with HScott Motorsports to contest the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2015. Abreu, 22, competed in more than 100 open-wheel races in 2014 in the United States and New Zealand. He posted 26 wins across 410 winged and non-winged sprint car, 360 winged sprints, and USAC midget competition in which he also won the national championship. Abreu joins William Byron, JJ Haley, Scott Heckert, and Dalton Sargeant to complete the roster for the newly formed five-car team. Abreu, a native of Rutherford, Calif., will compete in all 14 series events and continue to race in openwheel events across the country.
Speed NEWS
NEWS / HEADLINES / HOT TOPICS
Kenny Wallace ProSource expands involvement with USAC Dirt Racing Buck and Betty Rice of ProSource in Grand Saline, Texas, long-time supporters of USAC races and participants through contingency postings, have increased their involvement with USAC in 2015 and will supply fast time cash awards at all USAC National events, as well as providing a year-end award at USAC’s National Awards Banquet. A total of $10,000 has been pledged by ProSource, to be split amongst participants in USAC’s Silver Crown, AMSOIL Sprint Car and Honda Midget series, which total 77 events at present. Continuing with their long program of awarding USAC proficiency, ProSource established 2014 awards which included a year-end bonus for driver Rico Abreu, who was the most prolific fast qualifier in the Honda National Midget Series. In 2015, in addition to a $100 cash award for fast time at each of the events, a $2,500 bonus will be presented to the driver who amasses the
Experience
most combined fast times during the season in all three National categories. Eligibility for the $2,500 bonus will be contingent on displaying the ProSource decals on each side of the car during the events. “We are pleased to once again honor USAC excellence during 2015,” says Buck Rice, who is among the most enthusiastic of USAC supporters. “I appreciate what it takes to excel in this high-profile form of motorsports and look forward to an exciting season of racing. I hope to attend as many USAC races as possible and look forward to seeing all my friends.”
RaceDay Nation now available on iHeartRadio Race fans can now listen to top racing radio shows 24/7 on RaceDay Nation, a brand-new, free show on the popular iHeartRadio App. “There are many great racing shows available, but they can be hard to find and they’re always on at different times,” noted Rob D’Amico, RaceDay Nation’s creator and host of RACEDAY on FOX Sports Radio. “RaceDay Nation on iHeartRadio solves that problem by providing the best in motorsports entertainment all in one easy-to-find place, with on-demand access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “I wanted to build on the RaceDay brand and bring the next evolution of radio to fans by giving them 24/7 access
to the best racing shows on the planet,” explained D’Amico. RaceDay Nation covers everything from NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, Formula 1, off road, Supercross, dirt racing, and sports cars. While more shows are expected to be added to its offerings in the future, it already has an exciting initial line-up. To access the show, listeners can simply visit RaceDayNation.com and download the free iHeartRadio App. Fans can find RaceDay Nation under iHeartRadio’s “on-demand shows” feature or by searching for “RaceDay” on the iHeartRadio.com home page. More information is available on facebook.com/racedaynation and @ racedaynation on both Twitter and Instagram.
Want a chance to drive (or ride in) a dirt race car? Now you can with the Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience. Why Dirt? Really the answer is quite simply because it’s amazing! You take the speed and acceleration of asphalt racing and combine it with the sideways thrills of drifting and that’s dirt track racing. There is nothing else in the world like dirt track racing, and those who know and love racing always go back to dirt. Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing offers 8 different packages with prices ranging from $129.00 for a ride along to $999.00 for their all-inclusive program. Whether you’re a fan who wants to experience the thrill of riding along in a dirt car or driving a Dirt Late Model, Dirt Modified, or Sprint car they have the package for you. For more information check out dirtracewithkenny.com.
MLRA returns to Lakeside Speedway The Lucas Oil MLRA is returning to Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas this coming season. The 4/10 mile oval sits just north of Kansas Speedway and has hosted the Lucas Oil MLRA every season since its conversion to dirt in 2000, less the 2011 season which was flooded out, and last year. The 2015 show will run over Labor Day weekend on Friday, Sept. 4, setting up a two show weekend. The return to Lakeside will also mark the Lucas Oil MLRA’s 30th feature there. Terry Phillips leads all drivers with seven of his series leading 109 wins at Lakeside. Kyle Berck and Chad Lyle are next in line with three victories each. John Anderson and Chris Simpson each have won twice. Twelve drivers have all graced Lakeside Victory Lane once. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 7
Digital GUIDE WEBSITES / FORUMS / APPS With all of today’s technology, the digital world can be overwhelming. Let’s face it – with so many websites, forums, apps, social media and everything else out there, it can be pretty tough to navigate through all of the nonsense (if you even understand how to use it in the first place) to find the information you need. Not to mention how little time you have when every spare minute is spent trying to win races, right? Here at OneDirt, we’ve done the dirty work for you. We’ve waded through all of that nonsense and extra stuff for you to find some of the best sites, apps and other resources to help you make it to Victory Lane.
APPs
OF OUR EYE
DIRT LATE MODEL WEEKLY
A weekly news and discussion podcast covering dirt late model racing. We discuss dirt track racing with national and local news & results. Short Track Racing focused on Dirt Late Models. Only available on iTunes.
WFOPENWHEEL SPRINT CARCAST
Photo by LostSpeedways.com / Matthew Dillner
Help OneDirt keep local track history alive Every racetrack is important. Whether it’s the hallowed grounds of Knoxville Raceway, or that open-again, closedagain bullring in your hometown, the tracks themselves provide the platform for racers and fans to make cherished memories. Sites like lostspeedways. com are doing a great job of remembering tracks either long-defunct or newly lost to shopping malls, housing complexes, or any other number of atrocities in the name of progress. “It is so important to support our sport at every level, especially the grassroots level,” says Lost Speedways founder and owner, Matthew Dillner. “We are experiencing what I like to call an epidemic in our sport and that’s why I 8 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
have started the Lost Speedways project to help raise awareness and make a difference in the sport that I love. We have already developed a strong following of people that share this passion.” Dillner’s beautiful site gave us an idea, and here at OneDirt we want to help tell the story of dirt tracks that are still open for racing, and maybe play a small part in keeping them that way. If you have a favorite track you’d like profiled in these pages or on our website, send us an email – photos if you have some – to onedirt@xcelerationmedia.com. We’ll try to get to as many of them as possible. It doesn’t matter if the track is obscure — as a matter of fact that’s exactly what we are looking for. We know that
places like Eldora Raceway aren’t going away anytime soon; legendary promoter Earl Baltes and current owner Tony Stewart have ensured that. What we want to hear about are the tracks built in thick woods, or next to cow pastures, or that have a trout pond next to the front gate. Does the track feature a crazy division? Have rabid fans? A colorful owner or promoter? We want to hear about all those things, too. The stories that can be told as a direct result of dirt racing are endless, and the tracks are the catalysts. Who knows, maybe we can even encourage some new fans or racers to check out a racetrack they’ve never seen before. And it all starts with you.
Covering USAC, WoO, as well as local racing in the Mid-West and elsewhere, The Sprint Carcast is the only show dedicated to bringing you all the news and debating the hot-button issues in Sprint Car racing. Only available on iTunes.
FEEDING YOUR DIRTY ADDICTION ONEDIRT.COM facebook.com/ OneDirtdotcom @OneDirt
Social Media SOUND OFF
FACEBOOK / TWITTER / MULTIMEDIA
We recently posed the question below to the 149,000+ fans of the OneDirt.com Facebook page. Emotions run deep within the dirt racing community on this issue and the responses were wide ranging. Below is a handpicked sampling of the best responses. Got an opinion on this matter? We want to hear it at www.facebook. com/onedirtdotcom or via any of our other social media channels listed below.
What’s your best common sense solution to improve dirt track racing? RUSSELL MERRIMAN
We need more tracks running the same rules. This thing with every track running different rules makes it more expensive for the racer. Especially when the economy is so bad.
RONALD ROSS
Quit changing the rules every year to make what the drivers already have illegal in an attempt to save them money, all they end up with is another bill for the “now” legal parts and a garage full of stuff nobody can use anymore.
His Name was Earl
TRENDING on OneDirt.com
Here are some additional articles that didn’t make the print issue, but are worth checking out. Search for these titles at OneDirt.com.
FEATURES
His Name was Earl Pay it Forward
GUY GRIFFIN
Have a tacky track with cushion!
One Day at a Time
PHILLIP BAXTER
Big Dogs Chasing the Little Dogs
Don’t spend all day Friday and Saturday morning soaking the track to the point that it takes two hours to roll it in.
TECH
Next Level Racing: Affordable Shock Dynos
HUNTER CLINT SHERYL MCCOY
Get Rid Of The Spin: Is a Traction Control System Right for You?
One brand of tire across the country so you don’t have to run track tires. When out of town drivers come to your track they don’t have to worry about what tire to buy. Just one dirt tire brand with different compounds.
RUSTY EAGLE
#MUSTFOLLOW
Get promoters to work together not against each other.
BEN DAVIS
These are some of our favorite Twitter personalities. They’ll keep you entertained & informed about all things dirt track racing.
BRYAN JAMES ROOT
@KARTSPORTMedia This account is your
Make the payout better = raising entry fees, pit passes and grandstand tix.
go-to Twitter resource for the latest race results and happenings from the world of kart racing. It’s updated daily and covers all levels of racing from national series to local tracks.
It’s simple. Lower the cost of admission for fans.
WES EVERETT
Stop living by the “back gate mentality.“ I’m so tired of seeing tracks have decent car counts and empty grandstands.
@DaveArgabright Race announcer Dave Agrabright’s ability to go behind the scenes at races gives makes for some great insight.
JOHN MULLIS
Limit left rear suspension travel on stock cars so they don’t look like they are going to roll over. No doubt fast but always looked pretty stupid to me.
@MAVTV We admire MAVTV’s dedication to
SCOTT HORN
wheel of the #15 Georgia Boot car in the Lucas Dirt series. Good content and giveaways.
putting dirt track racing on television. Their love for all things motorsports is apparent.
@15SteveFrancis Steve Francis is behind the
Leave it alone, I changed from asphalt to dirt last year and love it!!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION FACEBOOK
facebook.com/OneDirtdotcom
@OneDirt
YOUTUBE
youtube.com/OneDirtRacing
pinterest.com/Xceleration
At this moment
In the time just before the green flag the scenarios are endless. It’s yet to be determined who will jump the cushion, who will battle for the lead, and who will be standing in Victory Lane. We’ll find out soon enough, but in this moment every driver, car, and team has an equal opportunity to end the night either in glory or heartbreaking defeat.
10 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Photo by Rick Schwallie
Video REWIND RACING / PRODUCT / ENTERTAINMENT Video Rewind is where we point out interesting videos found on the Internet — whether historical, funny, dramatic, or technical. We like them and thought you might, too.
SIGN UP TO KEEP UP JAY DICKENS SHOP TOUR Engine builder Jay Dickens takes OneDirt’s Ben Shelton on an in-depth tour of his facilities in Columbus, Mississippi. Along the way, he discusses his techniques and the hardships of being an engine builder in the racing world today. youtu.be/o_WvuWuRzOw
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with our original and curated video content that is updated daily by the OneDirt editorial staff. youtube.com/OneDirtRacing
Scan QR Code to subscribe!
ONEDIRT EXCLUSIVE CONTENT RODNEY SANDERS TALKS PLANS FOR 2015 We caught up with USMTS champion Rodney Sanders, while he was at the 2015 season opener Wild West Shootout in Tucson, Arizona, and had the chance to ask him a few questions about how he plans to follow up on his monster, 30-win 2014 season. youtu.be/vTqeratgeXs
JERRY INMON INTERVIEW Scan QR Code to watch now!
12 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Host Ben Shelton chats with Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee Jerry Inmon, one of the only people in the world who have driven a four-wheel-drive dirt race car. youtu.be/OQ4teuuChqI
HIGHLIGHTS
The BIG BANG
SPEEDWEEKS RECAP After Florida Speedweeks were done and racers dispersed back across the country to prepare for their own racing series, the World of Outlaws put together this very cool retrospective of all the racing that took place during the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. It is a week absolutely packed with great racing action from four different classes and we were not disappointed. youtu.be/V7NxwRKUn28
BIG HIT IN LATE MODEL RACE The description gives practically no information for this video. But we do know this is one of the biggest Late Model hits we’ve ever seen. youtu.be/nLFql9yhbLM
BEST SHOTS FROM 2014 USAC SEASON The folks over at Loudpedal Productions have done it again. This video featuring highlights of West Coast USAC wingless racing action is packed full of eye-popping, jaw-dropping, slap-yo’-momma action. youtu.be/09eZ_l8q8wo
RYAN JONES FLIPS DURING KINGS CHALLENGE Racer Kerry Madsen may have walked away with the trophy from Borderline Speedway’s Kings Challenge, but Ryan Jones also managed to catch everyone’s attention. Jones got caught up in traffic and wound up flipping multiple times, bringing his night to an early end. youtu.be/zBSiSiLzu24
HORNET ENDO’S AT CAROLINA SPEEDWAY LIVING DANGEROUSLY AT THE CHILI BOWL One of the reasons the Chili Bowl is so popular is because every heat is packed with lots of wheel-to-wheel action. This compilation of clips collects some of the most impressive wrecks from just a single day. youtu.be/RgqOjA1uw0I
Here’s a short clip from the Hornets race from Carolina Speedway’s Skyler Trull Memorial race. Racer Isaac Sosebee appears to clip another car and winds up in the wall. Nothing too unusual there, but after hitting the wall, Sosebee practically endo’s right over the front bumper. We’ve seen a lot of rollovers and hits, but rarely one quite like this. youtu.be/jo29I4h8gm4
RUT LEADS TO TOPSY TURVY TIME What’s crazy about this video is the lighting is poor in the turn because SOMEBODY HAD ALREADY TAKEN OUT THE LIGHT POLE! Maybe they should’ve fixed the rut! youtu.be/o2xbq-KAXvU Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 13
Photos by Rick Schwallie
By TIM McCREADIE IN MY RACING EXPERIENCE,
it seems that there’s always some type of controversy brewing about new technology. Whether it be tires, bodies, or even the shock deal that we are experiencing now, it seems like, as racers, we are always facing impending restrictions. While it frustrates me to have to deal with it, I do see both sides of the argument somewhat. From the manufacturer side, I see the desire to create new and improved technology, and from the series’ perspective, I understand the drive to try and reduce costs. However, sometimes I think the vision for cost savings gets a little misguided. For example, I’ve seen shock rules up North where they restrict the value of shocks to $300 to try and save racers money. The reality though is that now, instead of having four to six adjustable shocks in the trailer that cover all of my needs, I now have to have fifty to sixty shocks to cover all of my needs and still stay under the $300 per shock limit. This clearly defeats the purpose of trying to save money. Along those same lines, I don’t understand the current logic behind 14 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
shock policing. When you look at the cost of shocks, and what you get out of them, there are so many other things on the race car that cost so much more money the series can control to save racer’s cash. My yearly shock budget isn’t anything like $50,000, or some crazy number. In fact, to run a deal like the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, I’m actually spending less than $10,000 a year to run with the best in the business. Policing and restrictions in one area can make costs in other areas skyrocket. For example, when you start placing restrictions on shocks, teams are just going to spend the money somewhere else. That’s when you start seeing spec motors costing well over $40,000. I can tell you for a fact, that most of our open engines have nowhere near that amount of money in them — and I feel like we can take our motors anywhere in the country and be competitive. This is America, and we have several different levels of everything that we do. Racing is no different. Whether you are a Crate Late Model guy, a Sprint Car guy, or a Super Late Model guy, there will always be people who spend too much money.
Maybe trying to field a top-level, Super Late Model team isn’t for everybody. Maybe racers need to recognize what division and style of racing fits into their budget. Everyone can find their niche. It doesn’t mean it’s bad to have to run at a lower level. Just like for me, I couldn’t afford to do a NASCAR-type operation so I stay right here, with something I can afford. I’m a professional racer, so why is it fair to tell me what equipment I can or can’t use? It’s just like in the construction world: You don’t tell a company with thirty years of business and fifty dump trucks, they have to reduce their number of trucks because their new competitor only has two. It’s just not how it works. That’s how those guys make their money, so they operate to the best of their ability.
I just don’t think more rules is the way to solve issues in racing. It’s no different than what I do in racing. Again this is America, and it’s all about building up. When I first started racing, I worked a day-to-day job and was lucky enough to start winning enough races to catch the attention of great car owners (Carl and Ann Myers with Sweeteners Plus). Now I’m lucky to have a lot of tools and luxuries at my disposal, but even with that, there’s some things I don’t have that other teams do. I’m not bitter about it though, because I realize they deserve the nice things they have, just like I deserve the nice things I have. They’ve earned it. Bottom line: I don’t like putting limits on things. I understand it takes money to race. If I didn’t think we could afford to be competitive in the Super Late Model ranks, then I would be the first to suggest we drop down to a more suitable division. I wouldn’t expect everybody else to adjust their program to suit me. I think a big driving factor behind teams and drivers calling foul — and screaming for rule changes — largely has to do with the way we view ourselves. To be at this level, we all have to believe in ourselves so much. When we start running bad, and we can’t figure out exactly why, we start to let our minds search for reasons that are taboo like cheating, traction control, tire doping, etc. When you start focusing on things like that, then you really forget about what matters the most, which is getting your own program fine-tuned to where it needs to be. I can just about guarantee that when any one of us are down, the perceived top-notch driver in the sport (at that given time) could walk into our trailer and show us something simple we are doing wrong that’s significantly hurting our on-track performance. The angle of feeling like someone else is getting an unfair advantage is always going to exist. In other sports, people think it’s unfair when one team has only one all-star, while another has three or four. I mean what can you do there? I think the answer is nothing. You have to do your own homework — make a winner out of the team you’ve got — and quit placing blame on the other guy. We’re not in kindergarten,
where everybody deserves a turn. This is a business, and if somebody can step on your throat they will, so you just have to find a way to be better. Again, my experience throughout my career is whenever a rule is made to cut costs, it just costs us more when it’s all said and done. My favorite way is to just have open rules. That way, I can get the parts I need that are within my budget, and work my butt off in my garage to put together a winning hotrod. It’s no different than crate engine racing. I’ve been there and done that, and from my vantage point — just about everybody is cheating one way or another. It’s just a matter of who gets caught and who doesn’t, so you take an engine that is supposed to be cost-effective at $5,000, and then you cheat it up to $15,000 or so. Because you need every ounce of power out of the engine just to be competitive, you have to pay a topnotch motor guy big money, because they are so good at what they do. I can go open motor racing with no restrictions and build a very competitive engine myself for less than $20,000. You can’t do that in spec-engine racing. My final perspective on these restrictions is tech. You see very few tech guys who really know how to catch everything. Unless you are spending everyday working on these things, thinking about how to get a performance advantage, and knowing the true ins-and-outs of every aspect of the car, there’s no way you can 110 percent accurately tech cars. It’s a catch-all, and I don’t know how you solve it. I just don’t think more rules is the way to solve issues in racing. I think putting restrictions in place only appeases those who complain the most. At the end of the day, when you look at races in just about every division, it’s the best drivers who are winning them. The technology is somewhat secondary to driving ability and talent. Today the major concerns in racing come in the form of shock restrictions. Tomorrow it will be something different. The sooner we all realize technological advances are the way of the world, then the better we will be. When all is said and done, we all just need to do our homework and work harder — the rest will take care of itself.
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Brown & Miller is making a serious push into dirt racing EVEN IF YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED in racing for years,
you may not have heard of Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, which manufactures lightweight, high quality hoses and fittings for race cars. That’s because the very specialized company has for years done business almost exclusively with Formula 1 and NASCAR Cup teams. Oh, and don’t forget the high end sports car teams running Le Mans and other road courses. Lately Brown & Miller has been pushing to make its products more readily available to race teams at all levels, and the company’s commitment to quality is quickly helping it become quite popular in dirt racing. Just a few of the racers currently running the company’s hoses include Darrell Lanigan, Scott Bloomquist, and Rick Eckert in the Late Model ranks, as well as Kasey Kahne Racing’s Sprint Cars, and Brett Hearn in the Big Block Modifieds. To find out more we made a visit to Brown & Miller’s shops in Concord, North Carolina, where they assemble hose and fitting kits for teams throughout the United States. You may think that all hoses and AN fittings are basically the same, making them essentially commodity items, but that certainly isn’t true with the pieces we were shown. Brown & Miller machines, bends, and heat treats its own AN fittings to a proprietary design, and sources all its hoses from a single manufacturer that sells most of its products in the aviation industry. Brown & Miller’s John Harper measures out a hose sent in from a customer to be remade in the company’s lightweight components. Brown & Miller builds complete hose sets using its lightweight crimped fittings for teams all over the country. 16 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Although Brown & Miller mostly sells the lighter-weight crimped-fitting design (bottom), it also offers a reusable fitting (top) you can assemble in your own shop that has the same one-piece high strength features.
All of Brown & Miller’s hoses use the same unique internal structure. The inner two layers are carbon to help ground any static electricity, followed by two layers of PTFE, which isn’t affected by today’s caustic fuels, next comes a layer of convoluted fiberglass, and then finally the outer protective braid (that isn’t actually connected to the hose). Here, you can see the three main types of braids B&M sells.
A proper crimp on an AN fitting is more than simply smashing a collar over the hose and barbed end of the fitting. Brown & Miller uses this press to provide a precise amount of even pressure all the way around the fitting for maximum seal with no damage to the hose.
When anybody buys anything from us — no matter what class they race — they can be confident that we are providing them the same quality the Cup teams depend on. Every hose assembled in the location we visited was madeto-order, and the attention to detail was quite amazing. Brown & Miller’s John Harper told us the company has no intention to try and be the cheapest product on the market. “People in China wanted to sell us fittings for less than we can purchase the raw materials,” he says. “There’s no way we want any part of that. Our quality is the most important thing. We won’t sell one grade of hoses to our Cup customers and another grade to our dirt track racing customers. “When anybody buys anything from us — no matter what class they race — they can be confident that we are providing them the same quality the Cup teams depend on.” One of the more interesting things we learned is that Brown & Miller makes all of its own AN hose end fittings in England, and they make an absolutely huge variety of fittings. Unlike many brands, a Brown & Miller fitting is machined from one piece of aluminum — instead of the typical three — and heat treated afterward. Constructing an AN fitting from multiple pieces requires them to be brazed together, which can affect the quality of the heat treatment. Harper says this is why Brown & Miller fittings won’t suffer from seized nuts because the seat flange won’t spread if the fitting is over-tightened.
After it is made, every hose goes through a thorough quality check. Here, the size of the crimped band is checked. Brown & Miller holds its tolerance to plus or minus 0.002 of an inch. Any fitting outside this range is rejected.
Every hose is also checked using water under pressure to one-and-ahalf times its listed pressure rating.
The hoses, meanwhile, will last virtually forever if they aren’t damaged. Harper says the PTFE used to construct the hoses will never be affected by the fluid that’s inside it. “We normally tell people that a visual inspection (for damage) is best,” Harper says. “Broken braid wires can cause damage to the hose. Also, in vacuum applications (such as in drysump applications from the oil pan to the pump), if the hose is ever kinked it will then be susceptible to collapsing.” Otherwise, unless it is punctured, you should be good to go. Source: Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, bmrs.net
Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 17
The introduction of crate engines to oval track racing has affected practically everyone involved in the sport 18窶グneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
IT IS GOOD ADVICE TO NEVER bring up politics or religion in mixed company, because it almost always leads to an argument. The racing version of politics and religion is crate motors. Since Chevrolet introduced the 602 and 604 crate engines for oval track racing, crate racing has virtually invaded the sport. They are so commonplace these days that practically no one sees a future where crate engines aren’t a part of racing anymore. Some people — crate racers mostly — believe that a crate engine is the only way for some to have the opportunity to go racing.
Photo by Rick Schwallie
They say the option to race a sealed crate engine not only lowers the entry price to get into a race car, it also cuts down on how much work must be done on engine maintenance during the week, which can be a big help to someone without at least a volunteer crew. They may even add, “Besides, if crate engines aren’t good for the sport, then how come we have so many crate racing classes out there these days?” Meanwhile, the anti-crate crowd will bring up their usual list of complaints: Crate racing is boring, it takes money away from the local engine builder and moves it to giant corporations, and it really isn’t as cheap to race a crate as you might think. OneDirt wanted to move beyond the rhetoric and take a good, hard look at the different ways that crate motors have affected dirt track racing, from the racer, to the promoter and track owner, to the engine builder, and even the fans. We spoke with numerous people in the industry to understand their situation instead of simply making base-level assumptions. What we found is that taken as a whole, racing has developed a balanced ecosystem where all the parties depend on each other in a great big game of giveand-take. For example, engine builders don’t simply take racer’s money and provide engines. They are depended upon regularly for tuning help at the track, or information when trying to chase down a problem. Engine builders also routinely sponsor drivers with a “house” engine and sometimes even sponsor races. In many ways, the introduction of crate engines has thrown off the balance that has developed over decades, and we’ve yet to see exactly how the world of racing will regain its equilibrium.
The Racer
When crate motors first began to be accepted by sanctioning bodies and written into rulebooks, the reasoning often given was the ever-increasing costs were running racers right out of the sport. The cheaper price tag of a crate motor would provide an option for racers who otherwise couldn’t afford a custom-built engine and would drive more cars to the track. From there the logical conclusion was more cars on the track equals more action, so there obviously would be more fans in the stands and everybody wins. 20 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
GM’s 604 crate engine is equipped with aluminum fast burn heads and is rated at 400 horsepower. It can be had for just under six grand. Along with GM’s less powerful iron head 602 crate, they are by far the most popular options for crate engines.
One advantage that I do see is that it has made it possible to travel more... I enjoy racing at tracks I’ve never been to before. While it is true that crates have allowed some racers to continue to participate in their favorite sport, it has also cannibalized other classes. We spoke with one Crate Late Model racer who had raced the Limited Late Model division for years, but felt forced into the crate class. “I liked running the Limited class,” he says. “It was cheaper than the Super Late Models, but the cars still had enough power that they were fun to race. But when the crates came in and took over, the Limited class has basically gone away. Nobody runs them anymore, so I had to buy a crate and get with the program. “One advantage that I do see is that it has made it possible to travel more, even if you aren’t in a touring series. With the crates, everyone’s rules are practically the same, and I enjoy racing at tracks I’ve never been to before.” Other racers we spoke with, who had raced classes with more powerful engines, complained that crate racing simply isn’t as much fun.
With the limited torque available, crate racing becomes a game of momentum. If the driver makes an error or has to get out of the gas at the wrong time, it can cost him precious tenths of a second, which are impossible to make up unless the driver ahead makes a mistake.
The Track Owner
The track owner is constantly trying to feed the machine. He needs good racers — and lots of ’em — to put on a good show that will pack the stands. But in order to draw top race teams he needs to pay a healthy purse, which requires fans in the stands. At first glance, allowing crate motors may seem like an inexpensive way to draw more racers to the track without creating a new class that would require additional purse money. But the truth of the matter is there’s not some hidden population of people willing to put in all the hours in the shop and sacrifice so much to go racing — if only the engines were just a bit cheaper.
Keith Simmons operates three race tracks in the Midwest — Farley Speedway, West Liberty Raceway, and Dubuque County Fairgrounds Speedway — under the IMCA sanction. The IMCA began allowing crate motors in their Modified class two seasons ago. “Here’s the deal, did we get any more cars?” Simmons says. “The truth is probably not. The IMCA thought they were going to start drawing more cars, but I would argue that the average car count has not gone up. “What they did was give the crate engine such an advantage that people switched to it, not necessarily for cost savings, but as a competitive advantage. The crate engines are definitely not a savior as far as I can see.” In the interest of full disclosure, Simmons is a former engine builder himself and runs the Aftermarket Nationals (a Dirt Modified race where crate engines are not allowed) which you can read about on page 70. But his observations are legitimate. “You know, many of the aftermarket companies making engine parts have invested their profits back into the sport,”
What they did was give the crate engine such an advantage that people switched to it... The crate engines are definitely not a savior as far as I can see. Simmons says. “A lot of contingency programs, a lot of big races and things like that are sponsored by these people, and they form marketing partnerships with tracks and sanctioning bodies. They did it because it was good for them to help grow the sport. “If we eliminate all those guys from being able to make some sort of profit, and be a part of the sport, then there is no reason for them to give back to the racers with either contingency money or parts. “And don’t forget, the local engine builder is actually an important customer for the race promoter. He is buying pit passes every week to come in and provide tech support for the people racing his engines. Some will pay to put up a billboard or put up some cash to be the title sponsor of a race. And if the crates are dominating, it’s hard for him to want to be a part of that, either.”
Crate Only Racing The NeSmith Dirt Late Model Series runs in the Southeastern United States and is one of the most successful crate racing series running right now. We spoke with NeSmith Series Director Adam Smith, who says that as far as the NeSmith Series is concerned, their intention is simply to give racers another option, not steal teams away from other series. “There is room for all types of racing,” Smith says. “What we try to do is make it affordable. It’s no secret that there just isn’t as much full-blown Super Late Model stuff left, we all know that. And I hate it, because I love it. But I feel like we are doing well as a series, because we give people a more affordable option to go racing.”
The Engine Builder
It’s not difficult to figure out which side
This overhead view of Karl Performance’s beautiful engine shop helps illustrate just how much investment is required to build engines capable of winning consistently. Instead of throwing up their hands when crate engines began eating into their business, Kent Davenport says they developed an engine package that can compete with the crates.
of the spectrum the engine builder is going to fall on in this debate, but we spoke to a few that did make some excellent points. Kevin Stoa of KS Engineering builds all types of high performance race engines, but a large percentage has always been dirt A Mods. “Our A Mod business has been affected most by the crates,” Stoa says. “That mostly went away, but now it is coming back because guys just don’t like racing the crate engine. “What I am seeing is the A Mod guys that we had, some of them are actually quitting or going to Late Models now, and it has definitely shaken up that class in a bad way. “I hear the comment a lot that it is boring to race with a crate engine. You’re always door-to-door with people, and it is a momentum deal. It is definitely a different game with crates. “I’m a racer myself and I came from meager beginnings, so I definitely understand any time you can save money that sounds like a good thing. But I always use the analogy that you can’t have a Corvette on a Chevette budget. It just doesn’t work. If you want to race in the bigger classes you need to buck up and spend the money for a Corvette. “I can definitely understand if you want to have a crate engine in a class 22 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
for a guy who wants to get into racing and experience it and get his feet wet,” Stoa continues. “That’s great. I think a crate engine can work in that situation to give racers an inexpensive way to get into racing. “But the problem is some sanctions have made penalties for the built engines in many classes and back them up to the level of the crate engine, so everybody is down on power.
I think a crate engine can work in a situation to give racers an inexpensive way to get into racing. “In my opinion, whenever you go backwards that makes for boring racing. Then you wind up with less people in the stands — which hurts racing overall — because people in the stands want to see the top-level cars. “If it came down to me having to race a crate, I think I’d just go fishing.” Jay Dickens is an engine builder that specializes in no-holds-barred Dirt Late Model engines for drivers competing in the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. At that level you might think he
would be too far above the crate classes to be affected by it. But that’s not the case as Dickens has felt the sting by the invasion of crate engines. “Quite honestly, it has hurt us,” Dickens says. “We have lost some Late Model racers that went down and raced a crate deal because of the cost of the open engines. But again, we are talking about racing, it’s all expensive. “In a perfect world, yeah, the idea is that crates can help everybody. Guys will start out in them and then decide they want to move up to a higher class at their local track or a touring series. But it looks to me like we’ve seen more of the Late Model guys back up to go to crates.” Even if the crate engines are not a perfect option, one benefit has been that smart engine builders have begun looking for ways to give racers improved performance at a crate-level cost. One of those is the engine building division of Karl Performance in Des Moines, Iowa. We recently spoke with Kent Davenport in the engine shop who says they have developed what they are calling their “lightweight engine” to compete with crates, which have now been legal in the IMCA’s A Mod class for a couple years. “We have designed a lightweight engine package that weighs exactly the same as the 604 crate engine and those
This is Karl Performance’s Lightweight Engine. It weighs no more than a 604 crate, costs just a few hundred bucks more, makes more power with a wider rpm range, and can be torn down and rebuilt by anyone. Not a bad option, if you ask us.
have been selling pretty well,” Davenport says “What works best in the A Mods really depends on the race track. “You might get a track that is slick from top to bottom and is that way from start to finish. In that situation, you re-
ally don’t need a lot of horsepower on a track like that. What you need is a lightweight engine, whether it be the one we are building or the 604 crate, because it helps balance the car a little more by getting weight off the nose. “Then there are race tracks that are prepared differently and hold a little more moisture all night, and I know guys that claim the 604 just won’t get the job done at places like that. “We developed this engine so it will be capable of competing at both types of tracks and still be very price competitive with the 604 crate. You can get it in either a 355 or a 383, and still keep the weight off the nose of the car. Now the customer has a little more power where he can run a broader rpm range. “We are camming our lightweight motors to run up to about 7200 or 7400 rpm, compared to the crate motor where you have to shut it down at 6400. That will give you an extra thousand rpm’s, so you can gear your car a little bit differently to give you more straightaway speed.” Davenport says the lightweight
If it came down to me having to race a crate, I think I’d just go fishing. engine normally sells for $6,500 but Karl’s will quite often put it on special for $5,900. Either way, it is practically the same cost as a crate engine, which has gone up in the last few years and now typically sells for $5,800. Considering they are just a few hundred dollars more and you get an engine with more horsepower, forged internals and the ability to tear it down and repair it with no worries about getting dinged in the tech shed, it seems like a really good deal. “Our goal is to be able to get that guy out there with one of our lightweight engines and have them be able to race all year long,” Davenport says. “He should have a little bit of a horsepower advantage with the same weight as a 604 crate and still be affordable. And then, after he’s had that thing for a year or two and he’s got 50 or 60 nights of racing on it
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and wants to tear it down for a refresh, that’s no problem. “We can change out whatever we want and update it so it stays current and don’t have to ask anybody’s permission. They won’t let us rebuild a 604 crate engine unless it has had an issue, and then we have to just patch it up instead of making a real fix.”
The Merchant
In our conversations Davenport brought up a great point that many don’t consider when it comes to crate engines. Not only do crates take money away from engine builders, who lose the opportunity to machine and assemble an engine for a racer, but the replacement parts must also be original GM pieces. This also takes money out of the pocket of the parts guy. These days the local speed shop is becoming a bit of a dinosaur. Many race teams are forced to order parts out of a catalog or off the Internet, but a local speed shop — with an intelligent guy behind the counter — can be an invaluable resource. Bradley Auto Parts is exactly that, an old-school speed shop that stocks more than just wiper blades and antifreeze. The owners actually support and carry parts for everyone from hot rodders, to drag racers, to oval track dirt racers. In fact, they bought into a local 1/8-mile drag strip when it was up on the auction block to help ensure that it would remain open and available to racers in the surrounding area. “When you go to a crate program you basically eliminate everybody else from having a shot at making a sale,” Mike Bradley, one of the owners of Bradley Auto Parts, says. “And then on the backend, if you need a part for the engine, say a valve spring or a pushrod, it has to be an original GM piece so you have to go back to your Chevrolet dealership. “Not only do we lose out on that sale too, but the racer doesn’t have any options to find a lower price. There is only one source he can get it, and he’s just got to pay whatever they charge.”
The Real Cost
Determining the real cost of racing a crate requires more than simply checking out the price quoted on a new 602 or 604 crate engine. There are a lot of associated costs that go with the engine. And then there’s what we will call the “competitive tax.” Racer Mike Huey explains it best. 24 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Huey raced a Crate Late Model for years before stepping away from the class to run a Vintage class. “Back when the crate racing first started it was a pretty good idea, because you actually could go racing for less money,” Huey says. “Everybody was on the same motor, and we were all racing pretty much the same old-style basic, heavy suspensions. “Since then crate racing has gotten pretty popular and the manufacturers like Bert, Winters, and Wilwood have started producing lightweight, low-friction parts for crate engines, because they don’t make as much power. “Nothing against the manufacturers — they are just making the stuff that people want to buy — but it has gotten to the point that you’ve got to have the lightest, trickest stuff, or else you are out to lunch. We racers just can’t help ourselves, and it has gotten to be all about who’s got the most money.”
When you go to a crate program you basically eliminate everybody else from having a shot at making a sale. The racer doesn’t have any options to find a lower price. There is only one source he can get it, and he’s just got to pay whatever they charge. Finally, we also spoke to an engine builder that is an approved crate engine re-builder. We want to stress that they don’t cheat up the engines, but because they have some negative comments about crate engines we agreed to keep their comments anonymous. The point of our conversation was to find out the true cost of a racing crate engine, and what we learned was enlightening. Out of the box, Chevrolet’s 602 and 604 crate engines are missing a lot of components that are necessary to get them running. The list includes a carburetor, water pump, distributor,
plugs, wires, front drive, alternator and so on. If you don’t already have those components, the cost to outfit a new engine usually brings to final price to $8,000 or more. Even then, the engine builder says you shouldn’t expect to be competitive. “If you want to win in a competitive crate motor class you need to have the engine torn down and blueprinted,” he says. “That means doing a torque plate hone on the cylinders, truing up the deck of the block to make sure everything is square and matched side-toside, potentially line honing the mains if they need it, balancing the crank to a higher degree of tolerance, installing filefit rings to close up the gaps, checking the bearing clearances and possibly installing new bearings. “That comes out to 20 man hours right there — four for teardown and cleaning, four for machining the block, four for the heads if you need to size the valve guides and touch up the seats, two to balance the crank and six for reassembly — and that’s not even counting putting it up on the dyno to check and make sure everything is right.” All that work is about making sure all the variances that come from building an engine on an assembly line are eliminated, and really are only worth five to 10 horsepower on the average crate engine. That doesn’t sound like much, and it’s actually a waste of money if you do it on a brand new engine. We learned that if you put a 604 crate back on the engine dyno after two or three races, it will usually be down 15 to 20 horsepower. The engine builder we talked to says this is pretty consistent and believes it is because the block is brand new. After a few heat cycles everything moves around a bit, which causes the drop in power. “We don’t recommend the blueprint until after they have raced the engine a night or two and the block has been through a few heat cycles and settled down a bit,” he explains. “Then the racer will have to pull the engine back out of his car and bring it in. That’s when we will tear it down and clean and inspect everything. “By the time he gets done, the guy could have $12,000 in his motor, and we can sell him a decent built motor for that. It’s a lot when you think about it.” Sources: Bradley Auto Parts, Jay Dickens Racing Engines, Karl Performance, KS Engineering, NeSmith
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Sometimes
EASIER IS FASTER
ANY TIME YOU CAN make a change to your equipment
Here’s one way to make your racing life easier and improve performance at the same time 26 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
that will help improve performance on the race track, it must be considered. Unfortunately, that slavish devotion to performance can also make your life more difficult. For example, choosing the shortest route possible for plumbing lines can shave off valuable pounds, but as a result you can wind up with stuff that’s routed in places you can barely reach. We heard of a Super Dirt Late Model racer that tried running a lightweight rear end designed for crate racers. Yes, it saved a little rotating weight, but he also had to constantly make repairs because the rear end simply couldn’t handle the strain from the open motor. But there are places where you can make changes to your racing program that will not only help improve performance
With multiple cars for each team, KKR has developed a system that allows all of its drivers to contend for championships.
Jiffy-tite’s quick-release fittings are fabricated from lightweight aluminum and anodized for an extra layer of protection. They can be had with or without swivel fittings to make installation even easier.
— or at least reliability — but also make your life a little easier. Anything you can do to make completing tasks in the pits a little quicker, while also reducing the opportunity for mistakes, can help you concentrate on the other things you need to be doing. We have noticed savvy race teams are finding places they can utilize Jiffy-tite’s Quick-Connect fluid fittings to simplify tasks involving plumbing as well as eliminate leaks.
On a recent trip to the beautiful Sprint Car shops at Kasey Kahne Racing, shop manager Justin Adams showed us a couple places where they are taking advantage of Jiffy-tite’s leak-free quick-disconnect technology. They are using the fittings to make it easy and simple to connect the portable block heaters to the engines. Since they want the engines heated until the very last second, the Jiffy-tite connectors allow the block heaters to be disconnected
in mere seconds, right before the car is rolled out to the track. Another area where Kasey Kahne Racing is using Jiffy-tite connectors is on the hydraulic lines used to power the wing adjusters. Those giant wings on top of Sprint Cars are great for providing extreme amounts of downforce, and the drivers are able to adjust the pitch to help maximize traction and speed around the track. However, the wings are also very useful as a crumple zone in case of a rollover, and teams are quite willing to sacrifice one if it will help protect the driver. In the event a wing gets damaged on the race track, the Jiffy-tite connectors make it easy for the crew to disconnect the hydraulic lines to the wing adjuster without requiring tools, which allows the wing to be changed out between heats. Now the team can continue racing its primary race car instead of being forced to a backup. Crew member Josh Heidkamp says he’s definitely a fan of the fittings. “You just pull back the collar, pop ’em off and move on to the next thing. But the best part is, it’s nice to be able to work around the hydraulic lines and not Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 27
be pouring fluid all over yourself all the time,” he says with a laugh. Jiffy-tite fittings are used in a wide variety of automotive and industrial applications, but the company offers a motorsports line specifically to provide the lightweight and trouble-free operation that racers require. The basic concept of the Jiffy-tite design is to eliminate the screw-together type fittings prevalent on almost all plumbing systems. Because Jiffy-tite fittings use a quick-disconnect system no tools are required, and an internal valve on both sides of the fitting eliminates fluids that can leak all over you and your race car. This means you can change out a radiator or coolant lines without the risk of scalding water burning you, or you can quickly swap out a carburetor without dumping flammable race fuel on the engine and the hot exhaust headers. By getting rid of the screw-together type fittings, you can also eliminate a lot of problems that seem to creep up at the racetrack. Just imagine, no more fluid leaks from cross threading, over tightening, stripping, or simply forgetting to go back and re-tighten fittings that had only been threaded on by hand. Jiffy-tite has broken down its fittings into three groups, called “Series.” Each series works with a set of AN-sized hoses and won’t restrict flow, as long as they are kept within the proper range. The 2000 Series fittings are the smallest and have a 0.25-inch ID and work well with -3, -4, and -6 size hose. The 3000 Series fittings are sized with a 0.39-inch ID and work with -6 and -8 hose. The 5000 Series fittings are the largest and have a 0.59-inch ID and work with -8, -10, and -12AN-sized hose. All the AN fittings are available with reusable NPT or barb hose ends and come in straight, 45- and 90-degree angles. You can also get them with a 360-degree swivel. Besides the three different sizes, Jiffy-tite also offers options depending on the type of seal needed inside the valve. The fittings are good for transmitting engine oil, transmission fluid, fuel, and water, but your specific situation may require a different material for the valve seal. The standard material is a fluorocarbon seal. It is compatible with most fuels, water, engine oil, and transmission 28 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
The Sprint Car’s wing adjuster is situated by the driver’s left hand. It connects hydraulically to a cylinder mounted above his head, which controls the pitch of the wing. You can see the cylinder in the upper left-hand corner of this shot. Being able to remove it quickly in case a wing is damaged is critical.
Here’s a closer look with the Jiffy-tite fittings installed.
Another area where Kasey Kahne Racing depends on Jiffy-tite fittings is connecting up the block heaters to the race engines. The methanol fuel burns cool, so a block heater pumps warm water through the engine’s water jackets to help get the oil up to temperature.
fluid, and is a good all-around material for durability. The second type is a seal made from Buna Nitrile material. It is the preferred material if you are running alcohol or methanol as a race fuel. Finally, the third type of seal is made from an EPDM (Ethylene Propylene) material and is compatible with brake fluid. Jiffy-tite fittings are not compatible with brake line pressures, so the common question is: Why even bother making a fitting that is compatible with brake fluid? Jiffy-tite’s Duane LaFleur tells us that there is a specific — and very useful — application for this material. Many race teams use the fitting to make removing the hydraulic throwout bearing on the clutch easier, and brake fluid is often used here. LaFleur also stresses that the Jiffy-tite fitting can handle clutch fluid line pressures without breaking a sweat. EPDM is also compatible with nitromethane, which makes it useful for some drag racing classes. If you find that you need a nitro-compatible fitting for your dirt track race car, well, that’s your business and we don’t want to know about it.
Kasey Kahne Racing’s Sprint Car teams have no need for this, but one of our favorite options is Jiffy-tite’s carb kit which puts their quick disconnect fittings on the feed lines to the fuel bowls. Now you can remove a carb quickly and without spilling fuel on your hot engine.
We also like that Jiffy-tite has set up a robust in-house quality control program. To maintain a leak-free environment, there is a valve inside of both the plugside and socket-side of each fitting. Jiffy-tite tests every fitting in-house, both the plug and socket side. Once
both pieces have been confirmed to work properly, technicians then install the fittings together and retest for a third time to make sure that the union is also leak free. Source: Jiffy-tite Motorsports, motorsports.jiffy-tite.com
Stop the
STUMB One smart racer and a little ingenuity solve a problem that’s been plaguing racers for decades WORKING WITH CARBURETORS
in racing is almost always a tricky proposition. Let’s face it, tuning for asphalt, where speed is about being smooth and slowly rolling into the throttle so you don’t spin the rear wheels, is much easier than competing in a dirt environment. Racing on dirt requires lots of throttle input to help steer the car and keep 30 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
the rear suspension up on the bars. There is no getting off the gas at the end of the straight and staying off it until you are exiting the turn. One problem that’s plagued dirt racers practically forever is getting a stumble when you blip the throttle at the end of the straights. You need to get the car to roll over on the right side and
then get right back on the throttle so you can power through the turn. But a stumble only serves to drop the car back down on all four tires and upset your race car’s delicate balance. We’ve seen all types of fixes and band-aids tried, but nothing has really worked consistently. Now that more dirt cars are running cable- or
Aeromotive’s double-adjustable bypass fuel pressure regulator allows you to set one fuel pressure level while the engine is at idle, and a second higher level when the engine is at speed.
E
L B
Photo by Rick Schwallie
had looked for quite some time for a way to solve the issue. “Well, I had been experimenting with fuel pressure regulators for about two years trying to get it right to keep the carburetor from stumbling,” Carter says. “What I noticed was, you [should] adjust your fuel pressure by having it under load to try to match the rpm the engine will be running on the track. “Depending on if you are running gas or alcohol, you need different pressures for different applications. When we are running gas, we’re running about 6 1/2 pounds of fuel pressure. “When you get out of the throttle at the end of the straight, the fuel pressure at the needle and seat will want to spike. What I mean is when you get out of the throttle that return line cannot allow the fuel to go back quick enough, and it floods into the carburetor. “It does it with every pressure regulator I have worked with. No matter what we tried, we still had the problems with the spiking of the fuel when you’re getting out of the throttle, causing an overloading condition and the engine stumbles. And everybody has the same problem. “I’ve got one grandson who is able to keep an eye on the fuel pressure gauge while he is driving,” Carter adds. “I don’t know how he does it, but he can. In that car we are running alcohol, and he says when he gets out of the throttle at
belt-driven fuel pumps off the back of the block, the problem has only gotten worse. Until now. Jimmy Carter is a longtime racer (and not the retired politician that you might be thinking of ) who now works with his grandchildren racing Dirt Modifieds. Actually, they race Modifieds a lot.
“Yeah, I have three grandsons who all race Modifieds,” Carter says. “Two of them run Modified and one runs a Sport Mod. We run all over the United States, mostly around the Midwest. We run 90 nights a year, four nights a week, so we stay pretty busy with the race cars.” Carter says his grandsons all struggled with the stumbling problem, and he
Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 31
the end of the straight the fuel pressure gauge, which was running eight pounds of pressure where we had set it, will spike up to 15.” Carter says the solution to the problem came to him one day when he was researching fuel pressure regulators and stumbled upon Aeromotive’s double-adjustable bypass fuel pressure regulator. The Aeromotive regulator is designed for use with carburetors and features two independent pressure adjustment options for the racer. One adjustment is to set the fuel pressure to the carburetor when the engine is at idle, and the second is for when the engine is at speed. This regulator was engineered for the high-flow, variable-volume fuel pumps spun by either a cable or belt that have become very popular in dirt track racing lately. It is also engineered with a large return port to send fuel back to the fuel cell when the pressure is exceeded. What’s unique here is that Aeromotive’s engineers have actually designed the port to take a -10 fuel line so high volumes of fuel can be pulled out of the system and returned to the cell. Aeromotive claims that this regulator (part number #13214) creates the smoothest and most repeatable fuel curve from idle to wide-open throttle of any bypass system. “When I saw this double-adjustable pressure regulator, a light went on,” Carter says. “I thought this might do the trick. I’ve tried a lot of different pieces over the years, and it’s hard to believe that this one regulator was finally able to solve so many problems.” The pressure regulator has one inlet and one return port, so the most sanitary installation is to mount the it at the end of the carburetor fuel log. You can also mount the regulator somewhere on the chassis near the engine and simply run a line from the fuel log to the regulator. When the fuel to the carburetor reaches the set pressure level, the regulator opens the valve to the return line, sending fuel back to the fuel cell and almost instantly bringing the fuel pressure back to desired levels. Carter says they initially ran a -8 return line but upped it to a -10 and saw even better performance as a result. “A lot of guys are weight conscious, and they will try to run a -6 or a -8 return line, and we found out that it’s just not enough, especially with the high-capacity fuel pumps we are running today like 32 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Photo by Conrad Nelson
Jimmy Carter and his grandsons run three Modifieds. Cayden Carter is a track champion, and Carter VenDenBerg won the Sport Mod championship in the IMCA Super Nationals last year, so we figure he knows what he’s talking about.
I’ve tried a lot of different pieces over the years, and it’s hard to believe that this one regulator was finally able to solve so many problems. a Waterman or a KSE. You need that return line capacity to get back and dump it into the fuel cell so that you don’t have a pressure spike from the unused fuel. “The other thing we like is they’ve got the pressure outlet right on the front of the regulator. So you can run it right to your pressure gauge and you get a real accurate fuel pressure reading to help you make your settings and adjustments.” Carter says he has found the best performance when the regulator is set to hold the fuel pressure at 3 1/2 pounds at idle, and then when the engine is throttled up to allow the fuel pressure to increase to 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 pounds of fuel pressure. “We were actually surprised by how much we were able to lower the fuel pressure as we started experimenting with the Aeromotive regulator,” Carter says. “I believe lowering the fuel pressure helps keep the fuel from foaming, but we just weren’t able to do it before with a dead-head regulator. “Imagine pouring water from a garden hose into a bucket. If you get a slow stream, you just get a nice stream of water filling the bucket. If you turn that water spigot wide-open and hold the end of the nozzle against the bucket, you get a foaming action. It’s the same with fuel. When you have foam inside the carburetor and the carburetor is trying to add that fuel to the airstream, it just doesn’t work as well so you cannot get a consistent throttle.” To his credit, Carter hasn’t kept his discovery to himself, but has been very willing to share and help other racers.
“I happened to run into Randy Sweet when he was working with Waterman [Racing Components], and I told him, ‘Man, you’ve got to try one of these regulators.’ He was working with Scott Bloomquist and they were running at higher rpm than us but having the same problem. If you back the fuel pressure down enough so that it doesn’t stumble, you don’t get enough fuel to the carb and wind up with a lean condition. “So they have switched to the Aeromotive pressure regulator too and, as far as I know, have been happy with it.” The problem with the carb loading up and causing a stumble, is it normally causes a tight condition on the race car — it either wants to shove the nose, or it stumbles and loses grip. When you are running a four-bar car, it comes off the bars unloading the suspension, and you lose forward bite. When that happens other cars are going past you. Time didn’t allow us to try out this system ourselves before this issue of OneDirt magazine was due at the printers. However, we were able to find another reputable voice in the racing industry that doesn’t have a dog in the fight. Jack Hickman works with Waterman Racing Components, a leading manufacturer of fuel pumps for many types of racing, and he says the company now recommends Aeromotive’s double-adjustable fuel pressure regulators to be paired with its fuel pumps.
“The problem we were having came from using a pump that runs off the back of the power steering pump,” Hickman explains. “That is a high-flowing pump because it can also work with alcohol, so not only does it flow much more, but the amount of volume also goes up with engine rpm. “What we were seeing is most all the regulators out there are too small, so our pump keeps going up on the volume and the fuel starts building up behind the regulator. At the end of the straightaway when the driver jumps out of the throttle, that big amount of fuel behind the regulator can’t get through and it will actually flood the regulator and then flood the carburetor.” Hickman says that a high quality pump, like the one Waterman recommends for Dirt Late Model and Dirt Modified racing, really does benefit from a fuel pressure regulator with a high volume return line. Being able to rapidly dump the excess fuel back to the fuel cell and drop the fuel pressure in the system helps keep the carburetor functioning optimally. He has also seen the benefit of running even lower fuel pressures. “We have found that we can run our
Aeromotive also has a setup to integrate the bypass regulator into a carburetor fuel log. In this setup the routing is usually fuel pump, carburetor fuel log, then the regulator. This still works because when the set pressure is reached, the regulator opens the valve to the return line and it drops the pressure for the entire system.
fuel pressures about a half pound less than before, and some engine builders are telling us they can run as much as a full pound less than they were,” Hickman says. “That helps a lot because the lower you can get the pressure going from the regulator into the needles and seats and the float bowl, the less aeration you’re going to get. “That’s a big thing for us, you get a
lot more ‘solid’ fuel without any air bubbles going into the float bowl. We’ve seen racers being able to get down to four or five pounds at idle, and then on the top end they are trying to stay around 6 1/2 to seven pounds of fuel pressure. “There really are lots of benefits for this setup all the way around.” Source: Aeromotive, aeromotive.com
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GET TO KNOW Kevin Stoa OWNER, KS ENGINEERING
Kevin Stoa is the owner of KS Engineering in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Since its inception, KS Engineering has turned out a string of winning race engines, particularly in the Dirt Modified A Mod class. Kevin was kind enough to help us out with our research into crate engines for this issue’s feature story “The Ripple Effect,” so while we had his attention, we thought we would also hit him up for OneDirt’s Get to Know.
How did you get your start as an engine builder? I’ve always been in racing. My older brother was into it as a chassis builder too, so I first got started working with him. And then I just decided to move on into the engine building portion, and the rest is history.
So what made you decide to start your own race engine shop?
I had always wanted my own shop and just never had the opportunity to do it. Or really, I never had the guts to go out on my own. So I moved down to North Carolina to work in Chip Ganassi’s NASCAR Cup engine shop, and when that closed I really had no other choice but to make my own job. The job leads in North Carolina just dried up because there were so many guys out on the street. So I did my own deal, and it has been going great ever since.
What was your job in Ganassi’s engine shop?
I was an engine assembler. I put together the Cup engines for the number 41 and 42 cars.
How long have you been running your own program?
This is our fifth year. We opened January 1, 2010.
What is the biggest difference between working in a Cup shop like Ganassi’s and running your own business building engines for people racing out of their own pocket?
Believe it or not, there was less stress working in a Cup shop. We knew what we were doing and they gave us the very best parts to work with, so it was hard to have a failure. 34 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
It is more of a challenge working with the Saturday night racer because he doesn’t have a Cup budget. You have a responsibility to take care of him and make the most of the money he has to spend on an engine. I think we meet the challenge and we do well with it. To me, it’s more challenging running your own business and building these engines. I don’t want to take anything away from the challenge of building Cup engines, but I really enjoy what I’m doing now.
What would you consider to be your biggest win or your best moment as an engine builder?
You know, I have never really given that much thought. We’ve won some national championships since we have started our own deal here. The first engine I ever assembled at Ganassi’s finished second at Talladega with Juan Pablo driving, and that was pretty cool. Some people may think its crazy, but watching a kid win in a Sport Mod or a Stock Car on a Saturday night, that gives me the same thrill as I had when I watched Juan Pablo racing with my engine at Talladega. I know that’s not a very specific answer to your question, but I just enjoy all of it.
As an engine builder you work with a lot of teams. Have you noticed a common characteristic that helps determine which teams will be most successful?
I was a driver and have seen my own personal racing success go up and down, but I believe what makes a racer successful is the ability to focus on it. When I lived at home with my parents — even though I worked 45 to 50 hours a week — that’s when I was on top.
My parents were able to help me out with basic chores, and I certainly had a great team working with me. But then life gets in the way. You get busy and your focus turns to starting a family, or your business, or whatever. Before you know it, your time spent on the race car diminishes and your results reflect it. Just being able to focus on the race car and spend time working with it is a big reason for success in my opinion.
From your perspective, what do you see is the biggest challenge facing dirt track racing right now?
The biggest challenge right now for racing — at least in my mind — is getting the interest up. We have got to find a way to get the interest up in the stands, and I don’t have an answer for that, because I’m not a promoter. I think some of that comes from lack of interest in the big leagues of racing. I remember growing up I wouldn’t miss a NASCAR race, and this year I didn’t even watch the Daytona 500. I have noticed people on Facebook saying that this race is boring or whatever, and I think that trickles down to the short track. How do we get people interested in short track racing when they think the big stuff is boring?
What do you see are the biggest changes coming in the next decade or so as far as building engines? I can’t believe that we won’t be into computer-controlled LS engines by then. I really believe that’s coming. It’s not going to be in the next couple of years, but I can’t see how we’re going to be able to stay away from it in the future. Ten years from now if we haven’t gone to that we are going to have a dinosaur for a piece.
What sets you apart from other engine builders out there?
The thing I tell people all the time is we don’t have any magic or anything. We just concentrate on doing it right. That’s what makes us successful. I can’t answer for other engine builders, but to me there is no black magic to building a good racing engine. If you do it right from start to finish, you will have a reliable engine that’s also capable of winning races. Source: KS Engineering, kevinstoaengineering.com
Some people may think its crazy, but watching a kid win in a Sport Mod or a Stock Car on a Saturday night, that gives me the same thrill as I had when I watched Juan Pablo racing with my engine at Talladega.
Photo by Buck Monson Photo
MAGNETO
MAINTENANCE
Common sense tips on keeping your Sprint Car’s magneto ignition happy for the long haul
Photo by Seth Lacewell
SPRINT CARS ARE CERTAINLY
unique beasts. Their light weight, oversized rear tires, high-horsepower engines, and incredible downforce (at least on the winged sprints) make for extremely fast lap times and insane racing action. But these cars also have a few mechanical quirks not seen in other forms of dirt track racing. Namely, we’re talking about solid front axles, direct-drive drivetrains, and old-school magneto ignitions. We recently had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Bob Wyman Jr. of System 1 Pro Ignition. You may be familiar with System 1 as a manufacturer of ulta-high quality stainless steel reusable filters, but they also have an ignition department which Wyman heads up. System 1 doesn’t manufacture magneto ignition systems, but instead works as specialists in upgrading and rebuilding magnetos from MSD, Mallory, and Vertex, among others. A high power magneto-based ignition for racing can become finicky and ill-tempered if they aren’t properly maintained. Wyman says that adding just a few steps in your weekly maintenance program can help keep your Sprint Car’s magneto happy and healthy all season long. Really, it’s just basic common sense the way Wyman explains it, requiring only a few minutes and some attention to detail. Below, we’ve reprinted Wyman’s tips and advice in his own words.
Be Wary When Washing
Naturally, Sprint Car racing on dirt is a pretty harsh environment. Things are going to get dirty, but washing the car can create just as many problems for the magneto. If you aren’t careful, you will get moisture and corrosion problems that can harm performance. So our suggestion is when you wash the car that you cover it with what is called a “wash bag” or a “scrub bag” (Outerwears Racing makes a highstrength, waterproof scrub bag out of denier nylon, specifically for magnetos). The bag goes over the magneto and pulls tight at the bottom, so when you wash the car it keeps the mag from getting water shot into it. It’s definitely better than a Ziploc baggie. The points box can also have an issue with water. Even though it is sealed, you should still pull it off when you hose the engine down or wash the car. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 37
On both refresh and rebuilds, System 1 checks out every component on its workbench. When there’s no battery on board, a magneto ignition is the only way to fly in a Sprint Car.
Even though the electronics are sealed, sometimes water can get behind that back plate and it takes longer to dry out. The best recommendation is just to take it off and don’t even let it get wet. Just wipe the box down and clean the connectors, then put it back on when you are reassembling the car after cleaning. In general, it’s just a good idea to be careful around electronics whenever you are spraying water.
Dry Time
When you’re done washing the car, put the cap off to the side and leave it off for a day or so. That way the mag can air itself out. You will eliminate a lot of the corrosion problems we often see. I do not recommend hosing it down with WD-40 or some other type of water dispersant because it can be conductive. A shot from an air hose to blow moisture out is OK, but just make sure the air coming out of the hose is dry. Sometimes you can blow as much water as air. Don’t forget to flip the cap over and 38 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
check it out to make sure you don’t have a lot of corrosion on the terminals inside the cap.
Inspection
While you have the magneto cap off, take your thumb and wiggle the carbon brush in there. If it moves back and forth, it means the carbon has come loose, and you need to replace the cap. On the newer-style caps there is a little spring behind the carbon that allows it to move up and down, which is fine. What you don’t want is for it be able to move from side-to-side. You can also take a little Emery cloth to the tip of the blade on the magneto and shine it up a bit, just to make sure there won’t be any corrosion to cause problems. Periodically, I would also use lacquer thinner to get the grease and oil off the plug wires and boots. Blow out the inside of the spark plug boots to make sure you don’t have any moisture that has made its way up in there, either. Also, you need to inspect your spark
plug boots regularly, because they can get pin holes in them, causing them to arc across to the headers. We find that all the time when we do rebuilds here. The holes can sometimes happen if you hit a rock thrown up off the track, or just from wear and tear while pulling the plug boots on and off. A good way to see if you have a pinhole is to spray brake cleaner or contact cleaner inside the boot, and then blow it out with an air hose. If you see the cleaner shoot out the top of the boot, then you know you have a pinhole in it.
Wire Life
A common problem I see often is a coil wire that has been left on too long. Remember that the coil wire carries current eight times more than any other wire, so it needs to be replaced more often. I would say somebody who races quite a bit will want to replace the coil wire every five to eight weeks or so. The plug wires themselves can last a bit longer. Generally, you can run them 20 to 30 nights. For most racers that aren’t on a touring series, that
means a set of plug wires can probably make it a whole season.
Rebuild Time
A good engine builder will send the magneto in to get checked out any time the engine is refreshed. You can have a good motor, but if that magneto isn’t working right the motor won’t do you any good. It is kind of a common deal for a 360 motor to go back and be refreshed after 20 or so nights of racing, and a good 410 motor gets about 10 to 15 nights on them before it is refresh time. When someone sends a magneto and points box back to us for a refresh, we take the magneto apart, put a new roll pin in the drive gear, set it back up, and test it out. If it comes in for a rebuild however, it gets completely torn down and cleaned, every piece is gone through and checked, and it gets rebuilt then tested out. Basically, what you’re doing is cleaning all the rust and corrosion out of the magneto and changing out the bearings and everything that can wear. When you send your mag in for service, whether to us at System 1 or someone else, always send the entire
Remember that the coil wire leading from the points box to the cap carries current eight times more than the plug wires, so it must be changed out more often.
ignition. The magneto, the points box, and the wires. That way you can check everything to make sure each piece is OK individually, and that they also are
working well together as a unit, without any problems. Source: System 1 Pro Ignition, system1filters.com
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Racing
NEEDS YOU Things every racer can do to help grow the sport
Just look at what it costs to run these cars, look at how few people come to the races…
WE HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO GET MORE PEOPLE COMING, so that we can race for bigger purses. – Scott Bloomquist
40 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
By Ben Shelton
DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAMER Scott Bloomquist, from Mooresburg, Tennessee, uttered these words to me moments after finishing third in the final round of the 44th Annual DIRTCar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park (Barberville, Florida) in late February as Speedweeks 2015 came to a close. He went on to reference that while he won a race, and had a handful of strong runs during the two and a half week extravaganza in Florida and Georgia, that he would still head home without truly netting a dime. The problem to which he alluded was nothing new, but it is something that is indeed becoming a more pressing issue.
Photos by Rick Schwallie
Whether a driver competes on a national level, a regional level, or is a weekend warrior on the local scene, they all seek to race in a fashion that is economically sensible. As with anything in life, we are creatures of habit, and if we are doing something that has consistent negative repercussions, then we are likely going to alter our course of action.
The bottom line is that money is a driving factor, and nobody likes losing that much-loved green stuff. Tracks don’t like it and racers don’t either. So there’s the problem. Now let’s talk about a couple of potential solutions, where racers can take simple actions to make a difference that benefits them directly in the long run.
Community Education Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, dirt track racing is a small sport. Our weekly crowds typically number in the one to two thousand attendee range, and even our biggest shows like the World 100 at Eldora (Ohio) Speedway attract only roughly 25,000 fans. When you take into consideration that there are high school football teams
in Texas that draw over 20,000 on a regular basis on Friday nights, you quickly realize just how small we truly are. In my opinion though, the fact that so few people know about who we are and what we do is actually good news. That just means that we still have the majority of the residents of our great country to educate. It’s time that we show them just who we are and what we are about. Let’s take our best shot at making them race fans. It’s no secret that we need them far more than they need us. I’ve always been a big proponent of car displays. There’s nothing to catch the eye of a prospective fan like having your hot rod on display on a Saturday morning at a busy place of business. From retail outlets, to fast food chains, to home improvement stores, Saturdays are a hotbed for the American consumer. Best of all, not only are you looking at ways to get attention for your hot rod and what you do, but the average store owner or general manager is constantly seeking a way to attract more customers into their store. It’s truly a win-win situation.
®
My suggestion is to contact local places of business and see if you can put your car on display one Saturday.
Perhaps talk to your local track, and tell them what you are doing. Most track owners are more than happy to provide
some discounted tickets to get more butts in the seats. Hand out these tickets. Let kids get in the car and have their photo made. There’s no better way to make a race fan for life than letting a child get hands-on with a race car. Last but not least, you never know when a random “free” car display might open a door for a business to sponsor your team. It definitely doesn’t hurt to try.
Be Hospitable
Racers and teams have a thousand things going on at the track, and in most cases it’s hard to imagine adding anything else to the docket. However, some of the easiest things to do are also the most productive. From my experience in racing, I’ve found there to be typically two groupings of fans at the track. You have the diehard fans that will be there no matter what, which typically accounts for roughly 60 percent of an average night’s crowd. Then you have the occasional fans, who might attend races every once in a while. This group accounts for roughly the other 40 percent of attendees, and in my opinion this is the most important group. 44 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Many times these folks are the difference in a track being profitable or closing its doors. The more we do to encourage the support of that 40 percent, the better we are. The better we are, the more money that tracks can afford to pay racers. My suggestion to reach both groups comprehensively is to be hospitable to any and all fans in the pit area. Grab a bag of cheap candy each week at the grocery store. When you see kids in the pits before, after, or during the rac-
ing program, have a bowl of candy readily available to offer. Let children take pictures with your car. Have hero cards made — which are relatively cheap these days — and give them to children as a souvenir. Kids are really the key to growing our sport, because not only are they our future diehard fans, but if they have a good time at the races they are likely to bug their parents to bring them back on a regular basis. Hospitality in the pits isn’t limited
to just the younger generations. Most fans would love to have a big role at the race track. Many of them want to feel like they are part of the show or have a connection with a team. If you help them make this connection then you are not only gaining a fan, but the sport is also gaining a much-needed supporter. Making this connection is simple. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with fans walking past your car in the pit area. Shake their hand. Thank them for coming, and tell them they are welcome to come by and hang out whenever they are at the track. You might just be surprised at the difference it can make in their perspective and love for the sport. And best of all, if they are having a good time at the track, then they are more likely to spread the word to their buddies and encourage them to come out as well.
Call to Action
From the top tiers all the way down to the beginner levels, we all need to make a concerted effort at finding better ways of appealing to existing fans, while also attracting new spectators to the game.
This task definitely doesn’t land squarely on the shoulders of racers only, as track promoters and owners also share a large responsibility. However, if competitors go the extra mile to do all that they can, then it definitely gets the ball rolling in the right direction. If we can grow our fan base, then we can present a strong case for races to pay
more money. More money allows more racers to afford to put on a show. More racers just makes the show that much more appealing to consumers. We are definitely a long way from where we need to be, but with a little determination and creativity, I think it’s clear to see that growth is a very real possibility.
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Know Your
Photo by Rick Schwallie
ANGLES
Intercomp helps take the guess work out of measuring your chasis FOOTBALL MAY BE A GAME of inches, but racing is a
game of degrees — at least when it comes to dialing in your setup. Being able to dial in the right setup is nice, but being able to do it week-after-week can be the difference between a frustrating season and a seat at the head table of the championship banquet. To help ensure that seat, you have to be able to consistently measure your chassis settings accurately. We’ve had our eye on Intercomp’s Digital Caster Camber gauge for a while now. Scott Elmgren, the company’s motorsports specialist, not only sent us a gauge to try out for ourselves, but also a pair of Intercomp’s Digital Turn Plates. Since these are considered premium products, they cost a bit more than a traditional bubble-gauge or turn plates with a simple pointer, but they also promise increased accuracy. Before we get started, a quick primer on caster and camber. Caster is the angle between the upper and lower ball joints on the front wheels. Caster can be changed by moving either the upper or lower control arms forward or back, and is important because it affects how easy a car is to steer. If the upper ball joint is behind the lower, this is known as positive caster angle (a line drawn between the upper and lower pivot points would hit the ground in a spot in front of the tire’s contact patch) and can help steering feel more stable. Likewise, moving the upper pivot point ahead of the lower can make the car feel darty or unplanted, and isn’t recommended. Caster split is the difference between the front wheels and can help the car on turn in. Typically, a good starting point for caster split would be two degrees of positive caster on the left front and four on the right front. 46 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Intercomp’s Digital Caster Camber Gauge is definitely a premium piece of measurement equipment. It is accurate to 0.1 of a degree and is up to 10 times more accurate than a typical “bubble” gauge. There is also a backlight function to help make emergency setup changes in a dark pit space easy.
Camber is the angle of the tire relative to vertical. If the top of the tire is leaned in toward the center of the car, that’s negative camber. The idea behind adding or removing camber is to maximize the tire’s contact patch during high G-loading through the turns when you need the most traction. When it comes to camber, a good starting point is three degrees of positive camber in the left front and four degrees negative in the right front. Remember, these are only general reference points and will be affected by the type of car you are racing, the chassis builder, type of tire, degrees of banking, and driving style. Source: Intercomp, intercompracing.com
1. Here’s a look at Intercomp’s Digital Turn Plates. The digital display measures in 0.1-degree increments, operates off a single 9-volt battery, and can be used on top of a set of scales.
3. Intercomp has several mounting options for securing the Caster Camber Gauge to the spindle, but for Late Models with a Wide 5 hub, the simplest option is an adaptor that screws into the spindle. Just knock the dust cap off and install.
5. Unlike checking camber, which is essentially no harder than turning the gauge on, checking caster does require four steps. First, touch the caster/camber button so that “CAST” shows up on the readout.
2. With the car at ride height and the wheels pointed straight ahead, set the front wheels so that they are centered over the turn plates. Turn on the digital readout and don’t forget to pull the pins so that the plates can go through their full range of movement.
4. Using the digital gauge is simple — there are only three buttons and a bubble level to worry about. After installing the gauge, turn the power on and rotate the gauge so that the bubble is centered in the level. Always make sure to check camber again after adjusting your caster settings as this can affect your camber.
6. Using the digital gauge is simple — there are only three buttons and a bubble level to worry about. After installing the gauge, turn the power on and rotate the gauge so that the bubble is centered in the level. Always make sure to check camber again after adjusting your caster settings as this can affect your camber. 7. It is nearly impossible to get an accurate caster reading with your race car’s tires on the shop floor, because the friction between the tire’s contact patch and the floor will deform the sidewalls and create inconsistent readings. Instead of simply pivoting, Intercomp’s turn plates allow movement on three different axis to eliminate binding and promote accurate, consistent readings to help dial in the perfect chassis setups. A set of turn plates like this will also allow you to precisely dial in your ackerman settings as well. For even more info and pics search “Know Your Angles” at OneDirt.com. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 47
More BANG for your
BUCK
Diamond Pistons technology pays off in the long run Photo by Woody Hampton
THE GREAT MAJORITY of dirt track
racers have to walk a tightrope with their racing program. Racing is a game of technology, practically as much as it is a game of driving talent. You have to use quality components throughout your car if you want to have any hope of being fast and consistent. But that stuff costs money and we all live in the real world. Budgeting decisions with the racing operation can also affect your family. You have to squeeze the most out of every dime, so you wind up trying to balance cost and performance. We went to Diamond Pistons’ Product Manager Mike Panetta to discuss the different piston options that will give you the most bang for your buck. 48 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Diamond offers pistons for most racing applications based around two different engineering philosophies. Diamond calls the first a “dimensional forging,” which is a more traditional design. Many racers and engine builders will call it a “full-round” piston, meaning that although the sides may be cut away, the forging is originally created with the skirt all the way around the piston. Diamond calls the second design philosophy an “inboard forging.” The defining characteristic of this piston is that the pin towers have been moved toward the center (or inboard) to improve strength and save weight. Moving the pin towers closer to the center of the piston helps add strength underneath the dome, and
then struts stiffen the edges without adding much weight. “One major difference between the dimensional forging and the inboard is the dimensional uses a longer pin traditionally.” Panetta explains. “It can be between 2.500 and 2.950 inches. “The inboard design moves the pin bosses inward so that you can run a shorter wrist pin. On the inboard stuff you can run pin lengths anywhere from 1.800 to 2.400 inches. That allows us to take some weight out of the piston assembly without sacrificing strength. “Traditionally, you are anywhere from 5 to 20 percent lighter with the inboard forging. It depends on the situation. A domed piston limits how much weight you can take off, but a flat-top piston —
Diamond’s inboard forgings move the pin bosses toward the center of the piston, which shortens the wrist pin length, and also provides more support underneath the piston crown. Outboard struts provide more strength to the outer portions of the piston top without adding significant weight.
Here’s a comparison of an inboard-style piston (left) with a dimensional forging on the right.
A dimensional forging is also commonly referred to as a full-round piston. They can be lightened by machining away the sides, but are still typically slightly heavier than an inboard forging. The tradeoff is reduced cost, making dimensional forgings still quite popular with racers on a budget.
which is required in many classes — can really benefit from the design.” Panetta says that the dimensional forging is good for up to 800 horsepower in most applications, but for more
than that the inboard forging design is definitely recommended. Of course, that doesn’t mean 800plus horsepower race engines are the only place for inboard forged pistons. The lighter weight of the advanced pistons can be a big factor in improving performance, especially in restricted horsepower engines where engine builders are always looking for ways to free up horsepower by cutting rotating weight as well as internal friction. Diamond has developed its Racelight pistons for just that purpose. They are designed to minimize weight and find every advantage for restricted engines. For example, the flat-top pistons use minimal valve pockets to help keep compression up. “The Racelight pistons are great for two-barrel and horsepower limited racing engines,” Panetta says. “That is a piston where we’ve taken advantage of our inboard forging knowledge and
created a super lightweight piece. It is 330 to 360 grams depending on the bore size and compression height. “With the limitations of the induction, those guys want to be able to spin the motor up as quickly as they can, so we concentrated on taking out weight. In most of those classes the compression is kept down by the rules, so we can thin out the crown a little bit more than usual to cut even more weight without making the piston fragile.” Typically, the inboard forging runs about $25 more per piston than a conventional dimensional forging. That comes up to another $200 for a set, which really is a pretty good deal for the reduction in rotating mass. Reducing the weight for just a little more money can pay off in the long run with all of those race wins you’ll rack up. Source: Diamond Pistons , diamondracing.net
Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 49
EVERYTHING
AFFECTS
EVERYTHING
“EVERYTHING AFFECTS EVERYTHING.” That’s how the conversation
began when I called Total Seal’s Keith Jones to ask a few questions about their gapless piston rings. But like many great conversations often do, the topic soon turned to racing in general and making horsepower in particular. As Total Seal’s lead tech, Jones spends a lot of time working with engine builders and racers, and he has developed a keen eye for what separates the very best from the rest of the pack. His comment, “Everything affects everything,” was simply his way of saying that you have to be aware how changing one component in a racing engine can affect the performance of any number of other components. For example, practically anyone can look at two pistons and choose the lighter one, but it takes a smart engine builder to be able to consider something as simple as a piston ring change and predict how it may affect the optimum cam lobe design. We thought we’d share some of Jones’ thoughts here because they are right on the money and can be an excellent tool for anyone in racing that works on, or builds, their own engines.
Photo by Rick Schwallie
Viewing the engine as a system can help uncover new horsepower gains
For the last few years, Total Seal has made a concerted effort to bring its high-end ring technology to lower classes by finding ways to lower costs without sacrificing quality. The result is their Gapless Claimer ring sets which are a great, affordable option for even hobby-level racers. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 51
The key to finding horsepower in racing where rules restrict your creativity is to always keep in mind how one change can affect components in other areas of the engine. This philosophy often requires extra testing, but it quite often pays off in victories.
“If you have been around engines any length of time, then you’ve probably heard the phrase that an engine is just a big air pump, and it’s true.” he says. “So the more efficient we can make that air pump, the more power we are going to get out of it.” Efficiency should be the Holy Grail for anyone working on racing engines. Efficiency means you are able to move more air and fuel into the combustion chamber during the intake stroke, burn every molecule of fuel during combustion, and convert the rapidly expanding combustion gases into rotation at the crankshaft, with minimal power loss due to friction. Increasing efficiency means better fuel economy as well as more power at the rear wheels, which is what we really want, isn’t it? By the way, it also means less bad stuff coming out the tailpipes, which may not be a big deal to your racing program, but it absolutely is to the OEM manufacturers. And that brings us back around to the original purpose of my call. Total Seal’s gapless ring technology is a simple and cost-effective way to increase an engine’s efficiency. All piston rings have a break, or split, in the ring that allows the metal ring to be installed over a piston. There is also a gap at this break which allows for the piston to expand due to heat absorbed from combustion. Typically, the cold ring end gap on a dirt track racing engine with a 4.030-cylinder bore is between 0.0016 and 0.0026 of an inch. The trick is to find the right amount of gap so that it is practically closed up once the engine has warmed up and the ring has expanded to its final size. 52 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Of course, that’s easier said than done, because the engine does not run in a steady-state environment. Weather, carburetor tuning, radiator efficiency, and even different components all play a role in how much heat gets to the piston rings. If you run too little end gap and the ends of the rings butt together, you can score the cylinder wall, micro-weld the rings to the piston’s ring lands, or break a piston which will lead to catastrophic engine failure. As a result, most engine builders add extra gap to the piston rings as a safety precaution. It leads to a little loss of power from blow-by, but is still better than destroying an engine.
Total Seal’s gapless piston rings cure the issue by adding a rail underneath the main ring. The rail is essentially a second ring that rides beneath the main ring and is held in place by a lip on the inside diameter of the main ring. Both of these rings have a gap, but they are placed 180 degrees apart, so as far as the combustion gases are concerned the ring creates a solid, “ungapped” sealing surface between the piston and the cylinder bore. In straight-up testing on an engine dyno with nothing else changed, we’ve seen gains of several horsepower, just by switching to the gapless ring design. But that is simple “swap a part and let’s see if it does better” testing that anyone can do. Jones pointed out that even greater gains can be had by looking at how the gapless rings affect how well the cylinder bore is sealed when it isn’t making power. “A lot of people always worry about leak down and blow by, and that’s important.” Jones says “But you’ve also got to think about the intake stroke. It’s the intake stroke that determines how well you are able to fill the cylinder with air and fuel. “Atmospheric pressure at sea level is 14.7 pounds per square inch. That isn’t going to change and it is only going to put so much air and fuel into the cylinder. You can have the coolest, trickest cams and the wickedest heads on the planet, but they aren’t going to do you any good if the rings aren’t doing their job to create vacuum. “The bottom line is, the better I can seal up the motor on the intake stroke, the
Gapless rings work by actually sandwiching two thinner rings in one piston ring land. By installing the rings with the gaps 180-degrees apart, the combustion gasses effectively see a ring without a gap for combustion gasses to pass through. Of course, that’s the simple explanation. Actually creating a ring capable of doing this while also being lightweight and reliable is a lot easier said than done.
If you have been around engines any length of time, then you’ve probably heard the phrase that an engine is just a big air pump, and it’s true. more air and fuel it’s going to pull into the combustion chamber. It creates an engine with better volumetric efficiency.” The truth is, getting a set of piston rings to seal up against the cylinder wall during the compression stroke isn’t that difficult. The rapidly expanding gases from combustion travel through the gas ports to get behind the ring and actually help push it against the wall. But during the intake stroke the ring is fighting against opposite forces. The piston traveling down the bore actually creates a vacuum above the ring, which works to pull the ring in, away from the cylinder bore, and can lead to ring flutter. “There are significant gains to be made here if you are smart,” Jones continues. “The perfect example is an engine builder I worked very closely with that was using a 0.043-, 0.043-, 3-mil ring package. This was a few years ago and it was a very typical ring package at the time. “He called me up one day and said, ‘Hey, what do you think this engine is going to gain using a set of gapless rings
versus conventional?’ I was familiar with the engine he was talking about and I told him about eight or nine horsepower. That’s actually a pretty average number. “So he called me again after the engine was built and dyno’ed, and he said, ‘You were right, the gain was exactly nine horsepower.’ “That’s a nice gain for a naturally-aspirated race engine where you are limited in what you can do by the rules, and a lot of people would leave it right there. But he called me again a couple weeks later. He’s at the race track and he’s actually taken the effort to monitor this engine’s intake manifold volume going down the straight at wide-open throttle. They are limited with how much carburetor they can use, and normally you see an inch or two of vacuum, but the new gapless rings are sealing up the intake stroke so well he says the engine is now making seven inches of vacuum. “Now, a smart engine builder is going to see the potential to take advantage
of all that vacuum and say, ‘Wow! I need more cam!’ and that’s exactly what this engine builder did. He went back to the dyno and tried different cam and intake combinations and actually picked up 27 horsepower on their engine program. “The key was to understand how the intake stroke affects the engine’s ability to make power,” Jones adds. “Were those gains all because of the gapless piston rings? No. But it is how the gapless rings affect the rest of the engine that allows you to do more things. “The engine builder saw that he could now use a cam with more duration that the engine wouldn’t support before. They went on to dominate the rest of that season.” That’s just one example, and Jones stresses that no single component in the engine operates in a vacuum. Every time you change one part you need to look at how it can affect other components down the chain. By doing that, hopefully, you can find another area that can benefit from your first change — and then the horsepower dominoes continue to fall. In other words, “Everything affects everything.” Source: Total Seal, totalseal.com
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EASYInstall A Jones alternator kit ensures there will always be plenty of fire to the plugs WE’VE BEEN TALKING with lots of engine builders and
racers, and one thing we are hearing more and more is alternators being used to keep the battery topped off during a race. The old-school thinking was a fully charged battery should be capable of powering the ignition through the typical 10- or 20-lap race, so you can eliminate some power loss by ditching the alternator. But we’re learning that modern race-specific alternator and drive systems have become so efficient that there is very little drag on the engine. Plus, if you don’t run an alternator, the slowly draining battery will provide progressively less power to
Here’s the kit as it arrived from Jones Racing Products. One of the things they do (that we love) is assemble all the brackets and spacers before shipping it to the customer so it is practically impossible to get wrong. Jones recommends running the charging wire from the alternator directly to the battery. The included switch allows you to break the circuit if you need to put a hot charge to the battery. And don’t forget the candy they always throw in the box (which we also love). That stuff has led to fights in the shop. 54 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
the ignition, costing you precious horsepower at the end of the race when you need it most. With that in mind, we worked with Street Stock racer Jason Gulledge to add one of Jones Racing Products’ cogged belt alternator systems to his engine. He already had one of Jones’ excellent crank to water pump and power steering ribbed serpentine belt systems installed (part number 1004-S-SB-NE if you are keeping track at home). Installing the alternator drive on top of that was surprisingly easy. The part number for the kit we installed is 2041-RA. Source: Jones Racing Products, jonesracingproducts.com
This race car already has Jones’ serpentine belt front drive system with a power steering pump installed. The alternator kit bolts right up without having to remove or throw away any of the stuff we’ve already got. Plus, if we decide to remove the alternator later, it won’t require reworking the other components.
The alternator is spun by a cogged belt. The drive pulley bolts in front of the serpentine belt pulley on the water pump. The cogged belt design ensures we’ll have no belt slippage and the battery will be charged efficiently.
One of the great things about the Jones kits is that they arrive practically pre-assembled. The spacers are all installed on the bolts and on the correct spots which saves a lot of frustration during assembly. Notice that the nuts on the bolts (they are just there to keep the spacers from falling off) are marked to show you the proper location to help you orient the bracket and alternator correctly.
Jones recommends just six pounds of tension for the cogged belt. If you are used to working with V-belts and serpentines, it will probably feel too loose to you. To check for proper tension, you should be able to slide the belt forwards and back across the pulley with a single finger. Too much tension will only cause drag and accelerate belt wear.
The bracket mounts up using two bolts through the water pump and a third to the front of the cylinder head.
The finished assembly is simple and sanitary, and we’re confident that it will be able to hold up to the rigors of racing with no problems.
This is a single-wire alternator, so all that’s left is to hook up the wire connecting the alternator to the battery. At first, the idea of connecting the alternator directly through the battery — and not through the master kill switch — gave us pause, because that means the alternator is always hot. But a quick call to the tech line at Jones took care of our concern. It turns out the alternator has built-in circuitry so it doesn’t energize until the shaft speed reaches 800 rpm. So it really isn’t working until the car is running on the track. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 55
New Age
RELIC Jet Performance Products makes a race worthy carb out of a decades old Rochester THE ROCHESTER QUADRAJET carburetor
was first designed back in the 1960s, but was so adaptable it lasted into 1990, which practically qualifies it as a relic. GM kept the Quadrajet around because it was an established design that worked adequately well with the emission systems of the day, not because it was exceptionally good at making horsepower. Today, you won’t find a Rochester Quadrajet on anything from this century. But dirt track racers are still forced to use one on their race cars in some Pure Stock-type classes where the rulebook requires all OEM equipment. Certainly, it would be a lot easier if you could just slap on a Holley carburetor right out of the box, but being forced to run a Q-jet can actually be an advantage for smart racers. Since everyone has to run the same old carburetor, using an updated Quadrajet rebuilt by a carburetion specialist like Jet Performance Products can give you a real edge on the field.
1. Jet has put together a program to build a Quadrajet carburetor specifically for oval track applications. Jet says it works best with 355 through 406c.i. race engines using a single-plane intake manifold and can keep up with high-flowing cylinder heads that demand a lot of air and fuel. Here, the Jet technician has removed the top of the Q-jet carb to begin the rebuild. 56 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Of course, there’s more involved than simply dumping an old Rochester Quadrajet into the parts cleaner and slapping in some new gaskets. Jet walked us through their process of building a circle track-specific Quadrajet that has seen lots of success on the race track. Source: Jet Performance Products, jetchip.com
2. One of the first upgrades over stock is to install a heavy-duty accelerator pump that increases the amount of fuel that it can move.
3. This is the idle down tube, which is opened up for better idle characteristics on an engine modified to make more power. It will also help make for smoother transitions when the carb moves into the main circuit.
5. This is the secondary pull-over circuit. It serves to provide a passage for air to be pulled into the airstream at high velocities, which helps keep the carb from going lean at wide-open throttle. Jet modifies it to eliminate the common stumble as the secondary air doors start to open.
4. The accelerator pump discharge passages are enlarged to help move more fuel volume on acceleration.
7. Here, the float and needle assembly is installed. 6. If you are familiar with more common Holley-style carburetors, you will recognize the flow jet in this photo. Each carb is jetted specifically for the application.
10. A new gasket is used as the air horn is reinstalled on the carburetor during reassembly.
8. Properly calibrated primary metering rods helps complete the primary metering circuit for improved throttle response.
9. The Jet Quadrajet includes an adjustable part throttle (APT) that can be set after the carburetor is on the car.
11. These are the new secondary metering rods being installed that are properly sized for high horsepower applications.
12. After removing the choke plate, the secondary vacuum break is modified and installed to slow the opening of the secondary air door. This eliminates bogging under rapid hard throttle (like turn exit).
13. We told you the APT can be adjusted even when the carburetor is on the car. Once the top of the carburetor is screwed into place, you can still access the APT by removing this set screw. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 57
TIRE Tech Tips for using a durometer to test the hardness of your race tire compound
Tires can harden, or even glaze over, with repeated heat cycles and wear. Keep a regular check on the hardness of your tires, and make sure to check the inside, center, and outside quadrants of each one just to monitor for uneven wear.
When punching a tire, the key to getting consistent readings is by being consistent with how you measure. Don’t simply bang the durometer into the tire. Instead, start with the durometer laid back and “roll” it upright onto the tire. This allows the spring to do all the work pressing the pin into the rubber.
Photo by Rick Schwallie
EVERYTHING YOU DO to improve
your race car’s suspension — all those hours and hard work put in dialing in the setup to get everything just right — is all about maximizing the friction between the race track and the small contact patch at the bottom of each tire. When you depend so much on the contact patch, it only makes sense to ensure the tire creating contact with the track is of the quality you expect. Race tires usually come with a rating for hardness. Generally, a softer tire will almost always provide more grip, while a harder tire will last longer.
In racing classes with an open tire rule, it can become a game of finding the softest tire possible to provide the best grip, while still holding together until the checkered flag flies. Most classes have a rule that requires a specific tire, or at least a tire that “punches” no softer than a certain rating. The track or series will tell you which tires are approved for that rating, but you can check for yourself to make sure the ones you are using aren’t any harder than necessary. A durometer is a tool specifically designed to determine the hardness of the rubber compound from which a tire is constructed. At its most basic level, a durometer is simply a spring that pushes a pin into a surface. The harder the surface, the more the spring is compressed, which creates a higher reading on the gauge. Keeping a durometer in your tool box can be handy for several reasons. First, never trust the manufacturer’s rating for a tire. Always check your new tires to make sure they punch the correct rating.
If you look closely, you can see that this tire has been “needled” to soften it up. The process of putting thousands of small needle holes with a special tool helps a tire act softer than its hardness rating. But when checking the durometer rating of a tire that’s been needled, make sure to avoid the needle holes with the durometer pin. This can make it read softer and give inconsistent readings.
As unlikely as it may be, you don’t want to hit the track with a tire that is mislabeled or simply been a part of a bad batch in the manufacturing process. If you are buying new tires, it doesn’t hurt to choose the softest you can find instead of just taking four off the top of the stack. Secondly, wear and heat cycles can affect the hardness of a tire. Generally, they get harder through heat cycles and use. Even though the tire may still have good tread, it can glaze over which creates a hard surface layer. You can only know this by checking the hardness with a durometer. When you have a tire that’s glazed over, you can knock it off with a grinder to get back down to good rubber. If that isn’t allowed, it’s time to use that tire for practice and get a new one for racing action. Otherwise, you’re putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the field right from the start. Source: JEGS, jegs.com
Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 59
Speed SHOP PARTS / TOOLS / ACCESSORIES OneDirt has compiled a list of some of the hottest products to recently hit the dirt track market. On the following pages of our Speed Shop, be sure to check out the variety of racing products offered. Product and company contact information is provided should you see something you wish to purchase—and we know you will!
Strong, but Light Lunati, Signature Series Crankshafts Lunati now has new lightweight versions of their popular Signature Series crankshafts. They feature six counterweights instead of the usual eight found in most big-block Chevy cranks. Lunati 6-Counterweight Signature Series Crankshafts are designed without center counterweights, thereby allowing the engine to rev faster. They are nitrided with micropolished journals to increase lubricity and strength in extreme performance applications. Each crank features a 0.125inch main and rod journal fillet radii to increase strength and power capability. A contoured wing also diminishes windage in the crankcase and frees up lost horsepower from parasitic losses. These crankshafts are gun-drilled to further reduce weight and have a lightened rod pin for decreased mass and rotational inertia. They are designed for big-block Chevy applications featuring one- and two-piece rear seals. Each crank weighs 67-68 pounds depending on stroke and length of counterweight.
lunatipower.com 662.892.1500
Strong and Solid JEGS, Aluminum Jack Stands Strong yet lightweight alternative to steel jack stands! JEGS Aluminum Jack Stands have A-frame bases, solid yokes, and adjustable locking ratchets. They’re easy to operate and carry, and look good. Choice of 3-ton (#555-80066) or 5-ton (#55580067) capacity. Load tested and ASME approved.
jegs.com 800.345.4545
60 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Tooled to Perfection Crane Cams, Custom Tool Steel Camshafts Crane Cams announces new tool steel camshafts custom made to match any engine configuration. These cams can be built “one-off � to any linear spacing, journal size, and firing order that you need. This service meets the demand for the incredible variety of design combinations created by the cylinder head and block manufactures of today. These new camshafts are made from a dedicated variety of tool steel, using a through hardening heat-treating process, to create an extremely stable part that is resistant to surface wear, twist, and deflection. These finish-ground camshafts can be ordered to your specifications either one at a time, or in quantity. If you can supply Crane with a print, a sample camshaft, or specify what modifications are needed to an existing product, they can produce a camshaft to meet your requirements. For unique applications, Crane Cams is able to make a camshaft exclusively to your specs.
cranecams.com 866.388.5120
Speed SHOP PARTS / TOOLS / ACCESSORIES Change It Up Quarter Master, Ultra-Duty Quick Change Gears When track conditions change and you need to pick a new gear in a hurry, Quarter Master has you covered. Over sixty years of gear manufacturing know-how went into the development of these Ultra-Duty Quick Change Gears. Made from the highest quality E9310 aircraft steel, these gears are precision machined to certified tolerances, thereby producing a true involute tooth for a high contact ratio. They are finished with a proprietary heat-treatment process for long lasting durability, then are hand roll tested and inspected. Designed for high horsepower applications, these Ultra-Duty Quick Change Gears are available with 64 gear ratios in 10-Spline for Sprint Cars and Late Models, and 42 gear ratios in 6-Spline for Midget race cars.
quartermasterusa.com 888.258.8241
Quick Connect Jiffy-tite, Pro-Compact Series Fittings This new series of fittings from Jiffy-tite features all the benefits of quick-connect technology, without the valves. Their new Pro-Compact line of fittings are smaller and work great in tight places where Jiffy-tite’s valve technology is not needed. The fittings in this product line are very comparable to a typical AN fitting in length. Removing the valve from the fitting allowed Jiffy-tite to save you more space along with providing the benefit of their signature quick-connect fluid fittings. These fittings easily connect and disconnect in seconds without tools, making these fittings ideal for dirt track racing. Now you don’t have to worry about common problems associated with fluid transfer including: stripping, cross-threading, over-tightening or forgetting to tighten the fittings. Like their other fittings, the new Pro-Compact series are compatible with virtually any fuel, oil, water, and transmission applications.
motorsports.jiffy-tite.com 888.605.7788
62 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Convenient Jetting Powerhouse, MaxJet Kits Designed to provide the racer with an assortment of jets for his or her application. Each MaxJet kit includes 22 jets (11 sizes, two each) packaged in a fuel and methanol resistant box. To order the proper kit, simply refer to the Holley crossover chart to find the jets currently being used. The jet box is capable of holding 18 different jet sizes, so it gives you the option of ordering additional sized jets at your convenience.
powerhouseproducts.com 800.872.7223
Double Bypass Aeromotive, Double-Adjustable Bypass, 2-Port Regulator This revolutionary design provides two independent pressure adjustments; one adjustment for idle and one for wide open throttle. Engineered for use with variable volume pumps tied to engine rpm. This regulator creates the smoothest and most repeatable fuel curve from idle to wide open throttle of any bypass system. Aeromotive’s engineers have designed the port to use a -10 fuel line so that high volumes of fuel can be pulled out of the system and returned to the tank. This regulator provides superior pressure control and flow when installed before the carburetor or after a fuel log. To see how this regulator can help you get around the track better, check out the story on page 30.
aeromotiveinc.com 913.647.7300
Current custom piston lead time— 15 business days.
With Pro Line Racing Engines and Diamond pistons, Q80 Racing team resets quartermile doorslammer record at 5.46 seconds and 272mph “Diamond’s contributions have been invaluable.” —Doug Patton, Pro Line Racing Engines
Visit us at our website at www.diamondracing.net for all the latest product information, piston building tools, and how-to-videos. 586-792-6620 x 115
Speed SHOP PARTS / TOOLS / ACCESSORIES Spring to Life COMP Cams, GM Crate Upgrade Valve Springs New COMP Cams valve springs provide increased control and durability for GM crate circle track applications as well as a variety of small-block Chevy/small-block Ford engines. These springs are designed as a performance upgrade over stock springs for higher RPM applications. Made from high-tensilestrength chrome silicon steel, the #26975 Valve Springs feature a much higher life expectancy than tool steel springs. Stateof-the-art grinding and finishing processes mean that these springs are durable. In addition to street use, these springs are also a perfect choice for GM 604 crate engines running in stock or modified circle track divisions. You are able to purchase these as single units or as a complete set of 16.
compcams.com 800.999.0853
Maximize Performance
Shed the Dirt Driven Racing Oil, Speed Shield Adding to its line of cleaners and waxes that currently includes Brake Cleaner, Speed Clean, and Race Wax, Driven is proud to announce a new Speed Shield. This is a new spray-and-shine protectant that sheds dirt, dust, and mud while providing a glossy protective film for a variety of surfaces. If you are a dirt racer, you know that the worst part of the hobby is cleaning caked-on dirt and mud. Drivens’ Speed Shield is a great product to make those cleaning headaches a thing of the past. After pressure washing your dirty vehicle, you can use Speed Shield to rinse away the smaller remaining dirt particles and leave a shine that isn’t wet or oily. At the same time, it provides a durable, lasting polish that helps prevent mud and dirt from sticking to surfaces. This fast-drying, water-resistant product works great on whatever material you may want to keep clean.
drivenracingoil.com 866.611.1820
64 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
TCI, Max Shift Circle Track Fluid TCI Max Shift Transmission Fluid has proven to be effective in a variety of performance venues and now they have created a new formula for dirt and asphalt circle track automatic racing transmissions. This fluid has been tested and proven to enhance drivetrain performance and durability, and it can operate at far greater temperatures than both petroleum-based transmission fluids and synthetic formulas. TCI Max Shift Circle Track Transmission Fluid includes anti-foaming agents that provide more consistent line pressures and an exceptionally high viscosity level at high temperatures. This makes the formula ideal for resistance against high temperature drivetrain wear and fluid breakdown that is common in high performance circle track racing. Additionally, if you are using a torque converter, you will see minimized slippage, which translates into quicker acceleration on the straightaways.
tciauto.com 888.776.9824
Best on the Block RHS, LS Race Block The engineers at RHS have designed a high performance aluminum engine block for GM LS applications to meet the needs of race and street performance engine builders alike. To go beyond the limitations of other existing LS blocks, the new RHS LS Race Block is available in both standard deck and tall deck height configurations. Additionally, this innovative aluminum block features a raised cam centerline and outboard priority main oiling to allow rod clearance for a 4.600-inch stroke and to minimize windage in the crankcase. For quality control assurance, RHS conducts a CT scan on each block to ensure maximum casting precision and consistency. With this block, RHS was able to set a new benchmark for LS horsepower, torque, and durability through a combination of unmatched finishing quality with added stroke clearance, computer-aided design, and extra surface material to allow custom machining.
racingheadservice.com 877.776.4323
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TECHNOLOGY
Valvetrains have evolved over the years and it’s changing dirt track racing
RACING IS A CONSTANT battle of
keeping up with technology trends and finding the slightest advantage over the competition. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the valvetrain, where seemingly minute upgrades are often worth valuable tenths on the stopwatch. Some of the largest gains in technology in recent years have come in the form of cam material, roller lifters, and pushrods. COMP Cams’ Valvetrain Engineering Group Manager Billy Godbold, walked us through the reasons for — and benefits of — some of these changes. “All of the technological advancements that were made in both OEM and NASCAR engine systems exploded in the 90s and 2000s, but very little seemed to move into the lower circle track classes for many years,” Godbold says. “However, now that the cost of this technology has dropped, and people have become more comfortable with newer technology, I believe we are seeing an explosion of innovation into the sportsman racer world.” Godbold believes that the dirt track scene is where much of this innovation lives, as racers and engine builders in that arena are quick to embrace new ideas. They have established positive relationships with parts suppliers and innovative people in the industry to take advantage of all avenues available to further their success. Since the camshaft is often referred to as the heart of an engine, it seems like a good place to start a review of how technology has been changing dirt racing. It used to be that tracks would require rules like “no stud girdles,” or “stock diameter valve springs,” or “no roller rockers” as a way to try to make roller cams illegal — without having to take off intake manifolds during inspection. Nevertheless, Godbold says that looking back over trends in the past couple of decades, you can see a strong shift from flat tappet to roller cams.
Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 67
While a number of rules-restricted classes still require flat tappet camshafts, most have moved to roller valve train systems. Godbold thinks he knows the reason. “The original intent of flat tappet cam rules was to keep cost low,” he explains. “However, OEM mostly made a move to roller cams to greatly reduce cam and tappet failures, which cost more than could have been offset through the use of the less expensive flat tappet cams and lifters. “I believe this same type of calculation has been found by engine builders across the board. At the same time, roller lifter cams can provide more lift and area for a given duration and will stand up to much higher valve spring loads.” As for cam material, Godbold says the choice often comes down to budget. Some engine builders putting together longer-stroke engines with small base circles (0.900-inch diameter) will request making the smaller barrel camshaft from SAE 8620 alloy steel, which fatigues less under bending conditions 68 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Now that the cost of this technology has dropped, and people have become more comfortable with newer technology, we are seeing an explosion of innovation into the sportsman racer world. because of the high nickel content. Engine builders who can run either larger journals — or at least standard base circle sizes — will often request the induction-hardened SAE 5160 cores, because those have both deeper heattreat depth and better wear resistance than possible with SAE 8620. Where the budget allows, COMP’s new Sportsman Tool Steel grade camshafts will increase the strength by 30 percent compared to either SAE 8620 or SAE 5160. The through-hardened lobes can never have the case ground out when trying to move the grind too far from the core specifications. Cost and ease of use have been the major reasons for the shift to roller camshafts, so accordingly, the various accompanying forms of roller lifters have
also recently been on the rise in the dirt racing scene. “If you ever fail a lobe on a flat tappet application, you could try to just replace the cam and lifters, but shards of iron will be all in the block, crank, and pump oil passages,” Godbold says. “The only safe way to rebuild the engine is to go all the way down to the block, take out every oil plug, and clean everything completely — with many engine builders even hot tanking the block. “It only takes a few such experiences before engine builders will move heaven and earth to convince customers that they want a roller camshaft.” Godbold adds that the power potential with roller lifters is much higher than with flat tappet camshafts, especially when used with modern cylinder heads
that flow extremely well at high lift. Furthermore, that high lift may not even be accessible with a flat tappet profile. According to Godbold, today’s engines with larger journal sizes are much more prevalent than ever, and the benefits of SAE 5160 steel have certainly been noticed. COMP Cams new Sportsman Solid Roller Lifters have also been a hit with budget-sensitive dirt classes. These lifters are also available with a bushing bearing option that is very popular in the Late Model ranks, and in classes that run on alcohol — such as Sprints and Midgets — that have to deal with the resulting moisture and corrosion.
The third area of recent dirt track technological advancement in valvetrains is in the area of pushrods. “Looking at the valvetrain as a system, pushrods almost never fail, but they can flex and bend, leading to problems throughout the entire system,” Godbold notes. As a result, going to either a larger diameter or thicker wall pushrod is the easiest way to improve a valvetrain’s system stiffness. In most sportsman cases, as large a pushrod as you can fit along with
the thickest wall is almost always best. Where 7/16-inch or larger pushrods can be used, mass can sometimes play a part in the decision. Godbold says that it’s important for any racer or builder to talk to an expert regarding the technology they can and should use in a dirt racing application. “We all know how fortunate we are to work in racing, and want to do everything possible to help our customers be successful,” he says. Source: COMP Cams, compcams.com
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NOALLOW crates
On July Fourth Farley Speedway declares independence from crate engines THIS JULY FOURTH weekend, while
you are grilling up some burgers, hanging out at the lake with your family, or working on your race car, racers from several states will converge on the northeast corner of Iowa — just six miles from the baseball diamond in a cornfield that was the location for Field of Dreams — for a very unique race. The race track is Farley Speedway in Farley, Iowa, and the three-day event is known as the Aftermarket Nationals. The hook with the Aftermarket Nationals is that it’s all about supporting the local engine builders who are a vital part of the racing community. And that no crate engines will hit the track during the entire event. In fact, the only crate you are likely to find anywhere near the facility will be 70 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
in a pickup hauling a race car to Farley’s 3/8-mile oval. “We wanted to reward the guys that choose not to run a crate engine, and so this is our chance to do that,” explains Keith Simmons, owner of Farley Speedway and brainchild of the Aftermarket Nationals. “We also wanted to have a gathering for all the local engine builders where we can thank them for their support and they can interact. We think a big race like this is a great way to do it.” To understand Simmons’ passion for the engine builder, it helps to know a bit more about his background. Simmons was himself an independent race engine builder before moving to North Carolina in the ’90s to build engines for Bill Davis Racing that powered the Baby Ruth Xfinity
(then Busch) Series Ford driven by a young Jeff Gordon. When BDR moved up to the Cup Series, Simmons built engines for Bobby Labonte before eventually moving to Felix Sabates’ SABCO and building engines there for several years. In 2000, Simmons made a massive career shift when he left the world of NASCAR racing and bought Farley Speedway, as well as the rights to promote races at West Liberty Raceway and Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway, both also located in Iowa. Since then, Simmons has been promoting weekly racing at the three dirt tracks and looking for ways to grow the sport. Incredibly, he somehow manages to keep quite involved in all three tracks.
WED We wanted to reward the guys that choose not to run a crate engine, and so this is our chance to do that.
Photos by Beau Busch
Farley races on Friday nights, West Liberty drops the green flag on Saturday nights, and — you guessed it — Dubuque runs its events on Sundays. “I’m probably the only person in the country that’s been doing racing three nights a week for that long,” Simmons says matter-of-factly. “Between running the three race tracks and my history as an engine builder, I have built relationships with a lot of the manufacturers in the aftermarket,” Simmons says of his idea to start the Aftermarket Nationals. “So the idea came up when the IMCA started their crate engine deal. We all got together and decided to do something to reward the racers who chose not to run crates.” This year’s running of the event will mark the third anniversary of the After-
market Nationals, and Simmons says it is doing surprisingly well. Although it isn’t sanctioned by the IMCA, the Modifieds running the feature event are held to IMCA-style rules (minus the allowance for crate engines). The track will open for practice on Wednesday, July 1, July 2 is reserved for qualifying, and the last chance and feature races are held on the July 3. That allows everyone to be home enjoying time with their families for the Fourth of July. When Simmons speaks of rewarding the racers not running crates, he means it. The winner’s purse for the Modified feature is $10,000, and $2,000 is paid out to the Sport Mod winner in the support race. “We get a pretty good draw from racers all over Iowa, as well as the surrounding states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska,” Simmons says. “Last year I think we had 68 Modifieds and 51 Sport Mods. And the racing is really good.” The format is to have everyone run two heat races and award points based on the finishes. The starting positions are inverted for the second heat race, so if a racer draws a particularly poor starting position for the first event, he or she is guaranteed to start near the front for their second race. Simmons says that format not only provides lots of great racing, but it’s also a good way to make sure the most deserving racers make it to the feature event. Of course, one of the more unique aspects of the Aftermarket Nationals is that the engine builders themselves have banded together to support the racers that don’t make it into the feature. It is called the Engine Builder Challenge and Simmons says it’s just another way to make sure every race team leaves with a little money in their pocket.
The Engine Builder Challenge is helped by many engine parts manufacturers that support the Aftermarket Nationals with both product and cold, hard cash. Those companies include the entire Comp Performance Group, Manley, Driven Racing Oil, Callies, CP-Carrillo, World Products, and others. After talking with Simmons, Farley Speedway’s Aftermarket Nationals has become the latest of many races on our bucket list. If you are interested in attending — or racing — check out simmonspromotionsinc.com.
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Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 71
MOTOR OIL Definitive answers to some of the most common questions regarding motor oil and filters WHEN IT COMES TO MOTOR OIL — and lubrication
in general — we’ve noticed that many racers, and even engine builders, have a specific brand and viscosity they trust and use exclusively. Most racers will run whatever their engine builder tells them to put in the engine, which isn’t a terrible idea. Hopefully, your engine builder is educated about different motor oils and has a good understanding about how they work. But we’ve also seen plenty of racers choose a specific oil because “That’s what Daddy always used and it was good enough for him,” or “It was the most expensive stuff they had at the parts store, so it must be good.” Unfortunately, we’ve even heard, “I change my oil after every race, so I can get away with using the cheap stuff.” We hope you cringed on that last one, too. The good news is you don’t have to depend on hearsay, superstition, or advice from people that may or may not know
any more than you do. There is actually a lot of science out there to help you choose exactly the right oil — and oil filter — for your situation. We recently reached out to Driven Racing Oil’s Lake Speed Jr. to get answers on some of the questions we most often hear from racers. Speed spends a lot of his time working with engine builders and racers to answer their questions and educate them on the science of lubrication. We like working with Speed, because he understands all the science and chemistry mumbo jumbo, but can translate it into real world racer-speak that we can understand. Speed is a great source of information, but you will notice that the conversation veered toward the topic of filters, because there was so much great information. We think his answers to our questions are quite enlightening and can be very useful to your racing program.
Is the same true for higher classes? Of course. Here’s another example: If you are running straight methanol in your race car, then you can save some money by running synthetic. That’s because a synthetic motor oil can handle alcohol as long as the system is vented properly, so that it can allow the methanol vapors to breathe out. If the oil system is vented, then the methanol that gets in there can simply evaporate out given time. The synthetic oil isn’t affected by the methanol, so you can run it three or four times longer than a typical mineral oil. And the good thing is the oil doesn’t cost more in the end. Even if the synthetic oil costs three times more than the mineral oil you have been running, if you can run it four times longer, then you are still saving money.
How can I find the lowest oil viscosity that still provides good protection for my engine?
Photo by Rick Schwallie
Most people understand that the big-time racers running Super Late Models or 410 Sprints have many thousands of dollars invested in their engines and need to run synthetic motor oil, but for a racer running a Street Stock or Pure Street, why not run the same mineral-based motor oil that was in the engine when it was operating on the street? Because racing isn’t the street. On the racetrack the engine will see higher rpm’s for a longer period of time, and that can have a real effect on components if you don’t protect them with the right oil. For example, let’s take stamped steel stock-style rocker arms. Now, if I have an oil that does a better job reducing friction, I can cut the friction at the ball and cup of the rocker arm as well as the face that contacts the valve stem. Heat from friction between the ball and rocker is a big issue in these classes. So if I can cut that friction and the heat generated from it, that part is going to last longer. Now I’m not having to waste time and money replacing parts just because I used a less expensive oil that really wasn’t as good at reducing friction. I like to remind people that you have to look at the entire cost of your engine program, and not simply the price tag on a quart of oil. Quite often you can spend a little more money and actually save a lot of money and hassle in the process.
It isn’t just a matter of finding the lowest viscosity, it’s about finding the best viscosity for your situation. That’s because an oil that has a viscosity number that’s too high, or is too thick, can be damaging to your engine, too. Without knowing the specific application, it is very difficult to say you need this viscosity or that. However, there are a few general rules of thumb that you can use. To start with, the looser the bearing clearance, the greater the viscosity grade you have to have. So with the same horsepower, same displacement, and same rpm between two engines, we can run anywhere from a 10W-30 all the way up to a 20W-50. That’s just based on if your bearing clearance is 0.002, 0.0025, or 0.003 of an inch. So the tighter you go with bearing clearance, the thinner you can go with the viscosity of your motor oil to maintain the proper oil flow through the bearing. What happens is, when you have a wide clearance between the bearing and the crank journal, you need a thicker viscosity oil to make sure you don’t flow too much out of the bearing and you cannot create a good hydrodynamic wedge. That may be counterintuitive, but if you have a really wide clearance you need a thicker oil because the engine is always feeding the oil in at the top of the bearing, but the load is being carried at the bottom. So it’s going from the widest clearance area (where it is being fed in) and has to flow down to the tightest area (down at the bottom) where the load is being carried. If you have a really wide clearance at the top and you’re running a really light motor oil, then all that oil is going to flow out from the gap at the top and too little of it is going to make its way down to the small contact area where you are trying to lift the journal up on that wedge of fluid. On the other hand, when you tighten up the bearing clearance, now the oil isn’t going to flow out as much. So if you tighten the bearing clearance and use an oil that’s too thick, now you don’t get enough oil flow. It is too hard for the crank journal to drag enough oil down to the bottom where it is needed. So in the first example you bleed off too much oil, and in the second you aren’t able to supply enough oil, and both situations can give you bearing problems.
Anything else when it comes to determining correct viscosity?
One thing everybody has to remember is viscosity is dependent upon temperature. So if I have an engine running 300 degrees of oil temperature, I’m going to need a higher viscosity grade oil because of that. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 73
We have worked all that out so you can just look at the chart and say, “Here’s my oil temperature and here is my engine power, so there is the recommended viscosity for me.” Of course, we are only talking about synthetics. The chart even takes into account bearing clearances.
Is there a way to determine what the best oil filter is for me?
Yes. What you want is a tapered pore depth media, that’s the key thing. You want a filter that is capable of capturing the smallest particulate contaminants possible that are flowing through the oil so that they won’t get caught up in the engine. The worst thing for the needle bearings in roller lifters is contamination. In our long association with Joe Gibbs Racing, we’ve used the Wix oil filter products that use the tapered pore depth media for well over 15 years, and it has given us the filtration that we were looking for over and over again. And we’ve tried different things. We will steer people away from the stainless steel wire mesh oil filters. If you want to have one on there to check and look at, that’s great, but you are never going to get the level of filtration from a stainless steel wire mesh that you can get from a tapered pore depth media filter.
What is a tapered pore depth media?
The biggest factor when it comes to determining the correct viscosity of oil to use is your bearing clearances. It may not sound like much, but an engine with main bearing clearance of 0.0024 of an inch will often require a different oil than one of 0.003.
I don’t care about the water temperature, I want to know the oil temperature. And if the oil temperature reaches 300 degrees, that doesn’t necessarily mean the oil is bad — it just means it’s hot. If you have a good synthetic it can handle 300 degrees pretty easy. In fact, it can handle it for several nights if the races are short. The trick is understanding even if I’ve got an engine with loose bearing clearances but I’m running hot oil temperatures, I’m going to have to run an oil like a 15W-50 or a 20W-50. That higher oil temperature means I have to step up the viscosity grade even more. On the flip side, if you’ve got tight clearances and run a low oil temperature, say you have 0.002 of an inch of bearing clearance, and you’re only running 200 or 220 degrees of oil temperature, now you can run a 5W-20. Also, a higher rpm engine tends to respond to a lower viscosity oil better than a lower rpm engine. So, if based upon your bearing clearances and your oil temperature you are right there on the line between a 10W-30 and a 10W-40 motor oil, you can use the rpm range you normally race at to help you determine which way you need to go. If your redline is 6500 rpm, then go with a 10W-40. But if you’ve got the same engine, and you are running closer to 9000 rpm, you’re probably going to be better off with the 10W-30. Finally, there is one more rule of thumb to keep in mind. You can always run one oil viscosity grade lower with a quality synthetic than you can with a conventional mineral oil. So, if you’ve done the math and based on your bearing clearances and oil temperature you need to be running a 15W-50 or a 20W-50 mineral oil, then you can easily run a 10W-40 synthetic. It can get a little complicated when you are trying to keep all of those factors in your head. But you can simplify all that by using the charts that we have in our catalog.” (Or just head over to OneDirt.com and search “Driven Charts.”) 74 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
Basically, what we are talking about is a cone shaped hole in the filter media. Say the leading edge of the hole might be 70 microns and the bottom of the hole might be 35 microns. You might say, well, that’s a 35-micron filter, but the reality is because of the depth, it is tapered and goes from large to small over some distance. Since the filter is made out of paper or some sort of synthetic media, it isn’t an absolutely smooth surface. There are actually smaller fibers and pores that are exposed along the depth of the hole, and they can actually capture particles that are even smaller than 35 microns. If you are using a stainless steel wire mesh filter that is a 35 micron filter — that is an absolute size. That means it captures 100 percent of everything north of that size, but none of anything smaller. The tapered pore depth filter does not have an absolute size of 35 microns, it can actually capture particles as small as 10.
So will any paper oil filter be able to do that?
No. Not all paper filters are tapered pore. Typically, you will need to ask the filter manufacturer what type of filter media they use.
Any other factors when choosing an oil filter?
A high pleat count is important, and so is the depth of the pleats. You don’t want the filter to be a bottleneck when it comes to moving oil through the engine. But if you are going to use a filter media that traps the smallest particles of contaminants in the oil, it’s also going to limit how much flow you can get through there. The only way to increase flow is to increase the surface area of the filter media, and you can do that by increasing the pleat count. An older, used oil filter will also flow less oil than a brandnew filter. Also, it is a pretty common misconception that an old filter that has been used will do a better job at filtering oil than a new filter. That may have been true decades ago, but it just isn’t the case now. The thinking was that the old oil filter already had the biggest holes blocked by the larger contaminants that it had al-
opens the bypass. And now you’re getting unfiltered oil going through the engine.
So what can you do to limit how often the oil filter goes into bypass mode?
You don’t want your oil filter to be a bottleneck keeping oil from getting to where it needs to be in the engine. Maximizing the filter media’s surface area is the best way to increase flow. Look for a filter with the highest pleat count as well as pleat depth.
ready trapped, so it would do a better job at filtering oil. But with modern filter media, a new filter can pull more small particles out of stuff better than an old filter that has already been run for a while. This is especially true with hard particles that may be trapped in the filter media. With repeated pulsations from highto-low oil pressure — which is exactly what you get in racing going from high rpm in the straights to lower rpm in the turns — it is possible for those particles to work their way through. Also consider what happens when you first fire the engine up when it is cold. All that cold oil is thicker and it doesn’t flow as well, so it creates a higher pressure at the filter which
There is a widespread misconception about bypass numbers in oil filters. Let’s say you have an oil filter that bypasses between 16 and 18 pounds. That doesn’t mean that the filter bypasses at 16 pounds of oil pressure. It actually means that the bypass operates if there is more than 16 to 18 psi of pressure difference between the inlet side and the outlet side of the filter. We’re not talking about absolute pressure, we’re talking about the pressure difference on either side of the filter media. So we want to do whatever we can to limit the amount of time the filter is in bypass mode. The bypass is just a spring, and when that pressure differential is reached the spring compresses and allows oil to bypass the filter media. An older filter that is already full of trapped contaminants does not flow as well as a new, clean filter. Likewise, cold, thick oil does not flow through the filter as easily as hot oil. Finally, mineral oil tends to thicken as it ages. So the bad combination is mineral oil that has been in the car for several races and a filter that hasn’t been changed. When you fire up the engine and the oil is cold, the filter is more likely to go into bypass than if you use synthetic oil and change your filter regularly. The good news is there is nothing difficult about any of this. Really, it is all about understanding the science behind your engine’s lubrication system and tailoring your regular maintenance at the shop to take advantage of it. Source: Driven Racing Oil, drivenracingoil.com
Evolution of
DOWNFORCE
Photos by Rick Schwallie
Five Star continues pushing the technology of Dirt Late Model racing forward with the latest iteration of its hugely successful MD3 nose IF THERE WAS A single identifying
characteristic of Dirt Late Model cars it would most likely be the slab-sided, wedge-shaped bodies designed for ease of fabrication and simple aerodynamics. But in the last few years the most distinguishing characteristic of a Dirt Late Model race car has probably become those incredible noses. They can look a bit outlandish to the uninitiated with their wide fender flares rolled to create a ridge running up either side of the car. Other companies have made imitations, but that distinctive nose is the brainchild and hard work of Carl Schultz and Five Star Race Car Bodies. That style of nose is called the MD3, and the latest version is known as the MD3 Evolution. The first two letters stand for “maximum downforce” which is exactly what these noses create over the entire length of the car. The rolled fenders are designed to help channel air over the top of the car and keep it from spilling off the sides where it will only create drag and no downforce. 76 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
But there is much more to the MD3 Evolution then just those attention-grabbing fenders, and just as the Evolution name implies, it is the product of decades of development. “The MD3 nose may still be fairly new, but we can trace it all the way back to when we started making our ’92 Camaro nose for Dirt Late Model race cars,” Carl Schultz says. “Before that, a lot of Dirt Late Model racers were using a molded plastic nose that was basically designed for pavement racing. The dimensions were different enough that it was causing a lot of trouble for them, so we just decided to make a version of our ’92 Camaro nose that was sized right to fit a dirt car and make their lives easier. “That Camaro nose was recognizable as the same style you would see on the street car,” he adds. “But the rules were pretty loose, and 18 or 20 years ago we decided to make a nose strictly to help create downforce and didn’t worry about making it look like anything on a street car. “And with that new nose we also made some molded fenders to go with it.
At the time guys would just take a piece of plastic and bend it up and over to form a fender, and they got the nickname ‘floppers.’ They were just pieces of plastic that were flopping in the breeze, and they weren’t really doing a good job of what they were intended, so we made a molded plastic fender. In the beginning, that first-generation was just sort of flat and didn’t have much shape to them.” Schultz says over time racers realized that if they mounted the fenders so that it squeezed them up to put a little “hump” in them, it helped direct airflow to create a little more downforce. Technically, most sanctioning bodies had a rule for the Late Models that nothing could stick up above the fender, but it wasn’t strictly enforced. And it wasn’t too long before the rules were rewritten to allow a two-inch hump in the fenders. “When they did that we retooled to make a new version of our fenders to take advantage of that,” Schultz says. “And then they made it three inches. Of course, they give you plus or minus one inch in tech, so our new stuff techs at four inches.”
Schultz says the design of the new MD3 Evolution nose comes from extensive aerodynamic research. It’s really difficult to gather accurate information in a wind tunnel because Dirt Late Models spend most of the time in the turns — when producing maximum downforce is most critical — sliding sideways. Schultz says that Five Star used the information it learned producing and refining an asphalt oval track and drag racing bodies to develop the principals used in the MD3 line. “We got the new MD3 Evolution nose done last fall, and we did a lot of track testing with some of the better drivers like Scott Bloomquist, Josh and Mark Richards, and Jimmy Mars that can really tell what a car is doing,” Schultz says. “They all said it makes a noticeable difference in the front downforce. “The problem with the current Late Model body in general is that it is very aerodynamic. That’s a good thing when you are running by yourself, but the bad news is when the car gets behind another in traffic the front end gets loose. So we focused a lot of our engineering on making the front end stick better when you are working through traffic. “Every square inch of that front end
This shot from 1993 in his photo archive shows one of Five Star’s first efforts at creating a molded nose for Dirt Late Model racing. It was based on the design of the ‘92 Camaro and, as you can see, looks a lot like the street going version.
has got aerodynamic features built into it,” Schultz continues. “Everything has a function. There is maybe a little bit of styling in the headlight area, but every other shape on that nose is there to help build in downforce.” Schultz says he’s already actively working on the next version of the MD3 which should be even more advantageous to Dirt Late Model racers. He didn’t want to get too much into specifics but told us that he’s working on a flat fender for the right side of the car that will help balance downforce front to back.
“Everything we do is to help the car handle,” he says. “These cars have gigantic engines that make tons of power and sophisticated suspension packages that deliver lots of grip. They are so fast now it isn’t funny. So the only thing left now to help drivers control the car is aerodynamics. It’s not just the nose we work on; we look at the whole car. Anything we can do to help improve the car’s downforce, that’s what we’re looking at.” Source: Five Star Race Car Bodies, fivestarbodies.com
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DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, ELDORA SPEEDWAY
Photo by Rick Schwallie
the past few decades you have become a Speedway hosts some of our sports big1 Over 3 Eldora truly integral part of Eldora Speedway as the gest events, yet overall the facility operates with Director of Operations. When and where did you get started in the racing business? I got my first ‘break’ into the business in 1971, when I started doing press releases and the weekly news program for Sandusky (OH) Speedway. That job opened doors to many opportunities, including the editor of Mid-American Auto Racing News, formation of ICAR (International Competitive Auto Racing), leased operations at Oakshade (OH) Raceway and Fremont (OH) Speedway, and numerous Go-Karting facilities. I have been blessed to be a part of many things involved with racing.
a relatively small staff. You take on countless tasks at the track as you aren’t afraid to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. What is your favorite part of your job?
Just being a part of the dedicated team that works together to present these events is the most important thing. Seeing it all come together, with the cooperation of the race teams -- and the enthusiastic acceptance from the race fans – is just like MAGIC. I guess you would say that coordinating everything that it takes to get this done would be my favorite aspect of the job.
long tenure at Eldora Speedway has affordunder the leadership of Earl Baltes (and 2 Your 4 Working ed you the opportunity to see hundreds of races. now Tony Stewart) at Eldora Speedway you’ve With that many races I’m sure you’ve seen some crazy things happen. What is a moment or race that stands out to you the most?
I would have to say that the 2003 Mopar Million for USAC Sprint Cars was one of those events that has to go down in history as being almost “perfect”. The car count was phenomenal, the crowd was huge, the racing was fantastic, and I don’t believe anyone had one negative word about the event. And, I have to admit, that being an instrumental part of seeing Donnie Moran win $1,000,000 in a Dirt Late Model event in 2001 was pretty cool as well.
78 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
seen countless improvements and changes over the years. Describe your perspective of being a long-tenured member of the team that has developed Eldora into the legendary facility that it is today. In summary, I just have to say that I am grateful for the respect that I have been able to earn — from not only Earl and Tony — but from everyone that makes Eldora tick. Earl taught me right from the start, “to earn respect, not friends.” I often come across harsh, but it is to reach the overall goal of providing the best possible experience for the race teams and race fans. Without a doubt, to say that you work at Eldora Speedway is the proudest statement that anyone can make in grassroots racing.
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Unlocking
ULTRA POWER Holley’s new Ultra XP E85 carb proves to be beneficial on the track MUSCLE CAR OWNERS and owners of street vehicles in
general hate ethanol blended fuels. That’s because the ethanol can attack rubber lines and gaskets and will also cause corrosion in many metals. But it is a different story for racers. Ethanol has a higher octane rating than gasoline, so in its highest concentration (E85 gasoline), it essentially becomes a cheap race fuel. E85 is generally recognized as having a pump octane rating of 105, so it behaves well in a high-compression race engine. Of course, it also produces less energy than gasoline when burned like methanol, but makes up for it with a lower stoichiometric ratio. The stoichiometric ratio is the ideal ratio of fuel to oxygen to get a complete burn. Gasoline has a stoich ratio of 14.7:1, or 14.7 parts oxygen for every one part fuel. This means you can’t make more power than the engine’s ability to ingest air, because just pumping in more fuel will simply make the engine go rich and run rough. E85 has a stoich ratio of 9.765, so you can pump in more fuel per cubic foot of air than the engine takes in, which helps make up for the lack of BTU’s generated compared to gasoline. Given this scenario, it may seem like a great idea to dump several gallons of E85 into your fuel cell instead of race fuel the next time you head to the race track. After all, high octane for less cost is the point, right? But this will only lead to frustration. Even though you can probably find E85 at a convenience store selling it alongside road-grade, 87-octane gasoline, E85 has to be treated like a different animal if you are looking for optimum performance. “When running E85, it isn’t simply supplying the additional fuel,” explains Laura Shehan, Holley’s Senior Design Engineer 80 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
for Race Carburetors. “This fuel acts differently than gasoline, and that needs to be taken into account when making changes or tuning in order to have good atomization of the fuel and distribution to make it perform properly.” Methanol has a different specific gravity than gasoline, so it behaves differently as changing air pressure causes it to move through a carburetor. That’s why a good E85 carb — compared to gasoline — requires more changes than simply opening up the jets. “On Holley’s series of E85 carburetors, we have not only adjusted jet size, but also made appropriate changes to the main well in the metering block, air bleeds, boosters, and accelerator pumps for proper function,” Shehan says. “The needle and seat size and material in the fuel bowl is also affected by changing fuels.” We wanted to take a look for ourselves, so we got our grubby hands on one of Holley’s new Ultra XP 85 Carburetors. Holley offers these in several sizes, including 600, 650, 750, 850, and 950 CFM — and they even have a 500 CFM two barrel option. This particular unit is an 850, which is the most common size used in dirt track racing. The carburetor utilizes all the upgrades found on Holley’s excellent line of Ultra XP carbs and adds metering specifically for E85. Altogether, we’re amazed at how a production carburetor can practically run door-to-door with an expensive hand-built carb from a custom tuner shop. Sources: Holley, holley.com; NASCAR Technical Institute, uti.edu/nascar
We took the E85 carb to Craig Hibon at UTI’s NASCAR Technical School to flow test it for us. Hibdon set it up to measure the flow through each venturi and the velocity through each booster. Hibdon found Holley’s E85 Ultra XP to be incredibly consistent. The flow bench was setup to pull 1.5 inches of mercury (20.3 inches of water) which is roughly the same as Holley’s internal ratings. Each venturi flowed within 1.5 percent of each other. The lowest was 235.1 CFM, highest was 238.5 and total CFM was a very healthy 948.1. The velocity of air through each booster was equally consistent, meaning regardless of your intake (single/dual plane) this carb should do a good job of providing equal amounts of air and fuel to every cylinder.
The billet aluminum metering blocks are packed with tunable features. Notice the block for the rear of the carb (on the right) has tubes fitted over the jets to help make sure the fuel doesn’t uncover the jets under hard acceleration. Out of the box, the front metering block was equipped with a pair of 92 jets, while the rears were larger at 100-sized. Also, for oval track racing, you probably will want to replace the plug on the rear metering block with a working power valve.
Here’s a shot of the underside of the carb, and you can see the channels radiating out from the center of the carb’s billet base plate that feeds air at idle past the butterflies.
Holley utilizes a very effective idle bypass system that can be adjusted while the carburetor is on the car. You can see the air intake holes (just below the air filter screw boss), the new air bleed locations, and contoured squirter screws, which are designed to reduce the impact on the air flowing past. The idea is to be able to accurately meter air while at idle without having to open the butterflies. Downleg boosters are great for maximizing signal and do a good job of atomizing fuel into the airstream.
The new throttle lever is designed specifically for racing and makes adjusting how quickly the secondary butterflies open much easier. The knurled knob is the idle screw and can be adjusted by hand.
The screw at each corner (below the E85 printing on the metering block) is the idle fuel enrichment which gives you the ability to precisely adjust each hole. Glass float sights are a lifesaver and a drain plug in each float bowl makes life a lot easier. The fuel bowls are designed for maximum volume, because you have to be able to move a lot of fuel when burning E85. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 81
Perfect
START Without a starter you are going nowhere fast
Photo by Rick Schwallie
82窶グneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
A CASE CAN BE MADE that the starter is the most important part of a race car.
Think about it, if a starter doesn’t work, worrying about your tires hooking up on the track, or passing the guy in front of you is a moot point, because you’ll be stuck in the pits. It seems simple, but a well-performing starter can often be one of the most overlooked components of a race setup. A good starter should provide you years of service without any issues; you want to be able to set it and forget it. But getting the installation correct is critical. With the help of Quarter Master, we’ve compiled a few tips for installing one on your car for best results, as well as how to troubleshoot any issues. Quarter Master Ultra-Duty Starters are hand-assembled and are among the most durable starters you will find anywhere. They produce extremely high torque to crank even the most high-compression engines and will work with both 12- and 16-volt systems.
The last place a racer wants to find themselves is stuck in the pits. A dependable Ultra-Duty Starter from Quarter Master takes the stress out of worrying if your car will start.
Generally any car that makes greater than 11:1 compression will require a high-torque starter to turn over, otherwise they may wear out. This makes high-torque options very popular with racers who simply cannot afford a failure. Most circle track cars will use a reverse-mount starter, unless rules explicitly specify otherwise. A high-torque, reverse-mount starter can be mounted on the bellhousing with the pinion facing the engine, rather than the transmission as it would in a stock (block-mount) setup. Reverse-mount starters are designed to minimize rotating weight by using a cover-mounted ring gear instead of a standard (OE) diameter flywheel. 84 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
This reduction in rotating mass can help the engine rev faster and accelerate out of the turns just a bit more quickly than the competition. However, it also requires some extra current, so make sure your battery is fully charged. Since you are pointing the pinion at the engine in a reverse-mount application, it is necessary to change the direction of the rotation of the starter to spin the power plant in the correct direction for starting. Typically a block-mount starter is what is known as standard rotation, and a reverse- or bellhousing-mounted one is reverse rotation. A remote solenoid is another integral part of a race car starter.
Making use of a remote solenoid to send power to the starter is almost universal in racing applications. It allows you to have a shorter power cable from the battery to the starter, helping to clean up wiring in the engine bay. It also allows you to run a remote starter switch on the firewall to start the car, rather than having power run from the battery to a starter switch then to the starter. It means you don’t have to run your power wires from your instruments all the way down to the starter, and it also simplifies installation and removal. Plus, a remote solenoid means you don’t have a wire attached to the starter that’s constantly hot, because as we all know, the only way an electrical fire goes out is when the wiring is completely burned up. Speaking of parts getting hot, you also want to pay close attention to the relationship between where the starter is mounted and the headers. If the starter is too close to a header it will be a victim of heat soak, which could cause even the best starter to fail early. Your best option is to change headers to move the heat away from the starter, or add a heat shield. Be sure to pay attention to your mounting block surface as well. If there is excessive oil or paint you won’t get a proper ground and that can cause your starter to not operate properly. Paint, grease, and any kind of excess buildup can cause the starter to pull excess current, leading it to burn out quickly. Before installing the starter, you’ll want to install a starter jumper wire. This wire is used with the remote solenoid to provide power to the starter motor, as well as to the solenoid when the remote solenoid is engaged to start the engine. Installing the jumper is simple, but sometimes the included jumper screw is too large for the hole in the spade terminal. The fix is easy, just chuck up a 1/8inch bit in a drill and open the hole up. Now you can remove the nut from the unused stud, slide the jumper in place and secure it to the spade terminal with the included hardware. With the jumper installed, all that’s left to do is install the starter on your car. The end of a reverse-mount starter has a machined adapter that precisely fits the aluminum mounting plate on the bellhousing. Once the starter is in, it’s
just a matter of tightening up the bolts, but remember that different applications will use different fasteners. You also want to take a moment to ensure that with the starter disengaged you have approximately 0.100 of an inch (give or take 0.040-inch) between the starter pinion and the ring gear. This is so the starter has enough room to completely disengage and separate from the ring gear after the engine fires up. If you ever find your starter not engaging or disengaging properly, you’ll want to start by checking the mounting point. Due to variances in block size and design from different engine manufacturers, the mounting can vary a bit. If you have a starter that’s engaging too harshly you may want to install more shims at the mounting point. Or if it’s not catching enough during the engagement process, you’ll want to remove shims at the mounting point. Go back and forth to get proper engagement. Finally, install a power wire to your remote solenoid. Make sure the power wire is large enough to carry plenty of power to the starter. Attach the other end to the same terminal post where you previously installed the jumper.
Making sure your car starts properly is the first step in ensuring you make it to the starting lineup.
Remember, this post isn’t a hardened steel bolt, so use just enough torque to secure the nut. If necessary, use a few zip ties to secure the power wire so it won’t be flopping around underneath your car.
And that’s it. You’re done. All that’s left to do is to fire up the engine and go racing. Source: Quarter Master, quartermasterusa.com
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SERIES SPOTLIGHT Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series When it comes to Dirt Late Models, there are lots of different touring series but two definitely stand head-and-shoulders above the rest: World of Outlaws and the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series. Late Models are only part of the lineup for the World of Outlaws, but the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series (LOLMDS) has taken a different approach by concentrating exclusively on promoting — you guessed it — Dirt Late Model racing. As a result, the LOLMDS draws many of the very best Dirt Late Model racers across the nation every year, and we get some fantastic racing. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt race cars are on the cutting edge of technology. They are powered by 800-horsepower, all-aluminum V8 engines based on Chevy, Ford, and even occasionally Mopar power plants. Nothing is “stock” about these $70,000 machines that provide for great dirt-slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap. The LOLMDS regularly provides some of the best entertainment you are going to find on a race track or anywhere else. The series has grown remarkably since it was founded in 2005 and in 2015 the LOLMDS will sanction 50 events in 19 states.
86 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
The 2015 series schedule will include a record eleven events paying $20,000 or more to the winner. Those big purse events are definitely worth marking on your schedule. By the time all those races are wrapped up, we will also know who will claim the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series championship. LOLMDS is paying $75,000 to its champion from the point fund, and $10,000 will go to the Rookie of the Year. Overall, the LOLMDS will be paying out a record $3.6 million as part of its racing programs for 2015. One of the reasons the series is able to provide so much money back to its racers and teams is because it has one of the best television packages in dirt track racing. In 2011 Lucas Oil Products (the same company that owns the LOLMDS) purchased MAVTV, which became a great outlet to provide fans an opportunity to watch more races.
Besides MAVTV, in 2015 Lucas Oil Production Studios will also produce, edit, and broadcast the LOLMDS on CBS, NBC Sports, and CBS Sports. In-car cameras and special pit-side, on-air reports will bring the racing action to an even more intense and entertaining level for viewers. In all, over 50 hours of racing from the LOLMDS will be broadcast in 2015. That combination of potential earnings and exposure for sponsors brings the drivers in droves. The series averages 44 entries per event; the highest average of any touring series in the country. Nearly 500 different drivers will compete at least once with the series in 2015. So mark your calendar for at least one Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event this year, we guarantee you won’t regret it. We have a partial schedule on page 88.
LOLMDS Big Purse Races Bad Boy 98 Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Clash at the Mag Silver Dollar Nationals North/South 100 Topless 100 Pittsburgher 100 Hillbilly Hundred Jackson 100 Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Dirt Track World Championship
April 17–18 May 22–23 June 11–13 July 16–18 Aug. 6–8 Aug. 13–15 Aug. 28–29 Sept. 6 Sept. 18–19
$20,000 $30,000 $20,000 $32,000 $50,000 $40,000 $20,000 $25,000 $20,000
Sept. 26 Oct. 16–17
$40,000 $50,000
For a complete Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series schedule search “Lucas Oil schedule” at OneDirt.com.
Photos by Rick Schwallie
2015 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Schedule April 24 Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex ($10,000) Markleysburg, Pennsylvania April 25 34th Annual Stanley Schetrompf Classic ($10,000) Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, Maryland April 30 St. Louis U-Pic-A-Part 100 ($10,000) Macon Speedway Macon, Illinois
May 30 29th Annual Ralph Latham Memorial ($10,000) Florence Speedway Union, Kentucky
July 11 Diamond Nationals ($10,000) Lucas Oil Speedway Wheatland, Missouri
June 11–13 Clash at the Mag ($20,000) Magnolia Motor Speedway Columbus, Mississippi
July 14 Lakeside Speedway ($10,000) Kansas City, Kansas
June 18 Dunn-Benson Ford Wayne Gray Memorial ($10,000) Fayetteville Motor Speedway Fayetteville, North Carolina
July 16–18 5th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals ($32,000) I-80 Speedway Greenwood, Nebraska
June 19 17th Annual Grassy Smith Memorial ($10,000) Cherokee Speedway Gaffney, South Carolina June 20 2nd Annual Lucas Oil Ole Smoky Moonshine Classic ($10,000) Smoky Mountain Speedway Maryville, Tennessee
May 1 Spring Classic 50 ($10,000) Tri-City Speedway Granite City, Illinois May 2 Spring Showdown ($10,000) Paducah International Raceway Paducah, Kentucky
August 6–8 33rd Annual Sunoco North/South 100 ($50,000) Florence Speedway Union, Kentucky
May 15 Spring Shootout ($10,000) Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway ($10,000) Oshkosh, Wisconsin
August 13–15 23rd Annual COMP Cams Topless 100 ($40,000) Batesville Motor Speedway Batesville, Arkansas
May 16 Spring Shootout ($10,000) LaSalle Speedway LaSalle, Illinois May 22 & 23 23rd Annual Show-Me 100 ($30,000) Lucas Oil Speedway Wheatland, Missouri May 29 Toyota Knoxville 50 ($10,000) Tazewell Speedway Tazewell, Tennessee
88 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
July 2 3rd Annual Hatfield/McCoy Feuding 50 ($10,000) 201 Speedway Sitka, Kentucky July 3 Muskingum County Speedway ($10,000) Zanesville, Ohio July 4 Independence 50 ($10,000) Portsmouth Raceway Park Portsmouth, Ohio July 10 Battle at the Beach 50 ($10,000) Tri-City Speedway Granite City, Illinois
August 20 12th Annual Scorcher ($10,000) Volunteer Speedway Bulls Gap, Tennessee August 22 Whiskey City 50 ($10,000) Lawrenceburg Speedway Lawrenceburg, Indiana
For a complete schedule search “Lucas Oil schedule” at OneDirt.com.
An Engineered Driveline System That Offers Greater Durability & Reduced Rotating Weight Bellhousing Kits For Direct Drive Transmissions
Quarter Master® now offers a turn-key driveline kit in either magnesium or aluminum for dirt racers running the popular Bert/Brinn transmissions and rearmount oil pumps. These CNC-machined, “system engineered” kits include all the critical components required for maximum driveline durability and reduced rotating weight to increase throttle response and improve corner braking. Fits Bert/Brinn Two-Speed Transmissions Kits Available For Chevy & Ford Engines Side Or Top Mount Oil Pump Bracket/Provisions 91-Tooth Aluminum Flywheel (Steel Ring Gear) CAD-Designed “Crack Resistant” Bellhousing Choice Of Top Late Model & Modified Racers Kit Includes:
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CRANE IGNITION
A LOOK
INSIDE
Crane debuted its ignition systems in 1993, and since then they have become prevalent in all levels of motorsports. Take a walk around the pits at any dirt track and you are sure to see everyone from big-time Dirt Late Model teams to the most-entry level Hobby Stock competitors, with a sleek black Crane ignition box mounted somewhere in the cockpit or engine bay. The HI6RC- Digital CD Ignition is the most common dirt track system from the Daytona Beach, Florida-based company, and on the following pages we’ll show you what’s inside both it and the company’s revolutionary race billet distributors as they set the industry standard for creating spark.
Transformer steps up battery voltage Solid brass cap and rotor terminals
Precision stainless steel encoder disk
Optical trigger
Aircraft quality sealed upper housing bearing Billet 6061-T6 aluminum housing
Composite lower housing bearing
Polished stainless steel shaft
Steel gear
DISTRIBUTOR
The distributor fits into the top of the engine. A gear on the bottom engages a gear on the camshaft, which makes the shaft and attached rotor inside the distributor spin. The distributor is driven by the camshaft, and because the camshaft is driven by the crank, the rotation of the distribu90 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
tor shaft is in sync with the rotation of the crankshaft. A pickup sensor inside puts out a signal as the rotor spins. There are eight outputs per one revolution of the distributor, or said another way, eight per engine cycle — or one for each time a cylinder needs to be fired.
Drivers/heat sink bar
Tach output (green wire) Switch power (red wire)
Coil output Capacitor stores charge
Connects to distributor or crank trigger inductive-type rpm output
Connects to battery
Processor (brains of unit)
IGNITION BOX
Rev limiter rotary dials
The ignition box uses a transformer to build up a charge and store it in a big capacitor. When it receives a signal from the distributor, it discharges the big capacitor to the coil. That is where the term Capacitive Discharge Ignition (CDI) comes from. After firing, the ignition builds up a charge again and waits for another signal from the distributor. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 91
NOW is NOT
the time to worry about your roll cage Tools from Mittler Bros. can help make moments like this a little less stressful IMAGINE IF YOU SPENT as much
time actually racing as you did working on your car before the race? We spend weeks and months building our race cars to run — sometimes for one race. Why do we do it? To give ourselves the best possible chance of winning. It’s just that simple. The good thing is that most of us enjoy working on our race cars in the first place. In fact, I bet there’s a few out there that enjoy the mechanical and engineering side more than even getting in the car. We like the challenge of trying a new suspension setup, tweaking a component to see if it improves the power or handling. We’re constantly tinkering to build a car that will deliver consistent performance race after race and hopefully have an edge over the competition when the green flag drops. 92 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
One part about tinkering and building a race car is having the right tools. Any job is easier when you have the right tool but it isn’t all about ease, it’s really about doing the job right. And on a race track, doing the job right is going to be the difference between making it to the main and finishing the race, or having a mechanical failure and coasting to the infield. Fortunately, there are companies that focus on making great tools so you can build great race cars. Mittler Bros. Machine and Tool is one of those companies that understand what racers need when it comes to specialty shop tools. Not only does Mittler Bros. build tools and machinery to help racers build better cars, it also has a division called Tanner Racing Products that designs, develops, and manufactures rac-
Photo by Scott Frazier
ing components such as quarter-midget shocks, axle shafts, steering wheel disconnects and more. If you’re thinking about a pull-down rig, the giant machine that allows you to pull the entire car down to compress the suspension or study the bump steer or camber changes over the range of the suspension, you need to look at Tanner Racing Products. Mittler Bros. was founded in 1980 by brothers, Mike and Paul Mittler, in a small shop when they introduced their first product, a hydraulic tubing notcher. Year after year the brothers introduced successful racing tools and equipment such as punch and flare tools, a hydraulic tube bender, and bench presses, along with a few hardcore race parts thrown into the mix like spools for 9-inch Ford rearends, and fabricated differential housings.
From the onset the brother’s focused on designing and building the best products possible for racers and fabricators. Today, that mantra still holds true in Mittler Bros. 50,000 square-foot plant in Wright City, Missouri (just west of St. Louis). We caught up with Mike Mittler, the president of the company, and asked about three of the most popular machines for circle track racers. Topping the list is a tubing notcher, which is what helped put Mittler on the map. A tubing notcher is an important tool in building a better, stronger roll cage. The notcher accurately and consistently notches a tube, from 3/4-inch to 2 3/8inch so it will perfectly fit over another tube for additional strength. The Ultimate Tubing Notcher uses a stout 1-horsepower electric motor, features a one-degree swivel vise for precise machining, and a V-block design for quick setup. Another common shop tool for dirt trackers is a bead roller, which enhances the strength of a metal panel such as a roof or around a wheel well opening. There are a number of options when reviewing a bead roller such as the size, the gauge of material it can handle, and of course a manual roller versus a power drive. The benefit of the drive assembly is the simplicity of being able to do the job single handedly. A tubing bender is one of the most important tools when it comes to serious fabbing and design on a circle track car. One of Mittler’s most popular benders is their 180-degree Hydraulic Bender which uses compressed air to control a 25-ton ram that can bend tubing (and even square tubing) from 3/4-inch to 2-inch tubing with a .125-inch wall thickness. Imagine the nest of tubes you could web together for nerf bars, support bars, and rollcages. To aid in consistency, a digital readout is also supplied. The assembly is built on a heavy duty rolling stand, painted in the familiar Mittler blue, with built-in storage for different shoes and follow bars. If you want to spend more time racing and less time fabricating, do yourself a favor and check out Mittler Bros. There’s more — much more — that Mittler Bros. can help you with in the shop when it comes to building the best race car possible. Source: Mittler Bros. Machine and Tool, mittlerbros.com
Photos courtesy Mittler Bros.
If you’re building body panels for your race car, a bead roller is a wise investment. Bead rollers will help you create a smooth, consistent bead throughout to help strengthen the panel such as on roof lines and around wheel wells.
For roll cage construction and strength, a Tubing Notcher is a requirement. This tool ensures that each tube in precisely cut out to form a tight fit over its mating tube before welding. The result is greater strength and a consistent weld area.
When it comes to building a roll cage, bumpers or a nerf bar, a tubing bender is a wise investment for your shop. This is Mittler’s Hydraulic 180-degree bender. Different size shoes and followers are available from 1/2-inch up. Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 93
IN HIS OWN WORDS Ken Schrader OWNER, KEN SCHRADER RACING INC
During the past four decades Ken Schrader has driven almost every kind of race car — late models, modifieds, sports cars, sprint cars, Indy cars, and stock cars. As one of the sport’s legendary drivers, he has served in many other roles including car owner, race track promoter, spotter, radio and TV commentator, and author. Schrader spent the last 30 seasons behind the wheel in NASCAR’s elite Cup Series, before retiring in 2013. Going into his 15th year as a spokesman both on and off the track for Federated Auto Parts, Schrader isn’t slowing down any time soon as he’s scheduled to race in 20 ARCA events and more than 50 dirt track races in 2015.
ON HIS COSTLY HABIT
I have a major problem with racing. Unfortunately I love it nowadays more than ever. It’s an expensive habit, and I’ve got it bad. I wish I didn’t, so that I could quit, but that’s just never going to happen. ON THE BUSINESS SIDE
Being a race track owner over the past few years, I’ve learned so much that I never even thought about before. The biggest thing is that I wish I made just a quarter of the money that the racers and fans think I’m really making. It’s a brutally tough business. ON GIVING ADVICE
People ask me all the time for the best piece of advice that I can give to somebody that wants to race for a living. I tell them to take up golf. You’ll have much better chances to make a living in that sport. ON “SMOKE”
Tony Stewart is by far the most hardnosed driver I’ve ever raced against on short tracks. He races every lap like it’s the final lap, and you just gotta respect that desire to win. 94 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
ON HANDLING KENNY
Some people have a hard time getting a word in edgewise with Kenny Wallace. I’ve never had a problem. We’ve known each other forever, so I just have to give him a certain look to let him know to shut up, because it’s my turn to jabber.
ON THE FUTURE
ON HIS TOUGHEST CHALLENGE
Looking back at every type of car I’ve driven in my career, Winged Sprint Cars have presented the toughest challenge of any race car I’ve ever driven. To get the car just right to be fast, you have to drive it differently than anything I’ve ever sat in. ON HIS PROUDEST MOMENT
I’m hoping my proudest accomplishment hasn’t happened yet in my dirt career. If it has, then it would have to be outrunning Austin Dillon to win the Gator Championship in the Modified at Volusia Speedway Park in 2013. That kid is tough there, so it meant a lot to take that win away from him.
I can honestly say I’ve gotten to drive every type of race car that I’ve ever wanted to try. Only thing that might still peak my interest is some of that ice racing. That stuff looks like fun.
Fast FORWARD SCHEDULES / EVENTS / RACES National Sprint League Inaugural Race Here’s your chance to watch the very first race for a brand new racing series. The National Sprint League is a touring 410 Winged Sprint series hoping to give the World of Outlaws a run for their money. April 11 34 Raceway West Burlington, Iowa
Show-Me 100
Dirt Late Model Dream
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series heads to its namesake race track for the $30,000 to win Show-Me 100. The race is actually co-sanctioned by the LOLMDS and the Midwest Latemodel Racing Association, so there will be plenty of race cars on hand and every driver will want to do their best because this event will be televised on CBS and MAVTV.
This will be one of the first big races at Eldora Speedway after the passing of racing legend and former track owner Earl Baltes. We can’t imagine a better way to pay tribute to this hero of the sport than to watch Late Models rip around the track he built.
May 22–23 Lucas Oil Speedway LaSalle, Illinois
Triple Crown Showdown
Knoxville Nationals
The Super DIRTcar Series has never brought their Big Block Modifieds to tiny 3/8-mile Ohsweken Speedway in Canada. That makes it a race to keep an eye on in our book.
Donny Schatz will return to Knoxville looking to defend his 2014 Knoxville Nationals title and claim the lion’s share of the $985,000 purse. Steve Kinser is the all-time leader in wins at the Knoxville Nationals with an incredible 12 victories.
June 30 Ohsweken Speedway Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Aftermarket Nationals Elsewhere in this issue of OneDirt you can read about Keith Simmons, one of the hardest working men in race promotion, and his brainchild, the Aftermarket Nationals. If you fondly remember the days before crate engines invaded dirt racing, then you will enjoy the weekend that Farley makes its “Declaration of Independence Against Crate Motors.” July 2–4 Farley Speedway Farley, Iowa
USA Nationals Many tracks save their big money races for later in the season, but Cedar Lake Speedway is bringing in the World of Outlaws Late Models in for a chance at $50,000 to win. July 30–August 1 Cedar Lake Speedway New Richmond, Wisconsin
August 12–15 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, Iowa
Topless 100 OK, maybe taking the roof panels off the Late Models and making them race can seem like a bit of a gimmick. But it’s definitely different, and you can see the drivers better, so we dig it.
June 4–6 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, Ohio
Protect Your Rod Ends with Seals-it Products Use Seals-it rod end seals and be good to go! Our rod end seals will prevent dirt, water and other contaminants from damaging the performance of your rod ends and keep them lasting longer.
August 13–15 Batesville Motor Speedway Batesville, Arkansas
World 100 This year the World 100 will almost certainly be a can’t-miss affair. It will be the first time the race will be held since founder Earl Baltes’ passing. Since Baltes held the inaugural World 100 all the way back in 1971 he always added an additional $1,000 to the original winner’s purse of $3,000. This year the payout for the win will be $48,000, but the real prize is the famous globe trophy. September 10–12 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, Ohio
Ellington, CT www.sealsit.com (860) 979-0060 Vol. 2, Issue 1 / OneDirt.com 95
Parting SHOTS THE SUN SLIPPING BEHIND THE HORIZON MEANS IT’S TIME FOR THE TRACK TO COME ALIVE.
Photo by Rick Schwallie
96 OneDirt.com / Vol. 2, Issue 1
COMP Cams® Leads The Way In Custom Camshaft Technology Building a winning engine is serious business and top racers and motorsports professionals rely on COMP Cams® to create the best custom camshafts for their applications. With four decades of cutting-edge technological advances and unparalleled customer support COMP® is THE industry leader you can trust. Quality begins at the door. Each piece of core material is thoroughly inspected when it arrives. Our new “Sportsman” tool steel core material is the most advanced in the industry and can be processed faster than traditional materials. COMP® can quickly create custom cams to spec for any engine using the latest engineering and manufacturing methods. Top quality is ensured with a series of precision and quality evaluations throughout the entire process. COMP Cams® offer many Special Services that include Xtreme Surface enhancement, the highest-quality finishing process available, and precision Adcole Profiling that can measure all 16 camshaft lobes up to 0.00001 of an inch for complete accuracy. It doesn’t stop there. COMP® Quality extends well beyond the finished product. Highly knowledgeable Tech Support technicians bring decades of experience and a passion for racing to make sure you get the absolute best cam for your application, while answering questions quickly and effectively. COMP® also offers fast turnarounds for time-sensitive racing situations. COMP® Quality, COMP® Care. That’s a winning combination.
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