If not for the decals and exhaust, Stack’s Monte could easily be mistaken for an ultra-clean Pro Street ride.

Typically running in the 160- to 165-mph range on a good track, Stack turned in his best elapsed time so far in February 2010 at South Georgia Motorsports Park, going 4.65 seconds at 169.70 mph, but the good times didn’t last long. A month later at Steele, Alabama, Stack stuffed the car hard into the guardwall and put himself on the sidelines until September when repairs were completed. “It pretty much tore the whole front end off. I had to put a new frame rail out front and we had to rebuild pretty much everything from the firewall forward,” Stack says. “That was the most work we ever had to do for an accident, but we totally rebuilt the car at Lemmond’s place back in ’08 when we got the chassis and cage recertified to SFI 25.2. We tore it down to nothing and completely redid everything, took the original cage out and put in all new tubing, just rebuilt everything.”

The bright, red Monte Carlo body has been treated to a makeover, too, with a new fiberglass front end, doors and deck lid complemented by carbon-fiber T-tops fabricated by Stack. “The roof, rear fenders and floor pan are all original to the car.”

The cleanly fabricated interior features the turbos’ intercooler occupying the passenger seat.

Stack continues to race the car in Limited Street, but also competes regularly in the increasingly popular Outlaw Drag Radial class. In addition to Terry, longtime friends Joe Courtney and Jake Thrower help out as trackside crew members.

“I run whatever I think is going to be better that day; I’m not biased,” he says of his tire choice. “The radial tire is faster, there’s no doubt about that; if the track is there and you can get down on it, the radial is faster, but if not I’ll just put the slicks on instead. The track definitely has to be better for the radial to work.”

The trunk has room for an intercooler reservoir, fuel cell, battery and little else.

Though preferring to run the drag radial tires whenever possible, Stack typically rides on 29 x true-10.5-inch slicks. With the absence of ORSCA and its highly manicured tracks, he’s been forced lately to accept less-than-stellar track prep at out-of-the-way venues.

“I’ve been doing a lot of that kind of racing lately, just running five-ohs and stuff like that. But that’s fast enough when you’re on a track like that. And I do strictly eighth-mile racing. I have run the quarter-mile before, years ago, but there is no love lost there; it’s not for me. It’s too fast, too hard on parts, too expensive, just too everything.”

The Lemmond’s Race Shop-fabricated rearend successfully transfers all of the horsepower into clean, strong launches.

For the future, Stack anticipates going a little quicker, though he doubts he’ll ever dominate his class again, given his car’s inherent aerodynamic limitations and weight. “We’ve done pretty good, but I can’t help but feel like we’ve really been chasing our tail at times,” he admits. “I feel in my heart it can go 4.50s; I haven’t done it yet, but everything I see says it should happen. Now, some of these guys are running .40s and that’s a serious number. I don’t know about that, but I can go .60s pretty easy when the conditions are there, so I really feel like .50s are within reach for us.

“There have been times when we were a dominant force. But we’re a lot faster now than we were back then, but everybody else is a lot faster, too. I don’t know if people were just slow learners back then, but they’ve sure caught up now.”

The front suspension was completely reconstructed in 2010 after an unfortunate on-track wall banger.

Regardless, don’t look for Stack to give up on his unique ride anytime soon: “I feel like this car is special because it’s not a Mustang,” he states. “There are only about four cars in this class that are not a Mustang, and there’s just this one that’s not a Mustang or a Camaro. I kind of like that.”

Text and Photos by Ian Tocher

The post Feature: Twin Turbos Motivate This Monte SS – About the Ride appeared first on .

Little did Shane Stack know at 16 years old that the ’86 Monte Carlo SS he received as a gift from his father would still be his ride of choice 21 years later.

“My dad bought the car new and gave it to me in 1990, and it’s been a work in progress ever since. It’s a real SS car, and I drove it all through high school. It was a cool car to have back then and was one of the newer cars that anyone had at school. It had the big stereo system and all that stuff to start with, but then I got into racing. I street raced, bracket raced with it, and it got progressively faster.”

Upon entering the heads-up world through the 6.20 and later 6.0 index ranks, Stack competed with a stout 175-hp shot of nitrous on several eighth-mile tracks not too far from his Huntsville, Alabama, home. He eventually graduated to the now-defunct Outlaw Racing Street Car Association’s (ORSCA’s) EZ Street class, winning the 2005 class championship. Less than a year later, however, Stack’s small-block Chevy motor was sporting a new 106mm turbocharger.

“I just kind of got mad at the nitrous because we kept burning the motor up. It didn’t take me too long to get sick of that, and we made the switch to a single turbo.”  Stack admits to going through “a pretty steep learning curve” after the swap, often relying on advice from Alan Dudley at Dudley Engineering and Fab in Somerville, Alabama.

Shane Stack is justifiably proud of his Monte Carlo and strides he made in wringing serious horsepower out of his twin-turbo big-block.

“Alan really helped us a lot to start with. We really didn’t know anything about the turbo, so there were lots of phone calls and questions and just a lot of figuring out to do on our own,” he says.

It obviously worked, as Stack made the first-ever, four-second EZ Street pass in October 2006, going 4.97 seconds at an also-record 153.55 mph in qualifying at a ORSCA event at Albany, Georgia. The car carried an R&R Race Engines-built 436 topped by SB2.2 NASCAR heads, with all of turbo plumbing designed and installed by Stack.

“We stuck with the single turbo in ’07 and finished second in the championship, but then (ORSCA) choked the rules back and made us run the 94mm, and I really didn’t like it. That slowed us down a lot, and once you’ve already gone pretty fast it’s really hard to go backwards. So we actually went to a 114mm turbo and stepped up a class to Limited Street, but we were really outgunned there trying to keep up with that combination.”

The twice turbo’d 572-ci Big Chief is good for mid-fours in the eighth-mile.

Stack stepped up to twin-turbo power for the first time early in 2009, with a pair of Turbonetics Y2K 91mm units, before making yet another major engine combo change. “R&R in Huntsville does all my motor work, but Chris Terry at David Lemmond’s Raceshop in Somerville built and installed the current turbo system last year with two Precision Turbo Pro Mod 91s bolted up to a 572-ci BBC Big Chief engine and that made all the difference.”

Stay tuned for a closer look at Shane Stacks twin turbo ride!

Text and Photos by Ian Tocher

The post Feature: Twin Turbos Motivate This Monte SS – About the Driver appeared first on .

Check out these two awesome nostalgia dragsters and flashback to a time when the tire-blazing passion far exceeded the financial horsepower.

The Yeakel crew: Frank Baney, wife Ronalle, son Tyler Baney and brothers Jimmy and Paul Rossi pose with the Yeakel Plymouth Special. Baney’s daughter Nicki, not pictured, attends many of the cacklefest events with the family.

The Yeakel Plymouth Special front-engine digger is a piece of quarter-mile history that served as Tom “Mongoose” McEwen’s first “corporate” ride. The car was originally owned and campaigned by Lou Baney and Vince Rossi with Mongoose planted in the seat. Years went by with many successful wins, and eventually the car was sold and ended up in Hawaii. In 2005 Lou’s son Frank Baney and Vince’s sons Paul and Jim Rossi teamed up to find the car and restore it back to its original glory. As luck would have it, in 2005 the car was found, purchased and shipped back home. The same rail job their dads had campaigned in the ‘60s, and the car they watched McEwen earn his stripes in, was home, and suddenly all of those memories from the tire-smoking past came flooding back. The crew trusted Steve Davis with the meticulous restoration of the original Woody Gilmore chassis, and Mike Kuhl was commissioned to build the blown 392 Hemi with horsepower cash supplied by Chuck Goebel.

The Yeakel Plymouth Special

The original Mongoose helmet was recreated perfectly and is displayed with the car.

Also splashed across these pages is the Thunder Chief vintage fueler owned by Terry and Claudia Maestrejuan. Terry, like most of us, has a gearhead past that springs from deep in his youth, starting with a ’39 Ford coupe powered by a flathead. Years later that same zest for lower E.T.s and tire frying was fulfilled with a dragster with a 331-ci Chevy motor all saddled onto a 150-inch wheel-base chassis. Terry and a few buddies ran the car on gas and stepped up to Top Gas before Terry went away to serve in Vietnam, followed by 21 years of loyal service in the reserves. In ’73 he and Claudia married and the two shared in Terry’s passion, spending a few years fuel racing until it got too expensive to keep up.

The blown 392 built by Mike Kuhl thunders in the Steve Davis-restored chassis. The car’s original blown 392 was tuned by John Garrison, with body by Doug Kruse catching the fumes.

The Yeakel Plymouth Special spitting fuel at the Cruise the Grand Nitro Night event in Escondido, CA

In 2006 Terry purchased what would become known as the Thunder Chief car. With 40 years of very spotty and virtually unknown history in the sportsman field, Maestrejuan truly had a mystery machine on his hands with its past trapped in the round tubing. With that in mind, Terry had a clean slate on which to create his own version of the ‘60s, pitched-sideways, “front wheels in the air” greatness. The car was torn apart and the tired small-block traded out for a 392 Hemi block and heads. Bruce Dyda was tasked with restoring the chassis to maintain ‘60s heritage, with Roger McMartin providing the engine parts list and specs and Terry screwing together the ear-blistering noisemaker.

The Thunder Chief

The ’58 Chrysler 392 Hemi is bored .040 over and topped with 1956 Chrysler Hemi heads. Arias forged pistons travel north and south in the cylinders with Howards aluminum connecting rods hooked to the Moldex crankshaft. A Chet Herbert roller camshaft does the thumping, while a Littlefield-prepped 6-71 GMC blower forces excess fresh air down the Hemi’s throat. Jay Taylor performed all of the machine work on the block and cleaned up the heads, while Henry Velasco dialed in the crankshaft. Roger McMartin designed the ground-pounding mill and Terry screwed it together. Donnie Johansen performed the degree work on the camshaft.

Terry goes all out for cacklefest action with a full suit, mask and helmet.

The Thunder Chief restoration was completed in 2006 and the car was debuted at the California Hot Rod Reunion. Since the car’s completion Terry has enjoyed showing it and lighting off its Hemi rumbler for cacklefest events all over Southern California. His wife Claudia and son Scott are often in attendance to watch dad crawl in the seat and shake the ground.

Staring down the barrel of the Thunder Chief, it’s easy to see it took a very daring individual to climb in the seat back in the old days.

A blown 392 looks aggressive from any angle, but this low shot catching the top of the hat and the upsweep of the zoomies is particularly pleasing as the beast sits over the Bruce Dyda-tuned chassis.

Check out these two awesome nostalgia dragsters and flashback to a time when the tire-blazing passion far exceeded the financial horsepower.

Text by Travis Noack

Photos by Travis Noack and Bob Ryder

The post The Yeakel Plymouth Special and Thunder Chief Nostalgia Dragsters appeared first on .

The electronic portion of our test configuration included two power supplies, a laptop computer running EFILive software, an LS1 PCM (powertrain control module) an oscilloscope, and a signal generator box that simulated the sensor outputs of a live engine.

Since the primary purpose of these tests was to quantify the individual effect of voltage changes on specific system components, we used two power supplies. With one connected to the PCM and the other to the fuel pump, we were able to alter voltage as necessary for each test group.

To simulate in-car conditions as closely as possible, our test fixture incorporated a signal-generating box with the outputs needed to convince the PCM it was connected to a living, breathing engine. Among other things, “the box” allowed us to alter rpm, manifold pressure and throttle position. In turn, these adjustments provided the PCM with the inputs required for it to change commanded pulse width in response to any simulated engine operating condition. Adequate fuel flow is most critical when an engine is spinning at high rpm and wide-open throttle, so we set the controls to simulate 6,000 rpm and 100 percent throttle position.

EFILive’s FlashScan software includes a virtual dashboard that made it easy to monitor PCM input and output.

We verified those settings by firing up EFILive’s FlashScan program on a laptop PC, connecting it to the PCM and monitoring (and recording) each test on the virtual dashboard. The tune portion of FlashScan allowed us to program the PCM as necessary for the requirements of specific test sequences.

In addition to the dashboard, the software also displays data on a graph that can be viewed after the conclusion of each test.

During the first group of tests, we supplied the same voltage to both the PCM and fuel pump. And although we varied it from 14.2 to l0.88 volts, discharge volume stayed constant at 64ccs for each 15-second test run. That clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the pulse width voltage adjustment table, which enables the PCM to lengthen pulse width as system voltage drops (or increase it as voltage increases).

For the second group of tests, we held PCM/injector voltage at 13.7 and varied fuel pump voltage in steps from 9.5 to 15.5. We also reprogrammed the PCM to eliminate voltage-related pulse width adjustment. Consequently, any change in discharge volume would strictly be the result of variations in fuel pump voltage. As the accompanying chart shows, discharge volumes ranged from 58.5cc to 64cc (for 15 seconds). Converted to pounds per hour, the range is from 22.88 to 25.04. That’s well below the 27.77 pound per hour rate we recorded when testing the injectors for maximum flow rate.

This oscilloscope trace shows how the signals generated by the PCM translate into the actual operation of an injector solenoid as it cycles the mechanical portion of an injector.

During the third test series, we held fuel pump voltage at 13.7 and varied PCM/injector voltage from 10 to 14.2. Although discharge volume was definitely affected by voltage, it didn’t change as much as it did when fuel pump voltage was varied. With PCM/injector voltage varying between 10 and 14.2, discharge volume ranged from 60.5 to 63cc (23.67 to 24.64 pounds per hour).

At first glance, it seems that our tests simply proved the obvious: a drop in voltage equates to a reduction in discharge volume. They certainly did that, but more importantly they quantified the effects of voltage variation. A 1-volt variation at the fuel pump equates to a .4 pound per hour change in fuel discharge volume. That may not seem significant, but if fuel delivery volume is marginal at normal voltage levels, even a slight drop can lean out the air/fuel mixture enough to cause problems ranging from reduced power to engine damage. Also worthy of consideration is the fact that these tests were run with LS1 injectors, which are rated at 28 pounds per hour. With larger injectors, differences tend to be more dramatic.

“I heard it through the grapevine, these injectors are both real fine.” But even if they’re fine, different styles of injectors have different operating characteristics and require specific voltage compensation levels.

In practical terms, data relating to injector output versus system voltage is primarily relevant to highly specialized installations. Unless a vehicle has been rewired, as is typical of legitimate race cars (and some illegitimate street cars), chances are slim that voltage at the injectors will be substantially different from that at the PCM. On the other hand, differences in voltage at the fuel pump and at the PCM aren’t all that uncommon. That’s good information to keep in mind when you’re looking for fuel system gremlins and can’t find any.

The post Electronic Fuel Injection Troubleshooting: Testing appeared first on .

Virtual electronic fuel injection control systems incorporate a table of values used to adjust fuel injector pulse width in response to changes in electrical system voltage. Consequently, the volume of fuel discharged through an engine’s injectors should remain consistent across the entire range of normal system voltage variation. But on occasion, fuel mixture will be too rich or too lean for no apparent reason.

One relatively common cause that’s not readily apparent is excess voltage variation. Even though the instrument panel gauge may indicate system voltage is normal, electrical power transmission losses (through the wires that bring power to specific components) may result in actual levels at the fuel pump, or injectors being substantially lower.

The Cody Motorsports injector flow test bench offers a number of options for verifying injector performance. Prior to beginning the pulse width performance tests, we checked injector operation and discharge rates to ensure our subsequent results would be accurate

For a variety of reasons, insufficient voltage at a vehicle’s fuel pump has been a problem since the first use of fuel pumps powered by an electric motor as opposed to mechanical arm. This isn’t meant to imply that there’s an inherent problem with electric fuel pumps, only that their proper operation is predicated on operating voltage being adequate and consistent. That’s typically not a problem with young and “middle-aged” pumps and control systems. But as these components enter their “golden years” (aka old age) resistance in the wiring and connectors that supply electrical power can increase sufficiently to result in measurable voltage reductions. And even if the wiring is in excellent condition, it may not be sufficient to deliver the increased current demanded by a high-output fuel pump.

As this photo shows, all injector flow rates were right on spec.

Low voltage-induced fuel supply problems aren’t necessarily an everyday occurrence, but Chuck Leeper of Cody Motorsports has noticed that they’re becoming more common, especially with owners of extensively modified vehicles. Chuck has been cleaning, flow testing and reconditioning electronic fuel injectors for more than 15 years. During that time, he has had a number of customers with “injector problems” that didn’t show up on his flow bench. According to Chuck, “The most common situation is that a customer will send me a set of injectors to clean and flow check. If they aren’t too nasty, I’ll usually test them first, and sometimes I find there’s nothing wrong with them. When I tell my customer his injectors are fine, he can’t believe it. Then I go through a trouble-shooting checklist with him, and that’s when we get to the real source of the problem. It usually turns out to be wiring or some other electrical problem that was dropping voltage at the fuel pump.”

Then there’s the question of the effect of system voltage variations on the injectors themselves. An electronic fuel injector is essentially a solenoid valve that opens when electrical current is applied, and closes when that current is removed. So it seems reasonable that system voltage levels would have an effect on injector operation.

The tests to evaluate the effect of voltage change on injector operation utilized a standard fuel rail, rather than the flow bench test stand, to simulate real-world operation.

Chuck couldn’t simulate vehicle-operating conditions with a standard flow bench, so he enlisted electronics specialist Wes Burch to put together a suitable test device. Wes came up with the electronics necessary to control the injectors with a GM LS1 PCM while using the flow bench fuel pump and hardware to pump test fluid through the injectors. He also built a fixture that enabled us to install the injectors in a standard LS engine fuel rail, thereby bringing the test configuration closer to a real-world vehicle fuel system.

Stay tuned for the testing portion of this tech special!

Text and Photos by Dave Emanuel

The post Electronic Fuel Injection Troubleshooting: A Primer appeared first on .

When Antron Brown made the monumental leap from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Top Fuel in late 2007, there were many inside and outside NHRA’s drag racing community who weren’t quite ready to nod their approval. That kind of inter-category, ramp-to-ramp jump had never been successfully attempted before.

A Pro Stock racer or two have taken a swing at a fuel class (Kenny Koretsky and Johnny Gray) and there have been a bunch of nitro jockeys who have tried their hand at both Top Fuel and Funny, but a motorcycle to automobile switcheroo was unheard of until Antron got his Top Fuel initiation driving for David Powers after a 16-national event win career in PSM.

Antron comes by his love for drag racing naturally. His father Albert and uncle Andre competed very successfully for years under the Brown Brothers label.

Antron grew up in a drag racing family based in the Trenton, New Jersey, area.  Antron’s dad Albert and uncle Andre teamed up to drag race motorcycles, followed by a Super Gas Chevy Vega and Brogie-built roadster in Super Comp when Antron was in elementary school. It wasn’t long before the youngster was working on the race cars alongside his dad and uncle, competing under the name Brown Bros. Racing.

Antron had a stellar Pro Stock Motorcycle career prior to transitioning to Top Fuel. He won 16 national events and twice finished second in world championship points.

In his late teens, Antron began drag racing his own street bike and the formative stages of his future career path were being set into motion. After turning pro in PSM and amassing an impressive body of work aboard a string of race-winning Suzukis, Antron was approached by veteran nitro tuner Lee about trying something that had never been done before. That conversation touched off a major shift in Antron’s drag racing compass needle, and ultimately has led to Brown setting a number of drag racing milestones, from becoming the first racer to win an NHRA national event in both Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel to becoming the first racer in NHRA history to win the U.S. Nationals in those two categories.

Antron broke into Top Fuel with a full-time ride for Houston’s David Powers in 2008.

NHRA commentator and author Bill Stephens invited the popular driver of the Don Schumacher Racing Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster to answer some questions about himself while giving readers of Drag Racer Magazine a closer look at what makes the racer they call “AB” tick. With his usual upbeat personality and penchant for the positive, Antron was more than happy to oblige.

STEPHENS:  What was it like growing up in a drag racing family?

BROWN: There was never a dull moment in my family. I was also very fortunate to have my grandparents living in our house as I was growing up. It was my grandfather who spearheaded my dad’s involvement in drag racing. When my father was younger, he and my uncle were street racing, and when my grandfather found out, he told them, “If you’re going to race, you’re going to do it right,” and that meant racing at a track, not the street.

STEPHENS: Your father raced motorcycles before racing cars, just as you have. What led to him making that switch?

BROWN: Almost from the time I can first remember my childhood, I was growing up at a dragstrip in the area and I always had a wrench in my hand. I was fortunate to have had the chance to do the things I did back then. I remember as a small child—I was around 3 years old—going to Atco Raceway and how the grandstands were wooden planks set on concrete blocks.

By the time I was 10 or 11, I was really developing a love of the sport. By then I was old enough to help out on my dad and uncle’s race cars. I remember I rebuilt a dirt bike engine when I was 12, and when my dad saw that he said, “If you can rebuild that engine, you can help me build the race cars.”  My size was also an advantage when it came to working on the cars back then. We needed to remove and replace the clutchless transmissions in the race cars all the time because they broke pretty easily. I was the smallest guy on the team, so I got to get underneath the cars while they were up on ramps and helped remove and replace those transmissions.

STEPHENS: When did you get to go down a dragstrip for the first time?

BROWN: In 1996, I was 19 years old, and I had a ‘92 Suzuki GSXR 1100, which I drove on the street.  That gave me my first ride down the track and it was a pretty fast bike. I ran in the low nines at around 160 miles per hour.

STEPHENS: How would you describe the feeling of that first pass?

BROWN: What was really exciting to me was that this was the bike I drove on the street and now I had a chance to open it up and see what it would do. It was crazy fast. In fact, it was faster than the Vega my dad and uncle raced.

STEPHENS: You could have just as easily become an athlete or pursued a corporate career. What happened?

BROWN: I played basketball, football and competed in track and field in school and was always the fastest kid in all those sports.  Some people mistakenly believe that I competed in the Olympic trials, but that’s not true. The truth is when I was running in track events, I ran times that would have qualified me for the Olympic trials. I attended Mercer Jr. College and then decided to apply to Long Island University because the track coach was Chris Carter (not the retired NFL wide receiver), who had competed in the Olympics and he was going to train me for Olympic competition.

But I had to make a choice between racing and staying in school. I had received a full scholarship for my two remaining years at Long Island University and was studying for a business degree. I was considering becoming an actuary where I could use my mathematical skills working with probabilities and derivatives to find different ways to arrive at the same answer.

That kind of application of calculus is basically what crew chiefs do with the data they study in their computers.

STEPHENS:  Rather than go after your degree or apply yourself to athletics, you decided to go drag racing. How did that go over with your family?

BROWN:  There were members of my family who were unhappy. But my mom Judy told me that racing was my dream and I should do what makes me happy. My dad said if I wanted to race, I should go do it and that I could always come back and finish my education later.

STEPHENS: Just about everyone knows you debuted in Pro Stock Motorcycle aboard a bike owned by your cousin, former NFL All-Pro Defensive Back Troy Vincent. From there you raced a Suzuki teamed with your cousin-in-law, three-time NHRA champion Angelle Sampey for Don Schumacher Racing.  What influenced you to give up a successful motorcycle racing career and risk the jump to Top Fuel?

BROWN: It all began with Lee Beard. When I was racing a Suzuki for Don Schumacher, Lee was also at DSR and had spoken to Don about setting up a test session for me in a fuel Funny Car, but it never got worked out. Later on, Lee went to work for David Powers, who was running two Top Fuel cars driven by “Hot Rod” Fuller and Whit Bazemore.

When Whit left the team, Lee asked me if I had ever thought about racing in Top Fuel. I said I definitely did, but there were a lot of drivers who wanted to drive a Top Fuel car and that it took money to get some of those rides. Lee went back to David Powers and told him, ‘I’ve got someone who will do an incredible job.’

Lee really went to bat for me with David. David wasn’t so much convinced I could do the job but had confidence in Lee’s knowledge and experience.  He told David I was an athlete, I had a positive attitude, and that I was a team player and that he could train me to be a driver and a winner.  I also had a relationship with Matco Tools who were a sponsor on my Pro Stock Motorcycle at DSR so that helped make it happen, too.

But Lee put his reputation on the line for me and I owe him a lot.

STEPHENS: Your first pass in a Top Fuel car took place in testing at The Strip in Las Vegas in 2007.  Can you describe the sensation?

BROWN:  It was a mind-boggling experience. When you get into a Top Fuel car and step on the gas, you go into a different realm. It’s something you can’t describe. I didn’t make a full pass right away in the dragster but worked my way up to it. I made some short runs—100 feet, 330 feet, a few runs to half-track, and then I made a run for 1,000 feet. Lee said if I wanted to, I could take it all the way next time. So I went back up and during that run the car didn’t feel right so I shut it off early. Even so it ran a 4.48 and at the time, the national record was around a 4.42. We made a couple more full passes and ran a 4.52 and a 4.54.  When we went to my first national event a couple of weeks later in Pomona for the Triple-A Finals, we qualified Number 1 with a 4.49.

STEPHENS: Would you say at that point you were comfortable driving a Top Fuel car?

BROWN: Definitely. I felt at home. I felt as if it was something I should have been doing a long time ago.

STEPHENS: The NHRA has become a much more diverse motorsport than any of the other professional series in terms of drivers representing both genders and various nationalities. Have you ever encountered any racial discrimination since getting into organized drag racing?

BROWN: Never. There’s never been any discrimination in my experiences.  One thing I’ve learned is that you can kill ignorance with kindness. I’ve never walked around with a chip on my shoulder and people notice that.

My great-grandmother recently passed away and she always said her generation had to go through what they went through so my generation wouldn’t have to. She said to enjoy your life and don’t be angry for what happened in the past and that’s what I try to do. I have fun with the fans and they appreciate that. But you’re always going to have people who don’t know any better and you can’t let them interfere with who you are.

STEPHENS:  As a husband and a dad, how tough is it to be away so much pursuing your racing career.

BROWN:  It’s hard. There’s nothing easy about it. You miss your family; they miss you. But my wife Billie Jo comes to around 14 national events, and my kids, Arianna who’s 9, Anson who’s 7 and Adler who’s 3, come to six races during the season.

STEPHENS: With all of that time away from home, do you ever think about whether it’s worth it or not?

BROWN:  The fact is, this is not my hobby; this is my job; this is how I put food on the table. Other people who have 9-to-5 jobs go to the office every day, but I get to come home when I’m not racing. I don’t have to go to the office, and when I’m home, I’m really home.  That’s family time and I keep that separate from my job. I shut everything else off. I can still think about certain things about my job when I’m home, but my family time doesn’t get interrupted.

My priorities are God, my family and my job. That’s never going to change. I’m very fortunate to be doing what I’m doing for my living.  Before I had my family, I’d go to the shop between races, but I don’t do that anymore. The guys on the team sometimes say, “Hey, how come you don’t hang out with us at the shop?” and I tell them that when they have a family, they’ll understand.

STEPHENS:  Is winning the championship what drives you the most?

BROWN:  Everybody who races for their career wants the closure of winning a championship.  Everybody wants that championship trophy sitting on their mantel and wants to tell the story of the battle that it took to win it. Nobody ever remembers who came in second place. It’s crazy to think that at my young age (35), I’ve been racing out here for 14 years.  Winning the championship compensates for all the work, the sacrifices and frustrations you’ve experienced to finally win it.

STEPHENS: Some of the greatest drivers in the sport have never won a championship, such as Cory McClenathan, your DSR teammate Ron Capps and many more. Do you ever think about never winning a championship?

BROWN: It’s a very draining feeling. It’s like you worked so hard to grab the carrot dangling in front of you and someone else jumps in and takes it away. I’ve been there. In my 10 years in Pro Stock Motorcycle, I lost the championship more than once by two or three rounds. One year, I lost it by 18 points. But you never quit; everyone dreams of winning the championship.

Realistically, each year you have around five teams in each pro class that are capable of winning the championship. Then there are other teams who are just hoping to win a race. But this is a people sport; you have to have the right people on a team to be successful. You can have all the money in the world but without the right people, you’re not going to win.

STEPHENS: What’s it like working with your tuning team, Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi?

BROWN: Both of those guys are awesome and so is our assistant crew chief Brad Mason. Mark is incredible because he’s a former Funny Car champion (1984) and a great tuner. He can see what the car is doing from both perspectives and that helps me know how to do a better job. He can tell me things only a guy who was a great driver can tell you.

Brian is a total nitpicker. He picks up on every detail, every last thing that we’re looking at. He doesn’t miss anything. And Brad is the glue that holds us all together. I’m like the cheerleader who keeps everyone positive, feeling good about what we’re doing and focused.  We all get along great and we spend time together on the road because we have such a good time together. That allows us to be friends and to be honest when we’re doing our jobs. We can point things out to each other and give each other input because we’re all comfortable and have confidence in what we do.

STEPHENS: Have you thought about what you’ll do after you retire as a driver?

BROWN:  My game plan is to become an owner or part-owner of a team someday. I might wind up owning a team with my kids if they decide it’s something they want to do. That would be a cool deal and really good challenge.

I think my education definitely gives me some strong management skills. I think a good manager doesn’t tell his people what to do; he brings out the best in his people to get the job done. Our team is a good example of that and that’s the approach I would take if I were to ever own my own team.

Text by Bill Stephens

Photos by James Drew

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“Big-block Chevy and boxes of mail-order parts or a one-off twin turbo-injected small-block for my Top Dragster? Hmmm, let’s see, which would bring about the biggest challenge and most heartache and headaches? I believe I’ll choose the latter!” That’s Donnie Hendricks. Of course, he and his dad Mike have been modern day racing mavericks since Donnie was just a kid of nine.

Last year when Donnie decided it was time to kick it up a notch from his mid eight-second Super Comp dragster, he went shopping for a new chassis for the project. He located a prospective number in upstate California, but the owner decided he didn’t want to take the time to strip it down, so Donnie took the whole package, including the twin turbo Chevy. It turns out the very unique race car, built by Tom Griffith in his Ohio-based Fox Chassis shop, migrated to this second owner complete with engine. Neither Griffith nor the new owner made many consistent full passes, mostly eighth-mile or short squirts. So it was up to Donnie to figure how to tune and get a better handle on his digger down the strip.

Donnie and dad Mike’s race day exercise: constantly loving on the mechanically fuel-injected twin turbo. 

He and his dad quickly discovered the turbocharged mechanical fuel-injected beast is a very sensitive to weather and altitude, requiring frequent readings from their weather station. It’s difficult to find a combination that will work from cool mornings into hot afternoons without constantly readjusting the fuel curve, each cylinder needing to be finessed. Fortunately, Donnie’s used to finessing race cars, he was the clutch artist on Larry Miersch’s Huntington Beach, California-based A/Fuel dragster for five years.

His Top Dragster shares one ugly trait of nitro cars: tire shake. If the tune-up’s off or underpowered, about 200-300 feet out when the boost applies, he has experienced violent, tooth-rattling shake.

When it comes to performance, this small incher thinks it’s a big-block and has the numbers to prove it. If you enjoy the art and science of race car engine tuning, this is your baby!

Currently, Donnie says the tune-up is on the soft side. He leaves the line at 4,200 rpm with 10 pounds of boost. The 60-foot times are around 101.1 and 4.296 at 330 feet. In the lights, the 355-incher’s turning 7,300 rpm and developing 24 pounds of boost. He’s producing very competitive elapsed times in the 6.70s at speeds greater than 200 mph.

Donnie and Mike have attended all of the Division 7 races this season, as well as three national events, and have gone multiple rounds at each, so they’re very happy with their team’s progress.

Clean, green and shockingly quick, Team Hendricks introduced electric propulsion (very successfully) to NHRA Jr. Dragster.

Two people have entered the picture of late: former Funny Car shoe Brett Crowe has been sharing his insights into the race car’s setup and improving performance has resulted; Jim Duke has also taken an interest, and for next season is providing two sets of turbos of different configurations, custom stainless headers, manifold, intake, blow-off valves and wastegates all ceramic coated, plus replumbing the race car. They’re also discussing, for the near future, switching to electronic fuel injection, which will certainly facilitate tune-up.

Donnie feels like they’re just scratching the surface as far as performance potential is concerned. Several of his competitors seem to agree, as evidenced by increasing visits to his pit area.

Donnie leaves the line at a leisurely pace, but things get blurry real quick when the turbos kick in.

It was mentioned at the beginning of this story that the Hendricks clan doesn’t follow the racing herd. Donnie, Mike and friend Louie Finkle are responsible for getting electric motors legal for NHRA Jr. Dragster competition. Donnie, who was 14 at the time, says his Jr. Dragster sounded like a giant RC racer. Their electric entry quickly overshadowed the gasoline and alcohol competition with eighth-mile runs in the 7.90s and 7.40s at 91 mph during exhibition runs. He currently holds three National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) national records.

If Donnie, Mike and associates continue to apply the level of ingenuity they’ve shown thus far, their performance will be electrifying!

Text by Pete Ward

Photos by James Drew

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To paraphrase racing legend A. J. Foyt, “When I began seeing drivers carrying briefcases instead of helmets, I knew the sport was in trouble.” Paul Lee may be that driver carrying a briefcase, but he has his helmet in the other hand. He’s proof that success in racing and business isn’t mutually exclusive.

A 13-year-old kid hanging over the fence at Atco (NJ) Raceway witnessing “Jungle Jim” Liberman make one of his patented monster burnouts followed by a 0-to-60-mph starting line return, well, he’s hooked. Paul Lee knew at that moment he wanted to drive a nitro Funny Car. As his love for the sport matured, it became clear that if he wanted to make it to the big leagues, higher education would be the path he’d need to take.

“A long time ago, I felt that the days of making it as a hired gun driver were over. When I saw big names struggle to get sponsorships or driving jobs, I knew I was going to have to take a different direction to obtain my goals.”

While racing a series of sportsman entries he graduated from the prestigious Ivy League Wharton School of Business and later obtained his MBA and law degree from Rutgers University. To most, becoming an attorney is plenty for a life’s goal, but to Paul it was merely the means to the end. Having the tools to succeed in business would allow him to control his own racing destiny.

In ’88 Paul, who also is an expert skydiver with more than 1,500 jumps, took a major step towards that goal by fielding his own alcohol flopper.  For the next six years, excluding a break for grad school, he honed his driving skills in alcohol competition, including a stint with Nick Boninfante’s fabled East Coast Funny Car Circuit, hitting all of the strips in the Northeast. In addition to driving for himself, he wheeled Ed Parker’s legendary Cape Codder and a series of J&B Motorsports entries. The highlight of his alcohol career came in 2004 when he garnered three NHRA TAFC national event victories.

The following year, he and J&B Motorsports made the considerable leap to nitro, selling the alky flop to Brian Freisen. His transition to the pros was seamless. Much is made of Del Worsham and Melanie Troxel pulling double duty, well, Paul did the same at the ’05 U.S. Nationals and Chicago events, driving both the J&B nitro Funny Car and Brian Freisen’s TA/FC.

Paul Lee scored three NHRA TAFC event wins in 2004, including Atlanta.

From 2006 through 2008, he drove the J&B nitro Funny Car and the Paul Richards nitro Funny Car at IHRA events, making five final round appearances, before finally teaming with veteran tuner Paul Smith.  During his successful tenure with Smith he scored his first pro win at the IHRA Northern Nationals at Milan Dragway, defeating Dan Wilkerson in the final. During this period, his “day job” was that of chief financial officer for Boninfante Performance Racing Clutches, purveyor of clutch parts to professional racing teams throughout the world.

One of their customers was “Big Jim” Dunn, a fixture in nitro competition since his days at Lions. They struck a deal, and in 2010 Paul buckled himself into Dunn’s racer. Coincidentally, the ’60s movie, Funny Car Summer, featuring Jim Dunn, was another of the other driving forces that lead to Paul’s career choice. This duo has gelled from the get-go, and even though they face the daunting task of taking on the “factory” teams, no one looks past them to the next round when Paul comes to the line.

Paul Lee teamed up with Jim Dunn and Canidae during the 2010 season.

For 2011, Rislone Fuel Injector Cleaner signed as a major sponsor with Paul and Jim Dunn Racing. They’re joined by Canidae Pet Foods, Kimco Scooters, WileyX Sunglasses, Lincoln Tech, and notably, McLeod Clutches.

As stated earlier, Paul knew in order to be successful in racing he needed to also achieve success in business. He made a major move in 2008 with the purchase of McLeod Clutches from B&M Transmissions. One of Paul’s first moves was to reinstall clutch pioneer Red Roberts, who founded the company in ’71, back into the business. Purchased in the middle of the ’08 economic meltdown, Paul has managed to increase sales and profits throughout the past three years, when those competitors around him are floundering. An aggressive marketing campaign has included McLeod’s involvement with NHRA as a major sponsor for Stock and Super Stock competitors.

In addition to a complete line of single- and dual-disc clutch systems for high performance street and racing applications, McLeod has recently directed its expertise into the transmission business. The development team spent almost three years creating this unit. The impetus behind the build came from the muscle car  community that wanted a beefy, five-speed overdrive transmission that doesn’t require them to hack their cars up to make an aftermarket trans fit. McLeod was smart enough to design this transmission (named the M-800) as a modular unit, so it is a five-speed bolt-in replacement for the Muncies, T-10s, A-833 Mopars and Ford Top Loaders. The gears are all forged steel, it’s a 32-spline output shaft, it bolts to your stock bellhousing, and features a 2.95 first gear and a .63 fifth gear. McLeod has so much faith in this transmission that it puts a one-year/12,000-mile warranty on it. Five speeds, stronger, lighter and no cutting required—we have a winner.

Paul Lee and Paul Smith rattled the IHRA nitro ranks, winning national events and finishing fourth in world rankings, twice.

In addition to his racing and business career, Paul is the co-director of the Science of Racing, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting to teens the importance of making positive choices in life, including the continuation of their education. “I’m a firm believer that young people today need as much education as they can get to become competitive in today’s economic environment. I recommend that students find their passion, set goals and get the right education to achieve your goals. If you can live your passion, you will never work a day in your life.”

Paul Lee is helping to set the tone for what it will take to succeed in this new era of drag racing.

Text by Pete Ward

Photos by James Drew, Richard Brady; courtesy of Paul Lee

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In order to be a successful bracket racer you need to be consistent. When .001 of a second matters any edge you have is valuable. One way to make your car considerably more consistent is to use methanol instead of gasoline. Methanol is the molecularly simplest, lightest form of methanol and is most commonly used in racing. Unlike gasoline or diesel fuels, it contains no lubricating characteristics, so it’s mixed with a lubricant additive. It’s legal for use in all bracket racing classes. Your speed won’t increase, but a quicker E.T. is pretty common.

First off, you can’t run methanol through a carburetor built and calibrated for gasoline. The increased fuel consumption calls for completely different metering blocks, boosters and needle and seats. Holley carries three carburetors that come ready to run with methanol: two hp 4150 models, a 750 cfm (P/N 80535-1) and a 950 cfm (P/N 80498-1). A 1,050-cfm Dominator (P/N 80586) is also available. These carbs come with stainless steel needle and seats, correct metering for methanol, 50cc GLFT accelerator pumps and upgraded boosters. Holley is currently expanding its new all-aluminum Ultra HP line with models calibrated for methanol and E85 fuels. These carburetors come in Hard Core Gray hard anodized finish.

Here’s Holley’s all-aluminum Ultra HP; models for alcohol and E85 blends are coming soon. The hard-coat anodizing makes them ideal for alcohol applications.

In addition to the carburetor changes, you will need a fuel system to deliver twice the fuel of a gasoline engine. Generally you’ll see a front-mounted fuel cell in serious race cars because it’s less taxing on the fuel pump. Methanol can make plastic, rubber and even some metal components break down, so choosing parts that are compatible is very important. Holley’s HP 125 and HP 150 electric fuel pumps work great for methanol applications. A single HP 150 fuel pump with a front-mounted fuel cell can easily support 750 hp.  A new line of billet HP and Dominator regulators and fuel filters safe for methanol is available. All of the Earl’s fittings and hoses will work with methanol, though Holley’s Ano-Tuff hard anodized fittings will exhibit a longer life. For lines, the Pro-Lite 350 hose also will outlast the others.

Because there is so much more fuel going into a methanol-powered engine, tuning is easier to accomplish. It takes such a significant air change to affect air fuel ratio that it is possible to run the same main jets with the same tune all year. As an evening race progresses, gasoline engines need to compensate for the cooler, more dense air of the night. A methanol motor won’t need any changes, making it substantially more predictable.

Here you can see the size difference between a main jet for a gasoline-calibrated carburetor (left) and one for alcohol (right):122-87 (gas), 122-180 (alcohol).

Methanol-fueled engines also run much cooler than gasoline. Even with a pass every 15 minutes it’s hardly necessary to run the cooling fan. While the gasoline guys are draining their batteries running water pump and fan, the methanol guys have time for other tasks. Because engines run cooler, they  need assistance to warm up before a pass. Since it’s hard to overheat, it takes longer to warm up, so a lean out valve is used. It’s basically a controlled vacuum leak that can be a ball valve or an adjustable valve, sometimes controlled by the driver in the cockpit. Being able to control the temperature is another contributor to increased consistency. Another advantage is increased torque making for better 60-foot and 330-foot times. These improvements help when it comes time to dial in.

High-compression engines benefit the most from a methanol fuel. The sweet spot is between 12.5-15:1 compression, but methanol is often found in engines 10-17:1. To safely run a gasoline engine with this kind of compression you would need to run high-octane racing gasoline. The advantage is methanol fuels are around $2 per gallon, and comparable gasoline is upwards of $9 per gallon. Even though you’re using twice as much fuel, it’s still a better deal.

There are disadvantages to methanol. It’s extremely corrosive, making it hard on parts. Any part the fuel touches will have a reduced lifespan. There are products designed to endure this aggressive fuel, but the fact that methanol absorbs water makes it especially destructive. It’s inevitable that upon startup, fuel will leak past the rings and enter the crankcase. Methanol by itself wouldn’t be too much of a problem in small amounts, but the water it carries is. More frequent oil changes are required to keep the engine healthy and clean. Many owners will drain their fuel system after each event to help extend parts life. With the necessary changes to the fuel system and proper maintenance, methanol is an excellent fuel for drag racing. Methanol is an effective way to produce more torque, keep cool, lessen fuel costs and most importantly, become a more consistent racer.

By Liz Miles

The post Carburetor Class: Methanol in Drag Racing appeared first on .

Jim Hughes Businessman/Racer

I attended several races this season to do research for a story on Jim Hughes’ S/G ‘Vette.  Even though his racer is an impressive piece of machinery, I came away more impressed with Jim than with his ride.

He’s a big bear of a guy, the kind of person you’d want to marry your sister, coach your kid’s little league team, be your next door neighbor, or make/sell you transmission parts for your race car.

No matter how busy, he greeted those who came into his pit area with a smile and a firm handshake, be they customers, fellow racers or just fans. Cynics out there might say that he’s a businessman, so that’s how he should act.  Yes, he is a good businessman, but it goes far beyond that. On many occasions racers using a competitor’s products approached Jim with questions, and he was quick with advice. Jim’s adamant in declaring, “I’m there to race, but the customers always come first.”

Pit road traffic jam of Hughes customers in front of Jim’s pit area/mobile business

Body up, Funny Car-style, exposing well conceived/executed engineering

It was the same way in the staging lanes. He and Hughes Performance Motorsports Director Kevin Kleineweber were engaged in constant conversation with fellow racers (read: S/G competitors), plenty of handshaking, back slapping and laughter, and once again, help and encouragement.

Last year’s U.S. Nationals helps to further illustrate the kind of guy Jim is. His son’s the captain of his high school football team. Their big homecoming game was played on the Friday of the most important race of the year, but Jim wasn’t about to miss that game. So he reconnected with sportsman ace turned Top Fuel shoe Shawn Langdon and offered him the seat in the ‘Vette. Langdon, having history with Jim, jumped at the chance.  The move was fortuitous for both, as Langdon captured the Indy S/G crown in Big Red, his nickname for Jim’s ‘Vette.  Jim flew back to Indy from Phoenix and was on hand for the victory. By the way, his son’s team also won the football game!

Hughes and Kevin Kleineweber in mid-thrash prior to next round of qualifying.

Now about Big Red: It’s the third in a series of C5 Corvette-bodied S/G cars built for Jim by Don Davis Race Cars out of El Paso, Texas. The initial version built in 1994 was the first C5 ‘Vette-bodied racer to see the track.

Jim and customer/competitor Pete Bothe chat it up in the staging lanes. Pete and his Porsche terrorize West Coast S/G, P/G competition.

Jim had owned several of Don’s fabled S/G ’27 roadsters, so he was the natural choice when Jim needed a new car—in a hurry.  At Sonoma, Jim’s right-hand man, Kevin Kleineweber, totaled the Hughes Performance ’65 S/G Chevelle. Although he had to be airlifted from the track, he lived to tell the tale. Jim had been planning on a new racer, but now he needed it by Indy. He liked the looks of the then-new C5 Corvette, so that’s what he commissioned Don to build. Not only was it done on time, but it also won Best Engineered at Indy. Each of the three versions has been masterfully engineered and is structurally solid.  The balance is exceptional, with no chassis preload, and it’s very stable at all speeds. Additionally, Don’s cars are able to utilize all of the increased horsepower today’s engine builders are producing.

Thanks to Don Davis’ handiwork, the Hughes Performance ‘Vette never fails to launch hard and go were it’s pointed.

Recently, Don and Jim have taken their relationship to a much higher level. Don sold his business, but the new owners weren’t having much success and were about ready to throw in the towel. Jim didn’t want to see his friend’s legacy end in such a manner, so he bought the business and brought Don back into the operation. You can expect to hear much more from the reinvigorated Don Davis Race Cars, including in this magazine.

Another of Jim’s long-term business relationships that’s continuing to bear fruit is with Tracy Dennis and his Sunset Racecraft Racing Engines, in scenic Lubbock, Texas. Jim has relied upon Dennis to supply his horsepower demands for the past eight years. Obviously, Tracy and his company have been up to the task, assisting Jim in netting multiple national events wins during this period, and even his 2002 Super Comp NHRA World Championship.

The ‘Vette’s innards are much too finely constructed to cover up with fiberglass.

None of Jim’s racing exploits would have been possible if he didn’t put stock in that old adage, race on Sunday, sell on Monday.

Jim’s family business, Hughes Performance, which manufactures racing transmissions and all parts therein, especially torque converters, is the launch pad for his racing operation. The Corvette serves as a rolling research and development laboratory for the company.

When I say “family business” I mean just that. Jim’s father, William Hughes, started the business in 1971, manufacturing OEM torque converters. Jim built the first racing converter for his own use in 1977. Soon his fellow racers began asking Jim to build converters for them, and the performance business took off from there. The company employs 30 in its 28,000-sq-ft facility in Phoenix.

The main reason Jim is able to attend the races as he does is because he knows the operation is in good hands, especially those of his brother Jeff who runs the Transmission Department, sister Jan the office manager and Hughes’ General Manager, Tony Cane.  Before Jim’s father passed away, he acknowledged that shifting the company’s focus to the performance industry was the right move, which meant a great deal to him.

For this coming season, Jim’s going to step up his NHRA national event attendance to 10. He finished ninth nationally last season, and he’s looking to score higher this year, perhaps another World Championship. Additionally, he’ll make six to eight divisional races, plus Good Guys and Super Chevy. We’re talking a total of 35 to 40 races.  Regarding this rather arduous schedule, Jim is adamant in noting, “I couldn’t do it without Kevin Kleineweber!”

So, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to cross paths with Jim, whether you’re in the market for race car parts or just want to say hey, you’ll be glad you did. Indeed, if legendary baseball manager Leo “The Lip” Durocher were around today and met Jim Hughes, he would need to amend his famous quote regarding nice guys and the level of their success.

Text by Pete Ward

Images by James Drew and Pete Ward

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