NASCAR racer Gary Gaulding to help fight COVID19 with his ROVAL™ Xfinity entry

 

NASCAR racer Gary Gaulding to help fight COVID19 with his ROVAL™ Xfinity entry

Standout Management Group (SMG) and NASCAR driver Gray Gaulding are pleased to announce Visit North Carolina and Count On Me NC (COMNC) as the new primary sponsor for the upcoming Drive for the Cure 250 Xfinity race to be held Saturday, October 10th. The No. 74 COMNC Chevrolet Camaro will be provided by Mike Harmon Racing (MHR) for the race on the ROVAL™, NASCAR’s newest track located at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“Being both an active NASCAR driver and proud resident of North Carolina, I feel that with everything that has happened this year with COVID-19, we need to continue to help keep each other safe and make sure we reduce any risk of spread. I know by taking the Count On Me NC pledge and following the guidelines are a great way for all of us including myself to make a difference,” said Gray.

Count On Me NC is a public health initiative built on evidence-based training for businesses and a play-it-safe pledge for the public. Count On Me NC is a public health initiative by Visit NC designed to help businesses operate as safely as possible, signal their commitment to best practices with signage, and enlist consumers to do their part to curb the spread of COVID-19. A collaboration led by the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association in partnership with Visit North Carolina, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and NC State Extension, the initiative centers on evidence-based training with specific guidance for sanitation and service that goes beyond the stringent health requirements that were in place before the pandemic. 

Participation is voluntary and free of charge, and training is available in English and Spanish. Thousands of hotels, restaurants, attractions, and other businesses display the sea-green Count On Me NC logo that signifies completion of the training. Visit CountOnMeNC.org for more information.  

Visit NC Director Wit Tuttell welcomed Gray as a champion of the cause to fight the spread of COVID-19, said. “We’re beyond excited about Gray’s commitment to Count On Me NC,” said Tuttell. “He’s an exciting young talent with the kind of determination it takes to win at the track and also to help put COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror. Gray’s followers will be inspired to follow his lead when he talks about the importance of wearing masks, washing their hands, and waiting at a distance when they’re out in public. They’ll also connect the sea-green Count On Me NC logo on Gray’s car to certificates and signage displayed at thousands of hotels, restaurants and other North Carolina businesses that have completed the training in advanced sanitation and service measures.”

In addition to Count On Me NC being the primary sponsor, Panini America, the Official Trading Card of NASCAR will be riding along Saturday afternoon as an associate sponsor and will return Sunday as the primary NASCAR Cup Series sponsor of the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro for the Bank of America ROVAL 400. Count On Me NC will also be returning to the track with Gray on Sunday as an associate sponsor. Make sure to catch all the race action for both races on NBC starting at 3:30 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, October 10th and 2:30PM Eastern Time on Sunday, October 11th.

John Force special edition 2020 COPO Chevrolet Camaro

John Force COPO Camaro 

The 2020 COPO Camaro John Force Edition shown at the Chevrolet Performance booth at the 2019 PRI show is a distinctively styled, supercharged race car.

Since 2012, Chevrolet has built only 69 COPO (Central Office Production Order) Camaros per model year, making them rare factory race cars but this John Force edition is a one-of-a-kind with its “2020COPO-FORCE” identification plaque, and is not part of the 69-car 2020 COPO Camaro production run. 

Powered by Chevrolet Performance’s supercharged, LSX-based 350 cubic inch engine, with a Magnuson supercharger and all-new LSX-SC cylinder heads. This car is equipped with the Racer’s Package, which consists of a carbon-fiber air inlet, dual batteries, weight box, parachute and a quick-change coupling for the supercharged engine.

In addition to the John Force signature graphics inside and out, the car has an NHRA-certified roll cage, custom embroidered racing seats and harnesses and rides on WELD® racing wheels fitted with Hoosier® tires.

This one-of-a-kind car was auctioned off on January 17 2020 at the Barrett-Jackson Auction for total sale price of $600,000.00 which went to the charity DonorsChoose.org. The winning bidder also received a custom helmet and fire suit provided by John Force.   

WELD® Racing Funny Car wheels

WELD® Wheels had a massive exhibit at the 2019 SEMA show, and the author took a close look at the WELD® wheels fitted to the John Force Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS NHRA Funny Car on display. 

The rear wheels are WELD® Delta-1 black anodized 1-piece forged aluminum wheels with titanium bead lock hardware which weigh less than 19 pounds each. WELD® advertises that these are the lightest, strongest, and stiffest 16-inch x 16-inch double beadlock SFI Foundation standard 15.4 Certified (Top Fuel and Funny Car Drag Race Drive Beadlock Wheels) drag wheels available and sell for approximately $2800 each.  There is only one other SFI 15.4 Certified manufacturer, Sander Engineering.

  

The Delta-1 wheels are fitted with Goodyear 36.0x17.5-16  D-2H compound tires with 115-inch circumference that weigh 48 pounds each. In competition, these tires carry 7 PSI pressure which is the minimum allowed by Goodyear engineers.

The front wheels on the John Force NHRA Funny Car Camaro SS are 17-inch SFI Foundation standard 15.2 Certified (Drag Race Front Wheels) black-anodized WELD® Magnum Frontrunner one-piece forged 6061 aluminum wheels mounted directly to the Strange® spindles and retail for approximately $850 each.   

The WELD® Racing Magnum Frontrunner wheels are mounted with Goodyear Frontrunner 22.0x4.0-17 hard compound tires that are typically inflated to 40 PSI in competition.   

All photos by the author 

Fourth-generation 2020 Dodge Drag Pak Challenger debuts at SEMA 2019

It might be hard for enthusiasts to believe, but the current Dodge Challenger is more than 11 years old, and the featured vehicle in the MoPar Performance area at the 2019 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas is the fourth generation of the Drag Pak package, with previous versions in 2008, 2010 and 2015.

The 2020 Dodge Drag Pak which made its debut at SEMA is built as a track-only machine to compete in NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) and NMCA (National Muscle Car Association) drag racing events against the COPO Camaro and the Mustang Cobra Jet.

The Drag Pak starts with a Body-in-White from the Brampton Ontario assembly plant, with an SFI Foundation Inc.-certified 7.50-second 25.5D roll cage added. The Strange Inc. rear axle assembly features 4-link suspension with adjustable coil over shocks and adjustable anti-roll bar.   Up front, the front Bilstein struts are double adjustable, and the car rolls on special lightweight Weld wheels and Mickey Thompson tires.

The heart of the beast is the 354-cubic inch supercharged HEMI® engine that develops over 1000 horsepower coupled to a T400 3-speed transmission with a Quickshift shifter. The body features a hood and front and rear fascia from the Challenger SRT Hellcat, and the car shown at SEMA was covered with a red white and blue nostalgic scheme that harkens back to Dodge Pro Stock cars of the nineteen seventies.

MoPar will only build and sell 50 of these potent machines, which means it is rarer than a McLaren Senna sports car so we can expect lots of collector car auction sales of these cars in the coming years.   

Photos by the author

The eCOPO Chevrolet Camaro

One of the most eagerly anticipated vehicle debuts at the 2018 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show was the unveiling of the  “eCOPO” Camaro, an electric-powered Central Office Production Order concept car built by a partnership of Chevrolet and  the pioneering electric drag racing team Hancock & Lane Racing.

The car’s usual gasoline engine was replaced by electric motor based on a pair of BorgWarner HVH 250-150 motor assemblies, each generating 300 foot-pounds of torque. The motor is connected to the conventional racing-prepared TH400 three-speed automatic transmission that transmits the motor’s torque to the same solid rear axle used in the production COPO Camaro race cars.

The 700-horsepower motor is powered by an 800-volt 32-kilowatt per hour battery pack comprised of four 200-volt modules, each module weighs approximately 175 pounds.  Two packs are mounted in the rear seat area and the other two are mounted in the trunk - one in the spare tire well and the other in the area over the rear axle.

In testing, the eCOPO Camaro’s best quarter-mile run was an elapsed time 9.837 seconds from a standing start with a trap speed of 134.07 miles per hour.

All photos by the author

Three wild street rods at SEMA 2018 

Glasurit Paints a division of BASF that uses European technology for speed, ease of use, color and durability had a large display at the 2018 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas that featured three wild street rods.

ROAD RAGE

Road Rage is a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Widebody built by the Roadster Shop  powered by a LSX 454 cubic engine that develops 750 horsepower with a custom Kinsler stack injection system, and featured independent rear suspension.

KASPER 

Kasper is a 1974 Plymouth Duster built by Goolsby Customs for owner Beth Hazelwood. The car featured a huge number of body modifications that included tucked and smoothed bumpers, stretched front and rear wheel wells, shortened cowl and lengthened hood, and lowered rocker panels. Kasper is powered by a  Dodge Hellcat engine with a Bowler 6-speed transmission and a custom interior. 

THE CHIEF 

The Chief is a 1956 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible built by Customs by Kileary for owner Frank Howard and is  powered by  a 418-cubic inch Whipple supercharged LSX engine and a custom Relicate leather interior    

All photos by the author 

  

  

Two interesting 1967 Camaros

at the 2017 SEMA show

 

 

Through the years far and away the most popular car seen at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) shows is the first-generation Chevrolet small rear wheel drive F-body, the Camaro, and the 2017 edition was no different as 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Camaro, which has been in continuous production save for the period from 2002 to 2009. The author found radically 1967 Camaros on display worthy of mention.

This is the thirteenth Camaro, hand-built in Norwood (suburban Cincinnati) Ohio during the early months of 1966 as a pre-production or “pilot” car. This car assigned serial number 124677N100013 was the fifth convertible built finished in Bolero Red with a black interior and white top is known specifically as the “Gear & Axle Test Car.”

 

 

Powered by 327 cubic inch Turbo-Fire V-8 engine rated at 300 horsepower by the factory which is backed by a Powerglide two-speed automatic transmission this Camaro is equipped with power steering power brakes and an AM radio and rides on US Royal white wall tires with N96 mag-style wheel covers, which were a $73.75 option.

 

 

Owned by Logan Lawson of Pilot Car Registry ( http://www.pilotcarregistry.com) the appearance of the 1967 Camaro “Pilot Car” at SEMA was sponsored by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company.

 

This “restomod” 1967 Camaro SS is the GoodGuys Rod & Custom Association grand prize giveaway car for 2017 and 2018. Outwardly it appears close to stock finished in Butternut Yellow with a black nose stripe and a hazelnut and mocha interior, but as one would expect with a “restomod” the mechanicals have been massively upgraded with equipment from a huge number of sponsors.

 

 

 

The GoodGuys Camaro is powered by an Edelbrock Performance 420 cubic inch LS1 engine connected to a Tremec 6-speed manual transmission. The car designed by Eric Brockmeyer and built by Goolsby Customs rides on a Roadster Shop chassis fitted with Baer brakes,  B-Forged wheels and BF Goodrich tires.

Registered GoodGuys participants have a chance to become a finalist to win the car, or you can visit https://www.good-guys.com/promos/camaro-giveaway to register online.

Photos by the author

The 2018 Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels® editions at SEMA 2017

 

 

 

Every generation of the Chevrolet Camaro has been replicated as a 1/64 scale die-cast car by Mattel’s Hot Wheels®. To celebrate the 50-year anniversary of Hot Wheels die-cast cars, Chevrolet debuted the Hot Wheels® edition 2018 Camaro at the 2017 SEMA show (Specialty Equipment Market Association) which they call “a die-cast dream come true.”

 

 

 

The Hot Wheels® package which costs $4,995, and available as either the coupe of convertible features an exclusive “Crush” exterior color with “Satin Graphite” stripes with Silver Metallic accents, 20-inch Satin Graphite machine-faced wheels, “Satin Graphite” ground effects, a unique grille with Galvano chrome inserts and Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary fender badges.

 

 

The Hot Wheels® edition Camaro interior features Jet Black leather-appointed interior with orange inserts and orange accent stitching, a suede-wrapped steering wheel with orange accent stitching and Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary badge, orange knee bolsters and seat belts, and premium carpeted floor mats with Orange stitching and ghost stripes.

 

 

 

On the other side of the Chevrolet booth at SEMA 2017 was the wilder, COPO (Central Office Production Order) Hot Wheels® edition Camaro, of which only 69 will be built during the 2018 model year available only to randomly selected lottery winners.

 

 

The COPO Camaro is designed for NHRA Stock Eliminator competition with a solid rear axle, full Chromoloy NHRA-certified roll cage, Weld wheels, high-rise carbon fiber hood, a LSX 350-cubic inch supercharged engine and Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary fender badges in addition to many racing-only features such as wheelie bars. Chevrolet predicts eight-second elapsed times on the quarter-mile drag strip from the COPO Camaro.

 

 

 

Photos by the author