TEAM PENSKE DISPLAY AT THE ENTRANCE OF PRI 2019

TEAM PENSKE AT PRI 2019 

Team Penske’s display of two championship INDYCARS at the 2019 Performance Industry show in Indianapolis Indiana gave attendees a new perspective on the Chevrolet-powered Dallara DW12 chassis fitted with the UAK 18 universal aerokit.

The neon yellow Menard’s sponsored #22 was driven by Simon Pagenuad during the 2019 NTT INDYCAR season. After he went winless in the 2018 INDYCAR season, the Frenchman swept the races in the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  

Simon passed Scott Dixon and led the final two laps to win the INDYCAR Grand Prix held on May 11 on the Indianapolis road course, then on May 19, he won the Firestone Fast Nine Shootout to capture the pole position for the Indianapolis 500-mile race.  

On May 26, Pagenaud led a race-high 116 laps in a dominant win to record Team Penske’s 18^th Indianapolis ’500’ win.   Pagenaud finished second to his teammate Josef Newgarden in the 2019 NTT INDYCAR Series championship.

The red, white and black Hitachi sponsored #2 was driven by Josef Newgarden during the 2019 NTT INDYCAR season. Newgarden started the 2019 season with a win at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and was in the championship hunt all season long. With three pole position starts, three additional wins at Alabama, Toronto and Mid-Ohio along with eight top five finishes in 17 starts, Newgarden claimed his second INDYCAR championship, as he previously won the 2017 Verizon INDYCAR Series title.

All photos by the author 

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.   

Chevy II Much altered wheelbase drag car

Chevy 2 Much II

The Doug's Headers booth at the 2019 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show featured the "Chevy 2 Much II" a replica of the original 1964 Chevy II A/FX altered wheelbase drag racer. 

The original “Chevy 2 Much” was built in 1964 before the Funny Car class was created, so it raced as a match racer powered by an alcohol-injected 396 Chevrolet engine and ran 9-second elapsed times at over 150 miles per hour. Initially plagued by wheel stands the “Chevy 2 Much” was one of the first cars to be equipped with wheelie bars.

This version built by Doug Thorley in the early 2000's is powered by a Hilborn injected 496-cubic inch Chevrolet "big block" engine  outfitted with Doug's Headers and a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission. 

All photos by the author 

INDYCAR Aeroscreen film by Racing Optics

INDYCAR Aeroscreen film 

INDYCAR's Aeroscreen, an advanced ballistic canopy-like windshield, designed to improve the safety for drivers in the event of frontal impacts in the cockpit area, is mandated for use on all INDYCARS on all tracks beginning with 2020 NTT INDYCAR Series season opener. At the 2019 PRI (Performance Racing Industry) Show, Racing Optics showed off their RO Windshield protector   - a multi-layer, removable optical film for the INDYCAR Aeroscreen.

Racing Optics, Inc. is a family-owned business founded in 1999 by Bart, Steve and Seth Wilson with a rich racing heritage as Dempsey Wilson, Bart and Steve’s father, and Seth’s grandfather, began building and racing cars after World War 2.  Dempsey reached the pinnacle of open-wheel racing in 1958 when he qualified for his first of four Indianapolis 500 starts.  Away from the track Dempsey ran "Dempsey Wilson Racing Cams," which manufactured and sold racing camshafts until his passing in 1971.

Check them out at https://www.racingoptics.com

Ford Performance 410 sprint car engine

Ford Performance 410 sprint car engine 

The Ford Performance Parts booth at the 2019 PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show showed off the new FPS (Ford Performance Stewart) 410 engine, a collaboration between Ford Performance, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing (TSR) and Durham Racing Engines to supply engines for the Tony Stewart Racing World of Outlaws sprint car team. 

Also on display was the Tony Stewart -Curb-Agajanian Racing Toco Warranty -Ford Performance -Curb Records -Sage Fruit -Absolute Automation & Security –sponsored World of Outlaws sprint car driven by Donny Schatz.

The FPS 410-cubic inch engine debuted on August 16 2019 at I-96 Speedway and on August 31 2019 Tony Stewart won an Interstate Racing Association (IRA) Outlaw Sprint Series event on Aug. 31 at the Plymouth (Wisconsin) Dirt Track.

Schatz scored the first FPS 410 victory in the World of Outlaws (WoO) NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on October 18 2019 at Lakeside Speedway in the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown after he scored two podium finishes with the new engine at Williams Grove Pennsylvania.

In seven 2019 races with the new engine, Schatz won two races and collected six podium finishes. Schatz, a 10-time champion lost the 2019 WoO championship by four points to Brad Sweet – the closest championship battle in the Series’ history- but will have the new FPS 410 engine for the entire 2020 season whenever it starts.

Photos by the author 

A variety of open-wheel race cars 

at the 2019 PRI show

The 2019 Performance Racing Industry trade show features every conceivable type of race car on display, but today we focus on short-track open-wheel cars 

Zeb Wise's USAC midget was at the Z-Max booth 

Justin Grant's NOS Energy midget was at the USAC Racing booth 

Logan Seavey's 2018 USAC Championship winning midget 

at the Mobil 1 oils booth. This Toyota-powered  car also won the 2018 

USAC car owner title  for Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb/Agajanian racing

This Toyota Racing Development winged sprint car at the 

Mobil 1 display was the focus of the TRD announcement 

of their development of an engine for the Word of Outlaws 

Kyle Steffens' USAC Silver Crown car 

in the Performance Plus Global Logistics booth.

Not only is P Plus his sponsor, Kyle is the Global Sales Director 

All photos by the author 

A close look at a NASCAR Whelen™ Modified at PRI 2018

The NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Racing) booth at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show displayed the #46 Goodie Racing 2018 Chevrolet NASCAR Whelen™ modified driven by Craig Lutz and sponsored by Riverhead Building Supply. Goodie Racing is owned by Riverhead Building Supply owners Russell and Jeff Goodale with crew chief Douglas Ogiejko. 

The 106-inch wheelbase LFR Enterprises chassis built in West Boylston Massachusetts is powered by a 610-horsepower NASCAR-spec  364-cubic inch Robert Yates Racing engine  based on  GM LS2 block  with LS2 CNC ported heads fed by an 830 CFM (cubic feet per minute) Holley carburetor. The Spec engine is not “sealed” and NASCAR rules do allow teams to assemble, disassemble and rebuild the engine but no modifications to the components are allowed. 

Craig Lutz from Miller Place New York finished in fifth place in the 2018 NASCAR Whelen™ modified tour points in his first full season with Goodie Racing.  With three races completed in the 17-race 2019 NASCAR Whelen tour Lutz is in 14^th place in the standings with one top ten finish.

 Check out the NASCAR Whelen™ site at https://hometracks.nascar.com/regional/whelen-modified-tour/ and LFR Enterprises at https://www.lfrchassis.com/

A cut-away dirt late model at PRI 2018 

The Goodridge Racing booth at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry trade show in Indianapolis Indiana featured a cut-away 2019 Lazer late model chassis to show off Goodridge’s new line of G-Line Ultra PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) lined hose which features an Aramid and stainless steel outer braid for lightweight and high strength with full vacuum resistance up to 200 degrees Celsius (nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit).

The first Lazer Chassis was built in Jonestown Pennsylvania in 1978 by the Bernheisel family, who still run the company which sells parts, chassis, bodies and offers repairs and set-up assistance to their customers.  In 2018, six (6) Lazer Chassis late model racers combined to collect eight (8) track championships, and Lazer Chassis drivers recorded 55 victories during the 2018 season.  

All photos by the author 

Check out the Goodridge products at their website at  https://goodridge.com/ and the Lazer chassis website at https://lazerchassis.com/chassis_lm.html

An update on Larry Dixon Jr.'s 

two-seat dragster 

On April 11 drag racer Larry Dixon Junior filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Glendora, California, based national Hot Rod Association (NHRA) with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis. Dixon’s suit accused the sanctioning body of wrongfully suspending him and blacklisting him two years ago, which has deprived him of his livelihood. The plaintiffs in the suit are Championship Adventures, LLC, Larry Dixon, and Larry Dixon Racing, LLC.

According to the suit, Dixon, with 62 career NHRA victories and his investment partner Nick Salamone, a Philadelphia-area businessman, spent two years and “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to develop a unique two-seater car that caters to the popular fan-experience trend.  

Larry Dixon in happier times 

at the 2017 SEMA show

The two-seat dragster unveiled 

at the 2017 SEMA show

Dixon said the NHRA supported the idea he pitched it to NHRA officials in 2016, but the trouble began when the vehicle went on display at the Traxxas booth at the 2017 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) trade show in Las Vegas Nevada. Dixon distributed a press release unveiling Larry Dixon Top Fuel Experience, billing it as the “fastest ride in drag racing.”

Larry Dixon Jr.'s two-seat dragster 

as shown at the 2018 PRI show 

Dixon’s complaint claims that on the opening day of the trade show, an NHRA official “strategically visited Championship Adventures’ booth at a time when Mr. Dixon was not there and conducted an unauthorized ‘inspection’ of the prototype of the two-seater car.” 

The NHRA official spotted an expired NHRA safety inspection sticker in the car, which Dixon said was there “simply because the chassis for the prototype for the two-seater dragster was originally a car that had competed in the NHRA.” Dixon argues was that “no one had removed the sticker, as there was no need to remove an expired sticker when the car was not built as a competition car.”

Days after the SEMA show the NHRA issued a “statement of action against participant” notice which claimed Dixon had violated NHRA rules and suspended him indefinitely as a driver, team owner or crew member. Dixon’s suit alleges that the NHRA’s action was “an obvious effort to use NHRA’s unfettered control over professional drag racing to control the market in which two-seater exhibition cars compete for business.”

The complaint said Dixon “has now been entirely deprived of his livelihood and sole source of income by this unjustifiable suspension — which is, in effect, a lifetime ban from NHRA — unless he relinquishes an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as the future profits that he could derive from that investment.”

All photos by the author 

Trent Stephens’ ISMA supermodified

The Schaeffer’s specialized lubricants booth at the 208 PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show in Indianapolis Indiana featured the ISMA (International Supermodified Association) race car driven by Trent Stephens of Talmadge Ohio to an eighth-place finish in the 2018 ISMA points.

During the 2018 11-race season, Trent who has three career ISMA victories, scored two fifth place finishes, with four other top ten finishes.    

The #19 car, owned by Steve Stout’s ACME Racing team, in addition to the typical supermodfied details such as extreme offset engine location, push-rod front suspension and air cylinders which allow the top wing to “plane” on the straightaways, also sports a very unusual cantilevered rear suspension.

During the 2018 PRI show, Steve Stout announced that the ACME Racing team will expand to a two-car program for 2019 with 2015 and 2016 ISMA champion Dave Shullick Jr. joining to drive the #49 supermodfied. 

In 2019, ISMA’s forty-third season of operation the racers have a 13-race schedule with two visits each at Oswego Speedway, Delaware (Ontario) Speedway, and Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway.

Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants founded in 1839 in St. Louis Missouri offers engine oils, greases, hydraulic and transmission fluids, gear lubes and fuel additives for the agriculture, trucking, food, heavy construction and racing industries. Check them out at  https://www.schaefferoil.com/