Archive for February, 2012

Dealer Expo 2012 Recap

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

Goodson Booth at Dealer Expo 2012Just got back from the Dealer Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was our second year at this show as Goodson had been a part of V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati for many years when we were launching our Hard Parts Line from AV&V for the Harley-Davidson applications. However when Goodson released the new metric valves, guides and spring sets from AV&V we naturally had to migrate to a show that would provide both types of Engine Builders for both V-Twin and Metric Powersports applications. Now this being our second time at this show I was impressed that many of you made it a point to stop by the booth. I want to thank all of you who picked up the catalog and I have to remember to bring more CDs next time. We were next door to Winona Van Norman as they had us engine builders in the “maintenance” section of the show. I guess I never thought of engine builders as maintenance, changing oil is maintenance, but that is where we were.

Dealer Expo Speed-BumpWe had a speed bump just past the our booth. This speed bump was created to cover a seriously heavy duty electrical cord that was feeding juice to Winona Van Norman. Well as you can imagine with a speed bump right smack in the walking path of the attendees that maybe a few people would trip over as they migrated past. Well, on day one we counted 129 trips. On day two we counted 123 trips and on day three there were 116 trips. Now keep in mind nobody actually fell and I assure you nobody got hurt but every 100 person that tripped was awarded a Can Coozie, or Hat or a T-Shirt.

This year the Dealer Expo showcased the addition of a V-Twin Dealers section. This is good to see as it brought in the V-twin /Harley Davidson dealers and especially the engine builders from that segment. Even though it did not have all of the same vendors from the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati and I am sure that this new section will continue to grow over time.

I have to admit when it comes to trade show I do have another reason to be there. Hi my name is Dave and I am a “sticker-a-holic.” Yeah that’s me. I am the guy who scurries down each and every aisle asking for a company sticker for my collection. My goal is to have the largest sticker collection in the world by the time I retire. I have been doing this for the better part of 27 years and my collection is quite good. My wife thinks I am completely crazy to have this addiction but in my mind it actually keeps me quite sane. So when you see me next time and have some extra company stickers………………please, please, please can I have one?

See ya on the web,

Dave Monyhan

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Results for the 28th Annual Arizona Nationals – Feb. 17-19, 2012 – Phoenix, AZ

Monday, February 20th, 2012

CHANDLER, Ariz. – SUMMIT FastNews – Results of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 28th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals:

Top Fuel
W/L Driver R-Time E-Time Speed

(W) Antron Brown (Matco Tools/Aaron’s Dragster) 0.054 3.793 319.82
(L) Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army Dragster) 0.057 3.813 318.17

Funny Car
W/L Driver R-Time E-Time Speed

(W) Robert Hight (Auto Club Mustang) 0.086 4.139 307.02
(L) Mike Neff (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.084 4.168 309.91

Pro Stock
W/L Driver R-Time E-Time Speed

(W) Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment GXP) 0.042 6.558 211.69
(L) Greg Anderson (Summit Racing Equipment GXP) 0.041 6.570 211.06

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WILK CARRIES POSITIVE MOMENTUM INTO PHOENIX

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

PHOENIX (February 14, 2012) — Tim Wilkerson started the 2012 season this past weekend in Pomona, with a new car, three new crew members, and a recent history of early-season frustration that confounded him. He then squeaked into the field in the 14th spot while worrying if his team could handle the quick turn-arounds needed on race day. In the end, he pounded out a win in round one with a huge 4.06, then watched as his crew swapped motors and got him back to the lanes in time for round two. In four short days, he felt his team had grown, his performance was on track, and that things were generally all moving in the right direction for his Levi, Ray & Shoup organization.

With little time to rest, Wilk now brings his LRS Shelby Mustang to Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, for the running of this weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals, and he’s pumped up to maintain the progress and momentum.

“You normally kind of look for things like a team coming together or the car coming around in terms of months or even a year, so it’s kind of funny that we could see both of those things happening over the course of four days in Pomona,” Wilkerson said. “We got better as a team every day we were there, and the car ran better as we went along. We’re not where we want to be yet, with the crew or the car, but we made a ton of progress and that’s all you can ask. The guys are working hard, giving it every ounce of energy and focus they have, and if they keep doing that they’re going to become a really great unit, and the car will reflect how well they work together.

“The hard part is just getting the repetition for the guys, because we don’t have the wherewithal to go run the wheels off the car in testing. We entered Pomona with about six laps of experience as a group, and then in qualifying there we only made one lap a day, for three days, so they never had to thrash and get it turned around under pressure. Well, we blew it up in round one and had to swap motors, so they found out early what that’s like. We weren’t as efficient as we want to be, but they learned with that deal. Now, we go right to Phoenix without a break and the guys will be right back at it. All I want to see is that they keep making progress. That’s our goal.”

This trip to Firebird Raceway is a unique one, coming just a few months after the tour last visited Phoenix. Traditionally an early-season winter race, coming right on the heels of Pomona, last year’s Phoenix event was shifted to the fall and held in mid-October. Now back in its familiar February slot, the Phoenix race should provide better action on a cooler track.

“I think we raced on about a 135-degree track last fall, if I remember correctly,” Wilkerson said. “A track that hot might make for a lot of excitement, in terms of pedal-fests, but I think the fans and the racers will always prefer a cool track and low elapsed times. At this time of year, it’s probably going to be in the 70s while were there, so the track ought to be tight and the racing should be great.

“I think we have a reputation for being a hot-weather team, but I also think that reputation is outdated. We can still give people fits on a hot track, but I went after that 4.06 in the first round at Pomona for a reason. I wanted to see if we could really get after it on a cool track, and we did, so I don’t think we need a hot track to even things up for us at all. We can run with the best, and we plan to do that this weekend. I’m pretty excited about what we can accomplish this year, and we’re all ready to see what we can do in Phoenix. As long as we just keep making progress, I’ll be happy.”

If Tim Wilkerson and his LRS team continue to make progress and maintain their momentum, the legions of Wilk Warrior fans around the world could have plenty of reasons to be happy, and those smiles could come as early as this weekend.

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Race Results for 52nd Annual O’Reilly NHRA Winernationals

Monday, February 13th, 2012 
Top Fuel
 W/L  Driver                                     R-Time    E-Time  Speed

 (W) Spencer Massey (FRAM/Prestone Dragster)     0.049      3.750 325.77
 (L) Antron Brown (Matco Tools/Aaron's Dragster) 0.036      3.794 320.43

Funny Car
W/L  Driver                                     R-Time    E-Time  Speed

 (W) John Force (Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustan 0.067      4.080 315.64
 (L) Mike Neff (Castrol GTX Mustang)             0.175      4.036 316.82

Pro Stock
W/L  Driver                                     R-Time    E-Time  Speed

 (W) Greg Anderson (Summit Racing Equipment GXP) 0.027      6.549 210.87
 (L) Jeg Coughlin (JEGS.com/Mopar Avenger)       0.017      6.586 209.62

For additional classes or to see the Points Race Recap, visit NHRA.com

Read the Recap of the Finals at NHRA.com

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Kalitta Enters the 2012 NHRA Season with New Optimism and New “Pipe”

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2012) – Doug Kalitta, driver of the 8,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster, believes that his chances of taking home the Full Throttle Top Fuel championship trophy got substantially better during the offseason with the addition of a new “horse” to the Kalitta Motorsports stable. Kalitta and his Team Kalitta teammates return to 300+ mph action this weekend, Feb. 9-12, at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif.

During a much milder than normal winter in Michigan, Kalitta and his Kalitta Air team were delivered some new “pipe” in the way of a new dragster chassis built by Brad Hadman to the team’s world headquarters in Ypsilanti. It’s the first new hot rod for Kalitta in five years, and it has the 15-year Top Fuel veteran beaming like a child with a shiny new toy at Christmas.

“Yeah, we’re really excited to see what we can do with our new race car,” Kalitta, a 47-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “We also changed the body of the car, too, from a one-piece carbon fiber body to a paneled carbon fiber one. It’s a pretty drastic change, but we’ve already seen it paying dividends in pre-season testing where we ran our quickest lap ever at 3.78 (seconds).

“I’m really optimistic about the 2012 season. I probably say that at the beginning of every season, but we really feel like we’re moving in a positive direction, as far as performance goes, with our team. I think we’re going to win some races this year and be far more competitive, hopefully starting off with a good showing in Pomona.”

Kalitta won the Winternationals in 2009.

Kalitta has amassed 32 NHRA Top Fuel title trophies in 64 final-round appearances. He has finished in the top ten in Full Throttle championship points in every year of his straight-line career. He was the 1994 USAC National Sprint Car champion.

Event Schedule

The NHRA Winternationals begin Thursday for the nitro-fueled classes with one qualifying session at 2:00 p.m. (PT). Another qualifying session takes place at 2:00 p.m. Friday. Two more qualifying attempts will take place on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. The top 16 qualified cars in each nitro class will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Times and dates subject to change.

ESPN2 TV Schedule

2/11/2012 Qualifying
11:00 PM-1:00 AM (ET)
2/12/2012 Eliminations
7:00 PM-10:30 PM (ET)

Times and dates subject to change.

About Kalitta Motorsports

Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 years, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.

Jeff Arend drives the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for Team Kalitta. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car. David Grubnic drives the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Funny Car, by Del Worsham on the Tequila Patrón Funny Car, and by Jim Oberhofer on the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as crew chief on the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster.

Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Candlewood Suites, ROCKY Boots, Red Line Oil, Technicoat Companies, OPTIMA Batteries, JEGS, and Mac Tools.

For more info about Kalitta Motorsports including exclusive content such as videos, photos and more, please visit www.teamkalitta.com. Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TeamKalitta. Like Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KalittaMotorsports. Check out videos about Team Kalitta on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/TeamKalitta

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Grubnic Ready to Charge Into 2012 NHRA Season with New Optima Batteries Top Fueler

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2012) – Native Australian David Grubnic, driver of the 8,000-horsepower Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster, has a new outlook and a newly-decorated, nitro-fueled hot rod as the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series gets rolling with the season-opening NHRA Winternationals this weekend, Feb. 9-12, at famed Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif.

When the action heats up on the 1,000-ft. Auto Club Raceway track this weekend, Grubnic will debut the colors of Optima Batteries as the primary sponsor on his 300+ mph race car. The new digs and recent pre-season testing performances have Grubnic brimming with optimism about the upcoming season.

“You bet, I’m very excited about getting started this season with the Optima Batteries dragster,” Grubnic, a 49-year old resident of Bozeman, Mont., said. “Our race car looks amazing and I think it’s going to put up some great numbers on the score board as well turn some heads in the grandstands. We’ve been working really hard in the offseason to come up with some new tuning combinations and we’ve already seen some great results from that during our pre-season testing last month.

“Pomona is such a special place to everyone that loves drag racing. My first Top Fuel race in the States was at the Winternationals in 1995. I think we have a really great shot at winning the trophy this year, and that would certainly be a highlight of my career.”

Grubnic, an 18-year Top Fuel veteran, earned his first career Top Fuel victory in Topeka, Kan. in 2005, becoming the first racer born outside North America to win an NHRA Top Fuel event. He has two wins in his career with 15 final-round appearances. Grubnic’s Optima Batteries Top Fueler is helmed by drag racing icon and team owner Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta who serves as crew chief.

Kalitta won the Winternationals as a driver in Top Fuel in 1967, his first of ten NHRA national event wins. Also in 1967, Kalitta swept the winter national events for the three major drag racing sanctioning bodies at the time by also winning the AHRA and NASCAR event titles.

Event Schedule

The NHRA Winternationals begin Thursday for the nitro-fueled classes with one qualifying session at 2:00 p.m. (PT). Another qualifying session takes place at 2:00 p.m. Friday. Two more qualifying attempts will take place on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. The top 16 qualified cars in each nitro class will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Times and dates subject to change.

ESPN2 TV Schedule

2/11/2012 Qualifying
11:00 PM-1:00 AM (ET)
2/12/2012 Eliminations
7:00 PM-10:30 PM (ET)

Times and dates subject to change.

About Kalitta Motorsports

Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 years, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.

Jeff Arend drives the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for Team Kalitta. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car. David Grubnic drives the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Funny Car, by Del Worsham on the Tequila Patrón Funny Car, and by Jim Oberhofer on the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as crew chief on the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster.

Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Candlewood Suites, ROCKY Boots, Red Line Oil, Technicoat Companies, OPTIMA Batteries, JEGS, and Mac Tools.

For more info about Kalitta Motorsports including exclusive content such as videos, photos and more, please visit www.teamkalitta.com. Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TeamKalitta. Like Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KalittaMotorsports. Check out videos about Team Kalitta on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/TeamKalitta

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Arend Set to Deliver More Wins Coming Off Best Season Ever

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2012) – Native Canadian Jeff Arend, driver of the 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car, completed the best season of his steering wheel-wrangling career last November at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.). This weekend, Feb. 9-12, he and the DHL “Yella Fellas” Funny Car team return to the historic race track for the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in hopes of carrying their successful momentum into the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Arend posted the best championship points finish of his career last year by finishing in eighth place in Full Throttle Funny Car points. He also earned a berth in the ultra-exclusive NHRA “playoffs”, the Countdown to the Championship, for the first time. The “flopper” veteran thinks No. 8 is great but he’s hoping for something in an even smaller size at the end of this season.

“It was very cool to put those No. 8 decals on our DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for this season,” Arend, a 49-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif., said. “We had been competing under my competition license number (170) for the past couple of years, so we were very happy to switch those out after our first top ten finish.

“I think we have all of the puzzle pieces in place to be competitive enough to win at every event this year. I know everyone on our DHL team is really looking forward to getting out there and improving on what we did last year. Sure, finishing in eighth was awesome, but now we have our goals set even higher. I think we’ll have at least a top five Funny Car this year. We’re going to be right near the top of the pack all year and hopefully have a shot at the championship in November.

“It’s always a blast racing in Pomona. I live about five minutes away from the racetrack so it is right in my backyard. We always have a lot of friends and family come out to the track with us at Auto Club Raceway and cheer on the DHL Funny Car team. Hopefully we can hoist a Winternationals trophy for them all at the end of the weekend.”

Arend has posted three wins in eight final-round appearances in his 18-year Funny Car career. He took over the controls of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for Kalitta Motorsports at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in 2008 after the tragic death of Scott Kalitta in a racing accident in June of that year.

Event Schedule

The NHRA Winternationals begin Thursday for the nitro-fueled classes with one qualifying session at 2:00 p.m. (PT). Another qualifying session takes place at 2:00 p.m. Friday. Two more qualifying attempts will take place on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. The top 16 qualified cars in each nitro class will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Times and dates subject to change.

ESPN2 TV Schedule

2/11/2012 Qualifying
11:00 PM-1:00 AM (ET)
2/12/2012 Eliminations
7:00 PM-10:30 PM (ET)

Times and dates subject to change.

About Kalitta Motorsports

Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 years, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.

Jeff Arend drives the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for Team Kalitta. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car. David Grubnic drives the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Funny Car, by Del Worsham on the Tequila Patrón Funny Car, and by Jim Oberhofer on the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as crew chief on the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster.

Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Candlewood Suites, ROCKY Boots, Red Line Oil, Technicoat Companies, OPTIMA Batteries, JEGS, and Mac Tools.

For more info about Kalitta Motorsports including exclusive content such as videos, photos and more, please visit www.teamkalitta.com. Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TeamKalitta. Like Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KalittaMotorsports. Check out videos about Team Kalitta on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/TeamKalitta

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WILK AIMS FOR QUICK START TO 2012 CAMPAIGN

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

POMONA, Calif. (February 6, 2012) — Tim Wilkerson and his Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang Funny Car team are, like other NHRA racers and fans, primed and ready for the 2012 season to kick off this weekend, at the 52nd Annual O’Reilly Winternationals in Pomona. This time around, though, Wilk would like to jump-start his season with big opening effort; something he has not been able to do over the course of many years. Stunningly, Wilkerson has not won a round at the Winternationals since 2004.

Starting the season with a new three-rail chassis, Wilkerson and his LRS squad took part in the annual January preseason testing session in south Florida, aiming to work out the kinks and expose any gremlins before things get started for real this Thursday. Although the team kept to a plan of running only 600 to 800 feet on all their test runs, Wilk is confident they accomplished their mission.

“For whatever reason, we’ve had a heck of a time getting out of the gate okay at Pomona, and we want to change that this year,” the popular driver said. “We took our testing very seriously, we had some good days at the track to help the team gel and fit in together, and the car ran really nice the whole time, so we feel like we’re miles ahead of last year. Hopefully, it pays off and we get some win lights this time around.

“If I could explain why we seem to have trouble at the Winternationals, I wouldn’t waste time talking about, I’d just fix it. We’ve qualified at the top, at the bottom, in the middle, and we’ve DNQd too, but the bottom line is that when Sunday comes around we’ve been pretty much whitewashed for a lot of years. It doesn’t seem possible that it’s been since 2004 that we won a round at the Winternationals, but I guess that’s right. In 2008, the year we lost the championship on the final day, we qualified number one and then still managed to lose in the first round. Since then, another DNQ in ’09 and then we just plain got whooped in 2010 and 2011. Maybe we’ll smarten up a little and turn things around this year.”

Although Wilk is well known for his ability to squeeze more horsepower and performance out of every dollar bill than many of his big-budget opponents, the significant expense of the trip to Florida was not only justifiable, he deemed the trip absolutely necessary. With a new car and three new crew members, the test runs were needed for many reasons.

“We saved some money and didn’t go to that testing session last year, and we started out the year looking like we were searching around and trying to figure it out,” Wilkerson said. “This year, we’ll be watching our budget as closely as we ever do, but to me it was pretty important for us to go down there and get ourselves ready to go. With three new crew guys, we’re still going to need some time to really come together, but at least we’re not going into the season completely cold.

“Now, here we are and our short little off-season is over. I don’t think most people realize just how short it is, when you factor in getting back to the shop from the Finals, then servicing everything and getting it all ready to go. You give the guys some time off over the holidays, and there just aren’t that many days before you’re packing it up and heading back out to start all over again. We’re ready, though, and all of us are excited to get out there and get a new season underway. The way I see it, we just need to stop giving the rest of the class a head start, so maybe this year we’ll come out strong and never look back. It would be neat to get back to Pomona in November, for the Finals, and be fighting for a championship. Then maybe we could look back to this race in February and see that a successful season started there.”

Effort made, kinks worked out, testing laps in the book. Now it counts, and Tim Wilkerson is intently focused on getting out of the gate strong. Let the games begin.

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