Tag: mopar

The Real Currency of Auto Racing

haganpiston-1By David G. Firestone

I’ve discussed the currency of commerce over the last couple of weeks. This week, I’m going to discuss the currency of auto racing. That currency is speed. Every race car driver wants speed out of their car. The more speed they have, the better chance they have to win the race. Every part of the car is designed specifically to produce as much speed as possible, within the letter of the law…or as close as possible to the letter of the law.

Speeds reach new levels in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. 10,000 horsepower, nitromethane fueled cars can reach speeds well over 330 MPH in just under 4 seconds. To be the fastest in this sport, you have to have the right parts, the right crew chief, the right driver, and the right equipment. When these four come together in a run, it’s something beautiful.

Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota isn’t known as a place where records get broken. In 2015, it seemed as though there might not be an event there at all, as severe weather damaged many of the facilities on July 12. The racing community rallied around, and got the track ready for their race on the weekend of August 20-23.

The weather was really cold for August, and when the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals kicked off, the four pieces that make up the currency of racing came together, and led to some monumental runs. The first was a qualifying run which saw Driver Suit Blog favorite Fast Jack Beckman run 1000 feet in 3.901 seconds in his funny car during qualifying, then backing it up with a 3.903 the next day. In top fuel, Antron Brown ran a 3.68, and the backed it up with a 3.696. Shawn Langdon ran a 3.662, but failed to back it up, thus not setting the official record, and getting the 20 bonus championship points it brings.

The big highlight for funny car at Brainerd was Del Worsham vs. Matt Hagan in an elimination round. During that run, Hagan ran a blistering 3.879 second elapsed time. This piston head came from Hagan’s car during that historic run.haganpiston-1The head itself is in decent condition, having some scrapes and scuffs. It also has some stuff etched into it. The number 75 is etched into both the top and bottom of the piston. Hagan and crew chief Dickie Venables have signed the side of the piston, and a Mopar logo and 3.879 have been added to the top.haganpiston-2 haganpiston-5 haganpiston-4 haganpiston-3 haganpiston-6Speed may be the currency of racing, but safety is another primary focus. Next week, the pit crew aspect of safety will be discussed. Until then, here are the record setting runs from Brainerd…

The Two Most Iconic Logos in Auto Racing Part 1

Mopar_logo.svgBy David G. Firestone

Anyone who says that auto racing “doesn’t really matter” has obviously never driven a car, or ridden in one. Technology developed for auto racing is so ingrained in car design in this day in age, that it is impossible to find a car company that doesn’t have a motorsports program. Companies will use racing as an extended R&D, testing part designs that will be implemented in real cars, albeit under much more strenuous conditions. Each car company will make parts in house, trying to keep prying eyes away from their designs, trying to get an edge on the competition.

Chrysler started their in-house brand in 1933. Their logo was D, C, P and D, for Dodge Chrysler, Plymouth, and Desoto. That didn’t exactly look and sound too good, didn’t really roll off the tongue, so in 1937, Nelson L Farley was in charge of a marketing group, trying to come up with a better name. They were working on motor parts, so they took MO from motor, and PAR from parts, and combined them into MOPAR. This would begin not only the name for Chrysler’s in-house program, but the beginning of an auto racing identity.

Between 1937, and 1963, the MOPAR logos varried, changing with the times, as many logos tend to do. In 1964, MOPAR started using the Omega M logo. It seemed like just another logo change, trying to keep up with the time. Little did anyone know that the Omega M would become not only iconic, but a part of Chrysler’s racing identity for 51 years. That same year, another Chrysler icon was released, the 426 Elephant Hemispherical engine, which would come to be known as the Hemi.

Suddenly and seemingly inexplicably, the Omega M became MOPAR’s identity. The logo was simple, distinctive, and worked. As Chrysler, Plymouth, and Dodge became more heavily involved with motorsports, the MOPAR logo became their banner. It became cool. Many car logos became cool, but the MOPAR logo was in a class by itself. Very few logos have remained unchanged for 51 years. But MOPAR has stood the test of time.

One of the other iconic logos inspired one of the most well-known bands of the 1990’s, and I will discuss that next time..

A Day At The Races

Scan0001By David G. Firestone

Every summer, I make a pilgrimage to two places, Jim’s Original and The O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet. This last week, I did both. Jim’s Original is still good, and the Route 66 Nationals are always fun.DSCN0798 DSCN0797 DSCN0787 DSCN0786 DSCN0785This year, I went on Saturday and Sunday. Normally I would only go on Saturday, but this year I decided to double the fun. I went with Argie, a friend from work, and I spent Saturday watching racing and wandering through the pits. NHRA tickets promise that “every ticket is a pit pass” and trust me, they more than live up to that claim. DSCN0781 DSCN0784 DSCN0796You can walk around the pits and watch as the teams setup cars before races and fix cars after races. The wear and tear on nitro cars is such that the entire engine has to be disassembled, repaired, and reassembled between races, sometimes in as little as 45 minutes. Needless to say, speed is paramount.DSCN0783I had been fortunate enough to get a pass to the Don Schumacher Racing hospitality tent. This not only got me the tickets, but also a chance to meet Tony Schumacher, and Ron Capps. I came into the tent a little later than normal, and I got to listen Tony talk to the crowd, and take questions. I got a chance to ask him something that I have always wanted to ask a driver… “What is the weirdest thing you have ever autographed?” Having done autograph signings since I was 5, I’ve seen a lot of odd stuff get autographed over the years, and I was interested in the answer. He responded that he has signed a lot of body parts, arms, legs, etc, and that his wife hates that.

A few minutes later, he mentioned that he wears a 5-layer firesuit, as well as two additional layers of fire protection. That adds up to a total of 7 layers. Most NASCAR suits make up 3 layers, with an additional layer underneath. Nomex is not a lightweight material, and on days like Saturday, when it was 88 degrees outside, that can get very uncomfortable. He is also credited with the aforementioned canopy to Top Fuel dragsters.

One thing I love to do is to buy race-used equipment from dragsters, and I did so this year as well. I bought a couple of valves from Tasca Racing, one large,tascavalve2-1and one small,tascavalve1-1Both show tremendous use, and have chips missing from them. Valves like these are used for one race and then replaced. The wear they go through for one run is very evident.tascavalve2-1 tascavalve2-4 tascavalve2-3 tascavalve2-2 tascavalve1-1 tascavalve1-2 tascavalve1-3 tascavalve1-4

The other race used piece of equipment is a gasket from Morgan-Lucas Racing. It shows a huge amount of wear, and is a very heavy, thick and durable gasket.morganlucasgasket-2 morganlucasgasket-1

It just wouldn’t be a race for me without getting some autographs.  I bought a Ron Capps funny car die cast, and had his sign it in person, and it looks really good.capps22 capps1 capps7 capps9 capps19I had a pair of gloves I wanted to get signed, and I did, by Tommy Johnson Jr.johnsonglove-1 johnsonglove-2 johnsonglove-8 johnsonglove-6 johnsonglove-5My favorite item it this brightly painted  helmet.  7-gordon1 7-gordon2 7-gordon3 7-gordon4 7-gordon5It was signed by Robby Gordon when I bought it7-gordon5a, and I got it signed by Clay Millian,7-gordon1a Terry McMillen, 7-gordon3aTony Schmacher, Tommy Johnson Jr.,7-gordon1bRon Capps,7-gordon1c and the legendary Shirley Muldowney.7-gordon2a

One thing I didn’t do as much this year was take pictures. I did take some, but not as many as last year. I did make a number of videos, as shown below.

That’s all for this week, I’ll return next week with a set of paint scheme reviews, and believe me, there are a lot of them!  Hope you are all having a fun summer!  Happy Belated Canada Day for our friends up North, Happy Fourth of July to my readers in the USA, and to everyone else, See you soon!