Tag: BangShift 1320

Motion Raceworks Rocky Mountain Race Week Daily Coverage: Day One Action From Thunder Valley

Sep 25, 20211320 Event Coverage, 1320 Spotlight, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, DRAG RACES, Event Coverage, RACING & ACTION, Videos

Motion Raceworks Rocky Mountain Race Week Daily Coverage: Day One Action From Thunder Valley

Rocky Mountain Race Week is in the books, and we were traveling the route with all these folks so we could bring you the FREE livestream that we had going all week long. It was a week full of fun, adventures, carnage, and more, but even if you were there you wouldn’t have been able to see it all. There is that much going on! But thanks to the folks at Motion Raceworks we’ve got more cool video coverage from the entire week and we’re going to share it all with you one day at a time. They were on-site with their parts merch trailer and were helping people out with great stuff all week long. This is the first video from Day One at Thunder Valley in Noble Oklahoma, which means everyone is racing and there is no on road carnage or anything yet. This is the day where everyone thinks everything is great and that they can win this whole thing. Spirits are high. At least until the racing gets going.

Why? Because some of these poor folks are going to tear their stuff up before they ever get to leave the first track. The good news is that they have all night to work on them because we don’t leave for the next track until the next morning, and the drive isn’t horrible from Thunder Valley to the Texas Motorplex in Ennis. Plus, there is the World’s Largest Summit Racing Equipment store on the way and it’s full of great parts to fix most anything.

Between Summit and the Motion Raceworks trailer full of parts, there was no shortage of new stuff going on hot rods Sunday night.

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What To Pack In Your Drag Week Or Race Week Trailer: Motion Raceworks Thought They Might Show Us How It’s Done

Sep 08, 20211320 Spotlight, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, RACING & ACTION, Videos

What To Pack In Your Drag Week Or Race Week Trailer: Motion Raceworks Thought They Might Show Us How It’s Done

With both Rocky Mountain Race Week 2.0 and Drag Week coming up in the next couple of weeks, there is a lot of thrashing going on around the country as folks get ready to go and race. And besides the building of cars, finishing of engines, and all that goes into making a car ready to both drive and race, there is then the loading of all the crap you have to haul in order to be self sufficient. Yes, you can stop and buy parts, yes you can stay in a hotel, yes you can ask strangers and fellow competitors for help, but you can’t have anyone carry anything you need to keep you or the car alive otherwise. That means you have to haul your own spares, tools, luggage, etc. regardless of what kind of vehicle you are in. For many folks that means a trailer is in order, and with a rule mandating a maximum trailer size of 4 feet by 8 feet, you have to be smart with what you bring and how you pack it.

Because of these challenges, there are a lot of different ideas on what makes the best Race Week trailer setup, but one thing that never changes is the need to pack 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. Here are some tips and tricks from Doug at Motion Raceworks on how to do it right, and make sure you bring the right things, as he packs his trailer for his 7 second Nova.

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Huffer Hospital: Watch NHRA Crew Chief Rob Wendland Save A Blower That’s Lived A Hard Life

Jul 06, 20211320 Drag News, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, BangShift News, ENGINES, MISC, RACING & ACTION, Videos

Huffer Hospital: Watch NHRA Crew Chief Rob Wendland Save A Blower That’s Lived A Hard Life

When it comes to guys who know every inch of a top fuel dragster or nitro funny car, NHRA crew chief Rob Wendland is in elite company. Having won races as a driver and a tuner and having lived his whole life in the sport of straight line competition, Wendland is uniquely qualified to tackle just about any job you can think of, including the work of saving a top fuel blower that has seen better days.

Wendland served as the crew chief for Terry McMillan’s top fuel operation for years and they were always a team that did more with less. It was not ever about out-spending anyone there but it was about using all your resources as smartly and as efficiently as possible. We’re hoping to get Rob and Terry back on the tour as soon as possible. But we digress.

In this video we’re in Rob’s shop and he’s got a blower from a lower budget NHRA top fuel team that needs some serious help. Over the course of the video we see some procedures, some tools, and some tech that we’ve never seen before. The amazingly trick cutter from DMPE is but one example. The process and procedure of not only rebuilding the blower but actually repairing the rotors and the case is great and detailed.

We dig Rob’s honesty at the end of the video when he mentions the fact that the work he did here is above and beyond what most would do, but since this is a supercharger from a smaller team who is not racing for the title, it made the most sense for time and money.

This is some really neat stuff!

Press play blow to see Rob Wendland save a top fuel supercharger that’s had a hard life –

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Apollo Video: Check Out This Neat 1960s Footage Of The Grumman Lunar Rover Prototype – Weinermobile In Space?

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Autopsy Of A Dyno Mule: Real St Performance Tears Down A Stock Block and Crank 1,850hp 2JZ To Check Its Guts

Mar 03, 20211320 Drag News, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, BangShift News, ENGINES, MISC, Videos

Autopsy Of A Dyno Mule: Real St Performance Tears Down A Stock Block and Crank 1,850hp 2JZ To Check Its Guts

Engines tell us things when we take them apart after they’re used, right? We look to see how things are wearing, what stuff is wearing and shouldn’t and what we can do better the next time we put one together. In this case we join the crew at Real St Performance, one of the neatest and most accomplished shops in the country. These guys are wizards with a lot of stuff but the 2JZ engine platform is definitely their wheelhouse. The engine you are going to see being taken down was build to be used as a dyno mule to test a new piston design for the Toyota inline six. You’ll see what worked, what didn’t and what these guys learned from the component inspection.

What we dig most about this video is the honesty. It would have been easy to pull it down and say, “Yep, everything is awesome and we wouldn’t change a thing, we crushed it!” Well, they did crush it because the thing made 1,850hp with a stock block and crank but the parts in a few places were not the happiest. Not the stuff you may be expecting, either, and maybe not for the reasons you are expecting.

Engine forensics at their finest. Check out this gnarly 2JZs guts!

Press play below to see this cool teardown video of a Toyota 2JZ –

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Hot Hot Heat: Watch These Centrifugal Clutches Pushed To The Failure Point In Slow Motion!

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Mountain Of A Man: Sonny Leonard Has Passed At Age 77 – Legendary Engine Builder Leaves Amazing Legacy

Jan 10, 20211320 Drag News, 1320 Spotlight, BangShift 1320, BangShift News

Mountain Of A Man: Sonny Leonard Has Passed At Age 77 – Legendary Engine Builder Leaves Amazing Legacy

(Photo by Charles Wickam) – One of the most legendary drag racing engine builders of all time has died at age 77. Sonny Leonard who pioneered massive cubic inch engines, lead the way in classes like mountain motor pro stock, radial vs the world, pro modified and more, has left this mortal coil. Leonard was afflicted by pneumonia at the end of December and was seemingly recovering before he passed away yesterday. It is hard to sum up what the man meant to the sport of drag racing but when one begins to think about the fact that his engines won 13 IHRA mountain motor pro stock championships, have dominated in truck pulling, and have honestly set the gold standard for what it means to be a cutting edge engine builder in both sports, it only begins to scratch the surface of who he was and what he did.

His story is one of humble beginnings. It is one of measured growth that turned into a cascade of demand that he worked much of his life to keep up with. One of his engines can be found in the Game Over boat of Mike Finnegan. Attend a PDRA event or any race where classes like top sportsman or dragster are being run and you’ll see that famed Sonny’s logo on hood scoops, valve covers and more.

Owning an engine from his works was and will continue to be an aspirational goal for so many drag racers it is nearly impossible to imagine. Regarding the business that produces these awesome engines, they will carry on. Here’s their statement, “As most of you have heard, unfortunately Sonny passed away this morning. He will will be deeply missed beyond what words can describe, but we want to reassure our customers that Sonny’s Racing Engines will continue to thrive and remain open for business.”

Beyond building things like a 1,005ci engine that made 2,000 naturally aspirated horsepower, winning all those races, and changing the sport, Leonard was a fantastic man. He was a joy to be around, to listen to, and to learn from. If you could spend time around Sonny Leonard and not smile or laugh, your life was severely out of whack. It was rare to see him without his glasses around his neck or without his trademark smile.

Sonny Leonard’s legacy will live on with his name, his business, and the beastly engines that he forged a trail in creating, engineering, and tuning into winners. Most importantly it will long live in the memories and fond feelings his friends and family have for him. Anyone that knew this man was richer for the experience.

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Mucho Dinero: This Authentic and Rare Pontiac Ram Air V Camshaft Has To Be The Most Expensive On eBay

Jan 05, 20211320 Online Find, Apex Online Find, BangShift 1320, BangShift APEX, BangShift News, eBay Find

Mucho Dinero: This Authentic and Rare Pontiac Ram Air V Camshaft Has To Be The Most Expensive On eBay

Thanks to BangShifter Troy Kellas we have been informed of what has to be the most expensive camshaft/lifters/pushrods ad on eBay. This authentic and rare Pontiac Ram Air V cam is listed for $5,000. The Ram Air V engine is the Holy Grail of Pontiac horsepower making in so many ways. The tunnel port heads, special intake manifold and exhaust, and the list goes on. Designed as race engines they were not really intended to have street manners, but this camshaft provides a wrinkle to that story. This General Kenetics ground cam is claimed to have been specified to allow for street driving with less radical lift and duration than the otherwise rowdy race camshaft that would have been in the engine.

We get that this thing is like one of none, we get that if you are a diehard Pontiac fan this camshaft has special meaning but is there really anyone out there who loves Pontiacs enough to throw down five freaking thousands dollars for this thing? It is exactly what the seller claims in the fact that it’s NOS stuff, it has never been run, it is still basically wrapped is some cosmoline looking stuff, etc.

It’s just huge dollars and for what? To tame down your Ram Air V engine? Don’t get us wrong. This is a cool piece of muscle car and specifically Pontiac history but man, $5,000 is wild.

eBay: Check out this listing for a real deal, never run, Ram Air V camshaft…bring money

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This G-body Pontiac Bonneville Runs 10.79 In Full Street-Legal Trim – Power And 1980’s Luxury!

Dec 04, 20201320 Videos, BangShift 1320, BUICK / OLDS / PONTIAC

This G-body Pontiac Bonneville Runs 10.79 In Full Street-Legal Trim – Power And 1980’s Luxury!

Australian gearheads have been yelling it at us for years: just because it has four doors doesn’t mean that it can’t haul ass and be cool. What could be more fun than hooning your car? How about doing it with a few passengers in the car screaming? Americans haven’t really taken to building up older four-door cars, instead viewing them as valuable parts cars…if it’s the right model. If it’s not, they will move on to whatever is next. Case in point is this 1984 Pontiac Bonneville. It’s an A/G body GM, which means that it’s related to the Chevrolet Malibu and to a slightly lesser degree, the Monte Carlo and all of the associated GM siblings. Those cars have followings, but when even the Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 Aerocoupe is looked down on as one of the lesser cars of the group, how well do you think the Bonneville sedan, with it’s pillowy interior and “contemporary styling” fared? Not well.

Except, maybe, for this one. Packing a 406 Chevy small block where the yawn-inspiring mill used to sit (whatever it was), the clean Bonnie is a stomper with license plates, running [email protected] in the quarter at Napierville Dragway in Quebec in 2009. The only thing keeping it off of the streets are the missing mufflers…everything else is there, down to the trunk carpeting and the smell of stressed vinyl in the interior. If it weren’t for the wheels, you’d just think that this Pontiac was stashed in a barn for a decade or so. If this Bonneville still exists, it needs to come out cruising on one of the race/drive events!

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Watch Al Hofmann Run The Table At The 1995 NHRA Finals And Needle John Force The Whole Tim He Does It

Dec 01, 20201320 Drag News, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, BangShift News, HISTORIC, MISC, RACING & ACTION, Videos

Watch Al Hofmann Run The Table At The 1995 NHRA Finals And Needle John Force The Whole Tim He Does It

If there is one thing we know it’s that one of the most fun parts of drag racing in the 1990s was the rivalry between John Force and Al Hofmann. No, Hofmann did not get around Force for a title during his reign of terror but he did beat him enough on race weekends to officially be a pain in his ass and the fact that he so loved doing it and telling the world that he loved doing it made the scene even better. In 1995 Hofmann finished second in the NHRA funny car points and seemed poised to really make some big noise in 1996. It did not necessarily work out that way but for this moment in time captured here on video, Al Hofmann was coming into John Force’s life like a freight train through his living room.

You are going to see Hofmann take on and take down Tony Pedregon, John Force, and then Cruz Pedregon all on the same day and in that order. Tony P almost got him, he puts an all-time gate job on Force, and Cruz has had so many problems that they had to go get a body from the NHRA Top Eliminator Club ceiling which was hanging there for decoration!

Wild and wooly times at the NHRA finals…which we hope will be back in Pomona next year.

Hit the image of smilin’ Al Hofmann to see his triumph at the 1995 NHRA Finals –

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The Race Car That Wasn’t But Is Now! The Story Of The McKee-Chevrolet Mahyra Is Funny And Awesome

Holley Intergalactic Ford Fest 2020: Welcome To The Blue Oval’s Burndown!

Oct 04, 20201320 Event Coverage, 1320 Gallery, Apex Event Coverage, Apex Gallery, Autocross / Pro Touring, BangShift 1320, BangShift APEX, BangShift Galleries, CAR SHOWS, Car Shows, DRAG RACES, Drag Races, Event Coverage, FORD, Gallery

Holley Intergalactic Ford Fest 2020: Welcome To The Blue Oval’s Burndown!

LS Fest came and went. MoParty had it’s first showing. That means that it’s time for Mustangs, for Cobras, for Broncos, and every other thing that wears the legacy of Henry Ford on it’s sleeve. Holley’s Ford Fest is on and going strong in Kentucky, and we’re on hand to take care of things. Chad is doing what Chad does best, which is to entertain crowds in the circle pit with his infectious delivery, and I’m running around shooting photos in-between trips to the swap meet to look for parts for two Mustangs that keep pestering me for attention. And it’s a good thing that the swap meet was there, because parts are comin’ home with me! But enough about that, you’re probably just here to see what was going on at the show. Well, I don’t blame you one bit. Only in it’s second year, the Intergalactic Ford Fest is proving once again to be wildly popular. You don’t suppose that it’s because Bigfoot V, the behemoth with the 10-foot-tall tires on it, was around and about, do you?

We’ve got plenty of photos coming, so just stay tuned…there’s lots of good stuff to come!

Be sure to click on a photo below to check out the first gallery from the 2020 Ford Fest!

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Watch a Fourth Gen Camaro Snap All 10 Wheel Studs and Lose Both Rear Wheels at the Strip!

Aug 27, 20201320 Videos, BangShift 1320

Watch a Fourth Gen Camaro Snap All 10 Wheel Studs and Lose Both Rear Wheels at the Strip!

Wheel hop is one of the most violent sensations that you can experience in a relatively stock car. Anyone who has owned a Mustang Cobra of the SN195 variety has probably lived through it on the street or the strip. We sure know that we have. Instead of a Mustang, this video features a fourth generation Camaro experiencing severe wheel hop on the drag strip, which results in the wheel studs on both side of the rear axle failing and the rear tires leaving the program in pretty wild fashion. The poor guy in the car had to be wondering what the heck had just happened!

This video was filmed at Beaver Springs Dragway, in Pennsylvania. It is an awesome little strip that is totally retro and cool in just about every way. The place hooks like mad and “Beaver Bob” who runs the place is a kind of cult drag racing legend. You can actually see daylight under the rear tires as they literally bounce off the ground while spinning. The multiple shock loads placed on those wheel studs with the tire the jumping off the asphalt and then slamming back down so many times in so quick a fashion spelled a quick end for the studs.

Watch the whole video and you’ll see that the dude actually installed new studs at the track that day and was back at it by the end of the afternoon. That’s a killer, BangShift approved, never say die attitude! Good that the car was not hurt badly and the Camaro lived to fight another day!

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