Centerline, MI -- For sometime now, Tim and I have been questioning the future direction of Pelech Bros. Racing. For the last few seasons, we’ve been competing in the Drive Train Specialists supported Super Modified class. But Super Mod just doesn’t hold the luster that it once did for us. In fact, I’m not sure that it ever really did. It may have been the place we went while we waited for the sanctioning bodies and promoters to fix the Super Street mess that they have perpetuated. Instead of treating the illness that afflicts the Super Street class, they have chosen to continue treating only the symptoms.
In spite of this, and after careful consultation with our Crew Chief, Jeff Prock of Applied Nitrous Technology, we have decided to go back to racing in the Super Street class.
Super Street is where we started our “Street Legal” drag racing endeavor and you might say it’s where our roots are. We’re greatly intrigued by the proposition of racing our car 500 pounds lighter at the 2600-pound weight break afforded to small cubic inch nitrous combo in Super Street.
The preparation for this project is already well under way. Parts are coming & going and several long hours are being put in at the shop. All of the composite body panels and lexan windows allowed by the rulebook are en route to the Pelech Bros. Racing compound. It’s unfortunate that it’s come to carbon, lexan, titanium, and aluminum for a nitrous car to have a chance to compete, but there is no conceivable way that you can get one of these cars down to 2600-pounds without it.
Besides investing in fly weight components, we’ve spent countless hours, a dozen or so cut-off wheels, two roto-broaches, a couple of saws-all blades, and two trips to the eye doctor to pick debris out of my eyes (Yes Mom – I was wearing my safety glasses). We’re butchering any extraneous weight out of our car that we think we can legally get away with. I just hope that the car doesn’t wad itself up like a ball of tin foil at the first drop of the trans-brake button.
But weight loss isn’t the only improvement that we have slated for our racecar.
For starters, we’ll be racing our trusty 420-cubic-inch big block Chev that we’ve raced for a few years now, but with a few minor performance enhancements. We’ve added a dry sump oil system to free up a few horsepower and keep the Royal Purple motor oil flowing to the Federal-Mogul bearings. We’ve also gone to a far more efficient cooling system. It seems that cooling is becoming an increasingly important aspect of high-end nitrous injected engines.
Diamond Pistons spent some time analyzing our pistons and they’ve just come across with their next generation of nitrous piston for our recipe. The modifications are clearly noticeable. The same can be said for our ET Performance prepared cylinder heads. The crew at ET is hard at work addressing our valve-train stability concerns and also implementing the new advancements that they’ve made in air flow and port design. With the improvements in performance that we saw after switching to out ET Performance cylinder heads, I’m fired up to see what the net result of these latest enhancements will be.
From all-out, maximum effort cylinder heads to something a little tamer, if it’s technologically advanced, top quality products & services that you’re looking for, give ET Performance a call or visit their website to see what they can do for you. And don’t forget; they’re also an NSCA contingency sponsor.
On a related side note; Business is booming at ET Performance and as a result; they’re expanding. That fact alone speaks for itself. It says a lot about the quality of the products & services that they offer and it also shows that the performance market has taken notice of what they’re doing. As you read this, ET Performance is putting the finishing touches on their massive expansion project. When they’re done, we’ll be taking you inside ET Performance for an up close look at exactly who they are, what they do, and what the future holds for them.
GRP connecting rods will be transferring the piston pushing power to our crankshafts. GRP has this trick aluminum alloy that they have specifically concocted to take the abuse that high revving, nitrous huffing racing engines are known to dish out.
Davison, Michigan’s A&A Machine Shop has finished giving our blocks a fresh hone and rebalancing our crankshafts to the new Diamond pistons & GRP connecting rods.
We’re pleased to again have the Federal-Mogul family of engine components supporting us. Fel-Pro gaskets will be providing the air & liquid tight seal that keeps the good stuff in our engines and the bad stuff out. And speaking of good stuff, Speed-Pro rings and bearings will be utilized through out our rotating assembly.
And speaking of rotating, it’ll once again be Hoosier Racing Tires that rotate the racetrack under our car, only this time it’ll be with Hoosier’s 10.5W tire. If the 10.5Ws are as good as the larger Hoosiers we were running, superior traction will not be a problem.
We’re also very happy to announce that Clinton Township, Michigan’s AP Engineering has joined Pelech Bros. Racing this season.
In case you not already familiar with AP Engineering; their specialty is LS-1 high performance. Some of the baddest LS-1s in the nation have rolled out of their facility. But don’t think that they are limited to GM products; they work with all brands.
AP Engineering offers full race engine machining & assembly services and a great in-car engine tuning service, utilizing their on-site chassis dyno. They also provide bolt-on performance services with minor fabrication capabilities. Then there’s AP Engineering’s mail-order parts desk, which offers many of the racing industries finest parts at prices that are comparable with many other mail order companies out there but with more personal service.
AP Engineering is expertly qualified to be your complete high-performance source.
If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool, pipe hittin’ NSCA racer, you need to give AP Engineering a call. They are offering some great discounts on just about any part you can think of and also on the various services that they offer. Their number is 586 954-3181 and be sure to tell them that you saw this special offer on PelechBrosRacing.com.
Soon, all of these engine enhancements will be subjected to an extensive dyno-ing session with noted nitrous tuner Jeff Prock of Applied Nitrous Technology. After Jeff is completely satisfied with the results he’s seeing on the dyno, we will quickly prepare the car for on-track testing.
We’ll be maximizing our every effort to give us a competitive edge in this tough class.
We have the hardware and support of the best manufacturers in the racing industry along with an award winning crew chief that leads our dedicated and skilled group. I’m not going to stand at the pulpit and preach how fast we’re going to be and how we’re going to win, win, win… But with serious preparation, I do honestly believe we have all of the key components in place to go fast and win some rounds. And if a little luck comes our way, we might even be able to steal an event win or two.
We’ll find out soon.
Ted & Tim Pelech
Pelech Bros. Racing
