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K&N Air Intake Installation Video for 2009 to 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7L

3 Jun 2011

K&N has released an installation video demonstrating how simple it is to install a K&N air intake system on 2009 to 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7L. This informative video walks you through the removal of the factory air box and air filter assembly to installing K&N's power gaining air intake kit 77-1561KP. Most K&N cold air intakes can be installed in less than 90 minutes with common hand tools. K&N air intake 77-1561KP comes with a Million Mile Limited Warranty and its high flow air filter can go up to 100,000 miles before servicing is required, depending on driving conditions.

K&N testing of this air intake showed an estimated 10 horsepower gain at 4382 rpm on a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 with a 5.7 liter engine. K&N's 77-1561KP has an aluminum tube with a polished finish and an oversized air filter which replaces the restrictive factory setup. This installation video was provided to demonstrate the ease of installation and offer guidance when installing K&N 77-1561KP on your Dodge Ram 1500.

2009 to 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7L Air Intake Installation

This video provides a summary of the installation process but you should always refer to the 77-1561KP instruction sheet for full installation details. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Italy's Marco Belli on Leading the Italian Championship and Riding with Fast Freddie

2 Jun 2011

Riding laps with Freddie Spencer was a childhood dream come true for Belli.

"I really feel good this year," declared K&N sponsored, Marco Belli, referring to the likelihood of defending his 2010 Italian Championship. Belli felt a good deal of pressure coming into the 2011 season, what with having to prepare his bikes, peak in time for races, and still spend a satisfactory amount of time with his family. "But now I seem to have found a perfect balance and my form, and I really enjoy racing right now," adds Belli.

Marco Belli is so skilled he can race and hitchhike at the same time.

For Belli the answer came in Zen-like form, by not being as overwhelmingly concerned with results, he has allowed himself to ride more freely on the track, and as he says "I can totally express myself now. So I don't look too far ahead, and instead I stay more focused on one race at a time."

Last year Belli ended the season on a high-note by also winning the 2010 Mefo Flat-Track Cup, and then picking up where he left off, Belli started off 2011 by finding the checkered flag at the super fast Hippodrome in Treviso, Italy. Making that event even more special was Belli riding laps with childhood idol "Fast" Freddie Spencer.

A sneak peak at the new Zaeta Belli helped develop and will race at this year's Pikes Peak event.

Says Belli, "Riding laps with Freddie was better than winning, it is like a tattoo in my heart, believe me! Fast Freddie was a poster in my room when I was young. He was a hero. And now I had the opportunity to spend time with him on the track, as well as off the track along with my family. It was absolutely a superb experience. It was a dream come true sliding alongside him on the track. The entire time I was laughing under my helmet. Graziano Rossi was also riding with us so the emotion for me was very high. And Freddie is still really fast."

Belli became involved with K&N after meeting Marcel Blom a couple of years ago at the 2009 Eicma Milano Motorcycle Show. At that time Belli was racing short track in England and had already won three championships. He was also involved with the Italian Federation promoting racing in Italy at that time. Explains Belli, "Marcel immediately gave me great support and I've always been a huge fan of K&N products."

Along with winning the 2010 Italian Championship, Belli also won Mefo Flat-Track Cup.

Currently Belli is preparing for his third run at the mystical Pikes Peak in Colorado this June 26. In his first race up the mountain in 2008 Belli finished second in the 750 cc class riding a bored-out Supermoto KTM. The following year he rode another KTM, a standard version of the 690 Supermoto, and he finished third. This year Belli will ride a new bike.

"Last year I was involved with developing a new motorcycle project named "Zaeta," it's the first ever street legal flat-track bike," Belli says. "I was asked to contribute my experience in this motorcycle and it was great fun, mostly because I was able to collaborate with Graziano Rossi, Valentino's father. The Zaeta is a proper flat-track bike, its very light and very powerful, but also really short and very aggressive. So I'm going try and adapt it to the conditions of this particular race. I'll be racing a street version and I will try to beat my personal record which is about 12 minutes."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Slate Cummings Seals Up NHRA All-Stars Berth in Multiple Classes with Latest Stock Win

2 Jun 2011

Slate Cummings' Moser Engineering/K&N B/SA Firebird

Belle Rose, Louisiana and the NHRA Lucas Oil Division 4 Series event at No Problem Raceway Park was the latest stop on the Cummings Motorsports 2011 season schedule and it proved to be another very successful one for team driver Slate Cummings.

NHRA Lucas Oil Division 4 Series Racer Slate Cummings

Slate started off eliminations in his Moser Engineering/K&N B/SA Firebird with a freebie in round one when his opponent Thomas Gordon was unable to make the call and although Cummings has been in numerous situations over his racing career, he says starting with round two it got very interesting for him.

Cummings had round after round of heads up races.

"I've never seen four heads up races like that before on the way to the finals," he said of the way his side of the ladder played out. "We just swapped over engine builders and to have the power that we have is just an ungodly feeling. Jeff Taylor has just made that dang thing fly."

Cummings admits while he was feeling pretty stout about each round of eliminations, third round had him thinking a little more of his opponent. "When I had Jeff Adkinson, I wasn't really sure what he had or not. He has Jeff Taylor power, too and he's one of the fastest [B/SA] in the country. So, I was a little worried about him."

First, Cummings did what he needed to do at the tree, taking a .017 starting line advantage and still had no problem out running Adkinson, as the car also took care of its end of the deal posting a 10.298 to Adkinson's 10.478.

"You know, I have never actually got to run a race and say all I got to do is not go red," Cummings said of his reaction times. "You know, if you're green, you win. So I was set up on a mid-thirty and I've never been able to set up like that in a race before. Usually, I'm set high double-oh."

Cummings continued to put them on the trailer throughout his four heads up rounds, but for the final it was back to bracket mode as he would face the A/SA entry of Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. While Hidalgo had quite the starting line advantage, Cummings used his years of experience to drive a .005 margin at the stripe and a perfect 10.320 on his 10.32 dial and drove away with the Stock victory.

With the win, Cummings has now sealed his spot for the Jeg's All-Stars shootout in both the Stock and Super Stock categories. The All-Stars is an elite race where the best of the best from around the country, with representatives from each NHRA division squaring off for huge prize money and bragging rights, that will take place in July during the NHRA National event in Joliet, Illinois.

"I feel real good about that," he said of the upcoming shootout. "I've got a real good track record of being double entered in the All-Stars. I have the baddest team around and all kinds of folks who come with me to help and I have a new crew chief that just started with us last year. I have no worries, all I have to do is drive."

On top of Cummings elation with his new engine program this season, he was quick to point out that there are some things that he will not change and that's the use of K&N Oil and Air filters on each and every one of the Cummings Motorsports entries.

In addition to a full schedule of upcoming races for Slate and the rest of his family, which include Tulsa and the back to back NHRA Nationals in Bristol and Norwalk, Slate just happens to be looking forward to the end of the season.

He and his wife are expecting their very first child near the first part of this fall and soon they will know if it will be a boy or a girl. And in true Cummings Family Style, the way they find out the sex of their child will be an interesting one. "We're going to do it in a different way," he explained. "We are going to have a party and we aren't going to know the answer. We are going to have the doctor put it in an envelope. So we are going to have a cake made and have a party and when we roll this cake out, we'll cut it and whatever the color is that will tell us what it will be."

No matter a girl or a boy for Slate and his wife, this writer is sure a Cummings Motorsports JR Dragster is already in the works.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

K&N's Gary Stinnett Wins NHRA Super Comp Wally at Brainerd Divisional

2 Jun 2011

NHRA Super Comp Champion Gary Stinnett

It wasn't exactly the kind of weather one would expect to be racing in for Memorial Day Weekend, but Emporia, Kansas engine builder and reigning NHRA Super Comp Champ, Gary Stinnett certainly didn't seem to mind the chilly temperatures, nor did his Undercover Dragster.

Gary Stinnetts' NHRA Super Comp Dragster at Brainerd International Raceway

The venue for the latest event on his 2011 schedule has become a very special place for Stinnett, after all, the last two NHRA National events he participated in at Brainerd International Raceway [2009 & 2010], he came home with a victory and thanks to his most recent accomplishment at the facility, he may wish all his events were there.

"Going into the race, I was leading the Jeg's All-Stars [division] points in both cars, even though it was just a round or two in each car," he said. "So when I lost first round in Super Stock and the other guy won, I lost the berth to the All-Stars in that car, but I kept going rounds in the dragster."

"To be honest, I didn't really care to win them both, due to the fact that I've been the in the All-Stars multiple times and with two cars," he explained. "It's such a small field that trying to be in two classes is such a nightmare and pretty much ruins the odds of winning in either class. So, I wasn't wishing for my demise in one of the other, but it doesn't hurt my feelings that I'm only going there in one car."

For Stinnett to seal the deal for the All-Stars in Super Comp, he knew he needed to go at least round for round with the others who were right on his tail and based on his killer driving combined with a deadly consistent car over the course of the event, that was not a problem at all. A short while ago, Stinnett has made some changes to the new dragster that proved to be a very good move during a test session at Topeka. "With the way my lights were over the course of time runs and in eliminations, I am very optimistic for the rest of the year with the way that car is."

As he made his way through the rounds, it gave him the added confidence he needed to go on for the win. "That's the first time ever in the late rounds that I'm up there going, 'you know as long as I don't mess up, I cannot lose.' I'm not the big ego guy like that, I don't assume that I have anything won, but I knew if I just let off the button, the car was going to be thirteen or something and run a ninety. It was a really good feeling."

Stinnett continued to better his opponent's on the tree with very consistent reaction times, but even the best racer can use a little luck on their way to the final. His came in the semi-final when his scheduled competitor, Don Westra did not make the call. Even on his competition single, Stinnett posted a stout .013 light and a dead-on 8.908 ET on his way to the Super Comp final.

While he had a super starting line average all throughout the event, Stinnett saved his best reaction time for the final when he put up a .007, although he never needed it as his opponent Mike Kritzky shaved a little too much yellow off the tree and went .009 red, wasting his 8.909 pass.

Stinnett has the upcoming weekend off, before heading out to add more points to his early season totals in both his Super Stock and Super Comp entries, both loaded up with numerous K&N Engineering products.

"All of my vehicles have both K&N air and K&N oil filters," he said. "As an engine builder, K&N products are the top quality on the market. They are ahead of the rest when it comes to R&D and testing. Their filters have the least amount of restriction, yet do the job. I don't have the least bit of concerns with the quality of any K&N product, it's why you can put them on and not have to worry about them doing their job."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Paul Brown Feels Thrill of Victory and Agony of DNF at Pirelli World Challenge Mosport

2 Jun 2011

The K&N sponsored driver also said he couldn't be more proud or amazed by how his team has pulled together this year in such short time.

Anyone that had, has, or will have a Mustang, at some point fantasizes about driving the schnitzel out of it. It's a dream that comes as standard equipment with every one that's ever been manufactured. K&N sponsored driver, Paul Brown, is living that dream and then some. At the Pirelli World Challenge event contested at Mosport International Raceway, the Covina, California racer decisively won in the GTS class on Sunday at the Pirelli Grand Prix of Mosport Victoria Day Speedfest.

Paul Brown says this is his most competitive race season ever, he's already won the Grand Prix of Long Beach and now two Pirelli World Challenge events.

Commented Brown, "It should have been two, but some freak mechanical issue happened while leading the first race (Saturday) and I blew all the oil. We lost the championship lead with the DNF, but then got it back with the win. This was a very disappointing, and then rewarding weekend in one. We are now half way through the season."

On Sunday Brown started on pole and never looked back, driving his No. 50 K&N Filters Lucas Oil/Ford Mustang Boss 302S to his second GTS win of the season and the second of his career.

Explaining the DNF in the first race, which Brown also started on pole, he said, "The guys did a great job with the car, we had a good launch for the start, and by lap five I had a four second lead, when all of a sudden the windshield went gray and oil completely covered my view. Not to mention this happened at 140 mph, at the fastest spot in the track, and at 7600 rpm. I managed to get the car slowed enough not to hit anything and spin in my own oil. It was a freak mechanical issue that caused us to blow oil out. It didn't hurt the car, but it made a hell of a mess."

Brown confessed that he was absolutely gutted after that race, as the team's plans for the weekend were simply to play it safe, stay out of trouble, and get some points.

"We managed to get the bonus points for the pole, leading and running the fastest race lap. So it wasn't a total failure, but still hurt. As a result in qualifying for Sunday's race I knew we needed those points again and went for it," Brown said.

"We managed to stay second with the start, and I had a killer drive off turn five, where Ben Crosland had a little wheel spin. I was able to get through the corner cleaner, used the draft, and made a pass on the outside for lead," continued Brown. "After that, I just put my head down and worked on laps trying not to think about it. I was able to run consistently faster laps then the guys behind me, and built up a eight second lead when the caution came and I was thinking â€“ no, not again. In St. Pete I was leading each race when the caution came out and I lost the lead, and then got hit and put out of the race on the restart. But, once I saw it was a major three car wreck, luckily without injuries, I knew there was a chance it would finish under yellow, which it did, and we had win number two in the bag!"

Brown feels that 2011 is by far his most competitive season in the Pro Series, now that the team finally has the better equipment to work with. Making Tiger Racing's accomplishment even more impressive is that they are doing it with limited resources.

"The biggest problem we have is lack of budget, and knowing what we are going to need, and the issues we will run into. Even though I've been running Mustangs for 25 years, this is a brand new car and combination, and we are a very young team working together. It's been Adam Cox, my crew chief and head tech, Chris Filias, a young intern, and me. We are not only learning the car, but also each other, and having to gel in a very short amount of time. I couldn't be more proud of what we've accomplished in such a short time and with very limited resources. It's pretty amazing."

"The first half of the season has been great, but it's been more of a defensive play. Since getting crashed out in St. Petersburg we have been playing catch-up. So the two month break comes at just the right time, now we can catch our breath and plan for the last half of the season, and hopefully work on getting some additional support. We'd like to come out swinging on offense for the second half of the season. As long as we keep working together and put in our best effort, I think we will come out on top, no matter where we end up in the championship. However, the championship is the goal!"

Next on the to-do list for Tiger Racing is getting their car ready for testing and a few media events, such as the Mid America Ford Meet in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Adds Brown, "We have some more upgrades planned for the car, and some additional testing before the Mid Ohio event in August, and by then we should be full steam ahead."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.