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K&N has decided to send its custom classic 55' out on the road. K&N's 55' Chevy will be touring the nation in 2010 with the new truck and trailer the company has built, making stops at most of the major car shows and events in the country.
K&N's 1955 Chevy in the K&N booth.
The 55' Chevy features a K&N 14" extreme top assembly. This 14" assembly comes with an extreme lid that gives additional air flow as well as a real clean look under the hood.
This 55' Chevy has a Platinum & Sunset paint job that stands out in a crowd; the hood is flamed; the seats are original and were upholstered tan with a hint of orange the 18" and 20" wheels where made custom with a real smooth look. The heart of this 55' is a General Motors small crate motor from its high performance line. The 383 engine cranks out a solid 425 HP.
Some guys just seem to have it all, they play football, baseball and run cross country in high school, they have mad racing skills, and to top it off, they have that innate quality that has the whole world cheering for them. We are taking about Troy DeCaire, at only 24 he has already amassed 20 years of racing experience. The Tampa, Florida resident made his racing debut behind the wheel of a go-kart when he was but a wee lad of four years old.
This marked the second win of the year at New Smyrna for DeCaire and the third with the TBARA this season.
DeCaire already owns over 20 championships in both karts and QMA quarter midgets. Last year he finished second in the Tampa Bay Area Racing Association (TBARA) point standings, and was co-champion in the Central Florida Wingless Sprint Car Association point standings, and this year is shaping up to be another stellar year for the young-gun racer.
DeCaire flew in from Indiana late last week, jumped into his familiar George Rudolph number 68 car and swept the night at New Smyrna Speedway, the half-mile banked oval located near Daytona International Speedway.
"It certainly feels good to be back in victory lane. This is my second win of the year at New Smyrna and my third with the TBARA. My car owner George Rudolph always brings a strong horse to New Smyrna, and tonight was no different," commented DeCaire after the race.
"You can't ever get to comfortable with these guys in the TBARA, they are tough every single event. I'd have to say it's the confidence I have in the type of racecar George Rudolph brings to the track that gives me an edge. He is spot on with everything. His level of know-how and his ability to find speed are second to none."
DeCaire hasn't only been doing well with the TBARA this season though, in fact for the past 30 days he has not finished outside of the top-10 in any race he has entered, regardless of state or sanction. DeCaire passes much of the credit for his success to his sponsors, such as K&N.
"I currently use the K&N air-box system and oil filters for my cars. K&N produces the best filters in the sport and I am very proud of the fact that they would think enough of what I'm doing to come on board as a product sponsor for 2010. Regardless of what form of racecar I get in on a weekly basis, I know I have the best filters on the market protecting my car's engine."
DeCaire says that winning is always good for momentum, but the team still has to stay after it and work hard every week to ensure that the second half of the season is every bit as successful as the start.
"As far as future plans go," says DeCaire," I'm just racing anything and everything I can get into. I plan to run the remainder of the Silver Crown schedule and sprinkle in some USAC National Sprint races as well. Other than that we are staying focused on running the best we can with the wing car every week."
Regarding the aforementioned natural popularity quality DeCaire possesses, this year he was voted the most popular Sprint Car driver in the state of Florida in a poll conducted by the USA Sprint Car website. He is currently back in Indiana, picking up a USAC Silver Crown car he will be preparing for the series' next race.
Oklahoma based NHRA Pro Stock driver Mike Edwards, had set the bar quite high for the entire field of competitors over the last season by obtaining numerous poles and event championships.
Mike Edwards and his Penhall/Interstate Batteries/K&N Pontiac GXP
After quite a streak of number one qualifiers, Edwards and his Penhall/Interstate Batteries/K&N Pontiac GXP had a little snag in their program at the NHRA event in Norwalk, Ohio when he and his team could only muster a number twelve spot.
With a week off for the first time in over a month, Edwards prepared for the beginning of the "Western Swing" and to get his team back to their familiar territory of qualifying number one.
The first event of the "Swing" would find Edwards making a 2,100 mile trip from his home in Coweta to Seattle for the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceway, in which unlike many other professional drivers, one may note that he drives the rig himself.
When the teams first took to the track for the Friday sessions, Edwards seemed to be finding his footing once again. As the Friday sessions wrapped up, he was just lagging the number one qualifier by less than two-hundredths of a second, holding down the number three spot with two more sessions on the horizon.
It was during Saturday's fist session that Edwards emerged as the pole sitter and it just took the team going back to their data of last season's Seattle event.
"Yesterday we were trying a lot of things. We stepped out of the box a little bit and tried a few things and didn't really like what we saw. So we basically went back this morning to kind of how we ran the thing here last year," he explained.
Barely edging out Johnny Gray, the only other team to make a pass into the 6.5-second range, Edwards' 6.598 effort catapulted him to number one, which earned his team the maximum number of points available during each event for the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge and the $3,000 K&N qualifying bonus money.
"We made a nice run. We barely inched out Johnny Gray. He made an awesome run, too," Edwards added.
With Edwards' current stronghold on the NHRA Championship points, he had made reference in weeks prior that when the opportunity presented itself, his team would do some testing during qualifying at events.
"The conditions were favorable to what we were wanting to do for awhile. We thought the weather was going to be better this morning, so we thought yesterday's qualifying wouldn't hold up, which it didn't. Most everybody ran a little bit quicker today. But we thought it was a good time to do it. I'm not much on doing that, but it was just the right opportunity, and I really thought it was going to work out," Edwards said following Saturday's sessions.
The Seattle event is only the second of a long list ahead for drivers pursuing one of eight available spots in the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge. The number one success for Edwards at Seattle moved him up to the number five spot and only forty points behind Allen Johnson, who currently sits at number one.
There could be lots of place swapping in the Challenge before the dust settles from the "Western Swing" with back-to-back NHRA National Event stops at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California and Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado.
In a field of the best drag racers, Biondo came out on top at JEGS US Open Bracket Championship.
On his race resume Peter Biondo already lists 36 total NHRA National Event Wins in the categories of Super Comp, Stock and Super Stock. He also keeps what he refers to as a normal schedule of bracket races each year. Last season Biondo won the overall points championship at the Five-Day Bracket Race in Bradenton, Florida, topping a race week filled with the best bracket racers in the country. He took home the $10,000 check and the points lead with that win.
It appears being up against the cream of the crop racers brings out the best in the Clarksburg, New Jersey driver, he recently added to his substantial resume by winning the 6th Annual JEGS US Open Bracket Championship at Indianapolis' O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Biondo rolled through the 260 car hyper-talented field with his K&N powered dragster, taking home the $20,000 first place prize.
"I felt my chances were as good as anybody's going into the weekend. The previous weeks my driving was very sharp and I have been getting close to the winners circle. I could feel it. The talent at the race was basically the best of the best in bracket racing. Coming out on top was pretty special," remarked Biondo. "Thanks to K&N for keeping my air clean and my motor clear of rocks and debris."
"The K&N filter does the job both on and off the track. While, driving through the pits at Indy, I could see the sand and particles blowing around. K&N air filters gives me peace of mind that my engine is being kept clean. I really wonder why someone wouldn't run one."
This has been a great season so far for Biondo and his K&N backed racing team. "I'm hoping I can keep the ball rolling through the summer months," adds Biondo.
Malmgren Racing still managed to set the low ET, earn a top-speed track record, and win the race in Alastaro, Finland.
One of Europe's winningest drag racers ever is K&N sponsored Michael Malmgren from Sweden, and he is once again dialling up the heat. Malmgren and his team travelled to Alastaro, Finland recently for round two of FIA racing and set the low ET, earned a top-speed track record, and won the race.
They began the weekend though facing big problems - a broken fuel pump was latter discovered to be the culprit. Malmgren says he was lucky to catch it right away; the engine didn't pull right, so he clicked it into second gear, thereby avoiding any engine damage. He had to shut down again in the second round as well.
"I hit fourth gear and things still didn't feel right, and I didn't want to take a chance on burning pistons or something," commented Malmgren. "Our car behaved very strange in low gear, same problem we had first race, only worse now. Despite the problem Malmgren still managed to be the fastest car out there. In the first round off eliminations he set new track record and Low ET with 6.76 at 204.7 mph, and they remained out of reach all the way to the finals.
"We went through the whole car," explained Malmgren regarding the engine gremlin, "I called my supervisor Marcus Bowen at Cunningham Motorsport and he told me it must be in the fuel system. So we changed the complete fuel system. Turns out we had a bug in our fuel regulator, we changed it and the problem was gone, it was very easy too. I thought at first it was in our set-up of the car, but my supervisor Marcus told me different, so I believed his advice and changed the fuel supply system."
With this victory Malmgren Racing now owns the points lead outright. "Yes the entire team feels very strong and positive at this time and that is a very important factor - you can't buy that with money," says Malmgren.
Next stop on the FIA European drag racing Championship tour for Malmgren Racing is Mantorp Park, Sweden.
"We will do our very best to repeat the story from Alastaro - that's for sure. Once again many thanks to K&N for all the support, we couldn't do this without you."
