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The Sno Drift winter rally returns to northern Michigan at the end of January and NOS Energy rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard is considered one of the top bets for the win.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X will compete in 2009 Rally America Campaign
ACP will kick off his 2009 Rally America campaign in Michigan on January 30-31. “Growing up on the prairies, I had plenty of opportunity to master winter conditions,” said Comrie-Picard. “I love Sno Drift, dragging the tail through a snow bank
at 130 mph is the essence of winter rally.”
X Games Rally Drive Andrew Comrie Picard kicks off 2009 with Sno Drift Winter Rally in Michigan
Team ACP has developed a reputation as a winter-weather threat. Comrie-Picard took the win at Sno Drift in 2006 and finished second overall at the event last year. “Winter driving is about taking calculated risks,” said Comrie-Picard.
“Success means taking as few chances as possible in conditions that can kick you
really hard if you make a mistake.”
From deep snow to glare ice ACP said he is equipped to face a whole range of
track conditions. Comrie-Picard and co-driver Marc Goldfarb will contest Sno Drift in the NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. The team is also developing a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X that they debuted last November in Canada.
Team ACP Rally uses K&N Engineering products on their vehicles. “I’ve used K&N since I began Rally racing ten years ago,” said Comrie-Picard. “We compete under tough conditions, with dust, mud and water splashes. We do the most extreme things we can do in a car and K&N is the perfect formula for our turbo charged motors. There is no compromise with K&N.”
The Rally America national championship includs nine events across the country, which begins with Sno Drift and wraps up in October with the Lake Superior Performance Rally.
Brothers Jared and Jeremy Nelson compete in the Pro Pulling League’s Super Modified 2WD Truck Class. Jared drives a 2008 Chevrolet named Midnight Revenger and Jeremy drives a 1941 Dodge Panel Van named the Midnight Gambler.
1941 Dodge Panel Van named The Midnight Gambler in the Pro Pulling League's Super Modified 2WD Truck Class
“In competition we pull a big sled hook-up device that weighs anywhere from 40 to 60 thousand pounds,” said Nelson. “Our tracks are 300 feet and as our trucks pull, the sled transfers more weight from the rear of the sled to the front of the track. We are hooked up to a short chain and as we apply more force on the front of the sled, it gets harder to pull as we go farther and farther down the track.” The box and the pan are the two major components of the sled. The weight comes from multiples of lead blocks inside the box.
2008 Chevrolet named The Midnight Revenger in the Pro Pulling League's Super Modified 2WD Truck Class
In the Pro Pulling League competitors are hooked up to a weight transfer known as a sled.
Jared Nelson was the 2006 Pro Puller of the Year with his 2004 Chevrolet. “We put in a new rear end on our
new 2008 model and a new computer system,” he said. “We hope these modifications help us pull straight
and far.”
In the Super Modified 2WD Truck Class vehicles sit low to the ground in competition. “We push to the edge and
have a tendency to blow up parts,” said Nelson. “It’s easy to tear up a motor in
the Pro Pulling Leage. One thing that saves us every time is our K&N oil filters. K&N stops debris from tearing up our engines. K&N oil filters hold up in the harshest conditions. I’ve been using K&N for almost seven years and won’t use anything else.”
In 2008 the brothers took 2nd and 5th place overall in the Illinois State Pro Pulling League group. The Altamont, Illinois brothers plan to hit all the PPL events in 2009. “We skipped a few events last year because of the price of gas,” said Jared Nelson. “My brother has a farm and I run a trucking company and
it was tough to attend everything. I’ve been pulling for 12 years even though the PPL officially began four years ago.
The bottom line is we’re officially addicted.”
The Nelson’s say it’s a great way to spend time with their families. “We travel together and get to know everyone on the circuit,” said Jared. “It’s like a racing community. When we’re off season
all we talk about is the first PPL competition of the season. It’s a lot of fun.”
Their first Pro Pulling League event in 2009 will be in May at the Concord Motorsport Park in Concord, North Carolina.
Road trips take on a whole new meaning on the Hot Rod Power Tour. On its 15th anniversary the 2009 Power Tour will kick off June 6 in Madison, Wisconsin at the Alliant Energy Center. On Sunday June 7 it moves to Racine, Wisconsin.
1994 Pontiac Firebird on the Hot Rod Power Tour
The multi-state road trip rolls on through Chicago to South Bend, Indiana on June 8, at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds, then to the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan on June 9. The group plans to show support to the American automotive industry in Detroit. The tour continues to Dayton, Ohio at the University of Dayton Arena on June 10 and Somerset, Kentucky at The Center for Rural Development on June 11.
A few of the participants take a break in Michigan on the Hot Rod Power Tour
Bob Proulx left and friends on the Hot Rod Power Tour
The group of Camaro’s Cadillac DeVille’s, Dodge Challengers and many more makes and models will finish at Thunder Mountain at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.
Bob Proulx plans to be on the tour with his 1994 Pontiac Firebird. The St.
Louis, Missouri engineer began going on the tour in 2001 and is considered a long-hauler. Long-haulers complete the entire tour where others join it
and drop out along the way.
“If the price of gas stays the way it is we’ll get a lot more people this year,” said Proulx. “The numbers were down last year because of gas prices. A lot of these guys drive the real hot rod muscle cars and it gets expensive.”
Collectable and vintage automotives rumble through the streets. It is not your typical auto show because the cars are not behind yellow tape.
Spectators touch cars and drivers go through bad weather in their prized possessions.
“My Firebird typically gets used once in a while on weekends,” he said. “But this year, I’ll enjoy taking it on the Hot Rod Power Tour. I have a K&N air filter on my
Pontiac Firebird and I enjoy the extra power and filtration. I expect to get 22 to 23 mph on the highway on the Power Tour.”
Drivers from all over the world are expected to register and participate in this year’s event.
The National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, England hosted Autosport International, The Racing Car Show. For 19 years, it has been regarded as a showcase event for the UK and European motorsports industry. It is open to both automotive industry insiders as well as the public.
ARC4 Racing Vehicle in K&N Booth at Autosport International 2009
K&N Showcase at the Autosport International Show for both a trade and public audience
The show spotlighted more than 850 exhibitors including K&N, who are all directly involved in or connected with motorsports, performance engineering, historic motorsports, Karting and the aftermarket industry.
KIA Medical Vehicle at K&N Booth at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, United Kingdom
K&N Sponsored ARC4 Racing Vehicle on view for 28,000 trade buyers including over 4,500 visitors from 58 countries at Autosport International Show
The K&N booth featured an ARC4 racing car and a stock KIA medical vehicle. Both were fitted with K&N filters. K&N reps from the UK answered questions about product from attendees.
The K&N booth reps found product for customers on line and through the K&N
catalogue. People also
came to see and take pictures of the ARC4 Racing vehicle.
There are more than one million square feet of space at the NEC in the UK. During Autosport International 2009, more than 28,000 trade buyers attended with more than 4,500 visitors from 58 countries. The show is considered one of the largest and most influential motorsport exhibitions in the world.
Tracy Dennis was born a third generation racer and traveled to his first drag race before his first birthday. "Racing has been my life forever," says Dennis. "My father raced gassers in NHRA from the late 50's until the early 70's. My brothers and I raced dirt bikes and go karts. We always had to do our own maintenance and service, so we learned quickly about engines and race vehicles."
Tracy Dennis started out in the family garage, building engines and doing chassis fabrication for his father.
After graduating high school, Dennis worked at the family garage, building engines and doing chassis fabrication for his father. What started as a way of making extra money to support his race cars became a career in 1990 when he opened his own shop. Sunset Racecraft has become one of the premier performance and racing engine shops in the world. Located in Lubbock, Texas, Sunset turns out around 500 engines a year, which are shipped to champion race car drivers worldwide.
Dennis not only builds race engines, he races them as well. "Racing allows us to keep a feel for what the drivers need in product development and permits us to service what products we already have in the field," says Dennis. "Along with many world champions, we also have some of the fastest Top Sportsman and Top Dragster racers using our engines."
Sunset Racecraft has relied on K&N products for over 20 years. "When you build engines with over 2000 hp that can cost over $60,000, the last thing you want is a filter failure," says Dennis. "We send out every Sunset Racing Engine with a K&N filter and insist that our customers use them when servicing their engines to insure a long life." Dennis discovered a performance gain along with longer cylinder life and ring seal, just another reason he recommends K&N. "We recently tested the new dragster scoops on our TNT house car and found a 2 mph gain."
Dennis feels that the relationship between Sunset Racecraft and K&N has been a successful one. "I need products that protect my engines and increase performance. Sunset will continue to rely on the experts at K&N to supply products that protect our customer's investments for years to come."
