I have rubber all in my Luie Luggage, trackbite on my gear, and a vp racing through my veins, along with TONS of coverage from arguably one of the most exciting races I have ever been a part of! American muscle never sounded so pleasing, and Imports have never been so quick. If you missed out, you missed a hell of a time!

You know, normally I blast these blogs out with some input, but this time I wont sit around and babble. Hands down, my new favorite event of the year. This had something for everyone, and you can see that in the upcoming gallery. And if this coverage looks shy, that’s because there is another part coming. There were so many usable pics, that I had to split it up into sections. So check it out, and respond with your thoughts on the coverage!

You should know by now that you will see drama on Greasy. Check out this Supra.

That John Force burnout was pretty wild looking, until…

…he hit the wall. I am not sure if he had a break, a malfunction, or just was a bad driver with a big burnout. My homie Julian from Nyce1s knows him and says we can rule out number 3. In any case, I am sure it will just buff out!

Check out more in the gallery!

Make sure to check in for Part 2 of this coverage next week!

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1. Interview: Speedfactory Racing speaks with Greasy Blocks on The $10,000 Outlaw Shootout
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Speedfactory Racing is coming strong out of the North West to attend the Fall Nationals, competing in the $10,000 Outlaw Shootout, on October 9th &10th. I had the chance to email Speedfactory Racing to ask the guys over there some questions, and also get some inside on Kevin Kempf’s 900+whp hatchback…

This interview was supposed to be done last Saturday, but a few things happened and I had to push this back til today. Good things come to those who wait, because I got to read up and learn about some of Speedfactory Racing’s history. An extremely reputable shop located about an hour and 15 mins south of Seattle, they have been putting it down for a while now building turbo setups, and single cam monsters!

Check out what Matt and the crew had to say:

1. Tell us about your engine setup and power. What makes your setup unique and how does that reflect on the times that you are running?

I don’t think our setup is unique, it’s just basic and simple, more-so than most of the other Outlaw cars.  When we built it last year, we honestly only intended on making ~800whp and getting into the 9’s with a SFWD class car. That had never been done by anyone from up here in the NW at the time and seemed like a good goal. Well, that came much easier than expected, and the car dove deep into the low 9’s with relative ease.  We then made the switch to 26’s and began the hunt for our next goal: to be the 1st West Coast Outlaw car in the 8’s.  To be honest it felt like the 8’s came almost too easily – we’ve watched many struggle for many months, even years trying to run an 8.  We halfway expected to find ourselves in the same boat, but instead found ourselves in the 8’s and on the verge of breaking cert the very 1st time we ran the car all out on the current setup!  We are more than pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish thus far with what we have, and are anxious to get back out on the track and run some better ET’s.  If anything, the Albins Helical Dogbox that we are currently running/testing for them is the most unique thing on the car as there are only 2 sets out there right now.

2. It looks like the West Coast is coming deep this year. How many cars is SpeedFactory Racing bringing?

Yeah, we are surprised by the number of West Coast entries this year! We are bringing both the Street AM car and the Outlaw turbo car, gotta represent in both classes!  We are actually really excited to get the Sipes’ AM hatch back out there with a new build underhood.  They were able to run a 10.76 @ 127mph on a stock stroke K24 with relatively small cams & compression and a new cylinder head, so we have high hopes for the new engine which is bigger and badder in every aspect.

(Here is a video inside the Sipes brothers Hatch, just in-case you are wondering who we are talking about! I followed this car on youtube and it was one of the biggest inspirations to me!)

3. Coming from taking 1st and semi-finalist at the 2nd annual Mfactory west coast outlaw shootout in August, it seemed like you guys literally got to the shop/house and paid your deposit for the Fall Nationals. How much of this was due to the win? Would you guys have came if you would’ve took an L with both cars that day?

We had been talking for months about how much we really wanted to go to E-Town, but the cost of the trip just seemed out of reach.  Taking the win at Sac was definitely a confidence booster, and we now knew we had an 8 second car and could at least make a decent showing at E-Town.  So we decided to use the winnings to help fund the entry and trip to Jersey, and started hashing out plans for the trip on the drive home.  I don’t think we cared so much about the win as much as getting into the 8’s.  Honestly, I don’t think we would have come if we weren’t able to run an 8.  We probably would’ve went home and tried to find track time there.  The performance & win at Sac also brought additional help from sponsors to help us get over to the East Coast, which was a huge help as well.

4. You guys crept into the 8-second range recently with a 8.92@179, congrats! Out of the whole, did you know it was an 8? Is the car consistent with the current setup?

Well, on our first pass of the day we had an issue with the brakes not releasing. It still went 9.3 @ 167mph with the brakes on the entire pass, so we knew that the next pass was going to be much faster and run some serious mph. And it was!!!  As far as being a consistent 8 second car, we haven’t had the opportunity to prove that since Sac.  But we are making every effort to get it back to the track, if only this NW weather would give us a chance!

5. Then the hatch backed it up one more pass with a 8.97@179.7, almost breaking that 180mph mark, and it wasn’t a mistake. Do you have more in the car?

There is definitely a few tenths left in the car.  Anybody that’s seen the slip breakdowns and/or the in-car video from Sac knows there’s a ton left in it.  We’ll do our best to extract that at the Shootout!

6. On the situation with Miller, there is Heated blood there. Is it just rivalry, is it business, or is it personal?

It seems to us that any perceived heat between us and Miller is simply due to posts made by random dudes that like to start crap.  As far as we are aware there isn’t any real issue between us.  Chris chose to dis us in his interview, and that’s fine.  His comments have no bearing on who we are and what we do, and we’ll meet in person soon enough.  Chris likes to talk a lot of crap, everyone knows that.  He has a fast car, wins a lot of races, and has done a lot for the sport and getting people to notice it.  We are all excited to see his car and watch it run in person to be honest, regardless of his remarks.  We’ll just let the cars do the talking on this one!

7. How are you feeling about the rest of your competition? Ready to see anyone else on the line?

We have no rivalries or grudges to settle with anyone – we just want to see all the beasts from the east do their thing, and are excited to be able to come out and run with the big dogs.  We would love to line up with Tony or Miller, who wouldn’t?!?!?

8. Are you guys scrambling with last minute preparations for the car, or are you ready to roll and coming off the trailer cutting heads off?

Actually, we are scrambling right now as we have made some major changes to the car, but we are expecting even better performance and reliability than before.  We have built a new motor for the car that should make even more power, and will be out testing in the next few weeks here before we head East.

Our team is always on top of things and up to the task, whatever it may be.  Come raceday, we are always well prepared and have a great group of friends to support us which is a blessing that we don’t take for granted.  Making changes before a big race isn’t usually the smartest move, but in this case it was just time to come with something more than the super basic build we’ve been running all along.  We don’t intend on bringing a knife to a gunfight.  At least not a small knife!!! haha

9. Driving over 2600 miles is true dedication for the sport. What would it mean to Speedfactory Racing to come out of this as a champion?

Thanks.  Due to the weather up here, our tracks are only open for a few months out of the year.  So we have to take advantage of every opportunity we get, and get things dialed in quickly.  We hope to be able to adapt to the E-town track quickly and set new personal bests for our team.  If we were able to take the win at this event, it would be a HUGE deal for us, probably the highlight of our lives to be honest!  As for dedication to the sport, we’ve got a story for you.

After we had just completed this car last year, Kevin was attacked for no reason by a stranger and stabbed 7 times in the chest, stomach, sides, and back.  This was emotionally challenging for all of us and happened just 1 week before BOTI Woodburn, which was supposed to be the cars first event.  He was still in a lot of pain and not supposed to be doing anything physical, but was determined to drive the car.  He drove through the pain and won the event!  It was a great feeling of triumph for all of us.  Kevin is a great guy and super friendly, but he won’t lay down easy.  He feels no need to act like a tough guy, but don’t mistake his kindness for weakness.  He’s here to race, and good luck to anyone intent on taking him out.

We are right at about the 1yr mark since that happened, and it would be nice to get another win! (Kevin didn’t want us writing this, but too bad!)

10. 2011 is coming up with rapid pace. Where do you see Import Drag Racing headed right now, and where would you like to see it head?

Things seem to be on the upswing, with more young racers getting involved and quite a few of the older guys that quit for a while dusting off the old rides and getting back out there again.  There are more racecars being built now everyday, and no end in sight.  We are going faster and doing things nobody ever thought possible, the recent progression is nothing short of amazing.  The class breakdowns are pretty good, and parity between bodies seems to slowly be getting better.

We just need more media attention and advertising to get fans in the stands.  Advertise the big events on billboards, the radio, SOMETHING other than just the forums.  Interviews like this are crucial to keeping the sport interesting and giving people something to follow (THANKS GREASYBLOCKS!).  We need to have more interviews with the different teams and drivers, and not just about their cars.  We need background stories, where they came from, their businesses, families, etc. to give the scene a real feel.  It about the people and personalities just as much as its about the cars.  We need swag to buy at the events.  Fans want to come home from an event with something cool to remember it by.  Posters, shirts, souvenirs, models of the cars for people to buy, etc.  These are the things that will help grow the sport and keep it alive and interesting (we are all buying Miller/NRG tech shirts while we are there by the way, and we hope Tony has some too)…

See you all at the races!

-SpeedFactory Racing

After this interview, I started to reflect back and look at what I see on race day. No matter the pit, no matter if there is grudge or not, no matter if its rain or shine, it all comes down to getting the cars on the line. People can talk, and everyone loves a battle, but if we have no cars on the line and there is no racing taking place, we have nothing. Keep supporting your local racers, race shops, and tracks. If we want to see anything change within the drag racing scene and actually get the sport back to where it once was, we need to change it ourselves. Waiting on the companies to change it will just leave us pissing in the wind. We need to take the 1st effort, and it needs to be under our control. My .02

SpeedFactory Racing had a number of people they wanted to thank for helping them along the way!

shouts to: NOS Energy Drink, Goldeneagle MFG, Bisimoto, Lightning Motorsports, Arias, Competition Clutch, Precision Turbo, Albins Off Road Gears, Bullhead Gears, Drag Cartel, Skunk2, and Acme Tattoo.

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Digglers 88 GTA goes 9.44@139mph… on a stock LT1 shortblock with a 17 year old nitrous kit!

Every Friday night I usually meet up with some other local domestic guys who are big GM guys and as usual we were talking about how can we squeeze some more power out of a car or how can we make it work better at the track. Well we come up to talking about my buddy Digglers Turd-Gen GTA and how he did this past Thursday at our local 1/8th mile track. The topic was  on how the car was doing fairly well and that they had managed to keep the front end from jumping way up in the air as the car had previously done. Next thing I know we’re talking about taking the car to Darlington to run it in the 1/4 mile and how I need to come get some shots of it. So we figure out a time for me and Russ Ethridge, who himself holds the Bolt-on 6-speed LS1 GTO record and held the bolt-on LT1 record for a number of years in Shon Herron’s car, to show up at Digglers house so we can get the car loaded up and head out.

Most people wouldn’t think too much about a 88 Pontiac Trans-Am GTA at the track but this GTA is one that will surprise you. It’s not your typical “Turd-Gen” F-body.  The first thing you realize is that its got a weird intake on it and that its got a crank trigger. “SoulGlo” is powered by an LT1 which came from the 4th Generation Camaro and Trans-Ams and C4 Vettes. Even more surprising is its no longer plagued by its notorious Optispark nor an OEM ECU. This LT1 has a Single-Plane intake and 4bbl throttle body atop of it and a Megasquirt EMS, that Diggler built himself, along with a single plate kit.

With this fairly “mild” setup most people don’t expect much, but we proved those in attendance at Darlington International Raceway wrong. After warming the car up and doing a quick check of the car Diggler pulled the car into the staging lanes. Nothing had changed since the car was at Greer on Thursday night. We were expecting the car to pull the front tires maybe 6-8″ and carry the car out and set back down smooth as usual. The track decided we were wrong. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Yes, that is the HOOD of the car you see from behind, Diggler tried to pedal it and keep the car from slamming down but some times you just cant react fast enough. The car slammed down and put a slight dent in one of the header primaries and knocked the car out of alignment and I’m sure emptied Digglers bowels. All three of us were not all that happy with what just happened and we were just hoping that our day didn’t end as soon as it started.

After some looking around we decided to try to eyeball the drivers side suspension back into spec. Out comes the tape measure and some desperation to fix the alignment and a wrench to shorten up the travel limiters in hopes that we can keep the front end down this time.  We all agree that the car needs to run again and hope that it doesn’t blow up on the top end, considering the 200 shot on a stock shortblock.

You might not believe this but with our parking lot alignment quick limiter adjustment and some KILLER air, the DA was 97 feet, Diggler managed to bust off a 9.65@137mph which took the fastest stock shortblock LT1 record but as with anyone who races we knew there was more in it as we had brought an .082 jet with us for the plate as a “this is going to get us the record or blow it up” last grasp… we’re hitting it with 210hp now once fully progressed… Here is where we screwed up tho, we started fiddling with the FJO trying to keep it at the same ~175hp hit that we had on the previous pills and during this they announce that the track will only be running for another 15 minutes or so and we get in a hurry. Next thing we know we’ve stupidly added a 3 tenths of a second delay before the progressed hit even began. Even with that screw up the car lazily went down the track to a 9.44@139mph… on a stock LT1 shortblock with a 17 year old nitrous kit!

-Cone

Specs:

• 1988 Pontiac Trans-Am GTA
• Stock LT1 shortblock
• Off the shelf 236/248 Comp cam
• TH400 Transmission
• Nitrous Converter
• 9″ rear-end
• 28×10.5×15 Hoosier slicks
• 17 year old nitrous kit
• Megasquirt EMS

Check out more of Digglers car here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadconetuning/sets/72157622854489572/

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