{"id":70932,"date":"2023-06-21T07:38:55","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T11:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=70932"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:19:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:19:48","slug":"summers-heating-up-so-is-the-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2023\/06\/summers-heating-up-so-is-the-competition.html","title":{"rendered":"Summer’s Heating Up, So is the Competition!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summer\u2019s here and that means we\u2019re already halfway through the 2023 NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown<\/a> (FSS) season. These 1,500-horsepower production-based machines have be duking it out on drag strips across the country. With Challenger Drag Paks<\/a>, COPO Camaros and Cobra Jet Mustangs going head to head, it\u2019s hard to say which combination has an upper hand or horsepower advantage. As we get ready for this weekend\u2019s 16th<\/sup> annual NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, the FSS class will be one of highlights for the diehard Mopar\u00ae<\/sub>, Chevy and Ford fans that will come through the gates at Summit Motorsports Park<\/a> in Norwalk, Ohio. The FSS cars that travel down the quarter-mile in seven seconds bare a very strong resemblance to their showroom counterparts and that\u2019s why fans love them. On the eve of the popular NHRA National Event, we had a chance to chat with a few of our Drag Pak pilots to get their thoughts heading into this weekend\u2019s race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNorwalk is basically home court for us. I can\u2019t tell you how many passes I\u2019ve had down this track. Our first Factory Stock Showdown event and first full power pass with our 2021 Drag Pak took place under the lights at Norwalk,\u201d said Ohio native David H. Davies of D H Davies Racing\u00ae<\/sup><\/a> (DHDR). \u201cThe Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Norwalk are the mid-point in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown season. Since we started out with a new team this year, it brought many challenges and we struggled for the last couple of events. But the confidence of the entire team has grown substantially. This weekend, it\u2019s going to be a who\u2019s-who of Factory Stock Showdown and a battle to go rounds but it\u2019s time to shut up and line up and we fully expect the \u2018Save Our Allies\u2019 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak to be putting on a show and running near the top of the list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another Ohio drag racer that might have a home field advantage at Norwalk this weekend is seasoned veteran Mark Pawuk<\/a>. \u201cI’m really looking forward to coming back to my home track again. I’ve been very pleased with my performance so far this year. David Barton of Ray Barton Racing Engines has really helped me turn my racing program around. I would also like to thank all the local companies who continue to be sponsors of mine, including Ohio Cat and Cat Rental Stores, Mr. Heater and HeatStar, Summit Racing Equipment\/Red Line\/Goodyear\/Mickey Thompson Tires\/E3 Spark Plugs\/Cometic Gasket, and my good friends at Westfield Bank. It\u2019ll be a good weekend and I\u2019m ready to go rounds at Summit Motorsports Park,\u201d said Pawuk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From a crew chief\u2019s perspective, ace tuner and five-time NHRA Stock Eliminator World Champion Kevin Helms<\/a> will be doing double duty during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Not only will he be tuning David A. Davies Drag Pak, but Helms is getting behind the wheel of Mike Wagner\u2019s 2015 Challenger Drag Pak Motown Missile tribute racecar. Running a natural aspirated G3 426 HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> V8 engine, Helms will be competing in the Factory Super Stock class and will need to bring his “A-game” because the competition will be tough. He\u2019ll also use his “seat of the pants” feel of driver when it comes to getting Davies’ lineup. This means examining the two lanes to see which one has better traction or if rubber that\u2019s been laid down on the starting line is starting to peel off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ll have gone testing before rolling into Summit Motorsports Park at Norwalk as we\u2019re looking at improving a few things on Davies\u2019 car as this is a big race for him\u201d, said Helms. With these Drag Paks making so much power and limited to a nine-inch slick, condition of the starting surface will be key to how much timing and power Helms can dial into these machines. \u201cThe Norwalk track crew, along with the NHRA guys, do a great job prepping the surface before we run so I’m confident we\u2019ll get a handle on things after the first qualifying run. The only problem we might run into is the hot, muggy weather this time of year and it\u2019ll impact the car\u2019s performance,\u201d noted Helms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another drag racer with a couple of seasons under his belt is Raymond Nash. Another Ohio resident, he, like many other racers and engine builders, has had to fight parts shortages this year. \u201cWe were only able to make four races in our debut season last year. This offseason, Kim Mapes and Kimmie Mapes, along with other the fine folks at Watson Racing<\/a>, have helped us to make performance improvements. Although we had some mechanical issues in the first three races of this year, we feel we\u2019ve got them sorted out and we\u2019re making great progress. We\u2019ve already hit a new personal best this year and we\u2019re making great power on the dyno and it\u2019s all thanks to Kim and Kimmie Mapes at Watson Racing,\u201d said Nash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now Nash and his crew are ready to lay some rubber and see if their hard work will pay off at this weekend\u2019s NHRA race in Norwalk. \u201cWe feel very good about our car and where our team is headed as we\u2019re trending upward. We know we\u2019re not the big dogs in the Factory Stock Showdown class, but we look forward to competing at NHRA Norwalk this year. The new Drag Pak platform has taken a bit of time to develop, but we\u2019re brand loyal to Dodge<\/a> and Mopar and we refuse to back down from a challenge. We have a lot of Drag Paks entered in this race, so we\u2019re looking forward to seeing the Dodge brand rise to the occasion. This is a home race for us, and we\u2019re humbled to have a lot of family and friends who plan on attending and we\u2019re looking forward to seeing them. It was just last year at this race we debuted our Drag Pak and realistically, it was a shakedown race for us. This year, we\u2019ve brought a better car and an attitude to be much more competitive. We know it\u2019s a tough class and we\u2019re known as the \u2018UNDERDAWGS,\u2019 but that\u2019s the way we like it,\u201d smiled Nash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another team heading to Norwalk and competing in FSS will be Kevin Smith and Alan Scruggs in their TorRed Challenger Drag Pak. Their 2023 season got off to a rocky start as they hurt their motor back in March at an NMCA event in Bradenton, Florida. Kevin and Alan quickly did an autopsy and determined the engine had to come and get rebuilt. They had to sit out the NHRA Charlotte 4Wide and NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals while the repairs were being made on the powerplant. \u201cFactory Stock racing is an extremely tough class too and we\u2019re always making improvements keeping up with the top dogs in the class,\u201d said Smith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another racer who\u2019s had an up-and-down season has been AJ Berge<\/a>. He\u2019s had a few wins driving and tuning Drag Paks the last two seasons but knows how all these cars can throw you a curve ball. They\u2019re finicky machines and at times can have a mind of their own. \u201cWe\u2019ve been trying some new combinations this season to increase our performance and it\u2019s been working, but now were lacking consistency,\u201d said Berge. Not to fear, this tuning ace will get it figured out on his RAMCHARGERS tribute Drag Pak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yep, summer\u2019s heating up and our Challenger Drag Pak competitors will be creating a heat wave over Summit Motorsports Park this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Summer\u2019s here and that means we\u2019re already halfway through the 2023 NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) season. These 1,500-horsepower production-based machines have be duking it out on drag strips across the country. With Challenger Drag Paks, COPO Camaros and Cobra Jet Mustangs going head to head, it\u2019s hard to say which combination has an upper hand or horsepower advantage. As we get ready for this weekend\u2019s 16th annual NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, the FSS class will be one of highlights for the diehard Mopar\u00ae, Chevy and Ford fans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":70930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[898,528,615],"class_list":["post-70932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-drag-pak","tag-drag-racing","tag-nhra"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SummersHeatingUp_Feature.jpg","social_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SummersHeatingUp_Social.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70932"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70943,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70932\/revisions\/70943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}