Just a little bit of what we do here every day at DMC Racing.  Tim’s car made plenty of boost and is ready to go for the 2012 x275 season!

Paul Major tearing up the MIR 1320! Thanks to Seth Cohen from gonedragracing.com for the awesome photo!

In one of the last races of the season before winter is upon us, a few DMC customers made their way to Maryland International Raceway this past weekend for the US Army World Cup Finals. This race pits some of the world’s quickest and fastest racers against one another in a “Domestic Versus Imports”-style battle.

Paul Major’s car was recently repaired here at the shop, and this event marked the third race he’s been able to attend with the newly-revamped Corvette.  During Friday’s test sessions, Paul was able to click off a new personal best, breaking off a 6.58 at 224 MPH from his alcohol-fueled twin-turbo machine.  Major struggled during the qualifying sessions of the Outlaw Vs. Extreme class, however, and only made it into the field as an alternate on Saturday night. In the first round, Paul was back on track, as he proceeded to take out Brenda Paddock in the first round with a 6.65 at 225 MPH to Paddock’s 7.62 hit.  The second round was a freebie as his opponent didn’t show, putting him into the semifinal round against NMRA Outlaw 10.5 star Tim Essick where he was forced to get out of the throttle and watch Essick move on. However, Paul will be back in action in just two short weeks all the way out in Las Vegas for the Street Car Supernationals.

We had three customers competing in the x275 Vs. Hot Rod class, Alex Vrettos (driving Konstantine Zografos’ ’04 Mustang), Ronnie Diaz, and MIR local Danny Whetstine.  Diaz has been battling his combination all season long, but finally was able to put together a great event. He qualified fifth in the 32-car field with a personal-best 7.67 at 178 MPH from his 5.4-based ProCharged combination.  Whetstine qualified eighth with a strong 7.78 at 179 MPH, while Vrettos was in the 28^th spot with a 9.02 at only 119 MPH.   It what could only be described as fate, Diaz was pitted against Vrettos in the first round, and while Alex had improved greatly to an 8.28, Diaz went even quicker with a 7.66 to move on.  Whetstine put an off-pace 8.94 on the board, but was still able to best Tony Blanchard and advance to the next round.  Unfortunately, Whetstine also broke a lower control arm bolt in the process, ending his weekend.  Meanwhile, Diaz was up against local racer Chris Wilkinson in the second round. The tree came down, the car went up, and Diaz had to pedal the car in order to save it.  Even with the pedal-fest, he still managed to click off an 8.25 at 175 MPH, but it wasn’t enough against Wilkinson’s 7.97. All in all, it was a productive event for the DMC Racing customers that were on the property.

Congratulations to each of our customers on their performances this weekend!

Alex Vrettos, Team CoRuPt, and Team DMC in the Winner's Circle at ORTC! Thanks to Rob Cossack and Dragzine.com for the photo.

Over the last couple of years, a number of high-profile, big-money races have become the exclamation point to the small-tire drag racing season.  At the beginning of September, the Yellowbullet Nationals at Cecil County Dragway happens, then the beginning of October has the Shakedown at Etown, followed just one week later by this past weekend’s race, the ORTC’s Radial Revolution at South Georgia Motorsports Park.  In one of the most hotly-contested classes, Outlaw Drag Radial, DMC Racing team member Alex Vrettos has stood above the pack with his yellow ’95 Mustang.  Vrettos took home the win at the Yellowbullet Nationals race over Steve Jackson, then lost to Jackson on a tough redlight at the Shakedown at Etown event. In the most recent race – the ORTC Radial Revolution, Vrettos outlasted 45 other cars in the field to take home yet another high-profile win for Team CoRuPt and DMC Racing. He qualified with a 4.402  in the #2 position just behind John Carter and just ahead of Jackson in the Radial vs. The World class. Eliminations saw him notch round wins over Chris Daniel, Randy Lambert, and Kevin Fiscus before the final round.  There, Scott Guadagno was unable to make the lane call, serving Alex up the race win on a silver platter.

Paul Major scorching the track with a strong pass in Radial Vs. The World at ORTC - Rob Cossack photo

Just a couple of weeks ago at Nate Pritchett’s Ultimate Outlaws race, Paul Major had an on-track issue which put him nose-first into the wall at Maryland International Raceway.  Paul subsequently brought us the car for repair, which we managed to do in a short period of time to get him back onto the track.  In the meantime, Paul’s engine builder, Joe Newsham at J&E Performance Automotive in Blackwood, NJ, finished up a new M5-huffing alcohol-based engine combination for his car.  Paul was still sorting things out at the Shakedown at Etown, but was back on track but this event at South Georgia Motorsports Park.  He qualified in the number-four spot with a 4.45, just behind Steve Jackson’s 4.43 hit.  Paul then went all the way to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Brian Anderson on a holeshot. He and the team learned a lot about the new combination and Paul will definitely be a threat to contend with in 2012 in Outlaw Drag Radial.

Alex making a night-time hit at the Shakedown!

Alex Vrettos has been on a roll lately, as the 540 cubic-inch BBC-based J&E Performance Automotive twin-turbo engine between the framerails of his Mustang powered him to a huge win over perennial contender Steve Jackson just a few short weeks ago at the Yellowbullet Nationals. With that in mind, he showed up to the Shakedown and put the Mustang into the third qualified spot with a 4.46 just behind Jackson and John Carter’s Corvette. Once the elimination rounds started, Alex was on a roll. In the first round, he cranked off a 4.458 at 177.51 mph, his quickest pass of the weekend, while eliminating Joe Gentiluozo. The second round had Dennis, master tuner Job Spetter Jr. and Vrettos making minute changes to the setup, which resulted in another round win over Josh Knight. In the semifinal round of the 16-car field, Alex had to face off against number-two-qualifier John Carter, whose Proline-powered Corvette had been shaking the earth all day with big speeds and great ET’s. Carter got the holeshot by three-thousandths of a second, but his off-pace 5.24 was no match for Alex’s stout 4.46 hit, setting up the final round. Here’s where it gets interesting – in the other semifinal matchup, Steve Jackson had redlit against Scotty Guadagno, offering Guadagno the easy win, but Guadagno broke the wishbone on his hit and failed to go over the scales, putting number-one-qualifier Jackson back into the mix for the final round. In the final round, Alex unfortunately turned on the red bulb by launching .004-second too quickly, sending Stevie Fast to the winner’s circle. Alex has been running great this year, with a final-round appearance in two of the biggest events of the year, and we congratulate him for his excellent showing against some of the toughest Drag Radial competition in the world!

The Major machine making it happen on the track - this car is incredible!

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been thrashing here at the shop to repair Paul Major’s car after his recent front-end impact with the wall at the Ultimate Outlaws race last month. Dennis and the crew repaired the chassis, and Paul’s car was finished and loaded into the trailer at midnight last Thursday and we all piled into the motorhome for the seven-hour trek to Cecil County Dragway for some test hits on Friday. Paul made the decision to switch over to an alcohol-based J&E Performance Automotive BBC engine while the car was being repaired, and Jason from ProEFI was on hand to help us dial the new program in. The test hits at Cecil were fruitful, as it gave Jason some data to work with on what the new engine liked, so we rolled back up I-95 to Englishtown for the event. Legendary EFI tuner Job Spetter Jr. showed up early Saturday morning to help Jason figure out the engine tune and what would work best on Paul’s car, and they managed to get the brand-new piece to run smooth and clean. Paul made it into the Drag Radial field, but in the first round he was up against the other Corvette on the property in Drag Radial, John Carter’s gorgeous machine. Carter took Paul out in the first round, but the data we gathered over the weekend will be invaluable to Paul’s program as it moves forward. He had one of the quickest cars in the class prior to the change, and we know his work ethic will put him right back on top of the heap in short order.

Andrew DeMarco battling the big boys - thanks to Nicole79 for the photo!

Andrew DeMarco decided to try his luck in Heavy Street this weekend at the Shakedown event, which necessitated a swap over to the larger 29.5×10.5 tire that was permitted in the class. With no data on the new combination, Andrew gave it his best shot to make the stout field of cars, but a broken stator support in the transmission ended his weekend prematurely. He did learn some things that will make it easier to run at this event in the future, making the weekend a success for his team.

The world's quickest 'Bu!

Meanwhile, Team DMC was also on hand at the NMCA World Finals in Indianapolis, as shop employee Eric LaFerriere drives Jason Carter’s gorgeous ’78 twin-turbo BBC Malibu in the Super Street 10.5W class in that series. We finished up Carter’s car earlier this season, and he and Eric have been making some test laps recently in anticipation of this event. Those test laps proved to be well worth it, as Eric qualified second just behind Mike Murillo with an awesome 6.63 at only 207 MPH. Sunday’s elimination rounds found Eric clicking off a 6.64 in the first round to take out Darren Breaud, then moving through the second round over Ed Parker with a strong 6.70 blast. Between rounds, Eric and Mark Micke were checking out the tuneup and found a few things they thought were holding the car back, so changes were made and he headed back out there to face off against Mikey Rees. Rees wasn’t able to make the lane call, but Eric did, and let go of the button to click off an awesome 6.65 at 221.45 mph – his best speed of the weekend and a sure sign that the car was responding to the changes the team had made. This brought him to the final round against class champion Mike Murillo, where Eric knew he had to be on top of his game. Murillo took a slight holeshot, and as Eric powered down the track, the car drifted out of the groove and towards the wall, forcing Eric to get out of the throttle and giving Murillo the win.

Two final-round appearances with two completely different combinations in two completely different classes, and at different races – that’s the kind of winning advantage that DMC Racing can provide. It was an awesome weekend for all of our team members, and we’re proud to not only call them customers but friends as well. Thanks to all of you for showing us what you’re capable of! We are glad to be a part of your program.

Halifax, MA 9/12/2011 – DMC Racing, a full-service chassis construction facility located in Massachusetts, is proud to announce the hiring of legendary chassis builder and fabricator Mark Wilkinson.  The hiring, announced this morning, will help to propel DMC Racing’s already-robust business to yet another level, while continuing to provide DMC’s customers with the level of expertise that has won multiple championships in many different racing organizations.

Wilkinson has thirty years of experience in doorslammer chassis construction, fabrication, and manufacturing, which will prove to be a huge asset to the DMC team as they move forward with their next step towards world domination in the small-tire drag racing ranks.  Plans are underway for a reorganization of the DMC Racing facility; this expansion will include adding the necessary manufacturing capability to produce Wilkinson’s signature race-winning components. In addition, the DMC Racing team will benefit from Wilkinson’s vast expertise and knowledge base – the type of knowledge that can’t be purchased, only learned through trial-and-error and hands-on immersion at the racetrack.

“Dennis approached me about the opportunity to work with him as part of the DMC Racing team, and once I was able to make the trip out to see firsthand the level of expertise that was put into every single build, my decision became quite easy. As we discussed the opportunities that were available to us if I were to join the team, we realized that it was a perfect fit for everyone,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson began his career in the automotive aftermarket at the tender age of fifteen, and in 1997 started Racecraft Inc., a chassis construction facility that was responsible for the revolutionary Pro 5.0 machines of Les Baer, Wild Bill Devine and Jim Summers. In addition, the company built the car of NMCA Mickey Thompson Super Street competitor Jim Robbins and NMRA ProCharger Super Street Outlaw racer Phil Hines.  His addition to the DMC Racing team strengthens what is already one of the most highly-regarded chassis shops in the world.

DMC Racing owner Dennis MacPherson added, “The addition of Mark to our staff will allow us to pursue marketplace opportunities that we have been observing for the last several years.  The fabrication, construction, and manufacturing experience he brings to the team will position us well for future growth, and we welcome him to the team with open arms.”

About DMC Racing

DMC Racing, based in Halifax, Massachusetts, is responsible for creating eye-catching machines such as Manny Buginga’s multi-time championship-winning NMRA Super Street Outlaw car, Andrew DeMarco’s NMRA Super Street Outlaw car, and Jason Enos’ wild twin-turbo Outlaw 10.5 ’67 Mustang.  The business features a full-service chassis shop, on-premises speed shop, a paint booth, and even a 2000-horsepower capable chassis dynamometer.  For more information, please visit DMC Racing’s newly-updated website, www.dmcracing.com.

It was a long weekend of racing, but Team CoRuPt made the best of it by dominating in the Outlaw Drag Radial field. There were 25 cars on the premises for a sixteen-car field, and from the moment Alex took the car out of the trailer he was one of the fastest in the field. His car was just here at the DMC shop in Halifax, Massachusetts, for some midseason repairs after it was damaged last time out. Alex went on to dominate the event, as his awesome weekend culminated in a win over Stevie "Fast" Jackson, one of the toughest competitors around. Alex saved his best pass of the weekend for the final round of competition, where he put Jackson on the trailer with a stout 4.49 at 176 mph to Jackson's 4.53 at 163 mph. Great showing for Team CoRuPt!

Alex making a hit during Sunday's elimination rounds. Thanks to Dragzine.com and Rob Cossack for the photos.

The Ugly

Paul Major showed up to the YB Nats with a race-ready car for Outlaw Drag Radial. Paul has been doing a lot of testing lately, and he and crew chief Robby Smith showed everyone early what they were capable of by unleashing an unreal 4.41 at over 183 MPH to lead the entire field into eliminations.

Now for the ugly - Paul got loose during the early qualifying round on Saturday, forcing the entire DMC Racing team along with Paul's crew to pitch in and get him fixed up for competition.

Crew chief Robby hunted down the crushed pieces of nose that had been discarded by the track staff during the cleanup process, and the gang rustled up some 200-mph tape to aid in the repair process. A couple of pieces of aluminum, lots of rivets, and an expert tape job had Paul ready for eliminations. As the top qualifier, Paul had a first-round bye, assuring him of a second-round slot against Vinny Fiore. Unfortunately, in that matchup, Paul lost traction after the launch and had to get out of it, ending his weekend. The damage is 99% cosmetic, and Paul vowed to be ready for the next big event, the ShakeDown at E-Town.

Now For The Bad – Not Really!

You may remember this car from when Eric LaFerriere used to campaign it in the NMRA's Drag Radial class. It is currently outfitted for x275 action and features a 331-cubic-inch engine from Kuntz and Co. that is force-fed by a ProCharger F-1R supercharger, a perfect combination for x275 action. The DMC Racing team has been working hard all summer to revamp the car, but the decision was made to attend this race the night before the event. As the car had not been out on the track yet this year, it was still somewhat of an unknown quantity, but we were hoping that Eric's driving talent coupled with the rest of the team's skill would take him far in eliminations. With no testing time, Eric managed to qualify 28th of 32 cars while still sorting out the brand-new-car bugs.

The car responded to the changes we were making, but without a handful of camshafts in the trailer and more time, we were forced to deal with the performance the car was offering. Eric went to the tree in the first round to give it his best shot, but it just wasn't meant to be. Although Eric had the starting line advantage, Peter Harrell came around him for the win on the big end.

And….the New!

Florida's Mel Nelson sought out the advice of DMC's own Dennis MacPherson for assistance in getting his Outlaw Drag Radial Camaro down the track. Dennis inspected the car, thought about it for a while, and recommended a number of changes to Mel and his team. Mel's team has been struggling to get the torque-arm-equipped machine down the track consistently, but after the recommended changes were made, Mel was able to get the big-block-equipped Camaro down the track cleanly with no issues whatsoever. He will be bringing the car to DMC Racing later on this season for a number of changes and upgrades, and we are proud and happy to welcome him to the DMC Racing team!

We have to thank Monty Mikho, Jim Halsey, the Cecil County Dragway staff, and all of the people who helped to put on such a great event.  We were proud to have our name associated with such a great group of people as a sponsor, and we look forward to participating in the event in the future.  Thanks again guys! All in all, it was a great weekend for the DMC Racing team!

thanks to Heather Rothgeb for the great photo!

In the weeks leading up to the NMRA‘s 8th Annual Ford Nationals, Andrew DeMarco had been testing to iron out some of the bugs in his still-relatively-new combination.  Dennis put a chassis tune-up into the car, and Andrew and the team headed out to New England Dragway just a week prior to this event, where the results were promising.

The team loaded up and hit the road, arriving in Michigan at Milan Dragway with plenty of time to spare.  Once unloaded, ‘Little Evil’ proceeded to scorch the clocks with a qualifying time of 7.269 at over 202 MPH, landing him second on the qualifying ladder behind perennial champ John Urist’s 7.21/198MPH hit. In the second round of qualifying, the transmission failed after the shift into high gear, keeping the team up until 2AM Friday night making repairs.  The third qualifier proved to be the most interesting of the three sessions, with a parachute malfunction coming at the end of the run.  “When I pulled the chutes, only one came out, and Milan isn’t the longest shutdown area, so I eased into the brakes, and the ass-end just got light.  The other chute came out and went inside the second one, and there was probably 500-600 feet of black marks and bouncing back and forth. I did everything I could just to keep the car off the wall,” said DeMarco.  With lots of nasty weather on hand through the first three qualifying sessions, the original plan of running eliminations on Saturday evening didn’t work out. The race was originally scheduled to be a Friday-Saturday event, so DeMarco had to head home Saturday evening racing action was held over until Sunday, as he had pressing personal business to handle on Monday morning and could not stay over to race.

There is a large local race coming up at New England Dragway on August 13-14, so the team plans to make some test hits in preparation for the next NMRA event at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, over Labor Day Weekend.

]]> http://dmcracing.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/dmc-is-now-a-dealer-for-atfspeed-products/feed/ 0 jasonreiss F-3 Gear Drive