The First Lady of Drag Racing. Where do we begin the story of a troubled young girl that had no direction or guidance? School had not appeal to Shirley. All she wanted to do back in the 1950’s as a teenager was to race up and down the streets of Schenectady, New York in a hot rod. She married 19-year-old Jack Muldowney when she was 16. Shirley said in an interview: “It was Jack who taught me how to drive a car. Jack was the mechanic. He was the guy who tuned the cars that let this girl beat all the boys. I was a kid from Upstate New York with no guidance, no direction. I was headed for trouble ..read more

In the high-octane world of motorsports, few names stand as tall as A.J. Foyt. With a career spanning decades, Foyt has left an indelible mark on auto racing, earning a reputation as one of the sport's all-time greats. The Track Maestro Born on January 16, 1935, in Houston, Texas, A.J. Foyt's journey into racing began early. When he was 5 years old, his father, Tony Foyt, made him a go-kart with a lawnmower engine. Tony recalled that when he and his wife left an eleven-year-old A. J. home to attend a race, they returned to find the boy had done considerable damage to the home driving the fami ..read more

The flat bottom is loaded up ready for some Drag Boat Racing. The dually is loaded with extra fuel, tools, parts, and all the right gear. Time to head to the water. A couple of hours through the desert the river is in our sights. We check in and start setting up the camp. It is going to be a roaring weekend on the water. We are set to run in the Top Eliminator trying to rack up some points. So far Steve Newton is leading the charge. We are the newcomers on the block still working out some kinks, but this is the world of Drag Boat Racing. Drag boat racing’s concepts are like those of land drag ..read more

Race season is over. Yet, we hear a roar, we hear a rumble, and we hear the cheers of racers, teams, and their suppliers in Indianapolis every December at the PRI Show. What is the PRI Show you ask? The Performance Racing Industry (PRI) has served the motorsports industry’s key source of trends, merchandising ideas, new products, business strategies and more since 1986. PRI hosts the annual event/tradeshow/demonstrations and publishes a monthly magazine for motorsports industry members all over the world. PRI was founded by racing entrepreneur Steve Lewis and was purchased by SEMA in 2012. P ..read more

At it's simplest, Drag Racing is a straight line run of two or more vehicles from one spot to an agreed end point. The true beginning of this sport is hard to pin down as I imagine Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble racing from stop sign-to-stop sign in their stone steamroller wheels. In just the case for finding the beginning of Drag Racing, let us talk about "ORGANIZED" racing or sanctioned racing. The undisputed first organized race happened nearby our Burns Stainless HQ at the Santa Ana Airport (now John Wayne International Airport) in the heart of Orange County, California. We mentione ..read more

The challenge is to create a closure mechanism used in high-temp, high-pressure, and/or mechanical applications in joining ducting and tubing. Enter the V-Band or Marman Ring Clamp. An added feature is the substantial savings in assembly and maintenance costs when the connection requires frequent disassembly and re-assembly. With only one or maybe two bolts to fasten, the V-Band Clamp compared to bolted flanges, or welded joints is less costly to manufacture and easier to assemble. When limited in access the V-Band Clamp is extremely valuable. The coupling latch can be oriented at any convenie ..read more

Have you ever looked at a part and thought: “Hmmm, wonder why or how that was invented?”  I thought that when I saw the V-Band or Marman Ring Clamp which we use in performance exhaust systems. The clamp holds two flanged tubes together tightly preventing leaks. With a bit of research I learn that the aerospace industry uses them almost exclusively. They are used in spaceflight systems and are common mechanical load-transfer and clamping mechanisms for connecting the upper stage and the satellite payload of space vehicles. They are also used to join stages of a booster rocket. Watch for a ..read more

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