The energy level was revved up high all three days of the 24th Annual Performance Racing Industry Trade Show as attending buyers packed the exhibits of over 1,000 racing industry suppliers to make their all-important inventory decisions regarding new racing products for 2012. The exhibiting companies went all out in bringing ingenious new racing technology to Orlando, and displaying it so creatively. There’s nothing like it!

“It was a very strong show,” said Steve Lewis, PRI Trade Show producer. “We had three big exhibit days with substantial buying in all categories and exhibitors writing orders well into the afternoon. More important than it being a good week for PRI, it was a really good week for the racing industry. What was going on in that building for the those three days will affect people at race tracks and racing businesses around the world.”

Exhibit option renewal forms began pouring into the Show office on the final two days of the PRI Trade Show, and a steady stream are being received daily at the PRI offices in Laguna Beach, California. The PRI Trade Show is the world’s largest gathering of racing professionals, who come to view the exhibits of over 1,000 racing industry suppliers. It took place December 1-3, 2011, at the Orange County Convention Center, in Orlando. The number of exhibitors, at 1037, was up over 2010. There were 170 new and returning companies exhibiting at the PRI Trade Show that were not on the Show floor plan the previous year.

Quality Buyers
“PRI is a great show,” said Mark Kostrzewa, Motor State Distributing. “Our customers vary from drag racing to circle track, not just domestically but worldwide, and the PRI Trade Show really gives us exposure to an international clientele. We see a fair amount of our international customers here every year and that gives us the opportunity to have a face-to-face with them. That exposure is just immense.”

“We’ve been very, very busy since the show opened,” said Dale Aldo, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Mopar, on Friday at the Show. Mopar highlighted its high-performance engine programs with its Gen-2 Hemi and Gen-3 Hemis, as well as the Mopar Drag-Pak, in its exhibit. “We haven’t even had an opportunity to walk the show because we’ve been too busy.”

Ron Sutton, who owns the racing retail operation, Star Racing Supply, in Sacramento, California, said he arrived in Orlando with specific suppliers with whom he wished to meet. “We take this opportunity to meet them face to face and learn more about their products to bring them into our store so we can sell it to our customers and bring something new to the western part of the United States that may be just on the eastern part. It helps them expand their business and helps us expand our business at the same time.”

Race car builder Swift Engineering, based in San Clemente, California, is expanding and using PRI to shop for equipment. “It’s great to be at PRI,” said Clayton Triggs, of Swift Engineering Inc. “We’re expanding our equipment base and we have 60,000 square feet to fill. We’re looking to add autoclaves and lathes, as well as some additional machinery and we’re very happy with what we’ve found. The only downside is that my feet hurt because there’s so much to see here.”

“We’re here at the PRI Trade Show because most every company we do business with is here, and we’re here to check out the new technology,” said legendary engine builder Ed Pink, of Ed Pink Racing Engines. “There’s a lot of people here and we’ve seen a lot of new vendors here. It’s an excellent show.”

The popular trailer section of the PRI Trade Show had excellent buyer traffic, too, as exhibitors reported strong sales. “This may have been one of the most successful PRI Trade Shows I have ever been a part of, and I’ve been coming to this show for over 10 years,” said Rich Schnippel, of inTech Trailers. “Our booth had extremely steady traffic the entire show. We booked more sales at the Show than any previous year.”

The Show attracted approximately 38,000 buyers from throughout the US, and over 70 countries. There was a higher percentage of first-time visitors to the PRI Trade Show than in 2010. Attendees must be part of a racing busines or professional race team to enter.
International

The PRI Trade Show has evolved into a key business event globally for the worldwide racing marketplace. “This is the fourth time in the last five years we’ve been here,” Ben Barlett, of the Australian AAAA. “We have 21 Australian companies exhibiting here and it has surpassed our expectations. We do shows all around the world, but no other motorsports shows here in the U.S. – just PRI.”
Ashley Garrett, of U.S. Legends Cars International, added, “The Show has been great for us. We love this show because it has a good international flair to it. Our growth overseas has been phenomenal for us and we can attribute most of that to the PRI Show. The international buyers don’t buy four cars, they might buy 40 cars. In fact, we have a buyer here from Australia looking to buy 10 Bandoleros today.”

Another PRI exhibitor may be bringing more to the U.S. in 2013 than racing products as the Brazilian Formula Truck Series was exhibiting one of the series’ truck tractors on-site in preparation for its debut.

A record number of countries –70– were represented in the attendance at the 2011 PRI Trade Show.

Race Industry Week

No fewer than six major events ran in conjunction with the show beginning on Monday the week of the Show:
•Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC)
•Claude Roelle’s Optimum G Advanced Vehicle Dynamics Seminar
•Professional Motorsports Circuit Owners and Operators Convention
•International Council of Motorsport Sciences (ICMS) Annual Congress
•PRI Industry Roundtable
•EFI University Training Course on EFI in Racing Applications

All were well attended. Altogether, the week of the PRI Trade Show features over 35 conferences, seminars, social gathering and other events.

“It’s been extremely positive,” said Brian Reese, of the AETC. “Every year continues to get stronger with the promotion of PRI. Our attendance is up from last year. Engine technology is universal. We have attendees from the professional engine builder to the grass-oots builders to racers and speed shops and manufacturer engineers. All types of racing, circle track to drag racers to marine and motorcycles. It’s a great interaction with the PRI Show. It adds value for everyone involved. The PRI Show is on the radar for everybody and it helps us promote the event.”

Gill Campbell, CEO of Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca, attended the Circuit Owners Convention. “I see the Promoters Convention as a huge tool. I find it very useful. Getting together with your peers in the industry, there’s no other training ground you have as a promoter. You only learn from what other people do, so this is a tremendous showcase for new ideas,” she said.

“The good thing about the Roundtable is the people you’re talking to get it,” said SPEED’s Miller. “They’re all racers. They all understand the history of racing and they have a lot of good questions. You get all of these people from different walks of racing and it’s amazing how similar their thoughts are on a lot of issues that the industry faces today.”

Jon Potter, executive director of the ICMS, said the event scored very high marks with attending motorsports safety professionals, including surgeons, race sanction safety executives, race track emergency personnel and more. “The 2011 Congress was extremely successful. After tabulation, we rated 3.78 out of 4 in meeting our objectives. That will keep you on the dean’s list!” he exclaimed. “The ICMS-PRI marriage is a huge success. Our people really enjoyed the show and being able to attend both.”

Grand Opening Breakfast
Over 3,000 members of the racing industry attended the Grand Opening Breakfast, with Dave Despain creating a live presentation of his popular Wind Tunnel TV show. His special guests included race journalist Robin Miller, NASCAR star Ken Schrader, NASCAR Camping World Truck series star Cole Whitt, IndyCar star Alex Tagliani, Formula 3 Italia Rookie of the Year Michael Lewis and a special appearance by legendary drag racer Don “Big Daddy” Garlits.

PRI-Budweiser Happy Hour
Budweiser sponsored the Happy Hour reception that starts immediately upon closing of the first day of the PRI Trade Show on Thursday. Thousands of members of the racing industry gathered in the lobby of the Orange County Convention Center to mix and mingle with their industry friends.

Red Bull Kart Fight at PRI Powered By Rotax
In an outstanding night of action-packed racing under the lights before a standing-room-only crowd of 3,500 members of the racing industry, Jan Heylen won the 2011 All-Star division race at the Red Bull Kart Fight at PRI Powered by Rotax. He drove a CRG kart for the CRG USA team.

Jay Howard drove an Arrow chassis for the KartSport-Arrow team to a second-place finish, while the UK’s Ben Cooper, fresh off his Senior Division win in Dubai at the 2011 Rotax Max Challenge Finals, charged from P16 to claim the final spot on the podium. He drove a Praga kart, made by Intrepid, for the Praga North America team.

The Red Bull Kart Fight featured famed drivers from diverse series such as NASCAR Cup, X Games, IndyCar, ALMS, Grand-Am and the NASCAR Camping World Truck series. “I got a little lucky with the lapped traffic,” said a modest Heylen, who won the last big kart race held at the PRI Trade Show. “I’ll be back next year,” added Heylen.

“This is a fantastic event,” said Howard. “I’m looking forward to coming back next year.”

PRI Management Seminars
On Friday and Saturday mornings, the PRI Trade Show offers its slate of three management seminars per day, before the opening of the exhibit hall. Topics covered this year included Tips For Race Engine Builders in a Tough Economy; Managing the Race Business Website, Marketing & Business Strategies For Up-And-Coming Racers; Social Media Marketing; Opportunities in the Legends Market and Inside The Heat Treating Process.

2012
Preparation for the 2012 PRI Trade Show, which will take place Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando officially began at 4:01 p.m. Saturday, right after the close of a very successful 2011 event.

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The ever growing nationwide popularity of both the Top Sportsman and Top Dragster classes have converted many of today’s best racers to join the fun of competing in the very quick qualified categories. Ramona, California’s, Chip Rumis is fortunate enough to not only compete in both classes, but do very well in them. Thanks to two final rounds and numerous other round wins during the season, Rumis recently finished the season by being crowned the 2011 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Div 7 Top Sportsman Champion, as well as the highest point earner in Top Sportsman and number two in Top Dragster for a special program from K&N Engineering offered in Division 7, the K&N Top Qualifier Series.
While Rumis, who depends heavily on a full compliment of LAT Racing Oils, did very well in his 2011 Spitzer Top Dragster, grabbing a victory early in the season during the spring divisional event at Las Vegas where he nearly doubled up, also making it to the Top Sportsman final during the same race. It wouldn’t be the only time he would visit the final at the Las Vegas facility. Rumis returned during the fall divisional event in his Top Sportsman entry and while he just missed the Wally, the Top Sportsman Championship was all his.

“Joe, my race partner called me and told me that I had led the Top Sportsman points [in division 7] all the way through the season,” Rumis told with a smile. “I didn’t really realize that, until he told me. I guess I kinda remember that, but I think I was like twenty-three or twenty-five points in front of the guy in second going into the last Vegas race. There were about four people who could have potentially caught me.”

During the race, Rumis was not only trying to take care of business in his own rounds, but he was also paying very close attention to those other drivers that could take away his moment of glory. He got past LaFlam in round one and got a nice easy pass in round two when John Baker did not stage in time and was fouled out. But he would have to wait one more day, before he would learn his fate not only for the race, but for the championship when the race was called for the day as temperatures became too cold to continue any on-track activities.

When Monday and round three rolled around, Rumis took down Darryn O’Connor after putting together a much better reaction time and forcing O’Conner to take way too much stripe. At this point, he was now aware that three of his potential championship foes had been eliminated, only one remained and he would face him in the next round.

“I knew if I could take him [Richard Okerman] out, then the championship was mine,” explained Rumis. “If he got by me, then he would have to go on to win the race to make it happen.”

“The prize was the championship,” he admitted. “As much as I love the K&N shootout and even winning the race itself, it was all immaterial compared to winning the championship. My frame of mind was that I was there to do business. I had worked very hard all year to get into this position and I just stayed focused.”

Both drivers threw everything at each other but the kitchen sink, from killer reaction times to running dead-on their dial type numbers and when the dust settled at the stripe, the margin was a mere .0022 or seven inches. Chip Rumis has put together a .008 reaction time and a perfect 6.840 on his 6.84 dial and by doing so was the new NHRA Div 7 Top Sportsman Champion.

“It was pretty exciting not to have a bunch of blockers on my side of the fence and be able to take out the guy I needed to,” he said. “That round was a pretty exciting one, it was very close. I was looking at him and back at the finish line. I kinda caught his light [driver winlight] and I didn’t see it come on. I flipped back over to see if my light came on and you know, I’m throwing the parachute, running two-hundred and some miles-per-hour, trying to gather up the car. I don’t see my light, I really just see a little flicker. So I get to the top [end] and I don’t know who won.”

“I kinda thought I won and I took my helmet off and walked up to shake his hand and he says congratulations to me,” he continued. “At that point and time it was like wow, I really did it. Then getting the time slip and seeing the two-thou stripe. I have about thirty mile-per-hour on him and to see our numbers was just great, a run like that for the championship.”

Rumis went on to make his second Top Sportsman divisional final of the season at Las Vegas in his 2005 Jerry Bickel Cobalt. “The rest of the day was kinda anticlimactic,” he confessed. “The car spun a little in the final and I just wasn’t going to be able to get there. But it was really OK, I won the championship.”

“It was a very accomplished year,” said Rumis, who runs both his cars with just the help of his wife, Jean. “I also finished number five in my Top Dragster. I am so blessed, I really couldn’t ask for more.”

With the Top Sportsman season finished, Rumis entered his car in a Comp Eliminator class for the NHRA National at Pomona, where he admits he had a lot of fun and has already been working with his engine builder, Steve Schmidt on a new combination to take on a few more Comp events in 2012.

“Winning this championship had a lot to do with all of the support that I have,” he added. “K&N has just been awesome. Their scoops helped me pick up mile-per-hour and the new K&N scoop that I will be putting on for next year is expected to pick up even more and that’s just huge to be able to pick up like that. I thank Schmidt for the fantastic motors and Jim Hughes on the tranny and converter combinations plus LAT Racing Oil in both my motors and transmissions. Of course, everything that I have is protected by K&N filters and I just wouldn’t have it any other way. Nothing but the best if you hope to have a chance to win.”

Congratulations to Chip Rumis on his very first NHRA Championship from K&N Engineering and LAT Racing Oils.!

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. For details on the complete line of LAT Racing Oils and billet filters visit www.latracingoils.com

Bahia Blanca : a small city in Argentina on the East Atlantic Coast of South America.
Weather….. Wet cold and windy…12c
14 November Sunday gps w/p number 701 S 38’ 42.202 / W 062’ 20.313
(Our Story starts from Bahia Blanca and reflects back to leaving Brazil and entering Peru ……On Maxxis tyres……. are they performing well?
Just a short note on the Bighorn Maxis tyres ….. Fitted to our Buggy kindly provided by Cesar Calor from n.v.Maxxis Automotive parts and service tyre service Paramaribo in Surinam, for the 2010 ECO CHALLENGE RALLY.
We have traveled 35,000km from Northern Brazil on the( BR 156) to Macapa, Across the Trans Amazonia ( BR 230) , Entering Peru, onto Bolivia( our highest mountain pass to –date 5,050mtrs) IUNI salt flats and the Altiplano some of the toughest roads and tracks yet found on our trip, Chile ‘’The Atacama Desert “” back into Bolivia …Laguna Verde….onto.…Paraguay The Paraguay river into the Chaco, crossing into Brazil the Pantanalls and Igauzu falls crossing into…… Uruguay, into Argentina….. Buenos Aires….RUTA 1-3-5- and RUTA 40…Tierra Del Fuego…….Chile into Argentina so many times we lost count.
FIN DEL MUNDO…
Posted in South American Adventure | Leave a comment
Cucso the lost camera and Machu Picchu
Posted on June 4, 2010 by adamclash
4 June CUZCO CITY altitude 3600 mtrs

We enter Cuzco the first big Peruvian city it is an amazing trip into the city center. Anybody that has traveled through Peru will know that some festival carnival is in full flight. The police are struggling to direct the traffic from one side of the road to the other demonstrations costume wilding Peruvians are in full swing the colour is fascinating the drums are unrelenting banging away constantly, the costumes are so diverse it is a struggle to see what would be traditional or not. It is pointless to try and deviate from the flow of the traffic, glancing at some of the side streets Victor would struggle to pass they are so narrow and run into steps heading higher and higher into the surrounding chaotic buildings like a huge mud brick quarry all plastered together no amount of navigation aids will help you to reach your destination here.
IT IS CHAOTIC CUZCO at 3600 mts high… Continue reading →
Finally at Cusco
3 June WP560 3587 meters above sea level.
We take a small mountain road and find a great campsite high in the terraces but Elayne is not feeling the best, according to the GPS we are above 3500mtrs. We find some great old stone houses with beautiful stone walls, the stones fitting so well together it was clear to me the traditional Inca stone work skills were still being used. The house is very small and nobody is at home so we take our time exploring the area, as Elayne is not acclimatizing to the altitude so well.
THE NEVER ENDING SCENERY IS ON EPIC SCALE.
We leave our terrace side camp high in the mountains and it’s not long before the scenery changes we climb a huge mountain pass on great roads ( no more major road works to be seen) the scenery is stunning the Andes are here with a BIG BIG BANG…
Snow capped razor edge points towering into an ultra blue cloudless sky the scale is huge and we fell a little insignificant with all this grandeur around us. Below the snow line there are terraces gardens worked by hand the woman toll at altitudes you will find hard to walk let alone work!!!!

Women are the only workers we could see , girls as young as 10-12 working as shepherds keep and eye on their small heard of Alpaca’s their colourful dress and hats you can spot miles away, On every small Plateau Alpacas grazed on a hint of green grass you could barely see, the backdrop of terraces thousands and thousands of stone terraces all made into little kraals placed high along every conceivable possibility to grow crops or graze animals at gradients that would be difficult to walk let alone construct this patch work rockery….only Inca engineering skills could build these that’s for sure.
The road is like a black snake cutting back and forth, endless gear changes bends any adventure motorcyclist would dream about, bends that disappear into the sky as you squint your eyes trying to see where they go. Fighting to regain your vision for the onslaught of the next bend is it left or right as I blink madly. I am even leaning into the bends like a mad motorcyclist ,my shoulders straining to keep from the edge drains which are at least 500mm deep and in most cases either side of the road draining water constantly from the melting peaks…..DON”T DROP YOUR FRONT WHEEL INTO ONE OF THESE BABIES … I THOUGHT…… YOUR STEERING GEOMETRY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!!!!!
Elayne is glued to the Altimeter and we watch the meters tick away higher and higher we climb Victors engine starting to chough and splutter black smoke starts pluming from the exhaust pipe down to third, then second the road now looks like something from scary fair ground ride. Always the same scenario just as we approach another summit a gaggle of trucks packed together bellowing black diesel smoke from their exhorts crawling together grinding their way higher their first gears howling as we crawl past them just edging in front before another killer bend approaches. The bends are hard to explain multiple switch backs as I watch our rear tyres hug tight as possible as I glance in the side mirrors, I pull hard right on the steering wheel knowing there is only 1.5 mm of steel holding the steering together …..We are at full lock and just make it round a bend which looks like a few ZEEDS….SSSSSS….. AND UUUU”S STUCK TOGETHER….. CASCADING FIGUER EIGHTS….I look over the edge to see what …..It is a clear shear drop with no barriers the consequences where obvious.
Our temperature gauge for the engine indicates we are getting warmer as we start to climb again the electric fan kicks in we are crawling up in second gear for the last hour. Elayne calls out the Altimeter 3000mts the highest we have been for along time, but the road still snakes higher and higher into the sky.
I am sweating at the wheel trying to steer softly around the bends knowing my steering is hanging on by 1.5 mm of steel. I take the bends wide as possible trying not to turn in to hard on the steering and put much undue strain on the steering yoke. It is a perfect day crystal clear the sun brilliant but with little heat as the ice cold wind blows through the Bug we are pretty cold for the first time even with all our cold weather gear on. Our plastic windows are rolled up we can see for miles and miles the valleys below every detail is perfect the vista is breadth taking in every sense of the word. Several old Mercedes Trucks approach from the submit down they come towards us they are crawling down their Brakes are smoking the smell is everywhere they are clearly overload the air brakes hissing on and off as they pump the brake pedal, their low gears screaming away on the steep decent a slapping tyre beats the bitumen as a retread is peeling away from one of the trucks rear tyres. They all blow the horns as we pass each other with us crawling up they wave smiling chewing their coca leaves, sometimes there are 3 or 4 occupants stuffed in the truck cab all of them waving and smiling as if to recognize our endeavor to make it here, they strain their necks heads popping out of the side windows of the truck cab to checking every detail of our funny little car their faces straining in their rear vision mirrors as cold becomes to much for them .They pass us and we watch them not more than a few meters from each other the newer truck in front we are sure he was providing the emergency brakes for the ones behind??/ They disappear around the many bends and we see them occasionally popping in and out of the mountain as they descend lower and lower. Elayne has made an interesting observation THERE ARE NO TRUCK EMERGENCY RUN OFF’S…….. CRIKEY YOUR RIGHT……I REPLY…..we did not see one on this pass or any other pass through- out Peru???????
4000mts Elayne calls out as she now has the Altimeter removed form its dashboard mounting tightly gripped in Elayne’s hand…….. “ we are still climbing Elayne calls out “…..but now Victor is just hanging on to second gear and chugging but I cannot hold the gear and pop first gear into the fray and hope that will do the job. We have no power but the gradient has not changed that much …..WHY ARE WE GOING SO SLOW …. Elayne is eager to get lower ……I try to explain you can press your foot down on the accelerator pedal it does nothing, in fact its better trying to lift your foot off as much as you can so that poor old diesel can swallow some high Andean air.
4700mts Its higher than our highest pass in Tajikistan ……we arrive at the top of the pass which is over altitude 4760mtrs and pull over, I climb out but Elayne is finding it hard to breath and opted to say in the car. I leave Victor’s engine running the electric cooling fan in full flight the air is thin and I struggle to climb up several hundred meters and survey the unbelievable vista …….HEAVEN……cannot be to far away. Nudo Ausangate alt. 6396 mtrs is clearly visible one of the highest mountains in this area. I stand in ore 6396mtrs with many others still well over 5500mtrs to the left and right of Nudo Ausangate they are just beautiful huge mountains the sky is a perfect blue the suns angle is creating shadows from their relief making them look even more impressive if that was possible,…. YOU COULD REACH OUT AND TOUCH THEM….. I spot to large birds far off in the distance …..Are they CONDORS?????…..I could not tell but they sure looked great anyway.
I return to Victor slowly puffing and panting trying to explain my possible sighting of two Condors and the wonderful view…..I really can’t breathe Chris you will need to get me down as soon as you can. Elayne does not look well and after all that humidity and heat she has suffered for months it is now for sure Altitude sickness and she looks terrible. The wind is freezing it cuts right through like an ice cold knife sending shivers down your spine, you can’t stop your jaw from shaking, we have not adjusted from our Hot Amazonian Jungle Climate, and I to feel the cold biting through something I have not experienced for a long time.
We climb back in to Victor to face the decent but to what Altitude I was not sure, Elayne was not looking well at all as we pulled back onto the road this time hoping our brakes would not boil and fail , and with no run offs making the decent not the most inviting journey. The road is something else to see as you glimpse over the edge on another hair pin bend watching the road snake down way out of sight AS IT WRAPS ITSELF AROUND ANOTHER PRECIPICE and another ,the tightness of the bends ever increasing as the buggy’s steering geometry struggles to navigate around these bends……oh for power steering…BUT THE CUTTER BRAKE WILL HAVE TO DO……….My shoulders are killing me as I try to balance the pressure on the steering keeping in mind the problem I have ,wrenching on the cutter brake left then right bend after bend thousands of bends.
Down we go Elayne is transfixed to the Altimeter and does not seem to care about the magnificent scenery and the smell of burning brakes waft though out the car a strange combination of ice cold air and cooking brake pads. I keep raving on about the landscape and what a contrast it is from all the Red dust and vivid green jungle scenery ….but Elayne is not in her chatting mood her head is dropped into her scarf and woolly hat pulled hard over head she just wants to get lower below 3500mts. I keep asking her if she has any pains in her head or feeling any strange feelings she cannot explain ….she nods NO just get lower as soon as you can. I keep my decent speed to the maximum/minimum if you know what I mean knowing my motor bike size brakes were way under sized for the eventual final weight, they were always marginal on the flat, but this pass will put them to the limits.
I stop several times to let the brakes cool down as I did not want to get them to hot but toke the opportunity to always find the best photo spot to stop. We approach a small village and pull over along side the village square, but we are still above 3500mtr, but Elayne feels a little better as she spots some food stalls……IT’S A GOOD SIGN I THOUGHT ELAYNE FEELS HUNGRY…. People have gathered around us some eating and placing their babies on the front guards for that all famous picture, their is one very old worn mobile phone camera clicking away they share the mobile phone camera with several family members all wanting a picture with the new arrival. We walk over to the food stalls as people hunch over eating packed around small wooden tables with piles of cooked trout rice and potatoes in large aluminum pots and pans. Just a few ……Pesos…………and we have a great hot meal tasty Trout and potatoes some rice. The Massive snow capped mountain scenery surrounding us as we savor the last morsels of food.
Peruvian women are in sharp contrast their colourful costumes and those all famous hats keep our eyes working overtime as they walk around babies on back eating their trout and spinning wool all at the same time. Most of the houses were small mud brick some only with plastic windows. Elayne walks back to the Buggy as a thousand hands are exploring every nook and cranny 6-7 young boys and girls pressed hard up against our zipped up closed plastic windows each side trying to see into the little alien car, the crowd parts as Elayne try’s to climb back in to her seat being joined by several children with terrible snotty noses wiping the nose residue along their cuffs and across their faces, it all seems fine to them. This was an occurring theme as we visited many other villages throughout Peru……VERY SNOTTY NOSES.!!!
It has been one of those days your eyes darting from one beautiful view to another only the smell of your burning brakes, bring you back to reality. It…. Really is visual overload but poor Elayne is trying to keep a brave face the altitude being another hurdle she will have to endure while we battle a way across the Andes to Cusco ( 3600mts)

A little background: We constructed the Buggy in 2006 with a small budget our objective was to keep the construction simple using an 091 gearbox, Porsche drive flanges and 4x 730i Bmw cv’s which we retrieved from a scrapyard junker which had 380ks and they are still going ok????
Our front torsion leaves we have bent into propellers and still swapped them to the opposite side and then bent them the other way i am not sure we could do this again hahaha?? Bilstein shocks are 8” front and 10” rear and now completely stuffed and are currently ineffectual.
Our power plant is a Ford/ Mazda Diesel 3ltr which I purchased on ebay for Aud 220.00. I fitted new rings mainshaft bearings std.and that was that it and is still running fine.Morrie Williams from the Victorian off Road Association helped manufacture the adaptor plate and lots of other good parts which have worked well. Dean Williams his son re built the original 091 with Albins gears sets which has worked for the last 90ks but the mainshaft bearings failed plus the 4th gear according to Rancho was flaking.

We have traveled through 43 Countries crossing the Pamirs in Tajikistan at 4680 mts and crossing into Norther Afghanistan which we believe is a first for a 2wd Buggy.We also covered most of Mongolia having to obtain special permits to travel close to the Chinese boarder. The Buggy made a big impression in Iran and Syria where we were shadowed by some secret police. We have driven into a minefield, met a local Militia group in the mountains in Tajikistan, been tracked by a Drone in the Negev Desert in Israel and shot at in Portugal and Alaska. We also managed to skirt the Algerian Boarder across the Western Sahara across the Atlas Mountains We arrived in Nova Scotia heading to Newfoundland crossing the Labrador hwy across Canada up the Dempster to Inuvik, the Dalton Hwy to Deadhorse the top of the world Hwy,the Denali Hwy, Cassiar Hwy and many more off road treks.
We have slept in our roof top tent for over 2.5 years and have temp ranges from +45 to =20c and our Australian tent is still in good condition.
We have another 250,000 ks still to cover and hope to zig zag most Continents in our homemade buggy.

Victor the wonder buggy runs a full compliment of LAT engine and transaxle lubricants and an upgraded Rancho transaxle. www.ranchotransaxles.com

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With no prior experience on the famous Bonneville Salt Flats, Team J’Witz and Throttle Master Jody Perewitz, stunned enthusiasts and teams from around the globe at this year’s prestigious Bub Motorcycle Speed Trials in Utah. The event brought together the fledgling Team J’Witz and over 300 other racers from around the world to “ride the salt”, share the love of speed and enjoy the camaraderie of land speed racing.

The ground up custom built by Team J’Witz is constructed around a Daytec chassis using Performance Machine wheels & brakes. The American V-Twin is a 100ci Jim’s Twin Cam assembled at R&R Cycle using a set of their custom machined heads and fine tuned by Dan Thayer. Other components that make up this record breaking motorcycle is a ProCharger, Daytona Twin Tec ignition system, Baker 5-speed transmission and a kick ass Perewitz/PPG paint job. The mighty engine and sophisticated trans rely on a full compliment of LAT Racing Engine and Transmission oils to handle high rpm, high heat conditions with minimum friction and maximum reliability and protection.

On Tuesday August 31, 2011 Jody & Team J’witz set a land speed record of 188.911mph. Previously at the Loring Timing Association event in Maine Jody made another world record pass at 164mph. Changes to the motorcycle were made before they set out to Bonneville which included mounting a partial streamline body. This body allowed Jody & the motorcycle to be more aerodynamic with subsequent increases in MPH.

This was only one of 2 goals set out by Team J’Witz. They wanted to set a land speed record as well as go over 200mph. Land speed records are not separated by male and female. Motorcycles are built for certain classes regardless of the gender of the rider. Wednesday September 1, Jody took her bike to the next goal. She made a pass at 203.111 mph! This speed made Jody the first woman in history to go over 200 on an American V-Twin!

The course at Bonneville is 5.5 miles in length. Riders have 2.5 miles to get up to speed, then the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) clocks your speed for a mile and you have 1.5 miles to slow down. On Jody’s 200 run she entered the mile going 199 mph and exited the mile at 205 mph. The 203.111 mph is the average speed in the mile. Jody and her machine were going 200+ mph for over a mile!

American Pride drives the J’Witz team and the machine was built with American power and products throughout. Given the level of sophistication and competition Jody’s success is a tribute to American ingenuity, quality and “can do” attitude. The Perewitz/Cycle Fabrications business has been based on American motorcycles for almost 40 years! Team J’Witz will be racing at one more event this year in Maine on September 17 & 18.

Be sure to follow Jody and her Team J’Witz on Facebook, www.facebook.com/teamjwitz
Jody is manager of Cycle Fabrications in Bridgewater, Mass., which can be located at www.perewitz.com

The team struggled through qualifying a bit and ended up qualifying in the second spot with a 6.27 @ 240 mph. First was Billy Glidden at a 6.25 @ 224 mph. Unfortunately the other cars in the field for this $10,000.00 race either succumbed to engine damage or crashed! So that placed Stawicki and Glidden in a best of 3 race series for the cash. Glidden took round 1 when Stawicki smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle. The second round was a great drag race as Glidden left on Stawicki and ran 6.20 only to get driven around by Stawicki’s 6.16 @ 237. This left the final round to decide who got to keep the cash money. Both drivers were a bit tardy of the line for the final but Glidden encountered traction problems and the Santos Motorsports team sped to the victory with another 6.16 @ 239 mph.

Santos Motorsports also thanks the hardest working crew in the sport. They have a “never give up” attitude and they showed that this CSCN weekend. They are led by Lazaro Teixeira (Tex), Jamie Bothelo, John Ulinskas and Irene Wu. Also a special thanks to Joe Zito from Stawicki Racing and Don Bailey of DCB Ent.

Santos Motorsports is supported by Brampton Pallet Inc, J&M Recycling, G-Force Race Cars inc., MSR Performance, Resolution Racing Services, LAT Racing Oil, and M/T Wheels and Tires.

Pic Courtesy of Dave Erauw erauw-photo.com

Back in 2001, Mike took his first Pro Mod win during an IHRA national event at Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP). HE came back with both barrels blasting on Aug. 12-13. A brutal brutal machine and lightning fast reflexes proved all he needed to win the first-ever exhibition of so-called “legal” ADRL Pro Mods.

Behind the 3.900 at 189.92 mph by Mike Knowles, Janis a Lancaster, New York, based race engine builder qualified second at 3.915 and 189.87 mph in his roots-blown 2010 Mustang. This is the same machine he usually campaigns in the NHRA GSA Pro Mod series. He also entered the ADRL’s elite Pro Extreme class with a screw-blown ’70 Duster and admitted “it was a lot more work than I thought it would be” to race in two distinct classes at one event.

Janis made a solo pass in round one after Thomas Jones II broke, then ran 3.914 to get by a traction-troubled Leah Pruett-LeDuc before facing fellow NHRA regular K.A. Balooshi in the finalJanis again ran 3.914 at 189.26, but it was his .038 light to Balooshi’s .059 that earned the win over a quicker and faster 3.896 at 193.88 by Balooshi’s nitrous-popped ’68 Camaro.

“It’s actually the first win for this car ever, so it was good to finally get that out of the way,” Janis said.
Mike Janis Jr.
Jan-Cen Motorsports
Mike Janis Racing, Inc.
716-628-2591
mj1065@aol.com
www.mikejanisracing.com
www.jancen.com