Last weekend I got reacquainted with the Camaro at Steele, AL for a test and tune session.  After evaluating the finished product and my goals for the season, it became apparent that a shift in racing focus was in order if we were going to have a successful season.  Without going into a ton of technical detail, my car is now best set up to run on a 10.5W tire with the Southern Outlaw Tour’s “Extreme 10.5” class which is based around a 5.00 index, and the National Outlaw Professionals series up in KY and OH.  So with that in mind, we went to Steele to sort out the best combination for this type of racing.

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The Camaro is 95% complete, and with a few minor adjustments we should be ready to test it for the first time on April 15th. For those of you that have been following along since last September when the insanity of this project started, you’ll recognize that not only has the car been turned “Inside Out”, but so have I. There have been so many; people, personalities, deadlines, companies, parts and places involved with putting all this together that at times it was difficult to imagine that it would ever be completed…and I can’t honestly say that I want to do it again anytime soon. BUT (and it’s a big BUTT), I think it will all be worth it when the first little kid comes up at the track and smears cherry slurpee and corn dog grease all down the side of my white paint, gives me a hug, and tells me that he’ll be cheering for me…or the old guy that walks right past all the exotic rigs, trailers, race cars, in the pits and says “Son, I hope you skin ‘em up today”…it’s been a while since I’ve heard these kinds of things, but that’s what I “Hold Fast” – for me it’s not about a bigger and badder race car…it’s about all the people that touch you along the journey.

Click HERE for more pictures!

The racing season starts full swing in a couple of weeks, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Project 4.70 has been about like herding a pack of alley cats. Writing proposals, gaining sponsor support, juggling schedules, getting help from talented people to make it all come together, scraping nickels to make dimes….oh yeah there’s the labor part of it too! It’s an awful lot of work and sacrifice if you don’t love it…fortunately the Mrs. and I do and we’ve been blessed to have the support of others who share in the vision. Somebody wise once told me; build a project to your vision – not your resources. Put differently, don’t let your vision become compromised by what you don’t immediately have…stick with your vision while gathering your resources, regardless of how long it takes. That’s advice that I’ve taken to heart, because this has taken a long time and there’s no reason to cut corners now.

As of today the long block, transmission, rear end, and suspension are all in the car and now it’s down to mounting the fuel cells, radiators, plumbing, wiring, and final fit/finish…which hopefully will be complete in the next week or two.

A couple weekends ago I applied the amazing lizard skin product to my interior, floor pans, and racing seat. I’m very pleased with the results; it gives the car a nice finished appearance and will reduce the amount of heat soak by as much as 20-30%…which will be a very welcomed barrier to the southern heat we race in.

I’m also very pleased to welcome on board K&N Race Filters for the 2012 season! I’ve long been a K&N customer and I’d like to thank Ryan Fellman for offering a helping hand with project 4.70. Often times we race in less than ideal environments; dusty, dirty conditions and I’m really looking forward to the peace of mind and performance gains that come with running K&N air, oil, and fuel filters. Look for a little more tech information on the custom pieces that they put together for my air scoop to be featured in the final RPM Magazine article.

Speaking of RPM Magazine, if you get a chance, pick up a copy of the Feb 2012 issue, where you’ll see my little old Camaro with the wheels up on the cover next to some nitro guy named Cruz Pedregon (whoever that is, LOL!!). OK, so it’s a tiny cover shot, but inside there’s a killer 5 page tech article written by Tommy Lee Byrd describing what goes into converting a high-ridin’ 5.30 Camaro into a low slung 4.70 land missile.
BIG TIRES, BIG NEWS- We’ve got a new addition to the Phoenix family in the form of freshly logo’d PH455 race tires!

The 17.0/33.0-15’s have been awful good to me over the past couple of seasons, and what better way to pay respect than with a little cosmetic make over? Brand new for 2012 is our “F/X” appliquéd logo which is sure to turn some heads at the track! Special thanks to Corky and the product development team at Coker Tire for their enthusiasm towards the brand and continued support with getting Phoenix and project 4.70 on the track!!!

Finally I’d like to throw a shout out to my loyal sponsors old and new – Phoenix Race Tires, Dart blocks, heads and intakes, Comp Cams, TCI transmissions, ZEX nitrous, Lunati cranks, Holeshot wheels, Joe Gibbs oil, K&N Filters, Lizard Skins and Farrow Motorsports. Thanks for believing and making project 4.70 a reality.

God bless,

EG

“Prove all things – hold fast that which is good” 1 Thessalonians Ch. 5 Vs. 21

I called my buddy Chad Carothers back in August with my idea to turn the Camaro, inside out. The good thing about a good friend is that you don’t have to go overboard explaining yourself. I wanted to reverse the previous black/white theme of the car, and put into art form everything that I “Hold Fast” too. Namely; God, Amber, Family, America, my pets…and maybe a little old skool nautical theme thrown in for good measure.

Chad got here last Thursday night…put in 12 hrs Friday, then worked straight through from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon…putting in 30+ hours with no sleep, while pushing his flight back in order to get everything done. I’m not going to put in a bunch of words here to take away from his masterpiece…but I will tell you that when we were standing there, completely exhausted and staring at the last little area of open space up near the front fender, he looked at me and said we’re out of time…and that he was out of ideas. I looked back at him and said, write the word JESUS on there as big as you can, and be done with it….since that was who I’d been praying to all night and morning that it would get finished in time and we’d make his next flight!!!

Mocking up where sponsor logo’s will go

Chad getting started...

The roof...

Where all the credit goes.

Thanks,
EG

PS- Chad’s going to paint the hood scoop in Cali…I’ll get a pick of that up next time.

So far, January has been a long month, and it’s not even half way over yet. In Tennessee, the days have been gray and damp…and the nights have been spent under the fluorescent lights thrashing away on my trusty old battle horse ’69 Camaro. If you’ll recall, the only thing we’ve changed is everything in an effort to step up to the much faster outlaw 4.70 class. I cut my season short back in September and got the car over to my buddy Steven Farrow of Farrow Motorsports, where we’ve been dissecting, lightening, and adding extra juice ever since. The list of improvements is long, with regard to the chassis; new round tube back-half, 4-link, narrowed/reinforced rear differential with 4.56 pro gear, sfi 25.5 roll cage, and carbon fiber wheel tubs. As for the engine, it’s been completely freshened with Comp Cams valve train components, new bearings, rings, and hopped up with a Lunati 4.500 crank and “I” beam rods to make an all aluminum 598 CID thumper. As impressive as this may sound, we’re still going to be outgunned relative to other cars/engines in the class where dual carb, 632 CID and larger displacement is the norm. Therefore added motivation in the form of an additional ZEX nitrous kit will have to get the job done. TCI has also freshened my pro-x transmission/convertor with the right combination to get the most out of the new engine/chassis combination.

Last Fri night/Sat morning, the engine short block was finished and we breathed a very short sigh of relief….

Dart Big M block, Dart Pro2 heads and LOTS of valve train stuff from Comp Cams

….then gulped more air before going below the surface of the Camaro to mate the short block engine to the trans/driveshaft/rear-end. The reason we were holding our breath, was that I had a dead line to deliver the car to the body shop on Monday, and we could ill-afford any complications at this point. Luckily, and I mean very luckily, we were able to keep the existing OEM trans tunnel location as the driveshaft cleared without any problem….this was a big deal because it saved fabrication time, and now we would be able to concentrate on setting the new ride height and new front clip.

Project 4.70 with its new fiberglass body panels fitted.

Saturday night, the new clip was mocked up on the front of the car and I couldn’t believe my eyes as the clip, doors and hood all fit very well, requiring only minimal cutting, adjusting, shimming, etc….I would much rather be lucky than good…or in my particular case; better to be blessed than not. I left the shop Saturday night with a feeling of confidence that we’d meet our deadline, and now it was time to focus on Sunday morning’s worship service at my church, Oakwood Baptist.

Pastor Ken was preaching a sermon about how God can change a heart, and asked me to give my Christian testimony, which I was honored to do….but I was about as nervous and stressed out as a scarred, tattoo’d guy can be standing up in front of a congregation, lol! It’s not a natural thing for me to do…I’m not a polished public speaker, and I’m not proud of a lot of things in my past….however I KNOW that God will fight the battles, all I have to do is show up and let Him. All said and done, it was a wonderful experience, and one that definitely helped strengthen my walk, and hopefully blessed a few others along the way.

After the Church service, my wife and I enjoyed a quick plate of leftovers, and then it was back to the shop for final fit-fabrication. New front mounting brackets would have to be built to accommodate the fuel cells, radiator, and longer, lower front end…so Sunday evening rolled into Monday evening, and at about 8 p.m., we rolled Project 4.70 out the door and onto the trailer. Tuesday morning I delivered the car to Troy Byrd’s body shop in Dayton, TN where it will remain for the next couple of weeks, getting a thorough body message, and fresh coat of paint. My old buddy Chad Carothers is going to fly in from So. Cal on the 26th of this month and then it’s time to get serious with our new “Hold-Fast” graphics/paint scheme…

Project 4.70 at Troy Byrd's body shop, just up the road in Dayton, TN.

We still have a ways to go with plumbing, wiring, etc., but if everything stays on course, I figure we stand a strong chance of testing the new ride towards the end of February or first of March…for now it’s time to take a breather and concentrate on all the other little things that go into making sure we’re set up for a successful season; scheduling, budgeting, updating safety equipment, etc.

I also want to pause and give credit to everybody who continues to make racing a reality; namely my employer Coker Tire, Dart Machinery, Comp Cams, Lunati, TCI, Zex, Joe Gibbs Racing Oil, Holeshot Wheels, Lizard Skin, Andy McCoy Race Cars, Dupont Performance Coatings, Farrow Racing Engines, and above all, God, who is the ultimate sponsor of everything I do!

Best,

EG

Ps- look for the first of a three-part article written by Tommy Lee Byrd on project 4.70 in next month’s issue of RPM Magazine!!!

While we were at PRI, I was interviewed by Ben Shelton from Xcelleration Media. Check it out!

Besides Christmas….PRI, or the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show has to be the second most wonderful time of the year. It’s the annual gathering of companies, dealers, racers, and media in sunny south Florida where everybody shows off new products and race plans for 2012. For me it’s a mixed bag of representing Coker Tire Performance Division drag racing tires; M&H and Phoenix to customers old and new, and an opportunity to make connections with the companies and people that have helped me so much along the way in my own racing.

Coker Tire/ Dragracetires.com booth at PRI

Click HERE for more!

…this was the title of a message I heard on my way into work today, and it really lit my rocket! Talk about timely…I’ve been on the other end of so many blessings for the past couple of years, that I’ve grown accustom to expecting big results. I don’t necessarily think that this is a bad thing…and the reason is because I serve a very big God and I believe that anything is possible through Him. However, it can become all too easy to praise God when everything is going good…but the true victories come when you’re in difficult circumstances, and you offer up praise with confidence knowing full well that His plans for you are far greater than anything you may be experiencing currently. (see Jeremiah 29:11) Awesome stuff!

Read more…

At the gentle prompting of a sponsor and a couple of high tech co-workers, it’s been brought to my attention that I need to step out of the dark ages by linking this blog to video, facebook, and my most recent project……Honest Charley T-shirts! You know what, they’re right….after all, I still have a Samsung LG900 camera phone (my wife hates it), barely know how to text, and this blog is pretty much a monologue, as online social networking isn’t exactly my strong suit either.

Thank goodness we’ve got good people at Coker Tire that are willing to help out. Our in-house media moguls, Jason White and Tommy Lee Byrd, keep us current by cranking out video and Facebook updates for all to see. Thanks guys!

Also, as you may or may not already know, Honest Charley Speed Shop was established in 1948 and is the nation’s oldest mail order speed shop. This is highly relevant to me as they’re located right next door and provide speed parts for hot rods all over the world, including mine. Well, recently I had the privilege of working with our graphics guy, Michael Mattheiss, on some new HC tee shirts for the guys to take out on the road to fall car shows and swap meets….check ‘em out!!

The plan is to stack ‘em high and watch ‘em fly! If all goes well, we plan on bringing out about 4 new graphics every quarter. We’ll keep you posted…

Finally, project 4.70 is well under way, and I’d like to extend a VERY big welcome to new sponsor Joe Gibbs Racing Oil!!!! Gibbs has long been a dominate force in NASCAR, and due to their strict performance standards, they’ve set about developing a line of lubrication products that are now excelling in all forms of motorsports. Please check them out as they make a premium product for almost any automotive application.

Best,

EG

Well, put a stamp on it and mail it…the 2011 race season ended for me last weekend at my home track. I guess that technically speaking a track that’s a 4-1/2 hr, 250 mile one-way tow to another state, wouldn’t be considered “home” by most standards. BUT, Montgomery has been awful good to me over the past year and a half as 3 of my 5 race wins in the Outlaw 5.30 Index class have come at MMP. The track always seems to work well, and the competition is fierce, but for the most part friendly….therefore Alabama truly feels like a “sweet” home to me.

Such was the case Friday afternoon as my good friend Mike Freeman and I arrived at the track in time to do our routine maintenance, and take a test lap before the evenings single qualifying session. As fate would have it, our lane assignment was in the lane that NO fast cars had been down all night long…the left one. You see, when testing began, the very first car out on the track was an outlaw pro-mod who went in the right lane, and nailed down a 4.0 pass at nearly 200 mph with seemingly little effort. So all of the other cars tested in the right lane right up until qualifying…accept us. So in a “green” lane with very little traction I set out to get some type of barometer of where we stood for the ensuing qualifying session. What a ride. Left, right, left, and right again spinning the tires all the way through the 1/8th mile for a 5.42 pass, and to add insult to injury, I hit a 55 gallon drum smack square, dead-on in the pits on my way back to the trailer. Apparently somebody was thoughtful enough to sit it out in the dark in order to save a parking place for one of his buddies. I got out of the car wearing my full gear, including helmet, and just sat alone inside my dark trailer for about 5 minutes trying to piece together what just happened. This sure didn’t feel like home…

After a quick sulk, Mike and I set about making a series of adjustments over the next half hour or so and managed to make the best of the bad conditions by putting a 5.34 pass on the books in that dreaded left lane which qualified us somewhere in the middle of the pro ladder. Live to fight another day was my mantra, and I was just happy to come through without any noticeable wounds to man or machine.

Saturday was an all day long tuning struggle and after it was all said and done, we’d slightly improved upon our qualifying order with a 5.32 pass. While it was an upgrade, it still seemed like miles apart from the string of nearly perfect 5.30 passes that I’d watched my competitors make. As I was sitting strapped in the car, I swear that I saw no less than 4 cars run the number. Oh well, if there’s anything I’ve learned about this stuff it’s that while qualifying at the top can definitely help your odds, it certainly won’t win you races…you have to show up and do your part every round.

On this particular weekend it didn’t appear is if we were going to win much of anything. However, my daily devotion that morning encouraged me to “press toward the goal” (Phil. 3:14), and not look behind me. While this was great advice, I couldn’t help to notice what was actually in the lane directly in front of me…..a JET ENGINED DRAGSTER! Now, I’m as big a fan of fire, smoke and mayhem as the next guy…but not when I have to drive my temperamental race car right behind it in a lane that’s now been essentially oiled down with kerosene.

Looks like I’d have to make my own traction and hope that it would be enough. So I did a burnout from the water box to past the 60 ft marker feathering the throttle on and off in an attempt to lay down some rubber and burn off some kerosene. While the crowd certainly enjoyed it, and John Force himself would’ve been proud, I wasn’t so sure it would work until I saw my win light come on. Whew! Press forward…

5 rounds later, and without the benefit of lane choice all night long, I found myself in the unlikely position of another final round appearance. Sweet Home Alabama again! However, a victory just wasn’t meant to be as I had the better reaction time, but was late to get on the brakes and gave it up on the other end of the track, breaking out with a 5.297 or by 3 thousandths of a second. Of course I wanted to win badly, but Mike and I both agreed that even though this mess had fallen just short of a masterpiece, it was still a strong outing and a nice way to end the season.

If you’ll recall, last year I raced right on up until Turkey day weekend in an attempt to capitalize on the racing momentum that seemed to be going my way. This year, even though I’ve gotten a small streak going, I’ve decided to end things a little earlier as my battle proven Camaro is in dire need of a freshen and some upgrades in order to be competitive next season. The plan at this point is to; take the engine apart, upgrade the internals from a 565 CID to a 598 CID, add a second nitrous kit, lighten the car with fiberglass components, re-do the chassis and 4-link components….and paint the entire car. Basically, the only thing we’re going to change is everything, lol…in an attempt to run the 4.70 class. Seems pretty ambitious, but we’ve already gone from 6.0 to 5.30, so why stop now?

As for the blown alcohol nostalgia funny car, we’re making progress there too.

So far I’ve gotten my block and heads from Dart, valve train components from Comp, crank from Lunati, wheels from Holeshot, and tires from M&H…now that the racing season is over, it’s a matter of finding the time and parts needed to make the 509 CID combination come to life. Hopefully we’ll be on track for the track sometime later next spring.

Finally I’d just like to say thanks again to all of the old and new sponsors & friends who have hung in there this season and helped through all the lows and highs, the list is long and God is at the top. Without praise going up in ALL situations….the blessings can’t rain down (thanks Andy). Next is my wife, and crew chief Amber, Corky Coker of Coker & Phoenix race tires, Jack McInnis of Dart Machinery, Chris Douglas and crew at Comp Cams, Stanley Poff at TCI transmissions, Marlene and Joe at Holeshot wheels, Steven Farrow of Farrow Motorsports, David Leach, Mike Freeman, and my pastor Ken Clark of Oakwood Baptist.

Let’s do it again in 2012!!!

Best,
EG