Here’s another update photo from Johnston Body Works & Bikes on the finished turbo inlets on the front end.
Horsepower & Heels Blog
Erica Ortiz is a professional drag racer from the all-female pro modified team Horsepower & Heels and strong advocate of women in motorsports. A veteran both behind the wheel and behind a torque wrench, Erica brings over 10 years of experience navigating the male-dominated motor sports arena from the female perspective.
Prudhomme Super Snake Mustang
I
‘m really excited that Ford is taking such an active role in Drag Racing again. First, the Cobra Jet Mustang is developed by Ford for NHRA sportsman racing. Now, Carol Shelby has paired up with drag racing legend Don “the Snake” Prudhomme to create the Shelby Super Snake Prudhomme Edition Mustang.
The new Prudhomme Mustang is based on Shelby’s GT500 Mustang, beefing up the already stout 5.4L Supercharged powerplant to a whopping 750hp on 93 octane pump gas. The program is designed as post-title packaging for 2007-2009 Shelby GT owners. It incorporates an all-fiberglass tilt front end, added Kenne Belle Air Intake system, an Impact Safety Harness, Borla side exhaust, drag suspension and tires, as well as some side skirt aesthetic improvements. Street tire packages are also available for those wanting to keep to the streets.
The package is a limited edition run, with only 100 available at a whopping $100,000 price tag. That price does not include the cost of the base Shelby GT500 used in the modification, so look for a $140,000+ price tag to purchase one new.
Shelby and Prudhomme’s relationship stretches back to the 1968 drag racing season, when a young Prudhomme piloted Carol Shelby’s first Top Fuel entry.
Personally, I’m not sure I like the styling, though I can fully appreciate the 750hp added benefit (800hp on race fuel). What do you think of this new racer?
(photo courtesy Shelby Automotive, Inc.)
Another black and pink racecar
One of the biggest things I’ve missed is my signature Black & Pink racecar paint jobs. Which is why I’m really excited that the other Erica racing is not only driving a Mustang this year too, but has gone with a Black/Pink color scheme for her DragStar Pro Stock ride.
Its been a tough road for racers lately, so I’m super excited for Erica Enders getting back to the Pro Stock arena. The car, which is sponsored by DragStar Racing, will be part of Cunningham Ford Pro Stock Racing program.
Amazingly, this year we are sharing not only the first name, but both of us are driving mustangs, and both cars will rock a similar paint scheme. Although I originally planned a similar Black/Pink theme based on my blog format, my car will now be a dark charcoal color with the pink/black accents instead.
With any luck, this will be the year for the Ericas Comeback Tour– Enders taking on the Pro Stock boys, and myself dealing with the Pro Street crowd! Good luck, Enders!
Twitter for the racing crowd
One of my favorite social networking tools is Twitter. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and although I first thought it was rather odd and didn’t “get it”, I’ve realized the myriad of different usages for the service, and how they can be customized and utilized for personal needs. (Visit me on Twitter here)
Lately, I’ve been very excited by the adoption of Twitter by many different racing teams as a way to communicate with fans. There are endless opportunities for teams to use Twitter in a new and engaging way.
One of the most beneficial usages is the fact that fans can now follow and request text message notifications to their phones for their favorite drivers. That means that if I subscribe with notification to JFR’s twitter account, I’ll get an instant text message update from the team whenever they tweet a new event. If PR people handle this right, it means insider information available instantaneously… and it also means a great database in which to reach out to your fans.
I’ve started assembling the Twitter Guide for the Drag Racing Crowd, to include a list of all the drag racing related twitter feeds. Feel free to add to my list in the comments section, and I’ll post them online soon for everyone to use.
***Sanctioning Bodies***
@NHRA — NHRA Official Twitter
@IHRAMotorsports — IHRA Official Twitter
@March Meet — Nostalgia Drag Racing Meet
@GSAProMods — NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge
@NAPA_Goodguys — Live tweeting from the Goodguys Events
***News Orgs***
@go2geiger — Go 2 Geiger Drag Racing News
@femaleracing — Female Racing News Network
@ProStockCars — Pro Stock Cars News
@nhraphil — Phil Burgess, Editor for National Dragster
@ChevyHigh — Chevy High Performance Magazine
@SpeedFreaks — Speed Freaks Motorsports Radio & TV
@SpeedSceneLive — Speed Scene Live Webcast
@ThunderRoadShow — The Thunder Road Show Radio
@SpeedTV — Speed TV Channel
@competitionplus — Competition Plus
@DragTimes — Database of Drag Racing and Dyno
@FTTV — Full Throttle TV
***Drivers/Teams***
–Top Fuel
@MARNews — Mike Ashley Racing, Antron Brown Top Fuel
@TeamKalitta — The Kalitta Racing Top Fuel/Funny Car Team
@KennyBernstein — Kenny Bernstein Racing Top Fuel Team
@TerryMcMillen — Top Fuel Driver Terry McMillen
@BobVandergriff — Top Fuel Driver Bob Vandergriff
@shoeracing — Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel/Funny Car Teams
@bacamotorsports — Top Fuel Driver David Baca
@alanabiracing — Alan Johnson Top Fuel/Funny Car Teams
@DougHerbert — Top Fuel Driver Doug Herbert
@RacerJRTodd — NHRA Top Fuel Driver J.R. Todd
@topfueldragster — Stevens Family Top Fuel Team
@Cory_Mac_TF — Top Fuel Driver Cory McClenathan
@HillaryWill — Top Fuel Driver Hillary Will
@HotRodFuller — Top Fuel Driver Rod Fuller
@ClayMillican — Top Fuel Driver Clay Millican
–Funny Car
@JFR_Racing — John Force Racing Funny Car Teams
@Tasca3 — Nitro Funny Car Driver Bob Tasca III
@TeamWilkerson — Nitro Funny Car team of Tim Wilkerson
@MattHaganRacing — Nitro Funny Car Driver Matt Hagan
@ITGMotorsports — In the Groove Nitro Funny Car/Pro Stock Bike Team
@DaleCreasyJr — Nitro Funny Car Driver Dale Creasy Jr.
@GaryDensham –Nitro Funny Car Driver Gary Densham
–Pro Stock
@TeamJEGS_Jeg_Jr — Pro Stock Driver Jeg Coughlin Jr.
@ACDelcoRacing — Pro Stock Team of Kurt Johnson
@BBenza — Pro Stock Driver Bob Benza
@Erica_Enders — Pro Stock Driver Erica Enders
–Pro Stock Motorcycle
@SJR_Racing — Pro Stock Motorcycle Driver Steve Johnson
@ShawnGann — Pro Stock Motorcycle Driver Shawn Gann
@hdracing — Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle Team
–Pro Mod
@NielsenRacing — Outlaw Pro Modified Nitrous team
@madmantaylor — Pro Mod Driver Frankie Taylor
@rodhouckracing — Pro Mod Driver Rod Houck
@BarklageRacing — Barklage Pro Mod Racing Team
–Other Classes
@nitrokitty — Nostalgia Funny Car Driver Mendy Fry
@CourtneyEnders — Courtney Enders
@CourtneyForce — A/Fuel Dragster Driver Courtney Force
@MKRacer — Nitro Crew Chief Mike Kloeber
@wellsmotorsport — IHRA Top Sportsman Carlos Wells
@HorsepowerHeels — Pro Mod Driver Erica Ortiz
@LeducDiamond — Nostalgia Funny Car Driver Leah Leduc
***Tracks/Facilities***
@norwalkracefans — Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, OH
@gatewayraceway — Gateway Int’l Raceway in Madison, IL
@BMSUpdates — Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN
@OReillyRaceway — O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, IN
@InfineonRaceway — Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA
@RacePBIR — Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, FL
@ACSUpdates — Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA
@LVMotorSpeedway — Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV
@MapleGrove — Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA
@The_Dirty_MO — Mooresville Dragway in Mooresville, NC
***Sponsors and Motorsports Miscellaneous***
@RacingJunk — Racing Junk Classifieds
@FordRacing — Ford Racing Division
@DragstarRacing — DragStar Apparel
@CastrolUSA — Castrol Engine Oils
@MandHtires — M&H Tires
@hotchkis — Hotchkis Suspension
@YokohamaTC — Yokohama Tire Company
@TitanMotorsport — Titan Motorsports in Orlando, FL
@wyotech — WYOTech
@NHRA_Museum — The NHRA Museum
@SummitRacing — Summit Racing Performance Powerhouse
@KNFilters — K&N Filters
@JFRaceStation — John Force Race Station
@TrickTitanium — Trick Titanium
@MQL_Racing — Motorcraft and Quick Lane
@Turbonetics — Turbonetics Turbochargers
@rehermorrison — Reher Morrison Engines
Turbo inlets cut
Here’s another shot of the front end with the molding done for the turbo inlets.
Thanks again to Johnston Body Works & Bikes and Dan Parker of Parker Chassis.
For a complete look at the build-up process, check out the Build-Up Photo Gallery
More progress on the racecar
Its getting even CLOSER! BIG, HUGE, CAN’T EVEN PUT INTO WORDS THANKS to David Johnston of Johnston Body Works and Bikes and Dan Parker at Parker Chassis. I’m really excited! Its getting so very close now!
2009 World of Wheels Atlanta
Its been a LONG while since I was around some good ole hot rods, so I was really excited to attend the 2009 World of Wheels Expo in Atlanta this weekend. I managed to remember to bring my fancy-pants camera, which I haven’t drug out in over 2 years. After reviewing my photos from this weekend, I’m WAAAY out of practice, and did more fumbling with the thing than anything (hello FLASH, what happened to you?!?) , but you’ll get the picture.
I LOVE rat rods and the work and creativity that goes into them. There were many need rat rods and choppers at this show, my favorites being the old skool tow trucks and themed bikes.
There were some iconic cars there as well. I’m a huge Speed Racer fan, so the Mach 5 rendition was especially cool to me. The Foose P-32 Roadster was also on display, as well as both the original and the latest rendition of the KITT cars from Knight Rider (As much as I love Mustangs, I still don’t think the Mustang as the new KITT car seems right to me).
They even had a stunt street bike exhibition set up in the far corner, but of course my shoty photography skills got a major FAIL in that department. My blurry attempt at getting the endo stoppy action:
You can take the girl out of the tropics…
….but you can’t take the tropics outta the girl!
Although I was born and raised in Orlando, FL for the first 24 years of my life, I haven’t lived there for the last 5 years. (which is NOT for lack of trying to go home! Stupid economy!) When people ask me where I’m from, I’m still programmed to say Florida. When people hear me complain that its too cold… my answer is that I’m 100% Florida girl and just DO NOT do COLD. But someone challenged me recently. *AHEM!* (Thanks, Jeff!)
“You haven’t lived in Florida for 5 years now! I think you can stop claiming that.”
WHAT?!?! Someone questions my 100% Florida sunshine BLOODLINE?!? The NERVE! ha!
Well, last night, I proved exactly WHY I do NOT belong in the cold.
Its was a blustery 9 degrees in Huntsville last night as I entered Roller Derby practice. I parked, and since the parking is a bit of an incline, I didn’t even think much when I pulled the parking brake up and ran inside. Practice is about 2 hours long, so by the time I got out shortly after 10pm, the cold had really set in.
I quickly ran in my derby mini, tights, and knee socks to the car ready to get moving and get the heat crankin’ in the car. When I went to start the car and let down the ebrake, I knew I had a problem. The handle fell limply to the console, but the tension didn’t release.
OH CRAP.
Duh Erica! You’re not supposed to set the parking brake in the cold weather! It’s halfway frozen before on me, but never 40+ miles from home and at 10pm at night, in the ghetto, by myself, and in a MINI SKIRT. SAAA-WEET!
So, I try letting the car warm up. 20 minutes, no luck. I back up and go forward trying to rock it free. Nope, no dice. I yank on the handle and try to wiggle the cable loose. Try again, dummy! 40 minutes later, and the parking lot at the rink is now empty and very menacing feeling. I made some phone calls to see if anyone else had any ideas (Sorry Dennis and Dan at almost midnight your time!) Still nothing.
So, we’ve collectedly determined that the thing is probably frozen stuck where it goes under the driveshaft tunnel. “Can you crawl under the car and see if you can reach it?” Umm, Hi. Mini-skirt. 9 degree weather. Ummm lemmeee think about it…. NO! Plus, where we think its stuck would’ve been out of reach anyways without jacking the car up.
So, after a few more futile minutes of jerking around with the parking brake handle, back up and going forward, and even a few quick sideways launches trying ANYTHING to jar the damn cable, I realize that I’m going to have to limp this thing out of the ghetto and the 40 miles home at the expense of my rear rotors and brakes. Yea, smoking red rear calipers are wonderful fun! It finally let loose about 20 miles down the road…. I ended up getting home well after midnight. I haven’t even attempted to look at the rotors to see how bad they are.
And I don’t even live in that icy, crappy stuff you people call SNOW!
Hey! Don’t judge…. Years of making SANDMEN for Christmas doesn’t exactly prepare you for the winter virtues.
NHRA Fan Relief
I was really worried about the state of the dragpocalypse, and NHRA’s seeming lack of action toward the current economic situation.I stand corrected.
The NHRA has just recently announced a Fan Relief Program, aimed at helping the fans in the current economic downfall.The plan still doesn’t address the racer’s hardship, so its not clear if fans will still be faced with short fields, but it does move forward on helping the sport navigate the very precarious climate.
Fans now will enjoy reduced admissions, free entry for children under 12, free Friday entry for active military members, and discounts to NHRA merchandise. Its a great step for the NHRA.
With the gloom and doom of the off-season, its easy to get caught up in the soap box of pointing blame. (Myself Included.) But, Funny Car driver Ron Capps really made a great point:
There can be two ways we can handle the situation. One is that we can all complain about it, say that since there may not be full fields the racing won’t be as good, and that I am gonna stay home, not go to the races I might usually go to, and not watch it on ESPN. The other option is do everything as a drag racing fan to help our sport through these times. Trust me, all motorsports are gonna see tough times, but I think that times like these will define our sport and its fans. -Ron Capps, NAPA Funny Car Driver
The start of the 2009 Full Throttle NHRA Drag Racing Series is around the corner. Here’s hoping to a great year and lots of SAFE racing!
You can take the girl outta the tropics
….but you can’t take the tropics outta the girl!
Although I was born and raised in Orlando, FL for the first 24 years of my life, I haven’t lived there for the last 5 years. (which is NOT for lack of trying to go home! Stupid economy!) When people ask me where I’m from, I’m still programmed to say Florida. When people hear me complain that its too cold… my answer is that I’m 100% Florida girl and just DO NOT do COLD. But someone challenged me recently. *AHEM!* Woodchuck.
“You haven’t lived in Florida for 5 years now! I think you can stop claiming that.”
WHAT?!?! Someone questions my 100% Florida sunshine BLOODLINE?!? The NERVE! ha!
Well, last night, I proved exactly WHY I do NOT belong in the cold.
Its was a blustery 9 degrees in Huntsville last night as I entered Roller Derby practice. I parked, and since the parking is a bit of an incline, I didn’t even think much when I pulled the parking brake up and ran inside. Practice is about 2 hours long, so by the time I got out shortly after 10pm, the cold had really set in.
I quickly ran in my derby mini, tights, and knee socks to the car ready to get moving and get the heat crankin’ in the car. When I went to start the car and let down the ebrake, I knew I had a problem. The handle fell limply to the console, but the tension didn’t release.
OH CRAP.
Duh Erica! You’re not supposed to set the parking brake in the cold weather! It’s halfway frozen before on me, but never 40+ miles from home and at 10pm at night, in the ghetto, by myself, and in a MINI SKIRT. SAAA-WEET!
So, I try letting the car warm up. 20 minutes, no luck. I back up and go forward trying to rock it free. Nope, no dice. I yank on the handle and try to wiggle the cable loose. Try again, dummy! 40 minutes later, and the parking lot at the rink is now empty and very menacing feeling. I made some phone calls to see if anyone else had any ideas (Sorry Dennis and Dan at almost midnight your time!) Still nothing.
So, we’ve collectedly determined that the thing is probably frozen stuck where it goes under the driveshaft tunnel. “Can you crawl under the car and see if you can reach it?” Umm, Hi. Mini-skirt. 9 degree weather. Ummm lemmeee think about it…. NO! Plus, where we think its stuck would’ve been out of reach anyways without jacking the car up.
So, after a few more futile minutes of jerking around with the parking brake handle, back up and going forward, and even a few quick sideways launches trying ANYTHING to jar the damn cable, I realize that I’m going to have to limp this thing out of the ghetto and the 40 miles home at the expense of my rear rotors and brakes. Yea, smoking red rear calipers are wonderful fun! It finally let loose about 20 miles down the road…. I ended up getting home well after midnight. I haven’t even attempted to look at the rotors to see how bad they are.
And I don’t even live in that icy, crappy stuff you people call SNOW!
Hey! Don’t judge…. Years of making SANDMEN for Christmas doesn’t exactly prepare you for the winter virtues.