MSD Ignition Blog

2009 Powder Puff Desert Race
Barstow, California
October 10, 2009

Ok, if you’re a desert rat you’ll get what I’m talking about…if not, check it out – here’s a crash course! Desert racing is a completely different sport from your pavement races and dirt track events. Most think Baja now for longer races, mostly due to BLM and land issues.

There are still some US desert races that run a longer race loop such as SCORE’s Primm 300 and BitD’s mega-sweet Parker & Vegas to Reno events in Nevada and Arizona. But, travel and entry fees are much on everyone’s minds going racing.

As today’s economy has dictated where racers go race – long time “smaller” promoters like MORE, MDR, SNORE have continued to see good car counts and are absolutely great venues for good old fashioned, grassroots racing. Following the “best bang for your buck” idea, these are the events you need to try!

This year’s MORE Powder Puff race is an excellent example. With a sea of pink crew shirts and race car paint schemes excited ladies only drivers and co-riders showed up in anything and everything they could borrow, beg or…well, you know just to make the race.

Very much a family affair, off-roaders have always had a big heart and love their sport. Benefiting the Cedar Sinai Women’s Cancer Research Center - moms, sisters and daughters wore the fire suits, helmets and gloves today. The guys did the crewing duties for the weekend!

Tons of excitement during Staging

Profile of a 1600 Race Buggy

Remember Baja Bugs? They’re alive and well!


Vintage racer, but it’s all in having fun


Great Light Covers!


Trust me…we have suspension


For those unfamiliar with desert racing, here’s how the pre-runner craze first started!


You don’t see these Pit Boards in NASCAR!


More VW Baja’s


This is not Vintage


Old school racers out there – Pit Sign or Skid Plate??? (oh yeah, great decal placement!)


Who says UTV’s are for hunting?


No fair! Windows up means A/C on!!!


On the other spectrum, Class 11 is as LIMITED as you get…stock everything! But, they finished and are all smiles – congrats!


How did those get on the bumper???


Who’s catching who?


Time to cruise the desert! Bring 4 of your best friends…


Finishing is half the battle, isn’t it?



This is not a pre-runner.


 *** Special thanks to everyone at Jefferies Racing. I had a great time, thanks for the hospitality! ***


Even with some down time on their 3rd lap, Mindy and Jenna finished 9th out of 20 in class. The truck looked good!


So Jenna, what happened?

Did I mention fun for the whole family? After the girls took the finish flag, cool mom Mindy tends to her next generation racer…

Wanna read more? Check out http://www.knfilters.com/news/news.aspx?ID=2336

See you at the races!
Ed/MSD

Our friends over at BangShift.com have the LIVE FEED of the California Hot Rod Reunion happening right now! Don't miss the Cackle Fest on Saturday night!

 It was a record-setting final day for the racers of the NHRA. In Top Fuel Brandon Bernstein finally takes the win against tire-smoking Antron Brown. In Funny Car Del Worsham also had his day defeating Tim Wilkerson in the process. In Pro Stock Mike Edwards took out crowd favorite Greg Anderson in the final. Congratulations to all the winnners.

  The 2009 Engine Masters Challenge is in the books! The results were down to the wire with Jon Kaase taking the win by less than two points. The Kaase Ford relied on a complete MSD Ignition system including a Programmable 7 Plus Ignition Control .

1st - Team #5 Jon Kaase Racing (Almost Kaase)/Ford - 2,632.8

2nd - Team #10 B.E.S Racing Engines/Chevy - 2,631.4

3rd- Team #2 Hot Heads Research/Gene Adams Performance/Chrysler - 2,598.2

4th - Team #17 Performance Crankshaft, Inc/Chevy - 2,598.0

5th - Team #4 School of Automotive Machinists (Entry #2)/Ford - 2,585.4

6th - Team #1 Jon Kaase Racing/Ford - 2,583.2

  A few surprises on the dynos today. The front runner as of Tuesday afternoon is a 403 small block Chevy, with a 404 Ford not far behind. There's also a pair of LS engines, one EFI and one with a carb, in quarantine joining a Pontiac and another big Ford. (There was also a 426 Hemi with a crossram setup going on the dyno to wrap up the day...) Stick around for more cool dyno action on Wednesday!

Unofficial results so far this morning. Still have a few more engines to dyno.

 
  The 2009 Engine Masters Challenge is off and roaring this week! The EMC is taking place at the University of Northwestern Ohio and we have day one wrapped up. This year’s rules accept nearly any V8 domestic powerplant and even EFI or carbs!
Today, and... majority of engines we saw in the shop are fueled by carbs, but there were a few EFI systems coming up. But what a variety of engines! Today we saw a couple Fords including a Mod Motor and a 429, a 426 Hemi and even a Pontiac. There were also a couple LS engines waiting in the wings for tomorrow.

Follow along with the EMC updates- click here as well as Facebook updates here.

  NHRA Drag racing was concluded yesterday in Memphis due to the rain delayed race. In Top Fuel Morgan Lucas scored his third win of the year by upsetting Tony Schumacher in the final round. In Funny car action Jeff Arend scored his first victory since 1996 against a tire smoking Tony Pedregon. In Pro Stock Jason Line took the easy win as Ron Krisher red-lit in the final. In Pro Stock Motorcycle Michael Phillips takes home the wally running past Eddie Krawiec in the final. Congratulations to all the winners.

 MSD is saddened to learn about the untimely death of sport compact pioneer Shaun Carlson. Carlson had been diagnosed with Brugada Syndrome, a genetic disease characterized by an abnormality in the heart’s electrical system. Shaun was the talented owner of NuFormz Racing in Ontario, Calif., and a former Team Mopar NHRA Pro Stock driver for Don Schumacher Racing. Carlson was named one of the Top Ten Innovators of all time in the sport compact world and was the first Front Wheel Drive builder to run in the 9’s and in the 8’s as well as building the first sport compact drag car with a tube chassis. There are no details on a memorial service at this time.

MSD sends our condolences to his family.