As an event announcer, who has raced on multiple occasions while mic’d up and talking, I can also tell you that there have been a few times when someone had a bad idea like this that I jumped at and later on wondered if it was smart. I’m sure DW had a few moments like that during this lap. Check it out.

Video Description:

Team BOC’s Jason Bright gave NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip his first taste of a V8 Supercar, taking him for some hot laps around Mount Panorama in Bathurst, Australia. The four-time NASCAR Champion was clearly thrilled with his high-speed passenger ride.

The post WatchingDarrell Waltrip Lose His Mind While Riding Shotgun Around Mount Panomara In Bathurst Australia Is Awesome! appeared first on BangShift.com.

These systems provide an aggressive yet functional muscle car stance. A first for Ridetech, both coilover and air systems now feature a rubber isolated spherical bearing design that minimizes NVH noises commonly associated with performance oriented suspension systems.

This additional compliance strikes a happy medium for those who want all the performance benefits of an adjustable suspension without sacrificing ride quality or comfort. As such, they are equally at home applying Gen III Hemi power to the pavement at the drag strip, autocross, track day, or a spirited drive carving corners on canyon roads.

Both coilover and air systems are sporting a fresh new look, featuring black and gray anodized finishes that pair nicely with the rest of the hardware. Fine-tuning of suspension responsiveness is accomplished via the 24-position rebound adjustable HQ series coilovers with Fox Factory valving and internals.

While these two systems are the first to release for these applications, Ridetech’s triple-adjustable TQ-series coilovers for dedicated track builds are coming soon. Stay tuned!

The post Featured Products: Ridetech Late Model Mopar Coilovers & Air Suspension Now Available! appeared first on BangShift.com.

The neater parts of this video are when we get to go and see how the rings become a finished product (circa 1974, we’re guessing things have advanced slightly in 45 years). There’s loads of testing and R&D work being done in this video and we understand that it’s the same way for large piston ring manufacturers today as well. The basic ideology is largely the same but the methods, accuracy, and specs have all changed over the decades.

The last section of the video is a throwback to an era of engine work that really does not exist anymore. There’s a basic “how-to” that concentrates on how to perform a ring-job on an engine. How many times do we hear of cars getting a set of rings and sent back out on the road, anymore. Sure racing engines get them and perhaps if you buy an old truck or something and want to get it roadworthy but re-ringing the engine in the modern service life of a car is kind of a lost action anymore.

This is a fun watch.

Press play below to see this fascinating 1974 video from Perfect Circle Piston Rings –

The post Old School Cool Video: This 1974 Film From Perfect Circle Piston Rings Showcases Indy, Manufacturing, Lloyd Ruby appeared first on BangShift.com.

The points are handed out before the field is split into classes, so overall field size and talent depth are both important factors. That can often make early season stops and those in geographically remote locations like Portland or Sebring offer more potential for big points, than the sold-out events with stacked fields that will come later in the year. With a second stop at Thunderhill now in the books, the points battle is beginning to take shape across all the classes in the series. Even though these cars could be separated by thousands of miles and may not face off in the regular season, many tight battles are already emerging.

Duke Langley’s ’02 Corvette has been dominant in the Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw Class, but he always seems to be waging a battle with his car, to keep it on track. Langely lost the battle at Thunderhill and couldn’t even make the start, which now puts Danny Weller’s Camaro and Jamie Elliott’s Corvette in a tie for first place in the class with 399 out of 400 points at the first two events. Langley can still get around them, but it will probably take at least one perfect weekend for him to do it and the longer he waits and the more points they gather, the tougher that task will get.

In the Speedtech GTV Class, Ryan Breezee’s first place finish at Thunderhill only placed him third overall in the season-long points chase, while the Camaros of Chris Smith and Larry Woo hold onto the top two spots from their runs at Sebring. Breezee is only signed up for one more event this season at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and it will take a 490-point run there for him to pass Smitty for the lead in points…if Smitty does no better than 472 points in his remaining three events.

Breezee won the GTV Class at Laguna Seca in 2023, but a sold-out field with lots of competitive cars limits points opportunities and Breezee was able to win the class there with 462 points. He may win again at Laguna Seca this season, but if he wants to get around Smitty to win the class championship, he’ll probably need to find his way to Portland.

A transfer case failure caused defending No-Limit Engineering GTT Class champion, Stephen Dorrick, to stumble badly out of the gates at Sebring. He still managed to win the class, but only posted 405 points, which now leaves him fourth after three trucks passed him at Thunderhill. David Carroll’s 41-point lead is not insurmountable, but if Carroll or Dustin Reed do well at Portland, Dorrick may need all three of his remaining events to catch either one of them.

In the After Dark Speed GTS Class, Bob Sobey’s Nissan GT-R posted a 13-point win over Jordan Priestley’s Model 3 at Thunderhill. The two are scheduled to square off again at Laguna Seca and if Sobey posts another win, it would make it hard for Priestley or anyone else to catch him. Priestley will have at least one more shot to do it at Road America and a run at Portland could make things very interesting. If Priestley were to move into the lead after Portland, that would force Sobey to travel from Arizona to the Virginias to try to reel him back in at one of the last stops of the season.

The tightest races can be found in the Lingenfelter GTL Class and the Viking Performance GT Class, where the point differential between first and second is two and one point, respectively. Both of those classes also look to be at least four-horse races. Ryan Mathews’ Corvette holds a two-point lead over Lane Farka’s Porsche GT3, but Mike Rovere and CB Ramey haven’t run any events yet this season. In the GT Class, Matt Ramirez’s Mustang holds a one-point lead over defending class champion, Dave Schotz, who is one point ahead of Austin Barnes’ Mustang, while Jonathan Blevins will wait until the final two events to try and take back the GT class title.

Compelling battles can be found at every stop in this series, so if one of these events comes to a track near you, don’t miss out on your chance to see these incredible machines in person. Learn how you can drive among them at www.DriveOPTIMA.com 

The post Ultimate Street Cars at Thunderhill: Round Two of the Ultimate Street Car heads to Northern California appeared first on BangShift.com.

Walking into Blair’s is like stepping back into time. Don’t expect a spotless, sanitary white glove environment, this is a hardcore speed shop with oil-stained floors, with boxes and parts everywhere. Various engine builds are lined up and waiting to be paid for and picked up.  We spied a FE Ford ready to rumble on the run stand, a few 351 Cleveland’s and of course a few big and small block Chevys. The walls are lined with chrome do-dads and serious race equipment. Looking deeper we see lots of cool hand lettered sings, and vintage awards and photos from years of Drag Strip activities. Heading to the back rooms we find the well-used machine shop, fully equipped with mills, lathes and other heavy machinery needed to crank out high performance engines. Check out the inventory of cylinder heads, cranks and blocks waiting to roar again. After showing up unannounced, Phil gave us free reign to wander around the entire shop and shoot some photos. It was a great experience chatting with Phil about the old days and hearing a few war stories of all the past names and personalities that have passed through Blair’s over the years. We bought a few t-shirts, thanked Phil for the hospitality and headed out. This experience got me wistfully thinking about my local shop, K&G Speed Associates that closed a few years ago. These remaining speed emporiums need our support, so, when possible, buy local when you can, long live Blair’s Speed Shop!

Our next destination was another Southern California staple of hot rodding, Mooneyes Equipment in Santa Fe Springs. The Moon name and logo is ubiquitous in land speed, drag racing, and all facets of the automotive hobby. From fuel blocks, tanks, and wheel discs to custom accessories for motorcycles, VWs, and trucks Moon Equipment has what you need to add the finishing touch to your ride. I personally have a silver Moon metalflake steering wheel on my race car! The Santa Fe Springs location is part retail store, part shipping warehouse and part fab shop, and part museum. The store is great with so much cool stuff in every square corner. Check out the Ed Roth scale model diorama featuring all Big Daddy’s creations, an amazing amount of detail work is in there. Exiting through the gift shop leads to another room that takes you back in time. Check out the huge display case and shelves full of vintage speed parts and insanely cool artifacts from the history of Mooneyes. And upon turning around, there sits Dean Moon’s personal ’34 hot rod with wire wheels, bobbed fenders, and glowing yellow paint. Adjacent to the roadster is a perfect recreation of the old Mooneyes Dragmaster rail job, complete with a gorgeous Potvin blown little Chevy mill. The dragster was rolled out into the bright sunshine and was simply stunning. The back area of the Moon complex is the shipping and receiving section, nothing too exciting, unless you know the story of Carroll Shelby coming to Moon in 1962 with the idea of building his own sports car. I was standing right where it happened. The lore goes something like Shelby, ever the promoter, was telling all the magazines he had multiple Cobras ready to road test, when he had only one! So right there in in the Moon shop that single Cobra was painted numerous times for the car mag scribes to drive and report on, giving the illusion of a fleet of cars ready to be sold. Wild stuff!

Across the parking lot is the fab shop. Moon tanks and wheel discs are spun, welded and hand finished right there on site. Once again, the laid-back Moon staff gave us carte blanche and we wondered around trying not to bother the dudes actually working. We checked out the machines, tooling, welders and all the other stuff utilized to produce these iconic speed parts. Hanging from the rafters was another complete Dragmaster chassis, and a bitchin’ ‘glass Anglia gasser front end hung on back wall. A few Bonneville and El Mirage running Streamliners with Moon livery were being maintained in house, as well. So much neat eye candy was everywhere.
To paraphrase Ice Cube, “…Today was a good day”.

Us BangShifter’s need to support these places, as they are truly hallowed ground for us hot rodders, we ended the trip by grabbing a few more t-shirts. I went with the classic black and white Mooneyes tee in double fat!

Join the Blair’s Speed Shop Facebook group to check the history:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1460627117571926

And buy something cool from Mooneye Equipment:
https://www.mooneyesusa.com/

The post An East Coasters Tour Of So Cal Hot Rodding History: Mooneyes Shop Tour Photos From Joe Grippo. appeared first on BangShift.com.

Video Description:

HOW MUCH POWER ARE SHORTY HEADERS WORTH? HOW MUCH POWER ARE LONG TUBE HEADERS WORTH? HOW MUCH POWER IS A CAM SWAP WORTH ON A 4.8L? SHOULD I UPGRADE THE TRUCK INTAKE ON MY 4.8L? WHAT HAPPENS IF I ADD HEADS, CAM AND INTAKE ON A 4.8L? CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN MAKING MODIFICATIONS TO YOUR 4.8L LS MOTOR (WORKS ON 5.3L AND 6.0L TOO). I COMPARED STOCK EXHAUST MANIFOLDS VS SHORTY HEADES AND LONG TUBE HEADERS ON A STOCK AND MODIFIED 4.8L TO DEMONSTRATE THE CHANGE IN POWER ON EACH COMBO. I ALSO COMPARED THE STOCK VS BTR TRUCK NORRIS NSR CAM, STOCK TRUCK INTAKE VS FAST LSXRT AND DEMONSTRATED THE GAINS OFFERED BY UPGRADING THE HEADS, CAM AND INTAKE.

The post WHAT ARE THE BEST 4.8L POWER MODS? HEADERS vs CAM vs INTAKE vs HEADS, CAM & INTAKE! MAXIMUM 4.8L HP appeared first on BangShift.com.

This car is built from all new parts, at a much higher level of dimensional accuracy than anything that Ford built. And it has serious performance upgrades, like Wilwood Brakes, a supercharged Coyote crate engine, bigger wheels and tires, modern transmission, and so much more. This thing is built for fun and Jay puts it through its paces enough to know that this thing is a riot. And with over 700 horsepower on tap you can certainly have a lot of fun in this bad boy.

Let us know what you think as Jay gives us the full rundown.

The post Jay Leno’s Garage Car Feature: This 1968 Mustang GT 2+2 Fastback Cobra Jet Makes Over 700 Horsepower appeared first on BangShift.com.

In the video below, our friends at Holley are sharing their knowledge to help you figure out which fuel system components are right for your hot rod, custom, muscle car, or race car application. Check it out.

Video Description:

The key to choosing the right Holley Fuel Cell Module is fitment and flow. It must be installed properly in your fuel cell and provide enough volume to meet your horsepower output needs. In this video, we show you how to do just that.

Learn More:

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_…

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_…

The post Fuel System Tech Video: How To Size Holley Fuel Cell EFI Pump Modules For Your Application. appeared first on BangShift.com.

Video Description:

This thing is ONE of a KIND and it’s been sitting outside for many decades! Somebody, somewhere poured their heart and soul into making this Austin Healey 3000 roadster into a WILD hot rod. It’s a full custom hot rod build with Chrysler torsion bar suspension, an Oldsmobile 215ci Aluminum V8, home made headers, CUSTOM transmission, and all sorts of custom body work. The windshield is the back glass from a Tri Five Chevy with a custom round tube frame. It has 14 inch steel wheels…3 of them. What a crusty old car…but what a story it must have. Join me in studying its wild details and let’s hope we can find some information and history on this thing!

The post Hot Rod Hoarder Video: This MYSTERY V8 Austin Healey Hot Rod Has Sat ABANDONED Since the ’60s! appeared first on BangShift.com.

Walking into Blair’s is like stepping back into time. Don’t expect a spotless, sanitary white glove environment, this is a hardcore speed shop with oil-stained floors, with boxes and parts everywhere. Various engine builds are lined up and waiting to be paid for and picked up.  We spied a FE Ford ready to rumble on the run stand, a few 351 Cleveland’s and of course a few big and small block Chevys. The walls are lined with chrome do-dads and serious race equipment. Looking deeper we see lots of cool hand lettered sings, and vintage awards and photos from years of Drag Strip activities. Heading to the back rooms we find the well-used machine shop, fully equipped with mills, lathes and other heavy machinery needed to crank out high performance engines. Check out the inventory of cylinder heads, cranks and blocks waiting to roar again. After showing up unannounced, Phil gave us free reign to wander around the entire shop and shoot some photos. It was a great experience chatting with Phil about the old days and hearing a few war stories of all the past names and personalities that have passed through Blair’s over the years. We bought a few t-shirts, thanked Phil for the hospitality and headed out. This experience got me wistfully thinking about my local shop, K&G Speed Associates that closed a few years ago. These remaining speed emporiums need our support, so, when possible, buy local when you can, long live Blair’s Speed Shop!

Our next destination was another Southern California staple of hot rodding, Mooneyes Equipment in Santa Fe Springs. The Moon name and logo is ubiquitous in land speed, drag racing, and all facets of the automotive hobby. From fuel blocks, tanks, and wheel discs to custom accessories for motorcycles, VWs, and trucks Moon Equipment has what you need to add the finishing touch to your ride. I personally have a silver Moon metalflake steering wheel on my race car! The Santa Fe Springs location is part retail store, part shipping warehouse and part fab shop, and part museum. The store is great with so much cool stuff in every square corner. Check out the Ed Roth scale model diorama featuring all Big Daddy’s creations, an amazing amount of detail work is in there. Exiting through the gift shop leads to another room that takes you back in time. Check out the huge display case and shelves full of vintage speed parts and insanely cool artifacts from the history of Mooneyes. And upon turning around, there sits Dean Moon’s personal ’34 hot rod with wire wheels, bobbed fenders, and glowing yellow paint. Adjacent to the roadster is a perfect recreation of the old Mooneyes Dragmaster rail job, complete with a gorgeous Potvin blown little Chevy mill. The dragster was rolled out into the bright sunshine and was simply stunning. The back area of the Moon complex is the shipping and receiving section, nothing too exciting, unless you know the story of Carroll Shelby coming to Moon in 1962 with the idea of building his own sports car. I was standing right where it happened. The lore goes something like Shelby, ever the promoter, was telling all the magazines he had multiple Cobras ready to road test, when he had only one! So right there in in the Moon shop that single Cobra was painted numerous times for the car mag scribes to drive and report on, giving the illusion of a fleet of cars ready to be sold. Wild stuff!

Across the parking lot is the fab shop. Moon tanks and wheel discs are spun, welded and hand finished right there on site. Once again, the laid-back Moon staff gave us carte blanche and we wondered around trying not to bother the dudes actually working. We checked out the machines, tooling, welders and all the other stuff utilized to produce these iconic speed parts. Hanging from the rafters was another complete Dragmaster chassis, and a bitchin’ ‘glass Anglia gasser front end hung on back wall. A few Bonneville and El Mirage running Streamliners with Moon livery were being maintained in house, as well. So much neat eye candy was everywhere.
To paraphrase Ice Cube, “…Today was a good day”.

Us BangShifter’s need to support these places, as they are truly hallowed ground for us hot rodders, we ended the trip by grabbing a few more t-shirts. I went with the classic black and white Mooneyes tee in double fat!

Join the Blair’s Speed Shop Facebook group to check the history:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1460627117571926

And buy something cool from Mooneye Equipment:
https://www.mooneyesusa.com/

The post An East Coasters Tour Of So Cal Hot Rodding History: Blair’s Speed Shop Tour Photos From Joe Grippo. appeared first on BangShift.com.