B
ANDERSON DICK
y not following historical trends,
such as having to connect a laptop to
an ECU for tuning purposes, Dick
was able to revolutionize the world of
EFI. Instead, Dick decided that he
wanted to create something with an
integrated interface that allowed us-
ers to control and tune everything from one self-con-
tained unit. Initially, a laptop connection wasn’t even
an option —— it wasn’t until around 2007 that the
feature was added.
By 2009, though, Dick’s company
had established itself as a key player
in the Brazilian market and employed
a team of more than 25 staff members.
With the proof of concept firmly in
place, he knew it was time to branch
out.
His ingenious method of problem
solving actually hindered Dick’s initial
efforts to penetrate highly competi-
tive international markets at first, as so
many people were resistant to change.
“We attended the Performance Rac-
ing Industry (PRI) show in the USA in
2009 through 2012, and the majority
of the people who stopped at our booth
were asking ‘if this is the dash, where
is the ECU?’ and we had to explain it
was all one unit,” he notes of the typical
response his product received. “People
said we wouldn’t succeed.”
Undeterred, Dick continued and
regularly displayed at Donald “Duck”
Long’s legendary radial tire races at
South Georgia Motorsports Park in
Valdosta, Georgia. “We never sold a
single computer the first year,” Dick
admits, and notes that later events had
similar outcomes. Eventually, though,
a few racers agreed to try his technol-
ogy. The progress snowballed, and
before long, people were coming by
already convinced they needed to make
the switch to FuelTech themselves. “It
was a shock; we really weren’t expect-
ing it!”
In 2012, two Brazilian racers, Roder-
jan Busato and Fabio Costa, purchased
engines for their Pro Mods from Pro
Line Racing. “They were the ones that
introduced us to Eric Dillard at PLR.
They wanted to run FuelTech on their
cars, so we talked to Eric and realized
our product at the time was not able to
110 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
fulfill their expectations for
an engine like that,” Dick
Product demo
candidly confesses. Using
Anderson Dick explains
the setback instead as mo-
several of the features of the
FuelTech FT600 installed in
tivation, Dick went to work
“Daddy Dave” Comstock’s
on a major redesign that
infamous “Goliath 2.0” ‘63
would become an all-new
Chevy Nova. Comstock is
platform for FuelTech.
one of numerous Street
Over the next two years,
Outlaws stars who have
showcased the FuelTech
the FuelTech team worked
brand on television and at
relentlessly to develop
races like Lights Out 9.
something to meet the
needs of the Pro Mod com-
munity. “We had maxed
out our original products, and the
new platform became the FT500,”
clarifies Dick of the unexpected
progression, despite already hav-
ing approximately 90 percent
market share in Brazil with his
earlier offerings. “By 2014, we
started using our systems on
the Pro Mods and established
the FuelTech USA headquar-
ters next to Pro Line Racing
in Ball Ground, Georgia.”
Although the two com-
panies work together quite
closely, they remain com-
pletely separate entities
and FuelTech works
with many other en-
gine builders. It’s not a
traditional partnership,
but rather a synergis-
tic, non-exclusive col-
laboration. Pro Line
Racing benefits by
“We want to be disruptive and bring new
having direct access
technology to this industry. We don’t
to the FuelTech think
accept the limitations. We know we can
tank, while Fuel-
Tech’s products are
do better and always improve.”
proven by Pro Line
Racing’s customers.
Issue 131