Drag Illustrated Issue 148, September 2019 | Page 24

Dirt HUB OF ACTIVITY How did FuelTech see the need and come up with the concept for the hub dyno? We wanted to have a dyno for some time, but there’s no way to do a regular chassis dyno on a Pro Mod. I don’t believe anyone has been to 3,000 [horsepower] on a chassis dyno; they mainly go around 2,000 and something hap- pens with the tires. We had that in mind. At some point, we discovered the hub dyno and we worked with Mainline in Australia. We bought a unit, flew in the main guy from Mainline, and found a way to use it that was 100 percent new. We are also fortunate that Pro Line is across the street. They raised an eyebrow and saw an opportunity to use the hub dyno instead of towing four hours to a track somewhere. People started seeing how good of a tool it is and how easy it is to handle. It leaves from the transbrake, it does gear-shifting, and you can manipulate power with time-based timing and fuel just like at the track. All that stuff becomes useful for any kind of racing vehicle, because How does your interest in driving help you relate to customers? I’m responsible for relationships with important customers and deal- ers and with product development itself by bringing ideas from the track to the research and development de- partment. I spend most of the weeks at the shop and weekends at the track going to NHRA, PDRA, Mid-West Pro Mod, radial races. We get along with those racers and try to help as much as we can. We help with the wiring and setting up the computer. With the dyno, we are not tuners and do not charge as a tuning service. We do have what we call advancement factory training where we can go over the race program with the team in- house and still at the track. At the track, we continue doing what we always did for support and can do something more custom for that team at the shop. I take what customers request at the track back to the en- gineers, and if it is possible it will be- come an available feature in a couple weeks, couple months. FuelTech has two or three new products a year and at least four new free software up- dates per year. A customer who buys an ECU will have at least 10-20 new features by the end of the year that will help their program. What kind of excitement and pressure is involved in being on the cutting edge of racing technology? We strive for the best. By doing so, we under- stand that we have to be the best in how long and how smart we work. That applies to both the United States where we have around 20 em- ployees and in Brazil where there are almost 100. We are all involved in cars somehow whether it’s a car that goes to car shows or some kind of racing — Pike’s Peak, drag racing, road racing, motorcycles. They are all devoted to the same kind of passion. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI 24 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com Issue 148 inside the building. It requires the same attention, knowledge and pas- sion as a race car driver but without going down the track. It is all the same procedures, same power going to the ground, you just don’t have the G’s involved. You need to under- stand if something happens weird. You don’t have tire shake, but you can have driveline shake, a fuel line can come off, and you need to know when to shut off without a mark like you would have at a racetrack. There are different challenges to doing it standing still, but it is driving. I have been fortunate to be a part of that. We didn’t expect for it to be going as well as it is today. We have been able to help customers better. At the same time, it is something that anyone who likes race cars wants to participate. We have received feed- back from teams that they actually have more fun at the dyno doing 15 runs over two days than going to the track, because there is no other drama, weather issues, tire prep. It’s easier to do maintenance and safer. If the car and team are capable, you can make runs 30 minutes apart with the same challenge of making more power with the engine surviv- ing without the challenge of the tire. For the crew chief, it is better here than going the track. Obviously, for the driver, it’s not. You can develop a new car or combo way quicker and easier here and then see results at the track the first time out. When Alex Laughlin was testing his first no-prep vehicle, the team had never been around anything like that and they were smiling like little kids. It’s something that’s been pretty exciting for everyone involved. you are tuning the whole car and not just the motor.