As PAR Racing Engines goes into its 31st season in business , the Spartanburg , South Carolina-based engine builder is coming out of its busiest “ offseason ” yet . Last month , PAR experienced its best month of sales since opening the doors in 1990 , and owner Scott Duggins doesn ’ t see any signs of slowing down .

Duggins attributes the massive uptick in business to a pent-up demand to go racing fueled by the COVID-19 shutdowns of 2020 . But the recent success of PAR customers in the big-money bracket racing and fast bracket racing worlds have also contributed to the shop ’ s workload .

Kevin Brannon , who works at PAR Racing Engines during the week , won the 25th annual Million Dollar Drag Race last year in his PARpowered dragster . On the fast bracket racing side of things , Anthony Bertozzi won the NHRA Top Dragster world championship and Steve Furr won the PDRA Elite Top Dragster world title , both running PAR-built , ProChargerboosted engines .

“ When the customer is pulling in to the staging lanes for the semifinals and they ’ re either going to lose and get a couple grand or move on to the final round and race for the big money , they need something that ’ s reliable , fast and consistent ,” Duggins says . “ You have to hit all

three of those to win championships and big races .”

As a longtime bracket racer himself , Duggins knows what it takes to succeed at the track , and he passes that knowledge on to his customers . Beyond winning four world championships as a driver , he ’ s been around a range of different classes and knows what ’ s needed to win in each class . Even if a customer has an idea of what they want , Duggins guides them down the right path to make sure they don ’ t end up at the track with less motor than they need .

“ You need to know what the engine is going to do before you sell it to them or you ’ re going to have a bunch of upset customers because they ’ re going to buy something from you that ’ s not going to work for what they wanted to do ,” Duggins says . “ That ’ s just bad all the way around . And a lot of customers don ’ t know what they need . You need to know what to sell them .”

Over three decades in business , Duggins has focused on continuous development , avoiding complacency at all costs . PAR handles its CNC machining on cylinder heads and engine blocks in house , giving them the ability to make changes on the fly and test them quickly . In fact , Duggins ’ ’ 63 Corvette Top Sportsman car is raced almost exclusively as a test car to try new things for customers .

“ You ’ ve got to continuously upgrade your stuff and take the next step before the competitors do ,” Duggins says . “ You can ’ t fall behind . A little advantage we have is we make combinations from a 280ci gasser motor to a 900ci Pro Mod-style motor . It keeps us thinking .”

Duggins and his staff know that it takes more than just a powerful , reliable engine to win races . It takes a whole package , so they work closely with vendors to ensure their customers have what they need . Products like Brodix cylinder heads and Callies Performance Products crankshafts are used to assemble the engines , while FTI Performance works with PAR on the torque converter and transmission side .

“ We have 10 people that work here and six of us race ,” Duggins points out , adding that his success wouldn ’ t be possible without his hardworking , passionate team . “ We ’ ve pretty much been there , done that . We can usually help a customer out with the right torque converter , transmission , and the whole thing to help them accomplish what they want to accomplish , whether they ’ re NHRA or PDRA or another class .”

– NATE VAN WAGNEN DI

FOCUS FEATURE

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“ All intake work done in house ”

Anthony Bertozzi NHRA T / D World Champion

• Steve Furr PDRA T / D Champion

PRO CHARGED BIG BLOCK CHEVY ENGINE

• 540 to 588 ci

• 1800 to 2600 HP

• Brodix Block ( aluminum or cast ) CNC ’ d prepped in house

• Brodix heads ( CNC ’ d and ported in house )

• Callies Crank

• Callies or GRP rods

• P . A . R . Custom grind camshaft

• T & D Shaft rockers

• Xceldyne Belt Drive

• Moroso Billet oiling system

• APD carb custom calibrated Run in and Dyno ’ d in house

TOP SPORTSMAN FAST BRACKET BIG BLOCK CHEVY

• 615-648 ci

• 1250-1350 HP

• Brodix Block ( aluminum or cast ) CNC ’ d prepped in house

• 20 ° Brodix heads

• Callies Crank

• Callies or GRP rods

• P . A . R . Custom grind camshaft

• T & D Shaft rockers

• Xceldyne Belt Drive

• Moroso Billet oiling system

• APD carb custom calibrated

• Broken in and Dyno ’ d in house

CONTACT US : ( 864 ) 578-5622 • PARRACEENGINES . COM

50 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 166