The 2005 JEGS Engine Masters ChallengeAfter five days of intense engine competition by crowning new engine building champions, Lennart and Birgitta Bergquist from AutoShop Racing Engines of Orlando, Florida, fought off all comers with their 509ci Chevrolet big-block to become the 2005 winning entry. (Final Total Score: 1,288.00; Average Horsepower: 599.33; Average Torque: 688.67; Peak Horsepower: 851 @ 6,400 rpm; Peak Torque: 750 @ 4,800 rpm.)
The competition was slow to start as attrition left many of the original 40 teams "in the pits and unable to compete." As the first competitive entry fired up on Monday, a total of 19 competitive teams were on hand with engine brands from Chevrolet, Ford, Buick, Pontiac, and Cadillac. AutoShop Racing Engine's qualifying run was the first run on Tuesday and stood as the highest points developed until Thursday's final competitor, former two-time champion Jon Kaase, fired his potent Pontiac and topped all qualifying scores (score developed by adding the average torque posted to the average horsepower) by only 0.67 points to a 1,286.00. The stage was set for an intense round of finals.
From Friday's finals, the three consecutive dyno pulls the AutoShop Racing Engine winning powerplant posted average torque of 688.67 and average horsepower of 599.33 for the winning score of 1,288.00. Second Place was taken by Tony Bishoff and the team from BES Racing Engines. Their strong 508ci Chevrolet developed average torque of 676.67 and horsepower of 589.00 for a solid 1,265.67 scoring. This year's Third Place was secured by a 508ci Ford entry from John Lohone of Livernois Motorsports. The potent lone Ford produced average torque of 673.66 and horsepower of 584.33 for a competitive finishing score of 1,258.00.
Bill Mitchell and the team at World Products in Ronkonkoma, New York, provided the arena of battle again this year during the week of October 3-7. Dynamic Testing Systems' three on-site engine dynometers provided the unmatched level field for the competition.
Long Time Coming
It's been a long time coming, but it looks like Jerry Kugel of Kugel Komponents is well into building one of his own creations-the Kugel Muroc 2. Marcel De Ley sculpted the hand-fabricated metal body while at Marcel's Custom Metal in Corona, California, for Jerry and it is well underway. Jerry has built a limited edition (10 of each) of the highboy (Muroc) and full-fendered (Muroc 2) Deuce-influenced roadsters based on a 111 1/2 inches.
Jerry's personal ride will be a full-fendered Muroc and feature a very big big-block Ford coming in at 514 inches and 625 hp. Other appointments will include Kugel Komponents (what else?) independent front and rear suspension based on a Chip Foose and Jerry Kugel designed frame. Two noteworthy "eye candy" accents include the Dan Fink Metalworks grille insert and the custom DuVall-style windshield with curved windshield glass all by Kugel.
Stay tuned to the pages of STREET RODDER as updates and the final feature will appear once Jerry gets this beauty on the road. For more information on the Muroc 2 roadster or other Kugel Komponents, contact them at 451 Park Industrial Dr., Dept. SRM, La Habra, CA 90631; call (562) 691-7006; or visit www.kugelkomponents.com.
Quarter-Mile Chaos
Veteran drag racing photographer Steve Reyes spent the late 1960s and early to mid-'70s roaming the nation's dragstrips in search of the perfect action photo. (Having known Steve for many years and having had the good fortune of working with him, I was privileged to see him work his photographic magic-and it is magic through a lens. Steve's uncanny ability to be in the "right place" was, and still is, something all of us marveled. -Editor B. Brennan) What he captured was some of the most breathtaking drag racing imagery ever recorded, depicting out-of-control demolition and devastation during drag racing's most entertaining era.