Drag Illustrated Issue 136, September 2018 | Page 34

Dirt
Big Leagues
Tyler Hogan gets called up
By Kelly Wade
S
compartment of a KB Racing Chevrolet Camaro,
working with one of the most technologically
tight-lipped teams on the property.
“I’m wherever they want me to be when those
guys need an extra hand on the engine side of
things,” Hogan says. “I’ve been doing this for a
long time, but obviously this is a lot more intense.
It’s like going from Little League to the Yankees.”
So how did a partnership like that begin; how
did a guy whose family business works with
many teams across a variety of categories end
up privy to the Summit Racing team’s closely
guarded secrets?
“I knew Jason Line through a mutual friend
who raced Stock Eliminator with him, and our
paths crossed,” Hogan explains. “Once fuel injec-
tion [EFI] was mandated for 2016, I harassed
Jason for a couple of months until we figured
something out. We started working together, and
it went from there.”
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Hogan wasn’t harassing
Line for a job at the racetrack
– he just knew in his heart of
hearts that Hogan’s Racing
Manifolds was the right fit for
the new Pro Stock rules, and
who better to test his theory
than a pair of multi-time Pro
Stock champs?
“Hogan’s Manifolds have
been on the KB Racing cars
since they went to fuel injec-
tion,” Hogan points out. In
true KB Racing form, a cer-
tain level of discretion was
part of the program.
“We didn’t tell anyone we were working togeth-
er for about six months, until the Winternation-
als in Pomona,” Hogan continues. “It ended up
working out that first race. KB Racing qualified
1-2-3, Bo Butner went to the semifinals, and then
Greg Anderson beat Jason Line in the final. It
was a good start.”
It was immediately evident that KB Racing
had a large advantage on the field, and there
were many factors involved – including guidance
from longtime EFI campaigner John Meaney of
Big Stuff 3 – but those manifolds proved to be a
key component to success.
In the first year of EFI, KB Racing earned 16
victories in the 24 races on the Mello Yello Drag
Racing Series on the schedule, with trophies
split evenly between Summit Racing Chevrolet
Camaro pilots Line and Anderson. They each
raced to 14 final rounds, Butner reached five
finals, and 11 times there were KB Racing Chevys
squaring off for the trophy in the last round on
Sunday. KB claimed the top qualifying spot 18
times that first year.
When it became public knowledge, the part-
nership aided Hogan’s Racing Manifolds just as
much as the product, itself, brought a tremendous
surge to KB Racing’s quarter-mile efforts.
“It definitely helps us from a marketing stand-
point, because for most every Sportsman racer,
this is what they emulate. Pro Stock is the upper
echelon,” Hogan says. “I’m a Sportsman racer, and
I can say that most of us look up to these guys. I’ve
learned a ton being here. These guys are great to
work with, they’re smart, and they all work their
butts off. It’s been a good experience.”
KB Racing has taken to fielding five cars in
2018 with Bo Butner, Deric Kramer, and Mexico’s
Fernando Cuadra all under the umbrella, and the
full plate has made Hogan’s trusted assistance
even more critical at the racetrack. One com-
mon question, though, is if he misses his time
behind the wheel.
“I haven’t raced since we started working with
these guys, but I don’t know, I’ll probably drive
something again sometime,” Hogan says. “I’ll get
the bug, especially living in North Carolina now,
where there are so many racetracks. Before we
moved here, our closest track was like four hours
away, so it wasn’t as easy.
“It’s a great opportunity that KB Racing even let
me come here and work with them, and I love it.
It’s cool to see how they work, and everyone from
the drivers to the tuners to everyone working on
these cars are the best of the best. I don’t feel like
I personally have much to do with their success,
but it’s cool to see up close.”
Issue 136
econd-generation drag racer
Tyler Hogan cut his teeth in the pits
watching his dad, Tim, race Competition
Eliminator, and he also had a front-row
seat as his father grew the family business from
a successful cylinder head shop to a sought-after
manifold manufacturer. The younger Hogan took
notes, and today, he appears to be effectively uti-
lizing a whole mess of skills he acquired through
observation.
Hogan first stretched his legs in the Jr. Drag-
ster ranks, competing in NHRA’s Summit Racing-
sponsored Jr. Drag Racing League. The young
California-based driver claimed a total of 21 wins
in the Jr. league and recorded a third-place finish
in the 1997 Jr. Dragster Nationals. From there,
Hogan initially licensed in Super Comp then
bumped right up to Comp Eliminator so that he
could race the family’s rear-engine C/DA.
These days, he’s still a fixture at the racetrack,
but the Mooresville, North Carolina-based Hogan
isn’t as likely to be found in the Comp pits. More
often than not, Hogan is leaning over the engine