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.
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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.