ENGINE BUILDER AND SPORTSMAN RACER PHILLIP
OAKLEY IS PUTTING VORTECH’S CENTRIFUGAL
BLOWER TO THE TEST IN TOP DRAGSTER RACING,
WHERE CONSISTENCY AND RELIABILITY ARE KEY.
ucts,” says Lance Keck, who serves as Vortech’s race support director and
engineering manager. “With Danny winning the championship last year,
it really showed the entire drag racing world how Vortech Superchargers
can help push their performance to the next level.”
Going into Nelson’s championship defense season, NHRA announced
that Vortech was stepping up as the new title sponsor of the NHRA Top
Sportsman and Top Dragster national championship series through 2022.
It showed a serious interest and commitment to two classes filled with
increasingly powerful cars and passionate, talented racers.
“We plan to continue with the support of the Top Dragster and Top
Sportsman classes for many years to come,” says Jimmy Martz, Vortech’s
sales and marketing director. “Being associated with the NHRA and their
expansive reach opens up new opportunities and branding of Vortech
Engineering’s products to all aftermarket automotive enthusiasts.”
Just like ProCharger and their partnership with Pro Line, Keck credits
Vortech’s collaboration with engine builders and tuners as a driving force
behind the company’s gains in Top Dragster and Top Sportsman. Vortech
includes engine builders in the creation of new products like the new V-30
supercharger billet mounting bracket for big-block Chevy combinations,
which is what a lot of the Top Dragster and Top Sportsman customers run.
“Relationships are the key to Vortech’s success, as engine builders and
racers like Phillip Oakley and many others are on the front lines at the
track and definitely our eyes and ears in the sport,” Keck says. “Without this
mutually beneficial relationship, we would have a difficult time engineering
and developing new race-type products that directly supports their efforts.”
Oakley, who builds engines for drag racers and circle-track racers
at Oakley Competition Engines, first started working with Vortech
blowers two years ago when he realized he and his customers needed a
competitive edge to keep up with an increasingly competitive class. He
found what he was looking for – performance and reliability – in the
Vortech combination.
“It seems the reliability is probably 25-30 percent better [compared to
other power adders] as far as the number of runs you can put on the engine
without service,” Oakley says. “I think if you’re starting a new program,
especially if you’re not a nitrous tuner, it’s about the only way to fly, the centrifugal
blower stuff. It has the durability, the ease of tuning, the big speed.”
The disadvantage to all that speed, as Oakley points out, is that you can’t
use it all in Top Dragster and Top Sportsman. The minimum dial-in for
NHRA Top Dragster and Top Sportsman is 6.10 seconds, and there are
consequences beyond losing for going much quicker than that.
“All these engines that we’ve done have to be wheeled way back to be able
to slow down that much,” Oakley says. “You take my car for example. It has
to run 4.00s [in the eighth mile] to go 6.10 and it easily runs 3.70s. That’s
the only disadvantage I’ve really seen. We’ve had to really slow the blowers
down, and when you do that sometimes consistency goes away with it.”
Still, centrifugal superchargers have become one of the leading power
adders in a class where consistency means a lot. Their use by world
champions like Nelson and Marco Abruzzi have helped change the minds
of nitrous guys, roots blower guys and even naturally aspirated believers.
“Let’s say three years ago, you kind of had to sell those packages,” Oakley
says of the centrifugal blower combo for Top Dragster and Top Sportsman.
“Now, there’s enough of them out there. We probably field a call every two
weeks with somebody interested in one or asking information. We’re
building two new ones in our shop right now in July, which is unheard
July 2020
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