of. We actually sold another one yesterday.
A lot of people are taking notice.”
On top of the physical performance of
the product, Oakley says Vortech’s customer
service and development over the last few
years have helped turn him and his customers
into believers.
“I can call Lance [Keck] at 9 o’clock at
night and he’s going to answer and do things
to help us,” Oakley says. “That’s a big thing
to me. Plus, personally, my business has had
zero failures with Vortech stuff. That’s another
big thing.”
PHILLIP
OAKLEY
“I think if you’re starting a
new program, especially if
you’re not a nitrous tuner,
the centrifugal blower stuff
is about the only way to fly,”
Oakley says.
WHAT’S NEXT?
With more and more cars across numerous classes
starting to run at the front with ProCharger and Vortech
superchargers, more racers, tuners, engine builders and
fans are beginning to understand the platform. Reaching all of those
groups is important for both brands, as their performance on the track
often leads to increased sales of their products built for the street.
“Our racing success trickles down to our street products and vice versa,”
Sipp says. “For the future, it’s just reaching more customers who may not
know about us or know about us and are unsure how to make that switch.
We really work hard to make sure we can get in touch with those people
on a real-world level, whether it’s through our site, them calling in, us
going to the races or them talking to our customers.”
ProCharger will reach a whole new set of eyeballs when the NHRA Pro
Mod Series makes its post-quarantine debut at the NHRA Summernationals
at Indy, July 18-19.
The ProCharger combo led the pack in the cool spring air at the World
Doorslammer Nationals in Orlando, but how will it fare in the muggy,
Midwest summer heat?
“I think in certain conditions like you saw down there in Orlando when
the air’s really good, it might actually be the quickest combination out
there,” Stevens begins. “I can’t really say how much the air is going to affect
it once we get into the hot summer air. The turbocharged stuff is the least
affected by density altitude and things of that nature. The supercharged
stuff, the ProCharger being one, is more susceptible to slowing down in
those types of conditions.”
Stevens isn’t worried about a dramatic drop-off in performance out of
the ProCharger setup during the summer months. It’s just too early to
tell exactly what they’ll do, since the combination has only had limited
quarter-mile Pro Mod experience with the current crop of Pro Line and
Xtreme customers. But the uncertainty has Stevens looking forward to
getting to Indy with Hord and Satterfield to continue his learning experience
with the promising new combination.
“I think even if the rules stay as they are, it’s still going to be a competitive
combination when the conditions get bad,” Stevens says. “We just don’t
have enough runs with this crazy stuff we have going on to be at the same
track in the same conditions with the other combinations to see how they
stack up. I think they’ve done a pretty good job with the rules package so
far. I think it’ll be right there with all the others.” DI
88 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 158