Mar-Schan Motorsports Press And News Archives:
2009 IS A WRAP For Mar-Schan Motorsports Chevy II
Shakedown At E Town, Our Biggest Qualifying Of The Year
 The Mar-Schan Motorsports team finished the year at the Shakedown At E-town in Englishtown, NJ in somewhat of a strong fashion. We qualified out Nova in the #3 position, with an 8.521 out of 63 cars vying for the 32 available spots with our first qualifier on Saturday morning in the 8.50 index class. The weather threw everyone for a loop it seemed as only 9 cars ran between the magic index 8.50 and 9.00. After a long wait for the second qualifier we had another shot to dial the car in and try to take home the low qualifier award but it was getting colder by the minute and so was the track. The launch was ok but about 300 feet out the Nova moved around a little and I decided to keep the car between the lines knowing we were comfortably in the show on Sunday.
Sunday we woke to perfect weather conditions and a great day for racing. We were the second pair of cars down the track and Jason Penna left the starting line together and I could see him down track in my mirror so I lifted approximately 8 seconds into the run and took the win with an 8.55 @149mph. As I was coasting to a stop looking forward to turning the car around for the next round I heard a dreadful noise coming from under the car somewhere in the driveline. The way the car was bumping and banging around as we were towing it back we assumed it was the gears in the rear differential, so we got back to the pits and Harry Gerb from H&J Motorsports already had a spare set of gears and gear oil ready for us. We pulled the wheels, brakes, drive shaft, and axles prior to pulling out the center section and gears only to discover that it was in pristine shape.
 The call for the next round was looming but we decided to pull out the only other thing it could be and that was our transmission. That proved to be the culprit and the search was on for someone with a spare that we could borrow. Finally one was located, but as we were switching parts between the two the call to the lanes for the second round was heard over the loudspeaker and our weekend and season was over. It was a tough way to go out when we had a pretty good combination for the weekend. The good news is that we will have a fresh transmission from G&C Pro Trans and the torque converter was sent home with Joe Rivera from ProTorque so he could do what he does best.
I want to thank again all my sponsors and my family as well as the guys who help me out during the season for the occasional hamburger, unless of course Seth Cohen from www.gonedragracing.com is cooking nearby and then we all eat like royalty.
I am busy right now preparing my sponsorship proposals and marketing for the Performance Racing Industry show in Orlando, Florida that I will be attending December 10-12. Check back for more updates and changes as well as our schedule for 2010.
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Marschan Motorsports Nearing The End Of The Season Review
Ultimate Outlaw Shootout Series And Cecil County
Wrapping Up Our Expectations, Heading To The Shakedown At E Town
Photos Courtesy Of www.gonedragracing.com
 Well another month has FLOWN by and the season is almost wrapped up. At the beginning of September we missed the Cecil County Street Car Shootout because of the repairs to our engine after the valve to valve seal interference issue but the Josh from BMS Racing Engines and myself made quick work of that and we were back on the track for the Cecil County Real Street Car Shootout on September 19th running the 275 drag radial class. There were only 5 cars in attendance because many were recovering from a race the week earlier down south and were saving their cars for the following weeks Ultimate Outlaw Shootout presented by Coast Chassis, Holeshot Wheels, Pritchett Brother's Racing, and BMS Racing Engines. We did manage to qualify in the number 3 position and won a close race in the first round. We then lost a close one in the second round ending our day.
Here is a look at the ladder.
The following week we were at the Ultimate Outlaw Shootout at Cecil County Dragway dodging the raindrops again running in the 275 drag radial class. This week there were 11 cars in the class and we qualified in the number 7 position fighting some issues and taking a guess at the tune up.
We increased our potential power output with the addition of more nitrous and fuel but we hadn't had the time to really examine the tune up by reading the spark plugs at the end of a run due to the lack of a proper tow back vehicle, which was damaged in Milan, Michigan a month or so earlier. We ended up losing in the first round by .012 to 275 standout racer Bobby Flippen.
We did garner some more exposure for our team and sponsors though when the show Inside Drag Racing aired on Fox Sports Net nationally on October 18th.
Here is a clip of an interview with Nate Pritchett prior to the first round of eliminations and that run.
A copy of the complete show divided into 2 parts hosted on You tube can be seen here:
 In the middle of September I purchased a used Renegade toterhome to better serve the team and my family's needs. It is a sweet unit that sleeps 6 and has full shower and bathroom facilities. We can't wait to use it more.
We also were victims of the current economic situation when I was laid off from my job of 10 years on September 30th. I lost many of the extra benefits I had grown accustomed to, a company truck, gas card, cell phone, guaranteed 40 hours etc. This is compounded by the fact that I just extended myself, isn't that what most racers do, to purchase the toterhome only one week earlier. I did find work only a few days later, but the basic things most people pay for on their own that I didn't have to do is taking its toll.
We sat out a couple of weeks in October but planned on racing at the Shakedown at E-town at Raceway Park in New Jersey, but it has been postponed due to rain until November 6th and 7th. We look forward to running in the 8.50 index class at this prestigious event. The team and family may travel to the final Ultimate Outlaw Shootout race the following weekend in Virginia if finances permit.
Thanks again to all of my sponsors and I look forward to seeing many of you again at the Performance Racing Industry show in December.
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
August Starts Well And Ends Better!:
Holeshot Wheels Ultimate Outlaws, Speed Freak Clothing Winners Circle:
Photos Courtesy Of www.gonedragracing.com and Dr. Rudy Rouweyha:
 We got our first taste of competition since the Wayne Keegan, Competitive Wiring updates at the Cecil County Street Car Shootout on August 1st. We jumped into the 8.50 index class without much of a tune up and not holding any extra power in the bag. The weather was typical August summer weather with temps in the upper 90s. We qualified in the middle of the 17 car all-run field and ran an 8.55 in the first round, an 8.57 in the second round and an 8.59 losing effort in the semi-finals. The weather was getting better and I think the car was leaning out because the numbers fell off but we didn't have much time between rounds to address the tune up. It was good to be back at the track having fun again. Thanks Wayne!
We were back at Cecil County for the Real Street Car Shootout on August 15th running in the 275 Drag Radial category. There were 11 cars in the class and we qualified #6 with a 5.49 in the 1/8-mile at 129mph. It was hot again and the track temps were around 150* but our Mickey Thompson shod Nova was up to the task. We had both nitrous stages in within a tenth of a second after the initial launch. Again we are still in the beginning stages of working on our tune up after wasting the first 4 months of the season. Unfortunately we lost in the 1st round on a red light after I rolled through the lights.
 The following weekend we headed north to Lebanon Valley Dragway, just outside Albany, New York, for the Holeshot Wheels Ultimate Outlaw Series race. We entered the 8.50 index race and after getting rained on all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday the track was finally dried late Sunday afternoon to begin the battle for the custom trophies designed by Holeshot Wheels.
 We got through two quick qualifying rounds to once again land in the middle of the pack qualifying #6 out of 10 cars.
Shortly after the second qualifier the skies opened up again and the decision was made to call the race due to time constraints and another front coming in behind that one.
 On Thursday August 27th we headed to Milan, Michigan for the NMCA JE Pistons Muscle Car Nationals and the Inaugural Speed Freak Clothing Quick-16 race. We got rained out on our testing day on Friday but were up early to catch a test run on Saturday prior to the True Street Cruise. We had a little extra nitrous in the first stage that we didn't have earlier in the month and wanted to see what would happen. The weather was good and the track was even better!
The car launched well carrying the front wheels past the 60' mark but at the same time the back tires started to shake while the front end was still in the air, because of the aggressive nature of the launch and lack of tire pressure for the extra weight we were carrying in the rear of the car to meet the needs of a True Street race. My crewman Cecil Walton and I went back to the pits and decided to detune the first stage to what we had been running throughout the month of August because it looked like it would be enough to cover the field. I also took a bunch of timing out of the car on the launch to help tame things down and make sure we could go A to B and get down the track.
We met up for the True Street cruise around midday and drove 32 miles through Milan, Saline and Ann Arbor before returning to Milan. We had about an hour cool down time prior to our 3 hot laps down the ¼ mile. The decision was made to not shut the car off during the race due to a starter issue we were having earlier in the weekend, which was the same problem we had at Super Chevy in July that I attributed to a bad battery.
We ran 3 passes in 17 minutes without shutting the car off. We went an 8.80, 9.02 and an 8.85 for an 8.89 average and the quickest average of the 26 cars in the class and the win. The second pass was a little off because of a bad purge of the nitrous prior to the run. I was just purging the lines of the evaporated gas instead of the actual liquid nitrous. I didn't wait long enough for the good stuff to get from the bottles in the back of the car to the front before I made the run. I got it right the last pass though. Keep in mind our times in general were down because of pulling the power out of the car to get us down the track with a quick enough ET to win the race, not set any records.
 On Sunday the quickest 16 cars in the class went head to head on a sportsman ladder in the Speed Freak Clothing Quick 16. This time we put a little more power back in the engine and went an 8.54, 8.51, 8.52 and an 8.56 in the finals for the win and a double up on the weekend.
I want to thank the guys that help me out, Keith Allen, Jim Dolbin, Cecil Walton, and John Kokinda as well as my wife Jennifer.
I also want to thank Alternate Construction Concepts, Mickey Thompson, Inaugural Speed Freak Clothing, Quick Fuel, M&M Competition Engines, Buds Motorsports, VP Racing Fuels, Aeromotive Fuel Systems, Boccella's Performance and many other sponsors for helping me get through the rough times and to the winner's circle.
Now for the bad news.
It's Monday September 7th and we are in the midst of pulling the motor out because of what appears to be at least one valve seal that has been destroyed by possibly the failed inner spring on a triple valve spring. There are pieces of the seal and its tensioning spring as well as other metal shavings in the oil and filter. We will have it out and back to BMS for a good look and cleaning, but will have to sit this weekend out. Keep an eye on the schedule for where we will be next.
Visit Marschan Motorsports Sponsor Page
It's Hard Work. There Are No Shortcuts, Unless You're Rich:
Tommy Johnson Jr. Funny Car drag racer when asked if he could describe the drive within him?:
Photos By GoneDragRacing.com:
 I was coaxed into writing an update for the web site by Mark, from goDragRacing.org / WTF Web and Graphic Designs, because it's been a month or two since we posted. The quote from Tommy Johnson Jr. above couldn't be truer at this point in the 2009 season. We have been working and testing, trying to spend our budget wisely to diagnose the problems that have plagued us since the start of the season. Things went well last season but we wanted to step up the program and try to coax some more power out of our Alternate Construction Concepts / Buds Motorsports / M&M Competition Engines SB2.2 small block. Somewhere along the line, that plan was thwarted by some cantankerous electrons that didn't want to do what they were supposed to do. It has been a long and draining, both emotionally and financially, season so far, but we hope that this weekend at the Cecil County Dragway Street Car Shootout 8.50 index race will be the turning point.
We have been to several events and test sessions since the last update but nothing was more frustrating than the showing we had at the Super Chevy event at Maple Grove. We seemed to be getting a handle on the electrical problems and isolating where there were coming from. The problem was that our nitrous system was losing power going down the track intermittently. We were racing in the True Street class, which we won last year at this event. After the approximately 15-mile cruise and the first of three back-to-back passes we were the quickest car in the class. That's where our latest problem reared its ugly head. The car was dead when it was time for a restart for the second pass! To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The class win would go to someone else this year.
We did make a couple of laps after that with another battery and we lost in the first round of Super Pro with a breakout pass which was fine with me, at least the car got down the track. The crew came back on Sunday and we entered "The Last Chance Race" or "The Easiest Way To Get $35 From A Loser Race" as I call it. All I wanted to do was back up Saturday nights pass to see if we could get down the track without incident two times in a row. You already know where this is going, right? It didn't. We lost fuel pressure due to another electrical gremlin that no one can figure out. That was it!
 Monday I called Wayne Keegan at Competitive Wiring in Freehold, New Jersey and he had an opening. I dropped the car off Monday night and told him to work his magic. I picked the car up on the next Saturday all finished up with a schematic drawing of what he did. It looks great and should function without issues like the many other cars he has wired like Craig Buscio's Nova, Jack Boerer's Monte Carlo and the late Leo Barnaby's Corvette.
 Our future plans and schedule will now also include a couple of stops on the Pritchett Brothers Ultimate Outlaw Racing Series circuit. Nate and Adam Pritchett have joined with ORSCA and Fox Sports Network to provide a series here in the Northeast that will have unprecedented coverage of outlaw drag racing. We will be participating in their 8.50 index category and plan on being a contender in this growing and competitive class. We look forward to the challenges and the opportunities this series will afford us as well as our sponsors.
We know there are no shortcuts to success, and we will never be rich, so all that's left according to Tommy Johnson Jr., is hard work and we are ready. Bring it on!
Pritchett Brothers On Competition Plus
Pritchett Brothers Racing Information Press Release
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Let The Thrash Begin:
A Timeline View Of Getting The Motor Together
 In our last update we were waiting to see the status of our crankshaft to determine the fate of our 421 SBC and the direction we would take for the rest of the season. On Wednesday we were told that our 1-year-old Callies Magnum Crankshaft was now suitable for use as a doorstop or jack stand. This sport is now officially starting to get expensive! In talking to Scott at M&M Competition Engines it was decided to stick with the same combination of rod length and stroke now and into the future even if we decide to go with another engine block sometime soon.
We called BMS Racing Engines / Buds Motorsports, and talked to Vince and Josh. These guys were eager to step up to help us recover from the loss and get back on the track. They called Callies and got me a great price on the same crankshaft and connecting rods we just trashed. The rods showed up on Thursday May 26th and the crank showed up on Monday June 1st, and BMS had it balanced and ready to install on Tuesday just 4 days before the NMCA race at Maple Grove.
We started putting the motor together at Bob Hartsock’s shop again on Tuesday night. It wasn't long before we encountered a problem; the snout on the crankshaft seemed to be undersized. Wednesday morning I called Callies and the told me the acceptable tolerance for the snout and it was 1.5 thousandths undersize. The gear to drive the camshaft and the harmonic balancer slid on instead of pressing on. After some persuasion Callies decided to believe that one of their products got through the quality control phase thus costing me precious time and money for the balancing that was done. They took the bob weights from the balancing process here and did a stand up job of balancing one in house on Thursday and sending it red label UPS to us Friday morning.
This is where the fun begins!
 I had pulled all of my engine components out of Hartsock's shop on Wednesday night when we decided that if I had any chance at all of getting this thing done it needed to be done locally by someone who didn't work a 40 hour job for another company. We needed dedicated service on Friday and BMS was up to the challenge. The crank showed up around 9am, a mere 24 hours before I needed to be at The Grove for tech. Josh was ready to go.
 Everything was laid out and cleaned for assembly. I arrived around 10:30 and he had already checked main bearing clearances and was getting ready to file fit the new top rings for the pistons.
The level of precision and accuracy was incredible during the assembly underlying Josh's background as a mechanic on local alcohol funny car legend Carl Ruth's crew and his time spent in Roger Penske's organization.
 Hour by hour the motor was assembled with the occasional little hitch but nothing that these guys didn't have the resources to solve.
It always helps to have a great shop like Big Time Automotive right next door to help out when you are in a jam! Thanks Bob!
   
The camshaft was degreed in and all final torque specs were checked and double checked before the oil pan and cylinder heads were installed and the cold valve lash was set by around 5pm. It was complete, ready to shrink wrap for the rainy Friday rush hour ride home.
 
 I arrived back in Berks County around 6:30pm and my help started arriving by around 7pm. The Dart Little M block housing all that precision assembly was once again residing in the Mar-Schan Motorsports 1966 Chevy II by around 8pm. Keith Allen, John Kokinda, Joe and Brian Costira from J&B Motorsports and Mike Cerrano were on hand the help out and keep the atmosphere light even though I had my game face on. With less than 12 hours left till tech we had everything ready to go and the decision was made to wake the neighbors and fire this thing up. Power-Check. Water pump-Check. Ignition-Check. Fuel pump-Check. Fuel pressure…………fuel pressure. Houston we have a problem. The pump was running but there was no pressure. It was about 10:30 and it was getting late and we were running out of time.
 Previous to this night, in my spare time, while waiting for my new rotating assembly to arrive, I decided to install the new Stealth FS fuel system that Aeromotive Fuel Systems provided as big time sponsorship donation to our program. The Eliminator Stealth Kit has a powerful Eliminator Fuel pump and pre-filter, built right into the sump. It's a weld-in universal sump that gives you the advantage and flexibility of a custom, in-tank fuel system without building a custom tank. The Eliminator pump can support 2300 naturally aspirated horsepower and 1700 in boosted applications. Also provided by Aeromotive was their Fuel Pump Speed Controller which works via a tach output signal that allows the pump to slow down at cruising speed when all that fuel isn't needed. Thus extending the life of the pump and keeping the circulating fuel cooler by not circulating it as much.
 The system was new to me and we couldn't figure out the problem so I took a chance and called Jesse Power from Aeromotive on his cell phone around 12 mid-night. He actually called me back at 12:10am Saturday morning to help me diagnose my problem. Now that's customer service! I found out that when installing the system in the car I ended up turning the pre-filter housing inside the tank 180 degrees out of rotation thus blocking the flow of fuel from the sump into the filter housing. Oops.
 Everything was buttoned up and back in place. We had fuel pressure now but we also had a fuel leak from the filter housing area and the sump. From taking the housing off and messing with it the rubber gasket was trashed. We tried till about 2:30am to get the tank to stop leaking with it in the car, and around 3am the decision was made to pull the tank and see what was happening instead of having the $15.00 a gallon VP C-23 run down our arms onto the floor.
Brian Costira was still hanging around, risking the wrath of his fiance', to make one last ditch effort to get ready for Saturday morning. It was not to be though. The gasket was beyond repair and we were out of gas, no pun intended………well maybe a little.
Saturday morning a few hours later I headed up to the track with no car. It was a sad day indeed. We fought and thrashed for a week only to be defeated in the end. Thanks to all the guys that helped out and my wife for putting up with me. I did however meet Steve Matusek, president of Aeromotive Fuel Systems, at the track and we scavenged a new gasket from their display Stealth Sump to get us going, Aeromotive supplied us later with some more gaskets and O Rings for the sytem to make sure we had some on hand.
Brian and Joe came back to the house Saturday night and we put the tank back in the car with no leaks and fired the car up and we made the decision to load it up Sunday morning and head to the NMCA event and at least make some passes in support of our sponsors in the Super Pro category. We made a time trial run and all was well. The car sounded great and we seated those new rings with a 2-stage nitrous pass the length of the ¼ mile and we had killer oil pressure and our electrical problems were solved by the addition of a new ignition coil or the new timer that activates the 2nd stage of nitrous. We ended up winning the first round of competition but lost in the 2nd round. Oh well that was the least of our worries. We might have lost the race but more importantly we seemed to have solved our problems both mechanically and electrically and we are looking forward to the next race on June 20th at Cecil County Dragway for the 275 Radial Tire Race. Hope to see you there.
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Going From Bad To Worse:
We Sure Have Had A Hard Start This Year:
The Mar-Schan Motorsports team can’t seem to catch a break this year. I think in the last 6 weeks we have had more problems than in the last 6 years, but in this sport when things go bad they tend to go really bad.
 The week following the NMCA race in Bowling Green I upgraded some of my wiring still trying to nail down our electrical gremlin that keeps rearing it’s ugly head. I installed Cole Hersee continuous duty solenoids to control the power to both nitrous systems hoping for longevity and durability. I was convinced after BG that my MSD ignition box was the cause of my problem so I sent it out to them for repair. I put my old ignition coil back in and decided to try the car again at the Northeast Pro Street Shootout at Maple Grove Raceway on May 10. The car left good on the initial qualifying pass but as soon as the second stage of nitrous was activated the motor started to misfire again.
 I scoured the pits looking for another coil I could try, but of course it wasn’t the same size so we tie wrapped it to the panel and thrashed to get ready for the second qualifier. I started the car prior to leaving the pits and all sounded well. We towed the car to the lanes with a fresh set of plugs to get a reading on our tune up because for sure we were going to make it down the track. As I begin to pull into the water for my burnout I look at my oil pressure gauge and it was on 0. My motor that hadn’t caused me a problem for 2 years and about 180 passes now had no oil pressure!
We towed it back to the pits and pulled the filter and drained the oil and we didn’t see any debris in it. Put a fresh filter and fresh oil back in it hoping maybe the filter was to blame, but still no pressure. The distributor was spinning but no oil was coming out of the line to the gauge. Time to pack it in.
I pulled the intake and distributor the next day and found that the distributor wasn’t down far enough to turn the oil pump. Somehow it worked the first 8 days at the track! I put the primer on it and we had tons of pressure. I left the old crab cap distributor that I wasn’t using any longer anyway, since I put the belt drive in the front, off and replaced it with a billet plug from MSD that just has the gear on it to drive the oil pump. In went some fresh oil. Back on went the intake, and we fired the car up. 75 pounds of pressure at idle cold and 55 hot after about a 3 mile cruise around the neighborhood. Maybe, just maybe we caught it soon enough.
Saturday May 16 we headed to Cecil County with a new coil of our own installed, a much larger and blinding low oil pressure warning light, and an RF noise filter from MSD installed prior to the ignition box to help prevent damaging power spikes. Again precipitation was keeping us from running the car so we were homeward bound by 10am. That’s 6 hours I will never get back.
Instead of waiting for another weekend to come to see if I fixed the problems I decided to call Ray at Performance Specialties and set up an appointment to make some dyno pulls on his Dyno-Jet chassis dyno 3 days later.
  
I found a small glitch on the 2nd pull in my wiring that was causing the ignition box to pull timing out while running on just motor as if the nitrous was being activated. No big deal since I rarely race the car on just the motor anyway. After the 2nd pull though the oil pressure seemed low and erratic, but we attributed it to very hot oil from the pulls. I left it cool down and we put a pressure sensor in line so we could record the oil pressure on the computer during the pull.
Well I never got to make that pull.  When I tried starting the car again the battery seemed very sluggish and we put the charger on it and tried it again. I got it to fire but it wouldn’t idle and it shut off. I pulled the oil filter off and it looked like the ground at a scrap yard! Time to pack it up. She was hurt and hurt bad!
The next day, Wednesday, Keith Allen and I pulled the motor. When I got under the car to turn the flywheel so I could remove the torque converter bolts I realized just how tight the motor was. It wasn’t looking good.
 Thursday I pulled the intake, valley pan and cylinder heads off, and if there were a copper thief looking in the lifter valley his heart would have skipped a beat. I cleaned all the parts in the valve train and the cylinder heads and took the short block to Bob Hartsock’s for disassembly. It was pretty much a wasteland. The rods are scrap and the crankshaft is questionable. The pistons can be saved and the block is fine.
I guess we will wait to see if the crank can be fixed to determine the direction we go with it.
  
All I know is that my racing alarm clock is set to go off on Friday June 5th for the Kooks Headers NMCA race at my home track Maple Grove, and we hope to be there to continue our season and see if we replaced enough parts to chase away our electrical gremlins.
A lot of teams with greater resources might decide to take some time off, but we will persevere, learning as we go, in continued support of our sponsors by missing as little time at the track as possible.
Sincerely Marc Schankweiler
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Bowling Green NMCA Was A Wash:
We Did However Get Some Needed Publicity:
 Thanks to Power TV and The NMCA interviewing Team Mar-Schan Motorsports for their website recap "Our interview starts around three minutes in" if you would like to just skip ahead, our weekend wasn't a complete wash. Don't get us wrong, traveling 1,600 miles to Bowling Green was definitely on our agenda for this season since we have family in the area and so on. Also our True Street standing needs to stay intact as much as possible as we iron out this new combination so far.
 Here is a little coverage we got this weekend at our first big race out of town this year. Most of you "Our Sponsors” have been an integral part of our program so far and I want to thank you. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate for race day, but that's drag racing.
Believe it or not most if not all of the companies on board have their logos on those killer shirts from Pro Manufacturing Custom Promo & Marketing Products.
 Team Mar-Schan hopes to get a lot more coverage from many sources including our website which you can see we updated promptly and adequately for not only us but you also and our fans as the year goes along. again keep in mind this was only our first attempt and we really didn't even do much besides make some test runs and park the car for your prospective customers to take a positive interest in, just click a picture in this area and see we had her cleaned to perfection and race ready.
Our interview was one of our best attempts at thanking all involved and the track / series event staff battling against the weather that just wouldn't give in. We will be back again to the NMCA as our schedule permits and thanks again to all that are behind us this year already and remember the camera adds 10 pounds.
Sincerely Marc Schankweiler
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
In Search of the Surge:
On Our Way To NMCA, With Or Without It:
Photos Courtesy Of www.gonedragracing.com
We finally got to the track since our last update two and a half weeks ago four times to test out our new combination and it has been a fight each time. I haven’t had this much trouble with electrical problems since I started racing, but we are packed up and the team is heading out on the 12 hour drive to NMCA Bowling Green, KY this weekend still not sure where our electrical gremlins are coming from.
 On April 18th we made our debut pass for 2009 at Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Md. The car ran nice and straight as expected on our first and only motor pass. Next pass it was time to turn on the 1st stage of the dental hygienists best friend. The car immediately started to surge so I put the Nova in coast mode and limped to the end of the track. I thought maybe we were running lean with the new tune-up and the new VP C-23 fuel that we changed over to. We bumped up the fuel pressure but the same thing happened the next pass. I decided to change to a 2 jet spread on the nitrous jetting like last year from the 4 jet spread the Induction Solutions set me up with for the next pass. Same exact results and the wallet was a little lighter. I made some calls and decided to check the Launch History in the MSD box but it didn’t record, or so I thought. Monday I realized that I forgot how to download the history and it was there all the time.
I installed the Jesel front belt drive distributor during the week hoping to be able to see the rotor phasing a little better and maybe that would help the problem. I also installed a new wide-open throttle switch and replaced the first stage relay.
Of course the next weekend the weather greeted us with 90+ degree record temperatures all weekend. We went to Cecil County again on April 25th for a track rental and made another motor pass to make sure all was well still on just the motor and it was. I turned the spray on again and same thing. This time I downloaded the Launch History and the Trace Analysis box and could see that the nitrous was actually being turned on and off as I went down the track. I went through the wiring and found a connector that was about to break and actually did when I touched it on the panel and figured this had to be it. Nope! I took the second stage system and plugged it into the first stage power to see if it was related to the first stage solenoids, but had the same results. Time to pack it in.
 I decided to go to Atco Raceway on the 26th and enter the 275 drag radial race put on by Small Block Posse to see if we could figure anything out. A suggestion was made by one of the racers to try a stronger relay on the first stage instead of the standard Bosch 30 amp. I wired up a Ford type solenoid instead and we finally made a successful nitrous pass and we were on easy street headed to the winner’s circle from there right? Wrong! When the second stage was activated by the timer; the car started to immediately misfire. I couldn’t believe the hassles we are having. I tried a freshly charged battery that I brought from home in case mine was getting weak. I tried another racer’s 16-volt battery with my alternator disconnected, same thing. Another racer said he chased a similar problem for a year before he found it in the battery disconnect switch so I decided to bypass mine and make a hit. This time the car went down the track and it was time to pack it in. I decided to leave the car and trailer at Atco and come back the next day for another track rental to get ready for the NMCA race at Bowling Green the next weekend.
Monday morning we made another pass with the kill switch bypassed and again success. Seth the Iceman from GoneDragRacing.com was helping out and again it was 90+ degrees out but his snow cone machine was perfect. Thanks Seth. I decided to get a good plug read on another pass with both stages on so I could start to jet up my tune up. The car took off and at 1.4 seconds when the second stage came on the engine started to break up again. I went to the speed shop and bought another battery disconnect switch as well as another Ford type solenoid for the second stage end wired them in. Made a hit, do I even need to continue? Same thing. I found a loose power feed wire to the second stage and hoped this was the problem. With sweat in the eyes and a fresh grape snow cone in the gut we made another pass. It was breaking up of course but this time at the end of the track I could smell fuel and heard a hissing noise. I popped the hood and the second stage nitrous lines were frozen and there was nitrous coming out from the carbs. Turns out that new Ford solenoid went bad inside and the relay was hot all the time. Good thing it happened at the end of the track and not on the starting line when I started the car or I might have needed a new hood. Seth grabbed another solenoid from the speed shop and we wired it in and made another pass and I thought all was finally well until Seth got to the end of the track with my time slip 9.19? It then hit me that the second stage didn’t come on because I inadvertently left the 2nd stage power wire disconnected at the firewall while testing current. I popped the wires back together and we hot lapped the car and made another pass and it’s still misfiring. It was finally time to eat some food and pack the car up.
 In the last 2 days I have cleaned up some of the wiring that was left over from the progressive controller that isn’t being used and I rerouted my 2nd stage ground wires. I also got some 4 gauge wire from Clark Industrial Supply and ran a dedicated ground from the battery to the front of the car with a pass through lug in the floor and ran 4 gauge leads from that to my two chassis ground locations and also to the bottom of the started. I cleaned all the grounds and greased them up with some dielectric grease. I put a spoiler under the front nose of the car to scoop some air up into the radiator and also to hopefully find someone who wants his or her name on it for some advertising exposure.
For now it’s off to bed for about 6 hours of sleep then the 12 hour ride to Bowling Green to see if anything I just did helped. Kind of a long ride for a test and tune, but we will be with family and friends and get to see some of our sponsors there. If anyone is interested in helping to rewire the car give me a call.
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Well It Fits Under The Hood:
That Was The Easy Part:
 There are several things to take into consideration when installing a tunnel ram intake manifold besides the hood clearance. You may also run into a distributor clearance issue and possibly a thermostat housing issue if you don’t have the right parts at your immediate disposal. I didn’t have the right parts in stock but Harry Gerb from H&J Motorsports did. My Ford type cap distributor didn’t fit, but Harry had an MSD crab cap distributor in stock that fit but was a little tight. I have since decided to go with a Jesel front belt drive distributor.
The other item I overlooked and just assumed would fit was my vertical water neck with a –20 90* fitting attached to the hose. That wasn’t going to work either so another call was made to Harry who had a CSR –20 AN housing from his motor that wasn’t being used at the moment so off we went to Bristol to pick it up. With a little grinding on the belt sander it fit like a glove. Now I just have to get Harry a new one. Thanks Harry! Little did I know that the guys at M&M Competion Engines developed offset housings to eliminate this problem.
We got the engine running a couple of nights before our first day at the track on April 4th. The engine had a valve train noise that I couldn’t find no matter what I tried. I decided to pack it up in the trailer and head to Cecil County the next day anyway. I backed the car out of the garage and took it for its maiden voyage around the neighborhood. Man was that tapping LOUD!
We arrived at The County with hopes that someone could help identify the problem or at least convince me that it was “normal.” Neither happened, I decided after several hours of trouble shooting to take the car up to tech anyway. I jumped in and put it in gear and it didn’t move. After several more trouble shooting ideas it was determined that the Trans had gone bad too!
We packed up and went to Bob Hartsock’s shop and left the car there on Saturday night. Sunday we pulled the motor and the Trans and while I was under the car pulling out the Trans Bob quickly found the valve train noise after pulling one of the cylinder heads. The #7 and #8 pistons were in the wrong holes. Both pistons now sport a couple of custom valve pockets, but there were surprisingly no bent valves. The motor was fixed up and buttoned up and was back in the car that afternoon and off we headed into the sunset with just the Trans to get fixed. It turns out that the transmission company had purchased a bunch of pump gears that weren’t heat-treated and they quickly decided to make a mess of my Trans fluid. Problem solved under warranty. I love when that happens. As a silver lining, if the Trans didn’t let go I might have actually made a pass only to bend a valve and cause major damage.
 As of right now everything is back together and the car is at Precision Chassis in Limerick getting a real pedal put in the car and a rod type linkage through the firewall. The Lokar pedal did not have enough throw open the throttle completely 100% of the time without stretching and not activating the micro switch for the nitrous. I hate to do it but ½ of those custom linkage brackets from Philadelphia Racing Products will be removed and shelved.
We were rained out of the April 11th Test and Tune at Cecil County so we will try again.
Next stop……………..Cecil County to test and maybe enter the 275 Drag Radial race on April 18th, and try to get some data and runs in before heading to Bowling Green for the NMCA race on May 2nd.
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Recent Engine Assembly Updates:
Trials, Tribulations, But Solid Progress:
We finally got most of the pieces back from the various sponsors and vendors and started putting the Mar-Schan Motorsports SB2.2 motor back together. It was not without it’s share of problems though.
Bob Hartsock assembled the short block only to find out when degreeing the camshaft in that there was a lack of intake piston to valve clearance. He installed the new Comp Cams custom 4/7 swap camshaft 4* retarded and we still didn’t have enough clearance.
 This is partially due to the new intake valves we waited 3 weeks to get from Manley Performance. The margins were about .050” thicker than the old valves and this was causing the problem.
After discussing fly cutting the pistons, which couldn’t be done due to thickness issues, and regrinding the cam, which offered no guarantees we decided to put the old valves back in the heads. This enabled Bob to install the cam at the specified location and gave us the clearance we needed.
 The next obstacle came when we installed the new 7/16” Smith Brothers pushrods. These are awesome pieces of steel that look like they could hold up a building. They were also an improvement over the 3/8” pushrods we had previously. It turns out that with the offset lifters and the angle of the pushrods, the lifters were gouging out the bronze lifter bushings due to the extra thickness pushing on the side of the lifter barrel. A quick call to Dennis Marshall at Smith Brothers Pushrods came up with a solution.
 They are going to build new push rods with an extended tip for inside the lifter and they are going to taper the top 4” of the pushrods from 7/16” to 3/8” up at the top. This will eliminate the clearance issues with the pushrod slot in the heads also. They are turning the new rods around next day to remedy the situation. Thanks Dennis!
 Next up was getting the new dual fogger nitrous system installed by Steve Johnson at Induction Solutions.
 Steve also handled the powder coating of the intake as well. The intake was flow tested and the solenoids were blueprinted. Those guys did a great job and even threw in some shirts.
Steve shipped the intake and carburetors up from Florida overnight to Philadelphia Racing Products
 where Jay and Rich Schonberger designed and machined a pair of custom throttle cable and return spring brackets for the Quick Fuel splits.The guys turned around this project in less than 24 hours and did some custom modifications to the carbs and spacer bushings to get me out the door.
These are the same guys who make a lot of the carburetor brackets for many of the companies out there like Jegs that you see.
 They also make fuel regulators, nitrous solenoid brackets, water pumps and fittings. Check them out at Philadelphia Racing Products. Oh yeah they gave me some more shirts!
 Since I keep mentioning the carburetors I want to thank Quick Fuel Technology for doing a beautiful job on the splits and for coming up with the idea for a 275 drag radial legal combination.
Of course a big shout out goes out to Scott and Tim at M&M Competion Engines for designing the foundation of the induction system. That being their cast aluminum tunnel ram for the SB2.2 motor.
 This little baby can be tailored to your motor combination and the work inside the runners and plenum is magnificent.
These guys also designed the camshaft and added a new CNC port program to the exhaust side of my cylinder heads.
Thanks for all the help and faith guys!
Now that the intake is home and sitting on the short block it became apparent that the old MSD distributor would not fit with a plenum this deep.
We are hoping to solve that problem with a crab cap style distributor that Harry Gerb from H&J Motorsports has in stock for us to try.
Check back soon and see if this thing actually fit under the 4” cowl hood and see how our first test session went !!
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
The New SB2 Tunnel Ram, Split Dominators Update:
Fresh Looks At This New Setup:
 Racers and fans alike were treated to a first hand look at Mar-Schan Motorsports new split dominator cast tunnel ram manifold in Illinois over the last weekend being displayed in all its glory.
The the new intake and carb system is ready now for powdercoating and plumbing for the nitrous system Marc Schankweiler will be using as we will update on very soon. This wild looking combination is a hand in hand compilation of race proven innovation between the many years of expericance of M&M Competion Engines and Quick Fuel Technology.
 This result is something not seen often in Drag Radial cars or even True Street but results are going to show its tunability and practicality both on and off the track will be a winner for big numbers and MPH when running at the many events planned for Team Mar-Schan Motorsports.
Both companies are proud sponsors of this team and their efforts have shown through in his combination of expert craftsmanship and design to make us go into the season at a level we've wanted to with their help.
  Function, Form, Power, and Creativity stand out in the final product that will improve as we add the "Squeeze" to it in upcoming installments.
M&M Competion Engines
Quick Fuel Technology
Stay Tuned For More !!
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Winter Intake Revisions With M&M Competion Engines
Press Release
Mar-Schan Motorsports New Intake And Carburetor Package On Display At Race & Performance Expo
 Mar-Schan Motorsports new intake and carburetor package will be on display February 14 & 15 at the Race & Performance Expo in St. Charles, Illinois at the M&M Competion Engines booth.
The intake features the new cast aluminum tunnel ram with a flat top that would normally be used for a dual carburetor application. For our class racing a dual carb set up is not legal so Quick Fuel Technology has provided us with a single split dominator that will be mounted on the top by M&M.
Last years Inaugural Race & Performance Expo was a huge success. In its first year it became the Midwest’s Largest Trade Show of its type. 300 Booths with over 250+ Exhibitors were on Display including 6 Semi Trailers. Almost 9,000 people were in attendance for this historic the 2 Day event and this year should be even better. Stop by and see Tim and Scott from M&M and check out their new products.
Visit The Expo Website Here
Atco Raceway True Street Rivals
FSC
Photography by goDragRacing.org
The Toughest Obstacle To Overcome Was The Heat.
 As the excitement heated up in anticipation of Tremec True Street’s first seven-second pass, so did the weather. Heat and humidity bore down on Atco Raceway Park as the True Street contingent set their sights on the historical milestone. As testing concluded Saturday morning, four cars had blasted deep into the eight-second zone.
Included in that list were three-time T/S champ Paul Ferrucci and his 1981 Chevy Malibu which ran a string of passes in the 8.40 range during testing on Friday.
Marc Schankweiler was making some solid hits in the mid- to high-eights with his freshly updated and repainted 1966 Chevy II. Craig Cusamano fired his familiar 1970 Chevelle deep into the eights and was poised to be a contender. Newcomer, Vince Fiore fired an 8.74 shot with his pump gas-powered 1969 Camaro on his last test pass and got everyone’s attention. Fifty-six cars left Atco Raceway Park for what would prove to be one of the toughest cruises in the NMCA’s history.
Read The Complete Article Here:
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
Maple Grove Raceway - Holy Hot Rods, Batman!
By Mike Ficacci
Photography by Team Super Chevy
The Amish Country Of Eastern Pennsylvania Was Invaded By A Cornucopia Of Bow Ties.
 Tremec True Street was an absolute blood bath, with 28 competitors cocked, locked, and ready to rock. The tour began out the rear gate of Maple Grove Raceway, past the once-legendary/now dry and filled-in swimming pool that catered to many a drunken encounter through the years. They continued some 20-plus miles through Morgantown and back again without a single hitch.
As per the request of most competitors, they made haste through the hills in an attempt to keep off the high-stall converters. In the end, perennial butt-kicker and December 2006 feature car owner Marc Schwankweiler once again proved the worth of his blue '66 Chevy deuce. He rattled off a 9.174, 8.698, and 8.611, good enough for a class average of 8.83-seconds and $200 prize in Tremec True Street.
Read The Complete Article Here:
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
1966 Chevy II - 8 Second Asphalt Eater
By Patrick Hill
Photography by Mike Harrington
This Street/Strip Nova Packs Nascar Power And Nitrous.
 Is it really a street car? Marc Schankweiler won the 2005 NMCA True Street race at Maple Grove in 2005, in which he averaged 8-second e.t.'s in the quarter-mile after back-to-back-to-back runs after a 30-mile street cruise. And he did it with 10.5-inch-wide tread-width tires on Hole Shot Performance Wheels.
Marc found his Chevy II in a local sell-it paper an hour away from his home in Douglasville, Pennsylvania. When he set eyes on his future project, it wasn't in the best of shape. The six-cylinder-powered Deuce was missing its rear window and the interior was shredded, but it was in running condition. After money and the title changed hands (about $900), Marc drove the coupe home on the Pennsylvania Turnpike without the rear window.
Read The Complete Article Here:
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
MSD True Street Challenge - One True Street-Car Drag
By Johnny Hunkins
The One And Only MSD True Street Challenge Hits Maple Grove.
 Over the next 45 minutes, street-car fans were treated to a spectacle that even the most hard-core late-night street race in Chitown or Newark would be hard-pressed to beat. Pennsylvania's own Mark Schankweiler (of Douglassville) fittingly took home the title of King of Pennsylvania with a three-run average of 9.095 seconds.
Schankweiler's bonzai-blue metallic '66 Nova is packed with 421 inches of small-block thunder. The SB2-headed bullet gets help from a 300hp Gene Fulton 300hp fogger and a outhouse-solid Powerglide from Dynamic. Schankweiler's best pass, a 9.017, even eclipsed his previous best of 9.03/150. In all, eight cars posted averages in the 9-second range, with four more in the 10s.
Read The Complete Article Here:
Marschan Motorsports Recent News and Press Here:
NMCA Drag Racing Event - Street Fighters
By Johnny Hunkins
Photography by Robert McGaffin, Johnny Hunkins
NMCA/NMRA Superbowl Of Drag Racing True Street Results - Joliet, IL
 There's no question that the Chevy II has become the posterboy for hot rodding-find the lightest body possible, then stuff the biggest motor inside it. Starting with a $700 six-cylinder hulk he bought in 1993, True Street competitor Marc Schankweiler started modestly, initially hoisting a 327 small-block over the fenders.
A collection of small-blocks subsequently made a series of guest appearances over the years. Marc has, however, resisted the urge to go over to the dark side-aka a big-block. Instead, his desires focused on the ultimate small-block, a NASCAR SB2.2, which might as well be a big-block, considering the copious airflow made possible by the SB2.2's sewer-pipe ports.
Read The Complete Article Here:
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