Mustangs of all Generations Continue to Turn Heads at the 2017 SEMA Show
- Nov 12, 2017
Anderson comes into the finals as the leader in the NHRA Pro Stock standings. He has a 40-point lead over teammate Bo Butner. Jason Line, the third-place driver in the NHRA Pro Stock standings, is 76 points out of first place. To make it more challenging, NHRA is awarding 1.5x points to the drivers this weekend. The top-four drivers in the standings are within striking distance of the Pro Stock championship. Still, Anderson said he wants to treat this weekend’s finals like it’s any other race. “I try not to do anything out of the norm,” Anderson said. “Try not to make it more than it is. Obviously, it’s what we race for all year long. You’re supposed to put it all on the line and do something special and try to get it done. If you do that, you’ll probably make a mistake. Put too much pressure on yourself and go backwards. Just trying to stay calm and relaxed and trying to tell myself that it’s just another race. It’s not. But that’s my goal.”
He won the championship in 2010 in the Countdown to the Championship format. The final six races of the season are the playoffs for the drivers and riders in the NHRA Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle divisions. “It’s crazy. I guess that’s the design,” Anderson said. “They want it to come down to the end of the day on Sunday. And that is certainly the coolest way, it makes it tougher on the drivers. I’ve been here before and I’ve witnessed that deal.” Anderson won two events in the Countdown to the Championship, most recently the event in Las Vegas. He is a 12-time winner at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona and has 90 victories in his career. But this year has been one of the more competitive ones in Pro Stock. Anderson said as many as 10 drivers and teams have the potential to win the season finale at Pomona. “Every year it seems like it does get tougher,” Anderson said. “The only way I can explain it is they learn the right way to race. They learn how to race at that top level. Every year we have more and more depth in the field.” Unlike Anderson, Butner is experiencing the Pro Stock Countdown to the Championship for the first time. Before this season, Butner never won a Pro Stock race. He has won four times this year. He still considers himself a sportsman racer, but he has become one of the top Pro Stock drivers quickly. “It’s a great year,” Butner said. “It’s a dream season, probably even beyond that because it’s in the pro category. I can’t ask for anything better. I’d like to be ahead, don’t get me wrong. We have a shot and that’s great.”
Butner has never won a Pro Stock race at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. The odds might be stacked against him heading into the final race of the year, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. “This is a different deal. It’s a dream,” Butner said. “That’s all I’ll ever be is a sportsman racer. It’s been great, but it would be unimaginable to get up there on stage. I don’t know what else you could possibly do. I’m not going to quit by no means. “I have zero nerves. I’m having a great time. It’s fun. I do this for enjoyment, not for a living. | |||
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The K&N RK-3955 Street Metal Intake harkens back to the aggressive styling of muscle car shaker ram-air intakes. However, it’s not just a look; the RK-3955 intake is guaranteed to boost the performance of the Harley 107CI Milwaukee 8 FL model line. Let’s take a look at the style and performance of the RK-3955. Style The powdercoated aluminum body of the RK-3955 is open in the front, exposing the familiar and respected K&N filter element. Flowing back from that ram-air leading edge are raised, natural aluminum ridges that add an aggressive, three-dimensional element to the most visible surface of the intake.
Performance 'All show and no go' is simply not what K&N does. The RK-3955 is as long on performance as it is on style. The intake is built around a highly refined internal velocity stack that provides and focuses a large amount of air. There are also internal breathers that eliminate the stock plumbing. That same housing that provides those great looks is also designed to provide massive airflow to the engine. That increase in airflow is where the power is. When installed on an otherwise stock 2017 107CI Harley-Davidson Road Glide, K&N’s testing showed an estimated power increase of almost 3.5 horsepower at 4700 RPM. Convenience
Take a look at the application list below and consult K&N online search tool for all of your filter needs. 2017 HARLEY DAVIDSON FLTRXS ROAD GLIDE SPECIAL 107 CI - All Models | |||
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Gilliland was the runner-up in the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame Championship 150 presented by Napa Auto Parts, the final race of the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season. Gilliland needed to finish in seventh place or higher to win the K&N Pro Series West championship. Chris Eggleston, who entered the season finale in second place in the West Series standings, had a flat tire on lap 65 and had to pit. When he returned to the race, he was several laps down and out of contention. That left Gilliland in a race against the track. All he needed to do was bring the car home in one piece to secure his second K&N Pro Series West championship. Eggleston ended up in second place in the K&N Pro Series West standings. The runner-up finish in the race at Kern County gave Gilliland 11 top-fives in 14 K&N Pro Series West races. He won the K&N Pro Series West championship by 29 points over Eggleston. The two drivers posted the same amount of top-five finishes, 11, and top-10 finishes, 13. The difference was in races won. Gilliland won six races en route to his second K&N Pro Series West title in a row. Gilliland and Eggleston, his teammate at Bill McAnally Racing, combined to win 10 of the 14 K&N Pro Series West races in 2017. “That makes it definitely very interesting in the team meeting,” Gilliland said about having Eggleston as a teammate and championship contender. “Overall, I think Bill let us race as hard as we could. I feel like he did a great job balancing that for us. I feel like we pushed each other a lot this year to be the best we could be. That’s a lot of why we finished 1-2 in the points.”
Gilliland ran the entire K&N Pro Series East schedule as well. He came into the final race of the East Series schedule with the lead in the standings. But Gilliland blew a tire and crashed in the K&N Pro Series East finale at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, effectively taking him out of the lead in the K&N Pro Series East standings. He finished in 13th place in the race at Dover. Harrison Burton won the race and the K&N Pro Series East championship. “To come this close to getting them both is tough also,” Gilliland said after winning the K&N Pro Series West championship at Kern County. “It’s all part of racing, the 99 (Eggleston) had a tire issue tonight, so hard saying what could have happened if we didn’t have one.” Gilliland said a big part of winning the K&N Pro Series West championship came at the beginning of the year. The first four races were in a span of seven days at three tracks, Tucson Speedway, Kern County Raceway Park and Irwindale Speedway. “That was a pretty big part of our season right there and we were able to come out of there with three wins and a second,” Gilliland said. “That set a good tone for the beginning of our season. From there we stayed in the lead all the way until the championship. It was pretty good. Definitely had a lot of battles with our teammates. It was a lot of fun for sure.” Rookie Derek Kraus won the first race of his K&N Pro Series West career at Kern County. He posted three runner-up finishes in his rookie season. In the K&N Pro Series West race at Meridian Speedway in Idaho in September, he had the lead on the final restart. But he lost his lead to Michael Self, who went on to win the race. Kraus dropped to fifth place at the checkered flag. Kraus wasn’t going to make the same mistake at Kern County.
Gilliland said he will probably race a few NASCAR K&N Pro Series events in 2018. He is ready to move up in NASCAR and will enter more Camping World Truck Series events next year. Racing in the K&N Pro Series has prepared him immensely for the next step. “It’s just a huge deal to be able to compete in this series,” Gilliland said. “Nothing’s possible without the support of K&N. Definitely want to thank them for everything they’ve done.” | |||
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| While Chevrolets and Fords are without question the most popular choices among builders who are constructing display vehicles for the SEMA Show, there’s always a bit of variety whether it’s a model from an import manufacturer, or a domestic manufacturer long defunct. One brand that runs closely behind the Ford and Chevrolet offerings are the Mopars – Dodge and Plymouth primarily. Here’s a rundown of some of the most unique and inventive interpretations of classic and current Mopars on display at the 2017 SEMA Show. Petty’s Garage 1970 Plymouth Superbird
The Roadster Shop constructed this interesting concept for Jesse James. The unibody was cut away from this ’64 Polara and all rust repaired. They then installed on an RS FastTrack frame. Under the hood went an immensely powerful Wegner Motorsports twin-turbo Generation III Hemi engine that draws through K&N air filters to produce over 1600 horsepower. The interior appears to have been removed for an early 1960s factory-built drag car with its minimalist interior, while the exterior is the sunbaked patina you might expect but a carefully-planned illusion executed by the Roadster Shop. 1968 Dodge Charger “General Mayhem”
Ken Ticknor’s Charger might be better named Killer Bee to separate if from the factory stock Super Bee, as its modifications are so significant. Under the carbon fiber hood beats an enlarged 7.0L Generation III chock full of forged internal components that can take the strain of a direct port nitrous system, drawing, of course, through K&N filtration. Underneath is a full coil-over conversion with stouter sway bars, while the interior has been upgraded to second generation Charger configuration. Not just a straight swap, mind you, but also a recover with over 30 hides of smooth-shaved crocodile with dyed honeycomb. Certainly not a Super Bee that’s easily mistaken from one that is straight off the assembly line. If you own a Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, or RAM, K&N has the filters you need to keep you classic or soon-to-be classic running at its peak. Whether it’s an air cleaner element for a 1958 Chrysler 300 with a 392 CID First Gen Hemi or a Typhoon air intake system that adds almost 24 horsepower to a 2018 Dodge Challenger Hellcat, K&N has it. And don’t forget K&N also offers cabin air filters, oil filters, and fuel filters for many Mopar applications. |