ADRL PX RACER VIAL BRINGS SNAP-ON TO THE TOUR
Wed, 2010-02-17 13:00
After growing up working in his dad’s auto repair shop, then spending 38 years as a professional yacht technician, Ellis Vial Jr. likes to joke he’s spent his life with a Snap-on wrench in one hand and a payment book in the other.
This year, his life-long dedication to the brand is being rewarded with major sponsorship from Snap-on Franchised Dealers for an all-out assault on the American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL’s) Pro Extreme class.
“This is it, I’m showing all my cards this year; I’m all in,” Ellis declared from his Hayes, Virginia, race shop as he watched Billy Smith of Auto Ink Designs applying the bright red-and-black Snap-on wrap to his brand-new K&K Precision-built ’68 Firebird. “I’m not coming out to the races just to qualify; I’ll be there to win.
After growing up working in his dad’s auto repair shop, then spending 38 years as a professional yacht technician, Ellis Vial Jr. likes to joke he’s spent his life with a Snap-on wrench in one hand and a payment book in the other.
This year, his life-long dedication to the brand is being rewarded with major sponsorship from Snap-on Franchised Dealers for an all-out assault on the American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL’s) Pro Extreme class.
“This is it, I’m showing all my cards this year; I’m all in,” Ellis declared from his Hayes, Virginia, race shop as he watched Billy Smith of Auto Ink Designs applying the bright red-and-black Snap-on wrap to his brand-new K&K Precision-built ’68 Firebird. “I’m not coming out to the races just to qualify; I’ll be there to win.
“And that’s not being cocky,” Vial insists. “I’m just confident, and a lot of that has to do with Snap-on being behind us this year.”
Vial’s new car will be riding on Mickey Thompson tires with Penske shock absorbers helping to smooth out the bumps on 3.7-second passes at over 200 mph down the ADRL eighth mile. The CAM’s Racing Engines 526-cubic-inch Hemi up front will be burning Renegade Racing Fuels with a PSI screw-type supercharger providing the boost on top of a Wilson Manifolds intake.
“Without all those names on the side of the car I couldn’t even think of doing this and I want to thank all of them for their support as well as the folks at Boninfante Performance Clutch, Victory 1, Titanium Joe, Braille Battery, PAC Springs, REM Chemical and DJ Safety,” Vial says. “I plan on making all of them proud to be associated with us this year.”
Vial will also take an experimental route toward adding even more power via the injection of nitrous oxide into the fuel mix this season.
“Scott Filkins is my crew chief and we’ve been working with the guys at Motec and Steve Johnson at Induction Solutions to make that work,” Vial says, though he declines to say just how much nitrous he’ll be spraying. “All I can say is, it’ll be a lot!”
Vial plans to make his debut with the new Snap-on Pro Extreme team at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI on Apr. 23-24, at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
“We’ll be testing the wheels off the car in these next few weeks,” Vial says. “When we get to Georgia I want to come out swinging!”
This year, his life-long dedication to the brand is being rewarded with major sponsorship from Snap-on Franchised Dealers for an all-out assault on the American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL’s) Pro Extreme class.
“This is it, I’m showing all my cards this year; I’m all in,” Ellis declared from his Hayes, Virginia, race shop as he watched Billy Smith of Auto Ink Designs applying the bright red-and-black Snap-on wrap to his brand-new K&K Precision-built ’68 Firebird. “I’m not coming out to the races just to qualify; I’ll be there to win.
Billy Smith of Auto Ink Designs in Yorktown, Virginia, visited Ellis Vial’s shop to apply the Snap-on Franchised Dealers wrap to Vial’s new Pro Extreme ‘68 Firebird. Ellis’ race rig and golf cart will be receiving the full Snap-on wrap treatment, too. - Ellis Vial Racing Photos
This year, his life-long dedication to the brand is being rewarded with major sponsorship from Snap-on Franchised Dealers for an all-out assault on the American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL’s) Pro Extreme class.
“This is it, I’m showing all my cards this year; I’m all in,” Ellis declared from his Hayes, Virginia, race shop as he watched Billy Smith of Auto Ink Designs applying the bright red-and-black Snap-on wrap to his brand-new K&K Precision-built ’68 Firebird. “I’m not coming out to the races just to qualify; I’ll be there to win.
“And that’s not being cocky,” Vial insists. “I’m just confident, and a lot of that has to do with Snap-on being behind us this year.”
Vial’s new car will be riding on Mickey Thompson tires with Penske shock absorbers helping to smooth out the bumps on 3.7-second passes at over 200 mph down the ADRL eighth mile. The CAM’s Racing Engines 526-cubic-inch Hemi up front will be burning Renegade Racing Fuels with a PSI screw-type supercharger providing the boost on top of a Wilson Manifolds intake.
“Without all those names on the side of the car I couldn’t even think of doing this and I want to thank all of them for their support as well as the folks at Boninfante Performance Clutch, Victory 1, Titanium Joe, Braille Battery, PAC Springs, REM Chemical and DJ Safety,” Vial says. “I plan on making all of them proud to be associated with us this year.”
Vial will also take an experimental route toward adding even more power via the injection of nitrous oxide into the fuel mix this season.
“Scott Filkins is my crew chief and we’ve been working with the guys at Motec and Steve Johnson at Induction Solutions to make that work,” Vial says, though he declines to say just how much nitrous he’ll be spraying. “All I can say is, it’ll be a lot!”
Vial plans to make his debut with the new Snap-on Pro Extreme team at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI on Apr. 23-24, at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
“We’ll be testing the wheels off the car in these next few weeks,” Vial says. “When we get to Georgia I want to come out swinging!”
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