The IHRA will alter their standard Pro Stock fueling procedure this weekend during the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md. Instead of fuel from the official supplier, the teams will be permitted to run an equivalent spec from a rival supplier.

Torco’s 118NOS mix has been the spec fuel for the past two seasons, but since allegations of hurt motors during the most recently completed event on the IHRA tour, race officials will allow Pro Stock teams to run VP’s C23 blend.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned from a source close to the situation that as many as seven engines could have been affected as the result of running this particular grade of Torco fuel. At least three teams stepped forward with allegations that they have suffered engine damage as the result of the fuel’s inconsistency.

IHRA acknowledges problem and offers alternative …

 

The IHRA will alter their standard Pro Stock fueling procedure this weekend during the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md. Instead of fuel from the official supplier, the teams will be permitted to run an equivalent spec from a rival supplier.

Torco’s 118NOS mix has been the spec fuel for the past two seasons, but since allegations of hurt motors during the most recently completed event on the IHRA tour, race officials will allow Pro Stock teams to run VP’s C23 blend.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned from a source close to the situation that as many as seven engines could have been affected as the result of running this particular grade of Torco fuel. At least three teams stepped forward with allegations that they have suffered engine damage as the result of the fuel’s inconsistency.

The IHRA learned of those allegations first-hand. They aren’t convinced that the spec fuel was the problem.

“We have been informed by some teams that they may have had some issues with Torco Race Fuels at Milan,” Polburn said. “To be exact we have heard from three teams of the 20 that competed.  We have also called Jon Kaase and Sonny Leonard and both indicated that their customers did not have issues.  Lastly, Milan was the quickest Pro Stock field in history all running on Torco Race Fuels.”

Right now the IHRA isn’t taking any chances and has begun an internal investigation of the issue.

“As we look into possible fuel issues these three teams had, we will allow Pro Stock teams to run either Torco Racing Fuels or VP C23 at Maryland,” Polburn said. “I assure you that Torco and IHRA has the best interest of the racers in mind and this short term change in policy will allow everyone to sort out any problems if indeed any exist.”

Three members of Torco’s upper management were emailed a list questions in regards to the issue, a phone call was made to one of those principles to ensure receipt. The email was acknowledged and 48 hours later the questions remain unanswered.

The questions submitted by CompetitionPlus.com were as follows.

1. There are multiple claims that racers have burned up motors and suffered damage in Milan due to inconsistent fuel they are required to run, particularly in IHRA Pro Stock. Are you aware of these claims and have you contacted those affected to correct the situation?

2. Are you retaining the same production measures you have over the years and has anything changed?

3. Rumors suggest the company was barely able to deliver fuel to the Milan event, is this true and what's the outlook for the rest of the season?


The largest gripe of the teams has been the consistency of the blend. They say the fuel they order from the company measures one thing, they can borrow fuel from another racer and it differs. When they get to the track and are forced to fuel in the lanes, that gas is different from the others.

Current IHRA Pro Stock champion Robert Patrick has been one of the more vocal racers to call the issue to the IHRA’s attention.

“I’m not a chemist, but I’m smart enough to know after running the same brand of fuel for three years, and we’ve been running the gas from race-to-race and on the dyno out of different drums,” Patrick said. “When you get to the race and fill up in the lanes like you’re required to, with the same timing combination and fuel combination from a drum at home we’ve tested with, and the motor don’t run near where it should, then there’s a big problem. The motor has gone from leaking ten-percent to twenty and thirty percent and there’s aluminum on the plugs, I’m smart enough to know the fuel is different. They put a different gas in my car and you can put that on the record.

“We used to run these motors between 30 and 35 runs and then take them back to our engine builder and the wear and tear was nothing out of the ordinary. Now we have to take them back every race for rings. The engine is detonating and closing up the end gaps on the rings. I know I’m not the only one out there saying this, just pick a team out there and they’ll tell you the same thing.”

This issue has forced some of the teams to alter their tune-ups to adjust to the random fuel.

“Teams have had to detune their engines to keep from hurting them,” said Justin Elkes, co-crew chief on the Dingman Motorsports Wilson Manifolds team with Ron Hutter. “Things just aren’t making sense tune-up wise. We have had to go in a different direction and the fuel is certainly different.

“Most of our engine damage came last year. I know we are not tuned to our best ability. The fuel is so inconsistent. Last year, we would take the motor to the limit and hurt engines all the time. With a fuel problem, you can’t tune a Pro Stock engine the way you need to with fuel like that or you’ll knock the rings out of them in one lap.”

Elkes confirmed his team owner wrote a letter to the IHRA complaining of the consistency. Until the latest outcry from the racers, the complaints fell on deaf ears.

Billy Dingman has a keen interest in the petroleum end and was once a large distributor in the U.S. for Valvoline oil.

“The letter just informed the IHRA that we were not pleased with the fuel issue,” Elkes added. “Torco was saying one thing to the racers and telling the IHRA another. We felt that everyone as a whole from Pro Stock to Pro Modified have an engine investment of at least $100,000 per. If the official supplier cannot guarantee us that it is good fuel then we should not be held to using it.

Elkes continued, “The IHRA isn’t going to buy our engines and Torco surely isn’t. We’re [Pro Stock teams] are getting to the point that no one wants to allow them [IHRA] to put that fuel in our cars anymore.”

The Dingman Motorsports team will take advantage of the IHRA’s unpublicized option. The option, as of the first day of the national event in Maryland, still has not been mentioned on the IHRA’s website. The racers CompetitionPlus.com spoke to on this subject had not been notified.

IHRA Pro Stock regular Frank Gugliotta said he will definitely run the VP gas.

“We’ve taken the rings out several times already this year,” Gugliotta said. “I’ve gone testing and twice I’ve run the [Torco] fuel out of my trailer which is fuel that I got over the winter from Torco. I’ve run out of fuel in test sessions and went over and borrowed fuel from another racer running the same exact brand from the same person.

“When I put his fuel in, the tune-up changes drastically. I can run faster with his fuel than I can with mine. Then I leave the test session and come to Milan. Bear in mind, I’ve run two different sources of the same brand fuel and supposedly same spec. They put the IHRA’s fuel in before we run and it is completely different.

Within a matter of three days, I’ve run three different fuels and they are supposed to be the same -- three different tune-ups. I’m not a scientist, so I don’t know what they are putting in the fuel tank for me to say, ‘I need to go change my tune-up.”

Gugliotta continued, “I don’t know what I am getting. It’s gotten to the point where nobody gives a $%^& if we blow motors up. Let’s just put the $%^& in our tank. This has gotta stop.”

Gugliotta said he has no problem with a spec fuel and understands the reasoning behind the practice.

“I’d run any brand as long as I am getting the same consistent fuel every time,” Gugliotta added.

Gugliotta admitted he could be a little more understanding if this had been the first time this had happened. He pointed out a similar scenario from early in 2007.

“The same thing happened to us and we burned up motors,” Gugliotta admitted. “The Torco people admitted to us there was a problem and to throw out the fuel we had at the time. The replaced the fuel but they sure didn’t replace the motors. This situation leaves me feeling that they’ve went into their same old stock of $%^& fuel they had last season. There are bringing it out and it’s like they are saying, ‘this is all we have left.”

“I’m telling you, the fuel we have now is just like what we had last year that was bad.”

Some teams aren’t taking chances anymore. The Dingman team now brings a fuel tester to the track because, as Elkes puts it, “We are going to know from now on what we are putting in our car.”

In addition to the allegations of inconsistent blending, the racers have also pointed out the gas is separating. When a fuel separates it does exactly as the name suggests – it separates the elements.

One particular Pro Modified team which doesn’t run the 118NOS reportedly left a jar of the fuel overnight in their trailer only to return the next morning to see it in the early stages of separation. The Pro Modified class does not have a spec fuel mandate.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned the Torco 118NOS gas used at Milan was blended during the winter at the company’s Decatur, Mich., facility. A source familiar with the race gas blending procedure admitted the cold weather blending likely led to the consistency problem.

This potential has many of the drivers wondering if the investment and running these kinds of risks are worth it any more. Gugliotta agrees wholehearted the situation has to change or his days racing Pro Stock are numbered and not be his choice.

“I’ve got a car owner [Bob Yoak] who won’t put up with much more of this,” Gugliotta said. “He’s liable to pull the plug on it all. At what point in time do you say enough is enough?”