Every racer knows that to be successful in racing, you need a great team behind you. Engine builders, technicians, planners, facilities, onsite track support, and more are required to win consistently.
Once only available to professional race teams, Vengeance Racing offers a complete, turn-key, race solution. They not only get you racing at higher levels but keep you supported along the way.
How does Vengeance Racing provide this unheard-of level of support? What does it take manpower wise, and logistically to offer a real turn-key real-racing solution for his clients?
We had questions, so we went straight to the source, Ron Mowen, owner of Vengeance Racing.
This article is the second of five articles devoted to one of the most sought after racing options for amateurs in the nation. The first article, “Vengeance Racing Is SERIOUS About Racing,” can be found here.
What follows is an edited transcript, adapted for this article. Enjoy!
Commitment To Racing
ROD WORLEY – Editor – When you gave us a tour of your facilities, I was surprised to see that you walled off a portion of your 12,000 square foot building just for the racing program.
You’ve got a doorway between your regular performance business and your racing business, but it’s clear that it’s a separate business.
I don’t think a lot of people realize the extent of your commitment to racing. You’ve got different technicians devoted to just racing.
What are the advantages of the separation for your racing clients?
RON MOWEN – Vengeance Racing – Well, Rod, there’s quite a few advantages, and the biggest one, I would say, is the level of devotion and attention to each vehicle that crosses the threshold into the racing side.
You have to understand that most of our race cars, if you will, are our regular customers that came in for an average build.
They came back for a little bit more, came back again for a little bit more, and then just went off the deep end in pursuit of world records. These clients are racing in events all over the country, promoting Vengeance Racing, and promoting themselves.
Our race clients need top tier dedication and devotion to their racing program.
On the production side, we do anything really under a thousand horsepower. Up to the twelve hundred horsepower range happens in the shop’s production side.
Most client’s vehicles will come and go, usually within about two weeks.
Racing Needs
On the racing program side of things, we typically have cars that don’t necessarily live here per se. Still, they’re always coming in for tweaks, adjustments, pre-race inspections, and post-race inspections.
And then, as I mentioned earlier, with things continually evolving, we may have a motor that we’ve run for three years, and it may be time to upgrade it. Perhaps a different engine, new cylinder heads, new camshaft profiles, things like that.
So we have to have a higher level of devotion to these vehicles. And we need dedicated technicians to these vehicles so that they know them inside and out.
This way, we can be more efficient, productive, and ensure quality in the build. So that our clients can go out and dominate in whatever field they’re racing in.
Bona Fide Racing Support
ROD WORLEY – Editor – When it comes to your racing clients, you offer a completely separate service suite. First of all, I didn’t know you provided this level of bona fide race support.
Secondly, you have two levels of services available. Can you take a few minutes and unpack the services Vengeance Racing provides racers?
RON MOWAN – Vengeance Racing – Yes, we offer two options. The first is track testing.
It’s one thing to build a vehicle, have a customer invest a significant amount of money in it, street tune it, dyno tune it, and then give it to them. We like to test vehicles at every opportunity.
Our team gets them fully dialed in at the drag strip, half a mile, road course, whatever their flavor is. All the while, we go out there, collect data, make changes, and fully optimize their combinations to suit that customer.
To get every bit of performance out of a vehicle and ensure longevity, you have to know what it’s doing when it’s in that type of environment.
Full Track Support
RON MOWEN – Vengeance Racing – The second option that we offer, which is unheard of in the industry, especially to the level that we do, is track support. We provide full-blown track and support packages at events across the country.
We actually travel with and for our clients anywhere from Texas to Pennsylvania and anywhere in between.
We’ve got a 53-foot trailer stocked with tools, fluids, fuels, miscellaneous parts. And we bring a full staff with us of dedicated technicians for the client’s vehicle to these events.
We provided turn-key support. All the client has to do is show up and drive. The truck support keeps our customers racing because many of these people aren’t professional mechanics or drivers.
You know, some of them aren’t even amateurs, if you will. They know what they want, and it’s fun for them, but they don’t want to know the details of how to maintain the car.
They want to get in, drive and have a good time. And our track support package allows for that to happen.
VR Team Heads South
ROD WORLEY – EDITOR – That’s an excellent service Ron, and you’re right, I don’t know of anyone in the country that is offering that level of track support. You’re doing that this weekend, aren’t you?
RON MOWEN – Vengeance Racing – Yes, we’re heading down to the Speed Addicts event in south Georgia this weekend. We’ll have twenty-one cars racing. We’re closing the company for that event, and we’re taking all 17 employees down.
Some people will be working in the merchandise tent. Some members of our team will be tuning, and obviously, there will be on-site track support. So it’ll be a full-blown event for us.
“The” Eddie Blackwell At 199.7 MPH
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Ron, you’ve got a devoted legion of followers on YouTube watching your performance videos featuring your actual clients and their Vengeance Racing prepared cars.
What are some of the builds you’ve done over the years that stand out in your mind?
Maybe some builds that evolved from something modest then eventually became real performance beasts?
RON MOWEN – Vengeance Racing – Well, they all kind of start out modest, as I said earlier. These projects evolve over time, but a couple that stands out to me. One would be Eddie Blackwell with his naturally aspirated C5 Corvette
Eddie’s been with us since 2006 when we opened. Back then, it was a red C5 Corvette that came to us for heads and cams.
We went to a 440 stroker, and then we went to a 474 stroker with nitrous. Then we started racing half-mile. We pulled the nitrous off of it and started running it in the naturally aspirated class.
Now it has a slightly smaller engine with a 451 LSR with solid rollers. The car has evolved tremendously.
It’s got a single-piece front end, full cage, and full weight reduction. It’s naturally aspirated, making over a thousand horsepower on the engine dyno. It holds the world record for the fastest, naturally aspirated LS car in the half-mile at 199.7 miles per hour.
We’re trying to get that thing over 200 miles an hour so the engines back out of it. We’re doing some additional cylinder head work, changing the camshaft profile and hoping to crack that 200 mile an hour barrier.
Ned Dunphy’s World Record Gen 5 Viper
ROD WORLEY – Editor – “The” Eddie Blackwell’s car is always a fan favorite at the track. I’m confident Eddie will break 200 miles per hour easily the next time you take it out. Wasn’t there also a Dodge Viper that you turned into a world record holder?
RON MOWEN – Vengeance Racing – Yes, you’d be talking about Ned Dunphy’s twin-turbo Viper. Ned’s a great guy, and his car has turned into one of our favorites. When Ned came to us, we literally built a twin-turbo system for him, did a clutch, fuel system.
Essentially we doubled the horsepower from like 530 hp to 1060 hp at the rear wheel.
Ned’s car has evolved to the point where now it’s the fastest Gen 5 Dodge Viper in the world. Once we got done racing the manual transmission, we took it out and put a turbo 400 in it.
Then we reset our own world records, and nobody’s come close to us in that car.
It runs 7.20’s at 197 miles per hour in the quarter-mile. I’ll remind you that we’re a GM shop, not a Viper specialty shop. There’s no Viper shop in the country that’s even close to us right now with the Gen Five Viper platform.
So Ned and his car are one of our favorites. Ned’s just a super good guy and a bright orange viper making close to 3000 horsepower these days is sure to get anybody’s attention.
So and I think the last one that comes to mind as one of my favorites is our shop car we call Fatman 3.0. That car has evolved tremendously over the years and is just one of my favorites, probably because I drive it and the story behind it. It was owned originally by a good friend of mine who eventually sold it to me.
The “Racing” Part Of Vengeance Racing Is Earned
There are tuners and engine builders across the country who use the word “Racing” either in their name. Some plastered across their social media. One thing we know for sure after spending time with Vengeance Racing (VR), they’ve earned the “Racing” part of their name.
Articles We Recommend:
Why Vengeance Racing Is The Right Choice For You
Vengeance Racing And World Records
Vengeance Racing Kicks Competition To The Curb
Inside Vengeance Racing’s Amazing Race Support
Vengeance Racing Is SERIOUS About Racing
Vengeance Racing – Prepared To Win