…..Wolf-Pack Racing Drivers Continue
Dominating Runs at America’s Short Tracks
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 9, 2009) While America's short tracks are buzzing at their busiest time of the racing season the dirt late model sector of the sport is roaring with summer touring series competing night after night across the nation. Race fans continue to fill the grass roots racing arenas, and one thing that those studious observers buying pit passes and tickets have noted has been drivers in Wolf-Pack Racing prepared racecars churning out victories in dominating win streaks. In all regions of the country winning drivers competing as Wolf-Pack Racing team members continue to win races at an impressive pace, and so to speak, howling into winners’ circles in with amazing frequency. Kelly Boen’s raid of America’s Heartland and Badlands during the past few weeks winning four of the last five NCRA / MLRA events has been nothing short of phenomenal in terms of today’s competition. The terror that Randy ‘King Kong’ Korte has rained on his foes in the Midwest and UMP action is just another strong statement as to the prowess of Wolf-Pack Racing engineering in today’s dirt late model industry. In fact, when considering the amazing run of victories that Tim Busha has enjoyed in Alabama including this past weekend’s Southern All-Stars win, Wolf-Pack Racing has risen to the challenge of competition across the board, across the nation.
Not only have the drivers enjoying short track racing headlines benefitted from the enhanced technology and encompassing chassis applications, but upstart teams nationwide are experiencing immediate success and winning results through their affiliation with Wolf-Pack Racing. The following is a mid-season update on Wolf-Pack Racing driver and team performance in 2009. If you would like to learn more about Wolf-Pack Racing, visit the organization’s official home on the internet at www.wolf-packracing.com. Wolf-Pack Racing continues to deliver winning results and positive for race teams and racers across the nation. Wolf-Pack Racing is located just north of Charlotte, North Carolina and is a certified dealer of Rocket Chassis. At Wolf-Pack Racing the focus on racecar construction, fabrication and set-ups are geared toward the best and most advanced products available on the market. The experience and winning success that Wolf-Pack Racing’s list of clients have enjoyed due to the company’s strong affiliation with Mark Richards and Rocket Chassis has provided enormous improvements for customers. In addition to working on Rocket Chassis, the staff of Wolf-Pack Racing also work with teams running other types of chassis, including MasterSbilt, Barry Wright Racecars, GRT, Rayburn and Track Star equipment for individual clients with consistent winning results.
Also of significant note is Wolf-Pack Racing’s strong working partnership with RE Suspensions in Mooresville, North Carolina and the company’s shock guru Butch Enders. By working with Enders and his staff, the racers of Wolf-Pack Racing receive the benefits of having a broader arsenal of shocks and springs suited best for their individual car’s performance and not being tied down to a specific brand that may or may not work best in certain race track conditions. Whether a team is seeking a new Rocket Chassis from Wolf-Pack Racing or the support and commitment from Wolf-Pack Racing to enhance their overall performance and results, the Wolf-Pack staff is prepared to assist. Racers and race teams caring to book a consulting session or racecar set-up assistance can contact the Randle Chupp or Karl Gollnast by calling the Wolf-Pack Racing office at (704) 500-2499.
Randy Korte Notches 3 Big Wins as Wolf-Pack Racing Member Taking Honors on UMP Summer National Hell Tour
(July 31st) Korte Runs 2009 Win Total to 19 with Friday Night Checkers at Tri-City Speedway (July 31st) Randy Korte stormed from the eleventh starting position to win once again in his torrid summer winning streak. Korte has now rolled up 13 super late model wins against strong foes in UMP touring events and mowing down the competition in St. Louis area racing, at Pevely, Missouri and Granite City, Illinois ……
King Kong Korte has certainly lived up to his nickname in 2009 as he has torn through the Midwestern competition winning in three separate divisions of United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) action. Korte, known properly as Randy, has shown no proper hospitality to visitors on his home turf of Illinois and Missouri dirt tracks this season. The lightning pace the former 2-time UMP National Champion (’98 & ’06) is on could have the driver from just east of St. Louis heading to a third career UMP national crown. To close out the month of July Korte, in his Wolf-Pack Racing adapted racers, continued his stranglehold at Ken Schrader and Ray Malar’s I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri as for the second time this season Korte won both the UMP Late Model and UMP Modified main events on the same night at the track. This time however, Korte completely swept both divisions by winning his heat race, dash and main event in both classes and leading every single lap of both main events.
As a Wolf-Pack Racing team member Korte of Highland, Illinois concluded the exciting and grueling UMP Summer National Hell Tour by picking up the $10,000.00 bonus for finishing second in the 2009 championship. The month of UMP Summer National action saw Korte rack up three major feature wins during the prestigious annual series for some of the nation’s toughest dirt late model competitors. Korte scored wins on the UMP tour from June 28th through July 8th, taking the trio of checkered flags in his home state at Lincoln, Danville and LaSalle, Illinois. Korte’s strong 2009 season has benefited by his Wolf-Pack Racing prepared late model Rocket Chassis with the special set-up and chassis adaptations provided by the groups engineering and data acquisition efforts. Korte has also taken three features wins in his Open Wheel Modified runs this season.
Kelly Boen NCRA Win #8 of 2009 Sets New NCRA Record with 4 Straight Wins
Kelly Boen is playing the role of a modern day high plains drifter, and winning races in record-breaking style. Saturday night Boen completed his third straight week of taking two sanctioned NCRA wins in one weekend as he swept the slate clean at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska. Boen, aboard the Road Runner Fabrication backed car took two more major feature wins at month’s end as he notched NCRA wins in Jefferson, South Dakota on Friday night then raided Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway to cap the weekend with another win on Sunday night (July 26th). The record breaking winning explosion for Boen began when he lit the fuse with a victory at the famed Belleville High Banks in Kansas on July 5th then continued to bombard his competitors as the all-time win leader on the NCRA tour rolled into Mid-Nebraska Speedway last weekend to take two more NCRA feature wins (July 17th & 18th) on the tour. Following last weekend’s action all eyes turned to the O’Reilly NCRA triple-header schedule to see if the Henderson, Colorado raider could run his winning streak to a new NCRA record.
Boen didn’t disappoint his followers as he opened the weekend with a Friday night win at Park Jefferson Speedway in the South Dakota badlands rumbling to the record setting 4th straight NCRA sanctioned win for the Wolf-Pack Racing team member. Boen’s win streak was just barely snapped on Saturday as he almost made it five in a row coming home second to Joe Kosiski at Adams Speedway in Coring, Iowa. But on Sunday night, Boen was back to his winning ways as he drove his Road Runner Fabrication Rocket to his 6th win of the season by taking the checkered flag in Greenwood, Nebraska.
‘I’m winning races through gained experiences and it’s paying off,’ says Kelly Boen on his successes in 2009. ‘Randle and I have raced together and studied the racecars as they react to different surfaces and set-ups. Taking the input and turning it into something that works on the track is what makes the difference,’ stressed Boen on the data acquisition and technology gained from Wolf-Pack Racing applications. ‘When I can take my personal racing experiences behind the wheel and give myself added gains from the Wolf-Pack Racing approach the differences are phenomenal. Winning the races that we have won in the last few weeks and having such a well handling car has just been awesome,’ Boen pointed out. ‘It’s almost like dealing with engineers and construction wizards that we work with on major projects and construction sites; they’ve studied the projects and know what will work and what won’t. That’s same kind of intense strategy and preparation is what is making Wolf-Pack Racing work for me, and for other teams all over the place. Wolf-Pack Racing has their act together and have a lot of teams winning races. I’m just glad we are one of them,’ proclaimed Boen.
Boen’s achievements continued to display the technology and chassis set-up prowess of Wolf-Pack Racing as the five-time and reigning NCRA Champion ran his NCRA career win total to 33 victories. Boen has been in contention across the nation throughout 2009 since launching to the forefront on the national scene of dirt late model action in winning form during SpeedWeeks action to start the season.
Tim Busha Wins Again – Alabama Late Model Ace Roaring to Checkered Flags with Astonishing Frequency in 2009 …Busha Takes Kilpatrick Chevrolet / Wolf-Pack Racing Ride to Southern All Stars Win at Talladega Short Track (Southern All-Stars Eastaboga, Alabama – July 26, 2009) Moving up from his ninth starting spot, Tim Busha of Boaz, Alabama took the lead on lap thirty-three and motored away to take his first career Southern All Stars (SAS) victory.
Tim Busha has been the man to beat in 2009 at Talladega, Alabama but the end of July was an even bigger time to celebrate as the Wolf-Pack Racing team member roared his GRT / Kilpatrick Chevrolet racer through the field of Southern All-Stars (SAS) drivers to take the checkered flag at the track known as the ‘Hornets Nest’ and his first career win on the SAS sanctioned tour. Earlier this season Busha reeled off an unprecedented three straight wins at the Talladega Short Track (TST) establishing a new record at the historic race track. Winning 8 of the last 12 events at TST (including his August 8th win) and dominating the Kilpatrick Chevrolet super late model events in 2009, Busha has continued his team’s red hot winning performances with Wolf-Pack Racing setup and chassis technology. Busha shot to the front of the pack taking the lead with just over twenty laps remaining in the special O’Reilly SAS event to reach yet another plateau of success in his racing efforts.
‘This is definitely our biggest career win and the most special for me personally. I appreciate the opportunity the Kilpatrick’s have given me to drive their car. They deserve this win because they made it possible.” Busha said after emerging from his winning mount in the TST victory lane amid a rousing cheer from the Talladega faithful. “Man I just can’t tell you how much this win means to me. These races are so hard to win and for us to win at the Michael Head, Jr. Memorial is just a dream come true.’
Busha’s explosive runs at TST in 2009 also saw him go wire-to-wire to victory on June 6th for his fourth victory of the season, then raising the bar with this past weekend’s SAS triumph. Busha’s latest conquest runs his overall win total to eight for the season came on the heels of another yielded this comment from a fan’s perspective following Saturday night’s event at Talladega Short Track:
……………‘Tim Busha wins From 9th position. 40 cars, big crowd and racing all over the track. Only one caution. Racing does not get any better.’
Busha’s trust in the Wolf-Pack Racing approach to his chassis set-up and race game plan has been one of the most impressive directions that his racing program has taken during his career. About the only thing that has slowed Busha down this season has been a handful of rained-out events at Talladega Short Track, but when he’s taken the green flag, he’s also more often than not been around at the end to claim the checkered flag and attributes his racecar’s success to the Wolf-Pack Racing approach.
‘What I like most about my arrangement with Wolf-Pack Racing is that it is all on me now,’ states Busha. ‘As long as I follow the game plan that Harold and Randle lay out for our set-up, I just have to drive that car to the front. They have given me a solid steady stream of information and input on what to do with the car and its working,’ Busha attested. ‘I feel confident that I’ve got a winning car when it’s time to pull onto the race track, and that makes a big difference.’
Tim Dohm Wins for Seymour Team in Wolf-Pack Racing at Portsmouth
(August 1st – Portsmouth, Ohio) The month of August opened with a win for the Wolf-Pack Racing prepared racecar that carried Cross Lanes, West Virginia’s Tim Dohm to victory at Portsmouth Raceway Park. Dohm drove the Tracy Seymour owned T & R Logging late model to a $10,000 payday as he battled furiously to lay claim to his first career Mid-Atlantic Championship Series (MACS) win. Dohm’s win over an all-star field of competitors came as he narrowly escaped a last-lap tangle to take the checkered flag in a final lap crash exiting turn four. Dohm took the wheel of the Seymour ride earlier this season, and has since gained increased success with the car as crew chief Wally Adams stays in constant communication with Wolf-Pack Racing for chassis consultation in the team cars with winning results.
California’s Steve Drake Wins Again at Santa Maria Takes West Coast Checkers Again with Wolf-Pack Racing Set-Up
On the West Coast, Steve Drake of San Luis Obispo, California picked up his 3rd win of 2009 as he mashed the gas on his Wolf-Pack Racing prepped to another checkered flag at Santa Maria Speedway. While Drake was up to his familiar winning ways in his stellar career on the west coast, his 16 year-old son Logan is on the move with the set-up and pre-race technology applied by his car by Wolf-Pack Racing. The teen Drake scored a pole and a top-five in just his third ever Western All-Stars series.
‘For as long as I’ve raced and won races, this car has delivered in a way that I can only call stupid fast,’ states Drake, one of the winningest dirt late racers in west coast history. ‘What Wolf-Pack Racing has brought to the table for my racing team has been a huge help. It’s got me winning races again and it’s helping Logan (son) to come up to speed with a competitive car at the start of his racing career,’ said the winning Drake.
Drake won this season’s opener in Santa Maria, California on April 25th and has also added quality runs to position the champion racer into second spot on the 2009 West Coast Shootout standings. Drake’s most recent win came this past weekend and to say he is stoked about the performance of his racecars with Wolf-Pack Racing’s innovative adjustments is an understatement.
‘There’s just so much you can do from the cockpit, and having Randle (Chupp), Karl (Gollnast), and Harold (Holly) studying on what the cars are doing and then applying the Wolf-Pack Racing set up on the racecars week in and week, it’s like having a couple of extra good crew members at the track. It just helps so much,’ concludes Drake. ‘I’ve known Randle for a long time and know what it’s like to race against him. He’s good behind the wheel and equally good behind the scenes. They know their stuff at Wolf-Pack and I’m glad they are on our team.’
The Wolf-Pack Racing Approach
Chupp and his associates know how important it is in the motorsports industry to not only hang your hat on customers that are capable of winning races now, but to also focus on up and coming organizations and assist those drivers and race teams in becoming more proficient, both at the race track and equally important – in the shop.
‘When we founded the company, we knew that we were going to have to win the customers’ trust and deliver performance and value to their racing programs,’ says Randle Chupp, founder of the Wolf-Pack Racing organization. ‘All of us agreed from day one when we started this business, my partners Harold (Holly), Karl (Gollnast) and Danny (Meyers); we all agreed that we could not have clients racing against clients, except in rare instances,’ explained Chupp on the company’s mission. ‘We knew that meant dealing with a select list of clients and maintaining a very high standard of confidentiality. We work closely with those teams keeping their best interest at the forefront. That always includes a lot of proprietary information gained while working with their team needs and chassis variances. We’re just very proud of what our clients have been able to accomplish this season, it’s just incredible at the way they are winning races.’
Chupp, a former 2-time National 100 Champion, certainly understands that feeling of winning as a driver, but is also respected industry wide as a chassis and suspension specialist. Chupp kick started the 2009 season when he led the howl of the Wolf-Pack Racing efforts with his monster win at the Super Bowl of Racing during SpeedWeeks. The week began for the driver known as the ‘Show Stoppa’ by winning the pole award then coming home second in each of the season’s first two events. The third night out, Chupp came from the rear of the field to a rousing victory in the final night of the Super Bowl, outdueling the best that the business has to offer. It was just the beginning of what has turned out to be a special year in racing for Chupp and his allies.
‘Seeing all these customers winning races each week really keeps the fire lit for me to race as often as possible,’ said Chupp who grabbed another couple of his many top-fives in 2009 with a third-place finish on August 1st at Cherokee Speedway, just south of Charlotte. ‘We’ve really not had a lot of time to slow down with the projects at hand to be able to race as much as I’ve wanted to this year, but we’ll be back out there whenever we have the right opportunities. I’m racing my car a little more now, and plan to keep it racing when I’m not in a car for someone else from time to time,’ added Chupp. ‘Leroy and Kevin Rumley have me in their car sometimes and I have been able to drive cars for Troy Baird and Jack Starette. Working with those team owners is part of what is needed to take care of clients. They want the feel from someone else’s perspective from behind the wheel and I’ve appreciated driving for all of them.’
Scott Autry – Carolina Racer on Winning Course with Wolf-Pack Racing in 2009
Former Carolina Clash Series champion Scott Autry launched his 2009 successes by roaring straight into the winner’s circle on his home turf at Fayetteville Motor Speedway with a brand new racecar prepared by Wolf-Pack Racing and has since consistently beeen one of the men to beat in eastern Carolina short-track racing. Autry’s first win of the season came on a day when the car had been set-up and chassis tuned by Wolf-Pack Racing then driven directly to the race track three hours away where Autry won the pole award and feature race that same night. The native North Carolina racer is a strong advocate and believer that Wolf-Pack Racing’s chassis specialization has allowed him to continue to win races and gain ground on the competition. Autry, who claimed the Carolina Clash championship in 2002, is a multi-time champion winner in both dirt and asphalt late model stock cars.
Frank Wilson Continues Torrid Winning Streak in Wolf-Pack Racing Prepped Late Model - Scores Win 9 of 2009
Frank Wilson of Holt, Florida has experienced the strongest season of his career with 9 wins taken so far in 2009. Wilson and company have taken a lead role in the continuing success of Wolf-Pack Racing teams across the nation by their impressive performances at tracks in the deep south.
‘The information and technology that Randle Chupp, Karl and everyone at Wolf-Pack Racing has provided is absolutely invaluable,’ says Wilson of the team’s 2009 success. ‘We are in constant communication with everyone at Wolf-Pack Racing. The changes in suspension and set-up that they suggest has worked and the best part of being involved with Wolf-Pack Racing is that we tell them what the car is doing, and no matter what kind of race track conditions that we face and they make the set-up suggestions and we just go out there and win races. It’s a strong service that they have provided to us,’ added Wilson.
Wolf-Pack Racing’s Harold Holly, Karl Gollnast & Danny Meyers - Helping the Fast Go Faster
The Wolf-Pack Racing staff is made up of Randle Chupp, Harold Holly, Karl Gollnast and Danny Meyers. The wide range of experience that each of these partners bring to customers enables Wolf-Pack Racing to offer more detailed services when it comes to analyzing chassis and suspension performance. Chupp and long-time friend and racing associate Holly practically grew up together in the pits of Alabama race tracks as teens. The pair would go on to help lead Jeff Green to a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship and an impressive run of wins on that tour and a phenomenal run of over 70 top-five finishes over a span of two and a half years in the early part of the decade. Together, the Holly-Chupp combination racked up ten wins in a span of two and half years on the Nationwide tour, then known as the NASCAR Busch Series, with Green, Scott Riggs and Bobby Hamilton Jr. as drivers of the teams. With Holly as Crew Chief and Chupp serving as the Car Chief and Shop Foreman, while also racing and winning major dirt late model events on the weekend, the intricate details of front-end geometry and overall set-up and preparation of the racecars was second to none.
Now, with Gollnast aboard to attend to the engineering and data acquisition aspects of Wolf-Pack Racing clients, a well-rounded team approach to all customers provides an encompassing work up of all working components of the racecars, outside of the engine compartment. This full-scale focus on chassis and set-up strategy is amplified with the hands-on input and guidance of Danny Meyers with teams at the racetrack and in the shop. Meyers is a former Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing and Xtreme Series National Crew Chief of the Year. The knowledge and experience of ever-changing race track conditions from a wide range of tracks across the nation enables the Wolf-Pack Racing organization to continually feed valid and positive information to all clients. From an engineering aspect, Wolf-Pack Racing continues to provide critical information in all realms of chassis dynamics of the racecars for the many teams using the Wolf-Pack Racing approach. With each member of the organization have long-standing working relationships with many of the NASCAR teams based in the Charlotte area, wind tunnel technology has added a new dimension to the applications being used on the winning Wolf-Pack Racing Cars.
‘It’s one thing to take a car to the wind tunnel and put it through the drill and study the variables that racecars are put through in racing conditions,’ says Meyers. ‘But when you consider the hundreds and hundreds of times that Harold (Holly) and Randle (Chupp) have been to the wind tunnel with NASCAR teams and all of the experience and information that they have gathered over the years by doing so, then that’s where the difference is. They know what they are looking for and how to make immediate changes to the racecars to get maximum results immediately.’
Working with a diverse group of customers from coast-to-coast Wolf-Pack Racing has stayed on course with their winning edge for the company’s racing clients and delivering support with cutting edge suspension products along with constant communication and consultation for all customers. With each team member’s winning credentials, the knowledge offered to racers and the services offered to teams within the dirt late model world have added an invaluable service that is paying dividends with race wins and actually transcends into other forms of stock car racing.
With the relationship that the Wolf-Pack Racing organization maintains in the sport, Holly also serves the role as Crew Chief for the Coulter Motorsports team on the ARCA RE/MAX Series. As a champion crew chief of prior NASCAR teams, Holly’s experience is providing a great resource for young talent Joey Coulter in his rookie season of racing on the prestigious ARCA tour. Coulter is currently posted in the top-five of the driver’s championship while also in the thick of the battle for the ARCA Rookie of the Year award and has gained a lot of interest on the stock car scene for his successes on the track in 2009. With the day-to-day relationship that Holly maintains with his young driver, there’s been time for Coulter to be exposed to a lot of the activity in and around the Wolf-Pack Racing shops and at the track.
‘It is amazing what I have been able to learn by being around Harold (Holly) when at the dirt car shop at Wolf-Pack. There are so many aspects of the cars that I have observed that has helped me gain a better understanding of how my asphalt cars handle,’ says Coulter. ‘Harold has a keen eye and mind for all the details that make a car go faster, under any type of conditions. Randle and Danny and those guys at Wolf-Pack Racing have taught me a lot and have really given me a different perspective to look at when I am studying my own cars. They spend a lot of time with each of their customers in the shop, at the track and constantly on the phone,’ added Coulter. ‘There’s no wonder that the Wolf-Pack Racing cars are winning so many races around the country, they are on top of their game all the time and it’s not just limited to the racecar and set-up,’ the talented teenage racer points out. ‘The knowledge and advice that they provide to the drivers in helping the racer in the car gain a better understanding and feel for the car is something that every racer needs. It’s a lot like how Harold (Holly) is helping me get over that learning curve and that is crucial to improving performance.’
Evernham Ready to Return to Eldora - NASCAR Notables Receiving Support and Service from Wolf-Pack Racing
Ray Evernham is certainly one of the most respected and knowledgeable minds in the stock car industry and his workings with Wolf-Pack Racing has the former NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship crew chief and ESPN analyst up to speed in his own dirt late model programs. Evernham’s Rocket Chassis is prepared by Wolf-Pack Racing and will compete in September’s Prelude to The Dream. As Chupp continues to work closely with Evernham each week and in a recent test session in the first week of August, Evernham showed the impact of the advantages given to him through his involvement, consultation and racecar set-up of the Wolf-Pack Racing staff. The results were so impressive that Riverside, California NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Gilliland will also compete in a Wolf-Pack Racing prepared racecar when the September 9th event at Tony Stewart’s historic Eldora Speedway takes the green flag.
‘Ray is seeing first-hand the positive differences that our approach at Wolf-Pack Racing is having on his lap times,’ says Harold Holly. ‘Randle (Chupp) has provided a ton of assistance to Ray with the set-up and many of the often overlooked smaller things involved with gaining valuable time and ground on the competition. With Ray’s background and level of professionalism, he can certainly see the advantages of working with us at Wolf-Pack Racing and that in itself says a lot about what we are doing for race teams all over the country,’ concluded Holly, who is a former competitor of Evernham’s atop the pit boxes and within the garages of NASCAR’s top levels of racing.
Wolf-Pack Racing’s Larry Boutwell Stays at the Top of NeSmith Late Model Rankings Again in 2009
The Nesmith series national rankings show Wolf-Pack Racing team driver Larry Boutwell of Baker, Florida in the thick of the battle for the crown as he continues to hold down second-place at the mid-season mark of the 2009 campaign. Boutwell was one of the first drivers in the nation to become a Wolf-Pack Racing team member and since then has gone on to record victories across the deep south. As Boutwell’s late models continue to receive chassis support and data acquisition and transfer provided by Wolf-Pack Racing, the veteran remains in the title chase.
Chris Cantrell Wins at Cherokee Speedway with Wolf-Pack Racing Set-Up
Chester, South Carolina racer Chris Cantrell picked up a big win recently in the recent City Chevrolet Late Model Battle Royale at Cherokee Speedway on July 16th. Cantrell’s win in the special Thursday night event held at the historic track in Gaffney, SC in a car set-up and prepared through engineering innovations from Wolf-Pack Racing. Cantrell’s performance is just one of the many current stories illustrating how the positive impact that consultation and guidance with chassis set-up and suspension engineering provided by Wolf-Pack Racing is aiding upstart teams, as well as championship competitors. Campaigners across the nation are finding repeated success and part of the Wolf-Pack Racing mission is to assist clients in widespread geographic locations and/or divisions of racing in order to give Wolf-Pack Racing team members a more exclusive arrangement in terms of engineering and race set-up.
Justin Labonte Scores 1st Career Carolina Clash Pole in Wolf-Pack Racing Prepared Rocket Chassis
The start of the 2009 season for Justin Labonte began with a pole winning qualifying run at the Carolina Clash Racing Series season opener. As a member of Wolf-Pack Racing’s support services, the son of the former two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Terry Labonte uses Wolf-Pack Racing support and products to continue to grow his racing program’s progress in the dirt late model segment of the sport. Through his affiliation with the company the talented driver from North Carolina uses the consultation, guidance and products provided by Wolf-Pack Racing to elevate his competitive edge.
Gene Nasworthy, Ted Lackey, Todd Frank and Bob Straight Racing On the Move with the Wolf-Pack Racing Advantage
Macon, Georgia’s Gene Nasworthy and his veteran racing dad, Mike are finding the assistance and support provided by Wolf-Pack Racing a welcomed addition to the family’s racing program. After decades of racing out of his shop in Gray, Georgia, the elder Nasworthy is a staunch believer in the value of using products and services from Wolf-Pack Racing. The Nasworthy teams have been able to adjust their cars to the varying track conditions yielding faster laps and better overall performance throughout the racing events.
‘We’ve really gained a lot of ground by using Wolf-Pack Racing as the support mechanism for our racing programs,’ says Nasworthy. ‘Setting up a racecar for a track you think you know is one thing, but using the information that Karl and everyone at Wolf-Pack Racing give us is the key. We get great feedback from the racecars’ performance, then Wolf-Pack shows us how to apply that to a winning combination,’ explains Nasworthy. ‘It’s just made us a lot faster overall and with a lot more consistency.’
Veteran Ted Lackey of Munford, Alabama has seen immediate results from the Wolf-Pack Racing works on his late model with improved performance. Lackey used the Wolf-Pack Racing advantage to turn in a top-five run at Talladega, Alabama this past weekend. Just down the road Dana Eiland of Salem, Alabama drove the Andy’s Auto Parts GRT to his third win of the season at East Alabama Motor Speedway last month to move up to the third spot in the Nesmith Late Model Series East Region standings.
Green Bay, Wisconsin racer Todd Frank is relatively new to the sport of dirt late model racing but he is using his client relationship with Wolf-Pack Racing to help his program come out of the starting blocks at an accelerated pace. Although still seeking his first major feature win, the results in this first full season clearly show that having the support of Wolf-Pack Racing’s constant communication and hands-on approach is helping Frank progress in a manner that surpasses the team’s initial expectations.
Wolf-Pack Racing takes a very pro-active role with each of their customers by combining services provided at the company’s Troutman, North Carolina shop and with field support at the client’s events and their own shops. Prior to this season Bob Straight Racing had never won a dirt late model race in their few years of existence. That all changed in just a matter of months in the early portion of 2009 as Billy Straight has taken his dirt late model cars to victory on three occasions while his teammate, fellow asphalt late model standout Jeff McClure has also scored a win in a team car last month.
‘We have been able to learn so much in a short period of time and find winning success that we had missed in our first couple of seasons,’ commented Bob Straight on the team’s working relationship with Wolf-Pack Racing. ‘I would certainly recommend the services that Wolf-Pack provides to any team who is seriously looking to become more competitive. They take very good care of us. The products that they are using in improving our suspension work, and so does their strategy and set-ups on the cars.’
Winning Races in the Shop with Preparation the Key to On-track Success for Wolf-Pack Racing Team Members
With the many wins that Chupp, Holly, Gollnast and Meyers have been a part of over their decades of racing experiences, they all agree on one absolute belief, that being the fact that most of the victories come from proper preparation and planning in the race shop.
‘All of the teams on our program face diverse and changing track conditions week in and week out, ‘notes Chupp, ‘The challenges of varying race tracks, surfaces and other relative factors literally span from one far end of the spectrum to the other, and these guys are winning races using our applications. We’re on track for a very strong season for all of our Wolf-Pack customers and doing at places that are just so different,’ Chupp says. ‘It’s a never ending study and you’ve got to stay ahead of the pack to put yourself in position to win races.’
With the major wins that Chupp has racked up at some of the most challenging race tracks in the nation, he knows first-hand the importance of planning and preparation in the shop. It takes dedication and one of the most obvious examples took place early this year when former UMP National Champion Randy Korte brought his equipment to the Wolf-Pack Racing shops just north of Charlotte.
‘It was a time when we were all very busy and spread out with all of our customers and responsibilities,’ points out Holly on Korte’s week long stay at the Wolf-Pack Racing facility. ‘It takes a full-fledged commitment and a lot of dedication to be able to work toward winning races consistently and Randy put forth that effort in his willingness to work with us as we tried to better his set-ups and overall pre-race preparations for his cars. That meant working the night shift with me for most of the week, and by the numbers it has paid off for Korte in 2009,’ Holly notes. ‘It’s all about the investment to go through the process of doing things that are needed to win. Randy has that commitment and all of our customers receive that same type of dedication from us to help them as well.’
Dominating Runs at America’s Short Tracks
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 9, 2009) While America's short tracks are buzzing at their busiest time of the racing season the dirt late model sector of the sport is roaring with summer touring series competing night after night across the nation. Race fans continue to fill the grass roots racing arenas, and one thing that those studious observers buying pit passes and tickets have noted has been drivers in Wolf-Pack Racing prepared racecars churning out victories in dominating win streaks. In all regions of the country winning drivers competing as Wolf-Pack Racing team members continue to win races at an impressive pace, and so to speak, howling into winners’ circles in with amazing frequency. Kelly Boen’s raid of America’s Heartland and Badlands during the past few weeks winning four of the last five NCRA / MLRA events has been nothing short of phenomenal in terms of today’s competition. The terror that Randy ‘King Kong’ Korte has rained on his foes in the Midwest and UMP action is just another strong statement as to the prowess of Wolf-Pack Racing engineering in today’s dirt late model industry. In fact, when considering the amazing run of victories that Tim Busha has enjoyed in Alabama including this past weekend’s Southern All-Stars win, Wolf-Pack Racing has risen to the challenge of competition across the board, across the nation.
Not only have the drivers enjoying short track racing headlines benefitted from the enhanced technology and encompassing chassis applications, but upstart teams nationwide are experiencing immediate success and winning results through their affiliation with Wolf-Pack Racing. The following is a mid-season update on Wolf-Pack Racing driver and team performance in 2009. If you would like to learn more about Wolf-Pack Racing, visit the organization’s official home on the internet at www.wolf-packracing.com. Wolf-Pack Racing continues to deliver winning results and positive for race teams and racers across the nation. Wolf-Pack Racing is located just north of Charlotte, North Carolina and is a certified dealer of Rocket Chassis. At Wolf-Pack Racing the focus on racecar construction, fabrication and set-ups are geared toward the best and most advanced products available on the market. The experience and winning success that Wolf-Pack Racing’s list of clients have enjoyed due to the company’s strong affiliation with Mark Richards and Rocket Chassis has provided enormous improvements for customers. In addition to working on Rocket Chassis, the staff of Wolf-Pack Racing also work with teams running other types of chassis, including MasterSbilt, Barry Wright Racecars, GRT, Rayburn and Track Star equipment for individual clients with consistent winning results.
Also of significant note is Wolf-Pack Racing’s strong working partnership with RE Suspensions in Mooresville, North Carolina and the company’s shock guru Butch Enders. By working with Enders and his staff, the racers of Wolf-Pack Racing receive the benefits of having a broader arsenal of shocks and springs suited best for their individual car’s performance and not being tied down to a specific brand that may or may not work best in certain race track conditions. Whether a team is seeking a new Rocket Chassis from Wolf-Pack Racing or the support and commitment from Wolf-Pack Racing to enhance their overall performance and results, the Wolf-Pack staff is prepared to assist. Racers and race teams caring to book a consulting session or racecar set-up assistance can contact the Randle Chupp or Karl Gollnast by calling the Wolf-Pack Racing office at (704) 500-2499.
Randy Korte Notches 3 Big Wins as Wolf-Pack Racing Member Taking Honors on UMP Summer National Hell Tour
(July 31st) Korte Runs 2009 Win Total to 19 with Friday Night Checkers at Tri-City Speedway (July 31st) Randy Korte stormed from the eleventh starting position to win once again in his torrid summer winning streak. Korte has now rolled up 13 super late model wins against strong foes in UMP touring events and mowing down the competition in St. Louis area racing, at Pevely, Missouri and Granite City, Illinois ……
King Kong Korte has certainly lived up to his nickname in 2009 as he has torn through the Midwestern competition winning in three separate divisions of United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) action. Korte, known properly as Randy, has shown no proper hospitality to visitors on his home turf of Illinois and Missouri dirt tracks this season. The lightning pace the former 2-time UMP National Champion (’98 & ’06) is on could have the driver from just east of St. Louis heading to a third career UMP national crown. To close out the month of July Korte, in his Wolf-Pack Racing adapted racers, continued his stranglehold at Ken Schrader and Ray Malar’s I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri as for the second time this season Korte won both the UMP Late Model and UMP Modified main events on the same night at the track. This time however, Korte completely swept both divisions by winning his heat race, dash and main event in both classes and leading every single lap of both main events.
As a Wolf-Pack Racing team member Korte of Highland, Illinois concluded the exciting and grueling UMP Summer National Hell Tour by picking up the $10,000.00 bonus for finishing second in the 2009 championship. The month of UMP Summer National action saw Korte rack up three major feature wins during the prestigious annual series for some of the nation’s toughest dirt late model competitors. Korte scored wins on the UMP tour from June 28th through July 8th, taking the trio of checkered flags in his home state at Lincoln, Danville and LaSalle, Illinois. Korte’s strong 2009 season has benefited by his Wolf-Pack Racing prepared late model Rocket Chassis with the special set-up and chassis adaptations provided by the groups engineering and data acquisition efforts. Korte has also taken three features wins in his Open Wheel Modified runs this season.
Kelly Boen NCRA Win #8 of 2009 Sets New NCRA Record with 4 Straight Wins
Kelly Boen is playing the role of a modern day high plains drifter, and winning races in record-breaking style. Saturday night Boen completed his third straight week of taking two sanctioned NCRA wins in one weekend as he swept the slate clean at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska. Boen, aboard the Road Runner Fabrication backed car took two more major feature wins at month’s end as he notched NCRA wins in Jefferson, South Dakota on Friday night then raided Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway to cap the weekend with another win on Sunday night (July 26th). The record breaking winning explosion for Boen began when he lit the fuse with a victory at the famed Belleville High Banks in Kansas on July 5th then continued to bombard his competitors as the all-time win leader on the NCRA tour rolled into Mid-Nebraska Speedway last weekend to take two more NCRA feature wins (July 17th & 18th) on the tour. Following last weekend’s action all eyes turned to the O’Reilly NCRA triple-header schedule to see if the Henderson, Colorado raider could run his winning streak to a new NCRA record.
Boen didn’t disappoint his followers as he opened the weekend with a Friday night win at Park Jefferson Speedway in the South Dakota badlands rumbling to the record setting 4th straight NCRA sanctioned win for the Wolf-Pack Racing team member. Boen’s win streak was just barely snapped on Saturday as he almost made it five in a row coming home second to Joe Kosiski at Adams Speedway in Coring, Iowa. But on Sunday night, Boen was back to his winning ways as he drove his Road Runner Fabrication Rocket to his 6th win of the season by taking the checkered flag in Greenwood, Nebraska.
‘I’m winning races through gained experiences and it’s paying off,’ says Kelly Boen on his successes in 2009. ‘Randle and I have raced together and studied the racecars as they react to different surfaces and set-ups. Taking the input and turning it into something that works on the track is what makes the difference,’ stressed Boen on the data acquisition and technology gained from Wolf-Pack Racing applications. ‘When I can take my personal racing experiences behind the wheel and give myself added gains from the Wolf-Pack Racing approach the differences are phenomenal. Winning the races that we have won in the last few weeks and having such a well handling car has just been awesome,’ Boen pointed out. ‘It’s almost like dealing with engineers and construction wizards that we work with on major projects and construction sites; they’ve studied the projects and know what will work and what won’t. That’s same kind of intense strategy and preparation is what is making Wolf-Pack Racing work for me, and for other teams all over the place. Wolf-Pack Racing has their act together and have a lot of teams winning races. I’m just glad we are one of them,’ proclaimed Boen.
Boen’s achievements continued to display the technology and chassis set-up prowess of Wolf-Pack Racing as the five-time and reigning NCRA Champion ran his NCRA career win total to 33 victories. Boen has been in contention across the nation throughout 2009 since launching to the forefront on the national scene of dirt late model action in winning form during SpeedWeeks action to start the season.
Tim Busha Wins Again – Alabama Late Model Ace Roaring to Checkered Flags with Astonishing Frequency in 2009 …Busha Takes Kilpatrick Chevrolet / Wolf-Pack Racing Ride to Southern All Stars Win at Talladega Short Track (Southern All-Stars Eastaboga, Alabama – July 26, 2009) Moving up from his ninth starting spot, Tim Busha of Boaz, Alabama took the lead on lap thirty-three and motored away to take his first career Southern All Stars (SAS) victory.
Tim Busha has been the man to beat in 2009 at Talladega, Alabama but the end of July was an even bigger time to celebrate as the Wolf-Pack Racing team member roared his GRT / Kilpatrick Chevrolet racer through the field of Southern All-Stars (SAS) drivers to take the checkered flag at the track known as the ‘Hornets Nest’ and his first career win on the SAS sanctioned tour. Earlier this season Busha reeled off an unprecedented three straight wins at the Talladega Short Track (TST) establishing a new record at the historic race track. Winning 8 of the last 12 events at TST (including his August 8th win) and dominating the Kilpatrick Chevrolet super late model events in 2009, Busha has continued his team’s red hot winning performances with Wolf-Pack Racing setup and chassis technology. Busha shot to the front of the pack taking the lead with just over twenty laps remaining in the special O’Reilly SAS event to reach yet another plateau of success in his racing efforts.
‘This is definitely our biggest career win and the most special for me personally. I appreciate the opportunity the Kilpatrick’s have given me to drive their car. They deserve this win because they made it possible.” Busha said after emerging from his winning mount in the TST victory lane amid a rousing cheer from the Talladega faithful. “Man I just can’t tell you how much this win means to me. These races are so hard to win and for us to win at the Michael Head, Jr. Memorial is just a dream come true.’
Busha’s explosive runs at TST in 2009 also saw him go wire-to-wire to victory on June 6th for his fourth victory of the season, then raising the bar with this past weekend’s SAS triumph. Busha’s latest conquest runs his overall win total to eight for the season came on the heels of another yielded this comment from a fan’s perspective following Saturday night’s event at Talladega Short Track:
……………‘Tim Busha wins From 9th position. 40 cars, big crowd and racing all over the track. Only one caution. Racing does not get any better.’
Busha’s trust in the Wolf-Pack Racing approach to his chassis set-up and race game plan has been one of the most impressive directions that his racing program has taken during his career. About the only thing that has slowed Busha down this season has been a handful of rained-out events at Talladega Short Track, but when he’s taken the green flag, he’s also more often than not been around at the end to claim the checkered flag and attributes his racecar’s success to the Wolf-Pack Racing approach.
‘What I like most about my arrangement with Wolf-Pack Racing is that it is all on me now,’ states Busha. ‘As long as I follow the game plan that Harold and Randle lay out for our set-up, I just have to drive that car to the front. They have given me a solid steady stream of information and input on what to do with the car and its working,’ Busha attested. ‘I feel confident that I’ve got a winning car when it’s time to pull onto the race track, and that makes a big difference.’
Tim Dohm Wins for Seymour Team in Wolf-Pack Racing at Portsmouth
(August 1st – Portsmouth, Ohio) The month of August opened with a win for the Wolf-Pack Racing prepared racecar that carried Cross Lanes, West Virginia’s Tim Dohm to victory at Portsmouth Raceway Park. Dohm drove the Tracy Seymour owned T & R Logging late model to a $10,000 payday as he battled furiously to lay claim to his first career Mid-Atlantic Championship Series (MACS) win. Dohm’s win over an all-star field of competitors came as he narrowly escaped a last-lap tangle to take the checkered flag in a final lap crash exiting turn four. Dohm took the wheel of the Seymour ride earlier this season, and has since gained increased success with the car as crew chief Wally Adams stays in constant communication with Wolf-Pack Racing for chassis consultation in the team cars with winning results.
California’s Steve Drake Wins Again at Santa Maria Takes West Coast Checkers Again with Wolf-Pack Racing Set-Up
On the West Coast, Steve Drake of San Luis Obispo, California picked up his 3rd win of 2009 as he mashed the gas on his Wolf-Pack Racing prepped to another checkered flag at Santa Maria Speedway. While Drake was up to his familiar winning ways in his stellar career on the west coast, his 16 year-old son Logan is on the move with the set-up and pre-race technology applied by his car by Wolf-Pack Racing. The teen Drake scored a pole and a top-five in just his third ever Western All-Stars series.
‘For as long as I’ve raced and won races, this car has delivered in a way that I can only call stupid fast,’ states Drake, one of the winningest dirt late racers in west coast history. ‘What Wolf-Pack Racing has brought to the table for my racing team has been a huge help. It’s got me winning races again and it’s helping Logan (son) to come up to speed with a competitive car at the start of his racing career,’ said the winning Drake.
Drake won this season’s opener in Santa Maria, California on April 25th and has also added quality runs to position the champion racer into second spot on the 2009 West Coast Shootout standings. Drake’s most recent win came this past weekend and to say he is stoked about the performance of his racecars with Wolf-Pack Racing’s innovative adjustments is an understatement.
‘There’s just so much you can do from the cockpit, and having Randle (Chupp), Karl (Gollnast), and Harold (Holly) studying on what the cars are doing and then applying the Wolf-Pack Racing set up on the racecars week in and week, it’s like having a couple of extra good crew members at the track. It just helps so much,’ concludes Drake. ‘I’ve known Randle for a long time and know what it’s like to race against him. He’s good behind the wheel and equally good behind the scenes. They know their stuff at Wolf-Pack and I’m glad they are on our team.’
The Wolf-Pack Racing Approach
Chupp and his associates know how important it is in the motorsports industry to not only hang your hat on customers that are capable of winning races now, but to also focus on up and coming organizations and assist those drivers and race teams in becoming more proficient, both at the race track and equally important – in the shop.
‘When we founded the company, we knew that we were going to have to win the customers’ trust and deliver performance and value to their racing programs,’ says Randle Chupp, founder of the Wolf-Pack Racing organization. ‘All of us agreed from day one when we started this business, my partners Harold (Holly), Karl (Gollnast) and Danny (Meyers); we all agreed that we could not have clients racing against clients, except in rare instances,’ explained Chupp on the company’s mission. ‘We knew that meant dealing with a select list of clients and maintaining a very high standard of confidentiality. We work closely with those teams keeping their best interest at the forefront. That always includes a lot of proprietary information gained while working with their team needs and chassis variances. We’re just very proud of what our clients have been able to accomplish this season, it’s just incredible at the way they are winning races.’
Chupp, a former 2-time National 100 Champion, certainly understands that feeling of winning as a driver, but is also respected industry wide as a chassis and suspension specialist. Chupp kick started the 2009 season when he led the howl of the Wolf-Pack Racing efforts with his monster win at the Super Bowl of Racing during SpeedWeeks. The week began for the driver known as the ‘Show Stoppa’ by winning the pole award then coming home second in each of the season’s first two events. The third night out, Chupp came from the rear of the field to a rousing victory in the final night of the Super Bowl, outdueling the best that the business has to offer. It was just the beginning of what has turned out to be a special year in racing for Chupp and his allies.
‘Seeing all these customers winning races each week really keeps the fire lit for me to race as often as possible,’ said Chupp who grabbed another couple of his many top-fives in 2009 with a third-place finish on August 1st at Cherokee Speedway, just south of Charlotte. ‘We’ve really not had a lot of time to slow down with the projects at hand to be able to race as much as I’ve wanted to this year, but we’ll be back out there whenever we have the right opportunities. I’m racing my car a little more now, and plan to keep it racing when I’m not in a car for someone else from time to time,’ added Chupp. ‘Leroy and Kevin Rumley have me in their car sometimes and I have been able to drive cars for Troy Baird and Jack Starette. Working with those team owners is part of what is needed to take care of clients. They want the feel from someone else’s perspective from behind the wheel and I’ve appreciated driving for all of them.’
Scott Autry – Carolina Racer on Winning Course with Wolf-Pack Racing in 2009
Former Carolina Clash Series champion Scott Autry launched his 2009 successes by roaring straight into the winner’s circle on his home turf at Fayetteville Motor Speedway with a brand new racecar prepared by Wolf-Pack Racing and has since consistently beeen one of the men to beat in eastern Carolina short-track racing. Autry’s first win of the season came on a day when the car had been set-up and chassis tuned by Wolf-Pack Racing then driven directly to the race track three hours away where Autry won the pole award and feature race that same night. The native North Carolina racer is a strong advocate and believer that Wolf-Pack Racing’s chassis specialization has allowed him to continue to win races and gain ground on the competition. Autry, who claimed the Carolina Clash championship in 2002, is a multi-time champion winner in both dirt and asphalt late model stock cars.
Frank Wilson Continues Torrid Winning Streak in Wolf-Pack Racing Prepped Late Model - Scores Win 9 of 2009
Frank Wilson of Holt, Florida has experienced the strongest season of his career with 9 wins taken so far in 2009. Wilson and company have taken a lead role in the continuing success of Wolf-Pack Racing teams across the nation by their impressive performances at tracks in the deep south.
‘The information and technology that Randle Chupp, Karl and everyone at Wolf-Pack Racing has provided is absolutely invaluable,’ says Wilson of the team’s 2009 success. ‘We are in constant communication with everyone at Wolf-Pack Racing. The changes in suspension and set-up that they suggest has worked and the best part of being involved with Wolf-Pack Racing is that we tell them what the car is doing, and no matter what kind of race track conditions that we face and they make the set-up suggestions and we just go out there and win races. It’s a strong service that they have provided to us,’ added Wilson.
Wolf-Pack Racing’s Harold Holly, Karl Gollnast & Danny Meyers - Helping the Fast Go Faster
The Wolf-Pack Racing staff is made up of Randle Chupp, Harold Holly, Karl Gollnast and Danny Meyers. The wide range of experience that each of these partners bring to customers enables Wolf-Pack Racing to offer more detailed services when it comes to analyzing chassis and suspension performance. Chupp and long-time friend and racing associate Holly practically grew up together in the pits of Alabama race tracks as teens. The pair would go on to help lead Jeff Green to a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship and an impressive run of wins on that tour and a phenomenal run of over 70 top-five finishes over a span of two and a half years in the early part of the decade. Together, the Holly-Chupp combination racked up ten wins in a span of two and half years on the Nationwide tour, then known as the NASCAR Busch Series, with Green, Scott Riggs and Bobby Hamilton Jr. as drivers of the teams. With Holly as Crew Chief and Chupp serving as the Car Chief and Shop Foreman, while also racing and winning major dirt late model events on the weekend, the intricate details of front-end geometry and overall set-up and preparation of the racecars was second to none.
Now, with Gollnast aboard to attend to the engineering and data acquisition aspects of Wolf-Pack Racing clients, a well-rounded team approach to all customers provides an encompassing work up of all working components of the racecars, outside of the engine compartment. This full-scale focus on chassis and set-up strategy is amplified with the hands-on input and guidance of Danny Meyers with teams at the racetrack and in the shop. Meyers is a former Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing and Xtreme Series National Crew Chief of the Year. The knowledge and experience of ever-changing race track conditions from a wide range of tracks across the nation enables the Wolf-Pack Racing organization to continually feed valid and positive information to all clients. From an engineering aspect, Wolf-Pack Racing continues to provide critical information in all realms of chassis dynamics of the racecars for the many teams using the Wolf-Pack Racing approach. With each member of the organization have long-standing working relationships with many of the NASCAR teams based in the Charlotte area, wind tunnel technology has added a new dimension to the applications being used on the winning Wolf-Pack Racing Cars.
‘It’s one thing to take a car to the wind tunnel and put it through the drill and study the variables that racecars are put through in racing conditions,’ says Meyers. ‘But when you consider the hundreds and hundreds of times that Harold (Holly) and Randle (Chupp) have been to the wind tunnel with NASCAR teams and all of the experience and information that they have gathered over the years by doing so, then that’s where the difference is. They know what they are looking for and how to make immediate changes to the racecars to get maximum results immediately.’
Working with a diverse group of customers from coast-to-coast Wolf-Pack Racing has stayed on course with their winning edge for the company’s racing clients and delivering support with cutting edge suspension products along with constant communication and consultation for all customers. With each team member’s winning credentials, the knowledge offered to racers and the services offered to teams within the dirt late model world have added an invaluable service that is paying dividends with race wins and actually transcends into other forms of stock car racing.
With the relationship that the Wolf-Pack Racing organization maintains in the sport, Holly also serves the role as Crew Chief for the Coulter Motorsports team on the ARCA RE/MAX Series. As a champion crew chief of prior NASCAR teams, Holly’s experience is providing a great resource for young talent Joey Coulter in his rookie season of racing on the prestigious ARCA tour. Coulter is currently posted in the top-five of the driver’s championship while also in the thick of the battle for the ARCA Rookie of the Year award and has gained a lot of interest on the stock car scene for his successes on the track in 2009. With the day-to-day relationship that Holly maintains with his young driver, there’s been time for Coulter to be exposed to a lot of the activity in and around the Wolf-Pack Racing shops and at the track.
‘It is amazing what I have been able to learn by being around Harold (Holly) when at the dirt car shop at Wolf-Pack. There are so many aspects of the cars that I have observed that has helped me gain a better understanding of how my asphalt cars handle,’ says Coulter. ‘Harold has a keen eye and mind for all the details that make a car go faster, under any type of conditions. Randle and Danny and those guys at Wolf-Pack Racing have taught me a lot and have really given me a different perspective to look at when I am studying my own cars. They spend a lot of time with each of their customers in the shop, at the track and constantly on the phone,’ added Coulter. ‘There’s no wonder that the Wolf-Pack Racing cars are winning so many races around the country, they are on top of their game all the time and it’s not just limited to the racecar and set-up,’ the talented teenage racer points out. ‘The knowledge and advice that they provide to the drivers in helping the racer in the car gain a better understanding and feel for the car is something that every racer needs. It’s a lot like how Harold (Holly) is helping me get over that learning curve and that is crucial to improving performance.’
Evernham Ready to Return to Eldora - NASCAR Notables Receiving Support and Service from Wolf-Pack Racing
Ray Evernham is certainly one of the most respected and knowledgeable minds in the stock car industry and his workings with Wolf-Pack Racing has the former NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship crew chief and ESPN analyst up to speed in his own dirt late model programs. Evernham’s Rocket Chassis is prepared by Wolf-Pack Racing and will compete in September’s Prelude to The Dream. As Chupp continues to work closely with Evernham each week and in a recent test session in the first week of August, Evernham showed the impact of the advantages given to him through his involvement, consultation and racecar set-up of the Wolf-Pack Racing staff. The results were so impressive that Riverside, California NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Gilliland will also compete in a Wolf-Pack Racing prepared racecar when the September 9th event at Tony Stewart’s historic Eldora Speedway takes the green flag.
‘Ray is seeing first-hand the positive differences that our approach at Wolf-Pack Racing is having on his lap times,’ says Harold Holly. ‘Randle (Chupp) has provided a ton of assistance to Ray with the set-up and many of the often overlooked smaller things involved with gaining valuable time and ground on the competition. With Ray’s background and level of professionalism, he can certainly see the advantages of working with us at Wolf-Pack Racing and that in itself says a lot about what we are doing for race teams all over the country,’ concluded Holly, who is a former competitor of Evernham’s atop the pit boxes and within the garages of NASCAR’s top levels of racing.
Wolf-Pack Racing’s Larry Boutwell Stays at the Top of NeSmith Late Model Rankings Again in 2009
The Nesmith series national rankings show Wolf-Pack Racing team driver Larry Boutwell of Baker, Florida in the thick of the battle for the crown as he continues to hold down second-place at the mid-season mark of the 2009 campaign. Boutwell was one of the first drivers in the nation to become a Wolf-Pack Racing team member and since then has gone on to record victories across the deep south. As Boutwell’s late models continue to receive chassis support and data acquisition and transfer provided by Wolf-Pack Racing, the veteran remains in the title chase.
Chris Cantrell Wins at Cherokee Speedway with Wolf-Pack Racing Set-Up
Chester, South Carolina racer Chris Cantrell picked up a big win recently in the recent City Chevrolet Late Model Battle Royale at Cherokee Speedway on July 16th. Cantrell’s win in the special Thursday night event held at the historic track in Gaffney, SC in a car set-up and prepared through engineering innovations from Wolf-Pack Racing. Cantrell’s performance is just one of the many current stories illustrating how the positive impact that consultation and guidance with chassis set-up and suspension engineering provided by Wolf-Pack Racing is aiding upstart teams, as well as championship competitors. Campaigners across the nation are finding repeated success and part of the Wolf-Pack Racing mission is to assist clients in widespread geographic locations and/or divisions of racing in order to give Wolf-Pack Racing team members a more exclusive arrangement in terms of engineering and race set-up.
Justin Labonte Scores 1st Career Carolina Clash Pole in Wolf-Pack Racing Prepared Rocket Chassis
The start of the 2009 season for Justin Labonte began with a pole winning qualifying run at the Carolina Clash Racing Series season opener. As a member of Wolf-Pack Racing’s support services, the son of the former two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Terry Labonte uses Wolf-Pack Racing support and products to continue to grow his racing program’s progress in the dirt late model segment of the sport. Through his affiliation with the company the talented driver from North Carolina uses the consultation, guidance and products provided by Wolf-Pack Racing to elevate his competitive edge.
Gene Nasworthy, Ted Lackey, Todd Frank and Bob Straight Racing On the Move with the Wolf-Pack Racing Advantage
Macon, Georgia’s Gene Nasworthy and his veteran racing dad, Mike are finding the assistance and support provided by Wolf-Pack Racing a welcomed addition to the family’s racing program. After decades of racing out of his shop in Gray, Georgia, the elder Nasworthy is a staunch believer in the value of using products and services from Wolf-Pack Racing. The Nasworthy teams have been able to adjust their cars to the varying track conditions yielding faster laps and better overall performance throughout the racing events.
‘We’ve really gained a lot of ground by using Wolf-Pack Racing as the support mechanism for our racing programs,’ says Nasworthy. ‘Setting up a racecar for a track you think you know is one thing, but using the information that Karl and everyone at Wolf-Pack Racing give us is the key. We get great feedback from the racecars’ performance, then Wolf-Pack shows us how to apply that to a winning combination,’ explains Nasworthy. ‘It’s just made us a lot faster overall and with a lot more consistency.’
Veteran Ted Lackey of Munford, Alabama has seen immediate results from the Wolf-Pack Racing works on his late model with improved performance. Lackey used the Wolf-Pack Racing advantage to turn in a top-five run at Talladega, Alabama this past weekend. Just down the road Dana Eiland of Salem, Alabama drove the Andy’s Auto Parts GRT to his third win of the season at East Alabama Motor Speedway last month to move up to the third spot in the Nesmith Late Model Series East Region standings.
Green Bay, Wisconsin racer Todd Frank is relatively new to the sport of dirt late model racing but he is using his client relationship with Wolf-Pack Racing to help his program come out of the starting blocks at an accelerated pace. Although still seeking his first major feature win, the results in this first full season clearly show that having the support of Wolf-Pack Racing’s constant communication and hands-on approach is helping Frank progress in a manner that surpasses the team’s initial expectations.
Wolf-Pack Racing takes a very pro-active role with each of their customers by combining services provided at the company’s Troutman, North Carolina shop and with field support at the client’s events and their own shops. Prior to this season Bob Straight Racing had never won a dirt late model race in their few years of existence. That all changed in just a matter of months in the early portion of 2009 as Billy Straight has taken his dirt late model cars to victory on three occasions while his teammate, fellow asphalt late model standout Jeff McClure has also scored a win in a team car last month.
‘We have been able to learn so much in a short period of time and find winning success that we had missed in our first couple of seasons,’ commented Bob Straight on the team’s working relationship with Wolf-Pack Racing. ‘I would certainly recommend the services that Wolf-Pack provides to any team who is seriously looking to become more competitive. They take very good care of us. The products that they are using in improving our suspension work, and so does their strategy and set-ups on the cars.’
Winning Races in the Shop with Preparation the Key to On-track Success for Wolf-Pack Racing Team Members
With the many wins that Chupp, Holly, Gollnast and Meyers have been a part of over their decades of racing experiences, they all agree on one absolute belief, that being the fact that most of the victories come from proper preparation and planning in the race shop.
‘All of the teams on our program face diverse and changing track conditions week in and week out, ‘notes Chupp, ‘The challenges of varying race tracks, surfaces and other relative factors literally span from one far end of the spectrum to the other, and these guys are winning races using our applications. We’re on track for a very strong season for all of our Wolf-Pack customers and doing at places that are just so different,’ Chupp says. ‘It’s a never ending study and you’ve got to stay ahead of the pack to put yourself in position to win races.’
With the major wins that Chupp has racked up at some of the most challenging race tracks in the nation, he knows first-hand the importance of planning and preparation in the shop. It takes dedication and one of the most obvious examples took place early this year when former UMP National Champion Randy Korte brought his equipment to the Wolf-Pack Racing shops just north of Charlotte.
‘It was a time when we were all very busy and spread out with all of our customers and responsibilities,’ points out Holly on Korte’s week long stay at the Wolf-Pack Racing facility. ‘It takes a full-fledged commitment and a lot of dedication to be able to work toward winning races consistently and Randy put forth that effort in his willingness to work with us as we tried to better his set-ups and overall pre-race preparations for his cars. That meant working the night shift with me for most of the week, and by the numbers it has paid off for Korte in 2009,’ Holly notes. ‘It’s all about the investment to go through the process of doing things that are needed to win. Randy has that commitment and all of our customers receive that same type of dedication from us to help them as well.’
