The third KB Racing Pro Stocker, driven by IHRA Pro Stock regular Rob Mansfield and operated by the staff at Wilson Manifolds, will compete at this weekend's NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC. This agreement was reached last Friday.

The team is more determined than ever after missing the cut in Indy by a mere .003.

Mansfield knew there would be a learning curve when the Wilson Manifolds team agreed to campaign the third car for the Summit-sponsored KB Racing team in arguably the most competitive division within drag racing. What surprised him is that the team was able to run alongside the seasoned veterans of 500-inch racing.

 

The third KB Racing Pro Stocker, driven by IHRA Pro Stock regular Rob Mansfield and operated by the staff at Wilson Manifolds, will compete at this weekend's NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC. This agreement was reached last Friday.

The team is more determined than ever after missing the cut in Indy by a mere .003.

Mansfield knew there would be a learning curve when the Wilson Manifolds team agreed to campaign the third car for the Summit-sponsored KB Racing team in arguably the most competitive division within drag racing. What surprised him is that the team was able to run alongside the seasoned veterans of 500-inch racing.

“It's definitely an adjustment,” said Mansfield, who ascended as high as the No. 1 spot before falling from the field on the final day of qualifications.

“I mean the RPM is definitely quite different than the mountain motor Pro Stock. But we had a couple of good laps the other day. We got rained out; we tried to test for two days in Mooresville. The tropical storm kind of moved up that way and canceled that out, so we went west and tested for one day over in St. Louis and then headed up to Indy.”

Mansfield graded his performance in the preliminary event as being fairly well.

“The burnout and the RPM are the two biggest obstacles that we are not adjusted to and we're dealing with the 500 inch versus the 800 inch,” Mansfield admitted.

One might think Mansfield would become impatient during the course of the quarter-mile run with a smaller displacement engine considering the engine he runs in IHRA competition is 300-cubic inches larger and ten miles per hour faster. The IHRA cars encompass the quarter-mile as quickly as 6.2-seconds.

“I tell you, these things they wind up so high and it sounds just so violent and it feels that you're going just as fast,” said Mansfield. “Definitely when you plug it high it isn't the same as a mountain motor. When you plug a mountain motor in high they do pretty much set you back in your seat a lot better than these do. This particular deal here, at the RPM they turn and everything, it just sounds absolutely brutal. So it’s a pretty exciting ride.”

Mansfield told CompetitionPlus.com this weekend’s event could likely make a decision for future events.

“We'll see how things work out and how things will advance from here,” Mansfield said. “After this race, we'll sit down and evaluate it and look at our options.”

Mansfield couldn’t describe the arrangement between Wilson and KIB as a lease engine program.

“I can't really disclose that information, but it was an opportunity for us to do some testing on a car that they haven't run in a national event yet and it allows them to bring this car to national event status faster,” Mansfield said. “And, it allows us to showcase a lot of the things that we do in the Wilson Manifolds Performance deal. We've been involved with Greg and Jason and the whole KB Team for a number of years now and it's just a really good opportunity that’s come along. We've talked about it for quite some time and it all came together pretty fast here, in about a week or so.”

The question still rests in the back of the minds of many. What happens if they meet in Sunday’s elimination? The message boards have been abuzz since the announcement of the venture suggesting team orders.

“You can't control what people are going to think,” Mansfield pointed out. “I'm sure Jason and Greg, they're gonna race their race, and we’re going to race our race. There are no team orders that are in order or anything. If that's what it comes down to, you know, the best man wins.”

THE KB NASCAR CONNECTION - Relations between NHRA and NASCAR have rarely been closer than those of this coming weekend. NASCAR fans still regard 39 year old Jason Line, the 2006 NHRA Pro Stock champion, as one of their own.  Before joining with Greg Anderson in 2003, Line had served NASCAR for five years in Charlotte, bringing Winston Cup Championship victories to Bobby Labonte (2000) and Tony Stewart (2002) while engaged with the Joe Gibbs Racing Team.

Keith Wilson’s induction reputation was formed in NASCAR racing. His influence on the NASCAR scene, notably his pioneering advances in both restrictor-plate and open manifold designs has been at the forefront since 1985.  Wilson’s friendship with Line was formed when the two were engaged in developing NASCAR intake systems for Joe Gibbs Racing in the late nineties.

The Wilson team will continue to work closely with KB Racing, exploring opportunities for a full NHRA Pro Stock program in 2009.