We are out here all week and will be bringing you live coverage of the event both on our social media outlets and on our website. Today we will begin by browsing the vehicles outside and we will take a trip through the mobile electronics and accessories hall. Be sure to come back each day for more coverage from the 2016 SEMA show.
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The coveted Hotchkis Cup in the chase for its fourth year and it was anybody’s guess just who would be taking home the golden chalice. The weather man called for rain but the racing gods won out and crew and driver’s all enjoyed an incredible Southern California weekend.
The NMCA West Hotchkis Cup Autocross hosts four 2-day events throughout the season in which a driver can participate and earn points. To be considered for the points championship, the driver must participate in the 2-day event. If a driver simply wants to come out to drive for the day, that is encouraged. However, that driver will not be eligible for points toward the cup championship for his or her day of participation. Driver’s lap times are averaged for each day then the drivers are awarded points based upon their ranking among the other participants. So you needn’t have the fastest lap time in the field to earn the most points. You need to be the most consistent.
Spectre Performance Driver, Brandy Phillips, in her C10R was the winner in the Truck Class for the weekend and Truck Class Champion! Brandy’s battle was hard fought and took until the last lap of the weekend to secure her as the victor in her class and championship. Other notable points champions include Ryan Thacker for the Sports Car Class and Marc Lewis for the Compact Class. NMCA West Hotchkis Cup Autocross has rapidly grown since its inception. But then again so has the pro-touring movement. With expansive courses that allow each participant the ability to push their cars to the limit, it’s no wonder autocross has become so popular. The Racing Byrds have perfected the recipe for a great weekend pastime that has pulled folks away from yard work and their television. Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to seeing them out at the NMCA West events in 2017, defending their titles!
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To say Art Boze is just another car enthusiast would be an understatement. This automotive devotee and seasoned car guy out of Swansea, Illinois, has finally built the car of his dreams. As a youngster Art recalls his neighbor had a '55 Chevy Nomad that he routinely ran around town in. Art fell in love with that car and it was right then and there he made a vow to someday own one of those wagons.
No stranger to custom builds, he was aware of what it would take to create a very forward-thinking, innovative design. Having worked with Classic Car Studio in the past on other projects, Art placed the call. Classic Car Studio president, Noah Alexander, and the crew were stoked to get on board. Before long they got started on Art’s vision.
For a body as big as the ’55 Chevy Nomad you need a chassis that won’t buckle under pressure. Boze and the team at Classic Car Studio selected the sturdy Roadster Shop Revo chassis that comes with 10-gauge fully boxed 4x4-inch framerails. They installed a Flaming River power rack-and-pinion up front with a triangulated four-link rear suspension and Afco coilovers in the rear to provide a comfortable ride. Wilwood Pro spindles, master cylinder, and 13-inch brakes (six-piston front, four-piston rear) give this heavyweight all the stopping power she’ll need.
Classic Car Studio and Art Boze are thrilled to be a part of the Spectre Performance booth at the 2016 SEMA Show. With over 1.5 years into the build, they’d both tell you it didn’t come easy or cheap, but in the end the hard work and dedication paid off in spades. This 1955 Chevrolet Nomad, affectionately nicknamed “Gone-Mad”, is truly a work of Art. It is a statement or rather a testament to making dreams come true. If you will be attending the 2016 SEMA Show, be sure to stop by the Spectre Performance booth, #22755, in Central Hall to see this beautiful creation for yourself.
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 SCAR debuted to a packed house at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the 2015 SEMA show. |
Spectre Performance driver, Greg Thurmond, owner/builder of GTS Customs Corvette Specialists in Southern California, has been building custom Corvettes, similar to SCAR, for close to thirty years. You may recognize him and his 1965 Candy Tangerine Corvette that debuted in 2015 at the Spectre Performance booth at SEMA. He is one of the nation’s premier corvette builders and quite the corvette enthusiast.
Thurmond’s passion for cars came early on, telling us that, “I’ve been a Corvette enthusiast as long as I can remember”. Greg was just three when his dad brought home his first Corvette. Greg’s dad worked as an engineer for Lockheed after serving in the Army. He married his high school sweetheart, began a family, and moved to the suburbs in Southern California and started living the American Dream. For them, that dream included motorcycles, Corvettes and drag boats.
Being raised in Southern California, Greg had a chance to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether it was water skiing, riding bikes or motorcycles, he and his friends spent their days exploring all that California had to offer. Evenings and weekends would find him helping his dad in the garage with their L88 big block, flat bottom drag boat, or tuning up his dirt bike for a weekend at the desert or the track.
 Where Thurmond’s passion for cool cars all began. The driveway of his family home in Southern California. |
By high school Greg was working at his parents’ upholstery shop where he had developed his skills as a master trimmer and upholsterer. He worked on boats seats, tonneau covers, car interiors, you name it, he upholstered it. He developed skills in body and paint as well. In fact, one of his first paint jobs, at age 15, happened to be his father’s 1963 convertible Corvette that went on to win numerous shows and awards. Following in his father’s footsteps, Greg worked on his own cars, dirt bikes, and ATV’s, doing whatever he could to make them better, make them faster. He learned at an early age that going faster was fun.
He was a natural on a dirt bike and that led him to racing. He garnered the attention of sponsors and magazine editors when competing in Mickey Thompson Stadium races at Pomona Fairgrounds, Ascot Raceway, Indian Dunes, Saddleback, Carlsbad, and Corona. From 1981 - 1987 his dirt career included multiple championships in CRC and AME. With over 50 career wins, he was sought out to test ride for several magazine publications such as 3 and 4 Wheel Action, Dirt Wheels, and Dirt Bike. He test rode for Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki (dirt and water) and Polaris. In fact, he was even part of Polaris Factory Team for the Baja 1000 in 1986.
 Thurmond getting some air for the Honda Fourtrax 250R vs. Suzuki Quadracer Shootout |
Fast forward a couple of decades and we see Greg back out on the track doing what he loves. But this time he has combined his love of cars, specifically Corvettes, with his passion for racing. He started auto crossing in 2012. His chassis builder, Paul Newman of Newman Car Creations, encouraged him to bring his 1964 Corvette out to El Toro for an event called Run to the Coast. With family in tow, he spent a sunshine-filled Sunday trying his hand at avoiding cones. Admittedly Greg was having a blast pushing his show car, Scarlett, to the edge. The months that followed would have Greg modifying his car to behave more appropriately around cones and before long he was a regular, racing at Goodguys events, SCCA races, NMCA competitions and more.
From Spring of 2012 to present, Greg has been adding to his list of performance driving and racing accomplishments. He continues to win his way into Pro Class status at Goodguys and is competing monthly. Whether out at Willow Springs or Pomona Fairgrounds, Autoclub Speedway or Circuit of the Americas, it’s safe to say that Greg is hooked when it comes to going fast and racing.
Last weekend we caught up with him at Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car (OSUSC) in Austin, Texas, racing at the world class F1 venue, Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Thurmond made the haul from So Cal to Texas in his RV traveling almost 1500 miles to compete at this iconic track. This was one venue that he said is “bucket list” worthy and there was no way he would miss it. Having been a huge F1 fan most of his life, he felt he knew the road course before the green flag even dropped. He told us every turn felt surreal as he had watched the greats like Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard take the same turns he was taking. To have set foot in the garages where his favorite drivers and their race teams had swapped motors, made improvements, prepped for races, was, “mind blowing”.
 Greg Thurmond pushing his Vette to the limit on the same road course where Sebastian Vettel and other F1 drivers compete in the US. |
Greg began racing with USCA last November at OUSCI. Approached at the Spectre Performance booth at SEMA, Optima Batteries invited Greg to participate at the annual, invite only event that took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he would compete among some of the nation’s finest amateur racers. Safe to say he loved it as evidenced by his return to OSUSC this year.
As winner of the Participants Choice award at COTA, and receiving 3rd Place for Design & Engineering in the GTL Class, Greg is incredibly proud of what he has been able to accomplish with the build of SCAR. He told us the car was a desert find and with the support of more than 17 different sponsors, whose logos are painted in the stinger stripe on the hood, he would not have been able to be so creative with the build that ultimately is panning out to be an incredible pro-touring ride and crowd favorite.
Greg sits in 22nd position in points for OSUSC after his third event. A mid-season class change has indeed affected his points placement. But he said he’s not worried. He has one more event to make up some much needed points to secure the invite to OUSCI and he is feeling confident. “I feel like I’ve finally got the car dialed in the way I like. The Wilwood brakes are working great and the car is handling like a beast,” he said. The car was barely done a day or two before its debut at SEMA and that didn’t afford him much time for shake down. It’s great to hear that our Spectre Performance driver is feeling confident and decidedly becoming one to watch. He’ll compete again at Autoclub Speedway in Fontana, California, in October, giving him the home court advantage to narrow the gap in the point race. This very well may be the race that gets him back to Vegas for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational - the Super Bowl of Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car.
For more information on the OSUSC series, log onto www.driveusca.com. And to improve your cars performance, check out Spectre Performance's wide array of products. The same performance products our Spectre Performance Driver’s use to improve the performance on their cars.
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When you hear the term air intake, you might think of a bolt-on direct intake that comes in a box with little assembly required. This is true in several cases, but for certain applications, bolt-on specific parts are not available for their custom setup. Auto Enthusiast Day in Anaheim, California brought out several different types of cars and trucks including imports, off road, and muscle cars. Though there could have been more muscle cars at this year’s event, most of those that did attend were equipped with Spectre Performance custom air intake setups.
Often times, these muscle cars are far from their original state, many featuring late-model engines, suspension upgrades, custom body work, and other modifications. These custom modifications make it difficult for manufactures to design make/ model specific bolt-on direct air intakes for these applications. A solution was found when Spectre Performance released their custom air intake component line, allowing people to design their own custom air intake around their specific application.
The first car we spotted with a Spectre custom air intake setup was a first gen Mustang. Several people took a quick glance at the Mustang as it looked average on the outside, but for those paying close attention to what laid under the hood, they were in for a shocking surprise. The rise of LS swaps in Mustangs has grown over the past couple years. This Mustang was equipped with an LSX motor, far from the original 289 small block that came with the car from the factory. There are several benefits when using the Spectre components including proper fitment and the ability for customization. The Mustang did not have tons of room under the hood so a 90-degree angle was needed to clear both the accessory drive and the radiator. The large Spectre cone air filter was used to get as much air as possible into the motor. The filter was positioned away from the motor and radiator (without further extreme modifications) allowing cooler air into the air intake for optimal results.
Beside the Mustang sat the infamous PCHRODS C10R, sporting its new 383ci stroker motor. In addition to the motor, the team at PCHRODS upgraded the Holley intake with an MSD Atomic Airforce Intake, forcing them to redesign their Spectre Performance air intake. Though the design was similar, a different angle tube was needed to accommodate the throttle body angle.
Two red cone filters still sat below the core support in front of the engine. PCHRODS did not want to deviate too far from their original intake design. The original design allowed for the coolest possible air to enter the intake for optimal performance. The tube, which was positioned directly down off the throttle body, sat between the two fans so hot air did not directly blow onto the tube. Though the engine bay of the 1972 C10 is quite large, the trucks modifications restricted the location of the air intake setup if they wanted to keep cooler air temps and overall performance in mind. Within the Currie Enterprises booth, a 1970 Nova with eye-catching modifications was on display, attracting crowds of people around the car. The Nova, which had a single turbo big block, utilized Spectre Performance air intake components to adapt to their custom application.
The single inlet plenum provided just enough clearance to close the hood while the Spectre Performance air filter fit directly off the turbo. The plenum, which was a four-inch outlet, was reduced to a three-inch setup accommodating the turbo. A Spectre four-to-three-inch reduction coupler was used to adapt the two different sizes. It is common to see a three-inch setup when using a turbo application, but the big block setup allowed for a plenum to be used, which made things a little trickier. In each of the three vehicles, air intake setups could have been possible without the Spectre Performance air intake components, but having these components made life a lot easier. As we continue to finish out the show season, we will be looking for more Spectre air intake setups to feature on our website. Visit our dealer search tool to find a local dealer that can help you build an intake system for your project or daily driver. |
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