by Michael Ray, NSCA

Rochester, NY - Randy Jewell and team ProCar are looking forward to the 2006 Corteco National Street Car season with great anticipation. Committed to the entire schedule, they are hungrier to win than ever before. "Winning the third straight championship would show how hard we work at what we do- no excuses," said Jewell.

Crew Chief Gary Falco, who maintains the car, assembles the engine and logs the team's data was reserved when asked about the year ahead. "We've been swamped at the shop getting customer work out. We've made only limited upgrades to our program. We're committed to racing smarter and finding performance through detail. We know good racers are going to take their best shot this year, after all, how many different ways can you do a single stage 632? Randy's driving, Patrick's tuning and my awareness are all going to have to step up a notch."

Team owner and NSCA employee Patrick Budd splits his time between helping Tony DePillo at the races and making the tuning and set up decisions on the car. "Tony has been great about this. He handles the rules decisions in the class to avoid a conflict of interest and gives me the time at the events to race. As long as I answer my radio, he lets me keep my butt intact." Patrick added, "I've been lucky enough to watch Marc Dantoni, Jim Huber, Pat Musi, Brian Merrick and several others win multiple championships over the years. I've learned a lot about the role each guy must play. It's my job to keep our guys supplied with what they need and get out of the way."

While the ProCar Corvette started life as a Suncoast kit car, they've "changed everything but the strut tubes and main rails," said Falco. "The car started going much quicker than intended when we built it- I mean, this was supposed to be a 7.40 bracket car."

"We use it as a test bed to learn for ProCar customers," said Budd. "And so far we've gotten quicker with every upgrade. I still credit Suncoast and Richard Earle for giving us a sound foundation and solid mentorship, but we'd like to think we learned some since we first built it. What we learned went straight into John Stanley's Championship Pro Outlaw Car. Richard still looks over our shoulder when we update it and I thank him." The team is also quick to thank Jim Salemi from G-Force Racecars, as the two shops have formed "something of an alliance," said Budd. "We share a lot of info about big and small tire, clutch vs. auto and what not. They're great guys."

Jewell, Budd and Falco also want to credit their sponsors. "NX has provided us with the support and a product that allows Patrick to tune us right to the edge," said Jewell, and the converters from Competition Transmission "blow the competition away."

"Tire shake was a problem, but Carl from Competition blended the right combination of multiplication and lockup to make us champs," Falco added. "That gave us something to tune around. We owe NX and Comp a lot.

"Jan-Cen and Mike Janis also support us, I mean we've had some pretty hefty balances there," said Jewell. "Mike has never complained, just asked how he could help us race better." Anyone not using Corteco white seal technology "needs to check that stuff out," said Budd. "We can swap pistons with no goop, no hassle… that's a definite edge. The gaskets seal repeatedly without silicone or that spray on crap."

Finally, the team would like to thank all of the NSCA sponsors, GRP connecting rods, and especially the patience of Tony DePillo for keeping the NSCA alive. "Without him we'd be shoe polish racing," said Falco. Team ProCar looks forward to renewing their friendships with all the racers in '06 and can't wait to strap in and run.

ProCar news can be found on their website at www.procarperformance.com

You can follow the 2006 Corteco National Street Car Association season on their website nsca-racing.net