2005 Hemi Engine Challenge Update

David Bruns of Mid America Racing Engines in Washington, Iowa, brought what was probably the smoothest and most streetable engine to the competition. This motor was crisp and strong each time it was pulled. Even with the lowest compression ratio of the competition, David's motor netted 666 hp and 576.6 lb-ft. of torque on its best pull. What impressed us more were the broad horsepower and torque curves of this motor. This engine would be at home in any street-driven Mopar and would likely give years of trouble-free power.

Chuck Lofgren and his team from Lofgren Auto Specialties in Cedar, Minnesota, treated our competition like a race. This team exhibited professionalism and an ability to think "outside the box." Even though an interpretation of the rules caused Chuck to build the smallest entry at 485 ci, his numbers really impressed us. With '68 casting iron heads and only 485 cubes, and the only competitor to run an air cleaner during the competition, the Lofgren's 725.4 hp and 596.3 lb-ft of torque had us asking "where did these guys come from?" On a side note: Lofgren's pulled their motor to 7,400 rpm after the competition pulls were complete, making 731.5 hp at 7,200 rpm!

Mike Ware of Muscle Motors in Lansing, Michigan, is known for tweaking every horsepower he can from the engines he builds. Unfortunately, a series of events involving the distributor and a timing light had Mike playing catch up during the event, not leaving him much time for actual tuning of his combination. Mike did net more power each time his engine was pulled; his final pull of 666.5 hp and 585.7 lb-ft of torque was his best. this single carburetor entry will make a great engine for some lucky customer.

August Cedarstrand of Speed-O-Motive in West Covina, California, showed up in Memphis with only a timing light and a smile, stating that most of his tuning had been accomplished at the shop. He was right; the engine fired right up and made all of its pulls without any tuning, aside from bumping the timing up and down a couple of degrees. Any of Speed-O-Motives pulls would have put them in contention for the lead in horsepower, but his best of 722.6 hp and 618.8 lb-ft of torque made them the power leader of the single four-barrel entries.