Approached at the Indianapolis Tradeshow, while exhibiting our crate engines, we were confronted by Cameron Evans, the editor (at the time) of Popular Hot Rodding Magazine. They had created a contest to pit the top 50 engine builders in the country against each other for the title of "Engine Master." The contest venue was to based on a scoring system of dyno pulls. We were honored to be among the 50.

2002

That year we qualified 4th out of 50. We accumulated a total score of 854 points. Everyone was blown away that a 10:1 compression, 359cid (which was 6ci smaller than the limit), sporting a 1100cfm carb and a 275cc intake port was able to produce a whopping 426ftlbs of torque at 2500rpm. During the finals we made six carb changes and brought our score up 32 points to 886. On our final change, we went a bit too lean and dropped back down to 861. The 886 score would have got us in to 2nd place - 550hp and 504ftlbs.

2003

The next year, we decided to something a little different. Tom decided to build a Mopar: a 470cid wedge. This process taught us a lot about pump gas and compression - and how to push the limits. We ran 13:1 compression on 92-octane. We qualified 9th out of 50 that year. Due to a sudden "change in the rules," were not allowed to compete in the finals. We decided to leave the motor at Westech anyways, and had Steve Brule and John Bachel set up everything just like it was at the finals. With 2-degrees less timing and and 2 jets richer, we scored 1118 points total, 700hp and 632ftlbs. (Good enough for 4th place overall)

2004

In 2004 we built a 410cid small Chevy that developed 657hp and 604ftlbs of torque - giving us 1032 total points. Unfortunately we were plagued with bad luck and broke a pushrod during the first final. An upsetting end to what we believed had serious "contender" ability. Next year watch out!

By putting ourselves against the top engine builders in the country, we have proved Nelson Racing Engines contends with the "best of the best."