Let Me Tell You About The Scrantons, From Florida
march 10,2003
Brothers Jay, left, and Matt Scranton hope to repeat their 2002 success in the
Pro RWD class this year.
The
racing season never really ended for 2002 NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing
Series Pro V-8 champ Matt Scranton and the Scranton Brothers Racing team as they
prepared not just for a new car but also a new class. The new SBR Celica will
make its official debut at the GM Performance NHRA Sport Compact Nationals in
Las Vegas March 15-16. Scranton's
ability to rise to the occasion under pressure has served him well through the
years and there's no doubt he will need all of that experience this year. "I'm
very anxious to line up with any of the Pro RWD drivers this year," said the
Land O' Lakes, Fla., driver, whose 2002 title followed a 2001 conquest of the
NMCA Super Street class. "We saw last season that on any given weekend virtually
all of the teams are capable of winning a Wally and we all want these very
badly. There are plenty of strong teams and skilled drivers. That's what NHRA
drag racing is all about, and our whole team is chompin' at the bit and rarin'
to go". The
champ recently drove the team's semi to Galesburg, Ill., to pick up the team's
new Turbonetics Celica from RJ Racecars, and was impressed with what he saw. "I
can't say enough about Rick Jones (President, RJ Racecars), his team and that
entire operation," said Scranton. "Jay (brother and crew chief) and I decided to
go with RJ Racecars for a few different reasons. Rick is a Pro Stock racer
himself and has built cars for the best of them, including Pro Stock legend
Warren Johnson, Darrell Alderman, among many others. He simply knew what
questions to ask us, listened to our needs, and where to source the best
products to make us as competitive as technologically possible. The new Silver
Bullet is the trickest drag car I've ever seen and we are very pleased with our
choice of builder in Rick Jones."
Here's the first look at the new Scranton Brothers Racing Pro RWD Celica.The
new Celica will be powered by a TRD-built Tacoma V-6 with twin Turbonetics 76mm
turbochargers and intercooler. Power will be funneled through a Bruno/G-Force
transmission and TCI torque converter through a PST driveshaft to Moser axles
and third member and on to Mickey Thompson tires wrapped around Weld Wheels. VP
Racing Fuel, fed through a Weldon regulator, fuel pump, and filter will mix with
air strained through a K&N filter, mixed and metered by a Wilson Manifolds
intake and throttle body, and fired by an MSD ignition. Headers built by Young's
Performance and supplied by Burns exhaust the spent exhaust gasses. A FAST
engine management system is the brains behind the brawn while Racepak data
acquisition and a Dashpak digital dash will help the team keep tabs on the vital
stats. Painless Wiring, Goodridge lines and fittings, and ARP fasteners keep
everything juiced, flowing, and together. A Spearco radiator will keep things
cool while Lamb brakes will bring the beast to a half after 200-mph blasts. Crew
chief Jay Scranton expects the same type of reliability that TRD provided in V-8
format last year. "The engine TRD gave us for the season was an incredible
machine," he said. "We put 78 competition passes on that engine without ever
missing a run. That doesn't include passes we've put on in practice and tuning.
The only time it saw a wrench was for regular maintenance. It was the only
engine we had and it never let us down. When we finally started pushing the
engine hard near the end of the season, it performed so well we had to re-think
the rest of our set up from tire pressure to boost control. I tip my hat to both
Sheldon Andry and Peter Piotr-Guzik for their depth of knowledge. This team
can't thank TRD enough for giving us such a beast of an engine". Added
Matt, "The relationship we enjoyed last year with TRD was mutually beneficial.
After exchanging thoughts and objectives for the 2003 season, Gary Reed and
Larry Slutter stepped up once again and offered to support Scranton Brothers
Racing as we head into the Pro RWD class, yet another unknown for both our
teams. The dyno work we've done so far has left us optimistic as we get closer
to testing. If these Tacoma engines are anywhere as good as was the Tundra
bullet we had last year, the winning will come down to our team doing what we
love to do and that's race to win. "We
need to be very fast and consistent to win," he added, "and that's no lie.
Returning champion Grant Downing will no doubt defend his '02 championship
aggressively while Matt Hartford, Bob Rieger, and Manny Cruz, to name just a
few, know what it takes to win and they're all very hungry." Now let me give you the real low-down on these guys. Matt and Jay Scranton went to high school with me, and in 1984 we used to race thru the streets of Tampa, them in their old 65 Mustang and me in my 69 Camaro (in those days I used to waxem up).
But the days of old Bonehead waxen up any Scrantons are long gone!
I want to be the first to say, Boys you have definitely hit the big time, no more having to race thru the streets of Tampa, now you can just cruse around and laugh at the guys with the neon's and wings on the trunklids, and loud exhaust tips that make their car slower.
Now let me tell you folks out there, these guys have paid their dues!
They just didn't wake up and someone handed them this awesome car to drive, they have been working on their career since we got out of high school. They have traveled the nation drag racing their Mustangs over the years. Know as " The Flying Scranton Bros ", they used to swop driver/crewchief roles, but I see Matt has finally made the pedals too far for Jay to reach!
I remember in 1995, when I worked for LD Brewers, building racing radio harnesses for race cars, and Matt and Jay came over to buy a trailer Brewer had for sale. They told me they were going to travel the circuit racing in the stock Mustang class all over the nation, I said I didn't even know they had such a class, well they did and when the Scranton's hit the circuit they won, and won a lot!
The Scranton's have broken many stock class records and some pro class records as well, making them a major player in drag racing. They will be representing Florida, as they cover the nation racing in major events, here is their 2003 schedule:
2003 Schedule
NHRA March 15 - 16 Las Vegas, NV
NHRA April 5 - 6 West Palm Beach, FL
NOPI April 12 - 13 Ennis, TX
NHRA May 3 - 4 Englishtown, NJ
NHRA May 17 - 18 Gainesville, FL
NHRA May 31 - June 1 Chicago, IL
NHRA June 7 - 8 Atco, NJ
NOPI June 14 - 15 Reynolds, GA
NOPI June 21 - 22 Mechanicsville, MD
IDRC July 5 - 6 Englishtown, NJ
NOPI July 12 - 13 Bristol, TN
NOPI July 26 - 27 St. Louis, MO
NOPI August 2 - 3 Reading, PA
NHRA August 8 - 9 Ennis, TX
NOPI August 16 - 17 Dinwiddie, VA
NHRA August 23 - 24 Woodburn, OR
NHRA September 6 - 7 Sonoma, CA
NHRA October 4 - 5 Englishtown, NJ
NHRA October 11 - 12 Ennis, TX
NOPI October 18 - 19 Banning, CA
NHRA October 25 -26 Pomona
Make sure you go see them when they are in your area, and tell them that you heard that back in the day Bonehead, used to show them the way to the line.
BOTTOMLINE:Good job Matt and Jay, you guys were right when you told me, you would go farther in a straight line than I would going in circles.
Till next time
Bonehead