E3 Spark Plugs News

 

E3 Spark Plugs sends big props to Colten Moore and Heath Frisby for their winning rides at the Winter X Games, which wrapped this weekend in Aspen, Colorado. Moore took the gold in the Snowmobile Freestyle event. And Frisby added a second Snowmobile Best Trick gold medal to his collection of seven Winter X Games medals.

Both wins were surprises. Many fans were shocked to see Moore make it into the finals, after a spectacular crash during the first heat of the elimination round. He let go of a double crab in midair and hit the ground, ducking his head and flipping onto his back in the nick of time. Chalk it up to the impressive aerial awareness he’s developed via exhaustive training over a foam pit and a decade of riding ATV quads.

Moore shored up his win with some serious FMX-styled tricks including a cordova backflip and a superflip Indian air. His skill and showmanship racked up a top score of 93.66, which he immediately celebrated by Tebowing in the snow.

“I knew I had to come out here and stomp the best run of my life, and that’s just what I did,” said a breathless Moore just after his winning run. “I’ve never rode so good in my life. I’m so pumped right now I can’t even breathe.”

Joe Parsons won the event’s silver medal and Moore’s brother, Caleb Moore, took home the bronze. Both Moore brothers are relatively new to snowmobiling, first taking up the sport only three years ago.

Heath Frisby delivered another big surprise, handily winning the gold and making sport history by pulling off the first ever frontflip on a snowmobile. He and his team tried to keep hush about his best trick competition plans, but word got out early in the afternoon. So, Frisby confirmed his plans – and worked up some serious fan hype – by posting a YouTube video of himself completing the trick over a foam pit in a practice run.

Frisby perfectly nailed the trick in his first of two runs. The feat proved impressive enough to beat Moore’s tsunami Indian flip and Parsons’ no-footed can-can backflip. Even more impressive than his history-making trick and top score is the fact that Frisby had the nerve to go for it just moments after seeing competitor and friend Justin Hoyer wipe out in a failed double backflip attempt and get carted off on a stretcher.

“Guys, it’s alright. I’ve been waiting a year to do this,” Frisby told concerned onlookers after seeing a video replay of Hoyer’s wicked crash. “I am my own deal. This is a totally different trick and I’m ready.”

Within minutes, he proved those words to an instantly whipped-up crowd and got an on-field onslaught of high-fives from fellow competitors.

E3 Spark Plugs congratulates Moore, Frisby and all the winners at this year’s Winter X Games. If you plan to hit the slopes soon yourself, make sure you stock your sled with a set of E3 snowmobile spark plugs for a competition-worthy ride.

Check out Frisby’s history-making flip…

And Moore’s gold-winning, FMX-styled run…

If you’re an up-and-coming motorsports racer, why not put the power of E3 in your ride and on your back? Starting February 1, here’s your chance to be part of Team E3 Racing!

Over the next three months (Feb-April), we will award four WINNERS from each tier listed below a Race Sponsorship and load them up with Official Team E3 Racing Sponsorship Prizes!

• Tier 1: 12 Fans win $500 cash, 25 E3 Spark Plugs and Official E3 Race Day Gear/Decals
• Tier 2: 12 Fans win one (1) Set of up to 8 Plugs and Official E3 Race Day Gear/Decals
• Tier 3: 12 Fans win Official E3 Race Day Gear and Decals

In addition to being officially sponsored by E3 Spark plugs, being a part of Team E3 Racing means we can help you grow your fan base by following your standings throughout the 2012 racing season, posting your videos and pictures and featuring you on the E3 website and social media channels!

So how do you become part of Team E3 Racing? Zoom over to the E3 Spark Plugs’ Facebook fan page, “Like us” and sign up via the Team E3 Racing tab. Fill in your name, age, contact information and T-shirt size. Give us the lowdown on your racing career thus far, including your ride’s make and model and info on your current series, standings and significant winnings. And hit us with your best pitch as to why YOU should be part of Team E3. We’re expecting lots of entries, so you’d better be convincing!

E3 Spark Plugs’ patented DiamondFire technology means a stronger, smoother, cleaner ride. Developed with help from some of the nation’s top scientists and engineers, E3 spark plugs are proven to boost your engine’s performance, mileage and fuel efficiency without mucking up the environment. In fact, E3 is the ONLY spark plug to be included in a federal rule making for emission standards.. Just like the best motorsports racers on the podiums, E3 spark plugs are “Born to Burn.”

Everybody remembers their first. Their first car, that is. In fact, not much conjures up sweet nostalgia like retelling a story of the set of wheels that marked the beginning of freedom. That’s why we here at E3 Spark Plugs so enjoyed reading Matt Stone’s My First Car, a 224-page hardbound book packed with 124 photos and stories that’ll make you laugh, cry and reminisce.

There’s probably no other rite of passage that teenagers look forward to more than holding the keys to their first car. In My First Car, Stone retells the automotive initiations of some of the world’s most recognized names. Hollywood actors, automotive industry giants, racing greats and pro athletes share both poignant stories and early photographs of their first rides. Among them is iconic actor and auto collector Steve McQueen, the original King of Cool. McQueen’s first motorized thing he could call his own was an Indian motorcycled outfitted with a sidecar.  But what he coveted was an MT TC. During a Columbus, Ohio stop for his off-Broadway play Time Out for Ginger, McQueen spotted a 1948 MG with a $750 price tag. But this was long before McQueen hit fame, and he had all of $450 in pay and poker winnings with him.

“I put down $450 … and I told the owner I’d send more money from each overnight stop we made,” McQueen tells Stone. “It was finally delivered to me in Chicago. That’s when I asked for a raise and got booted out of the play. So, I jumped into my MG and drove it all the way to New York.”

The love story didn’t last long. McQueen sold his MG after three axles broke and the spokes kept shredding out of the wire wheels. He decided to stick with cycles for a while. Fate at play, perhaps? Otherwise, we might not have that infamous Triumph TR6 Trophy getaway scene from The Great Escape.

Other samplings from My First Car:

• Hugh Hefner’s 1941 Chevy Coupe that “reminds [him] of the car Columbo used to drive” and that died in the middle of the road on the very day that Playboy first hit the stands.
• Andy Warhol’s used Rolls-Royce, in which he collided with a taxi while learning to drive at 56 years old.
• Mario Andretti’s 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop in bright red with a white top, which the family landed in part because a teenage Andretti convinced his father that the louder pipes helped save gas.
• Sir Sterling Moss’ three-wheeled 1936 Morgan, which he initially drove illegally (just shy of his 16th birthday – the legal driving age in England at the time) and mounted a box on the back for his pet ferret.

Moss is quick to point out the top enduring benefit for a young man with a great ride.

“The great thing about having a car was that you could pick up the crumpet [girls] a lot easier than if you had a bicycle, of course,” he says, though he admits that his first ride was a bit rudimentary. “It was quite useful from that standpoint.”

In all, 67 famous drivers share their stories. No doubt, this book also has prompted many a conversation about readers’ first cars. What’s your first car story? E3 Spark Plugs, makers of the most energy efficient and eco-friendly car spark plugs on the market, want to hear it. Post your story and photo on our Facebook fan page.

Freestyle motocross meets Broadway meets pyromania in the 2012 Nuclear Cowboyz tour. And we here at E3 Spark Plugs are looking forward to this wild show that pushes the extreme into the certifiably insane.

The tour features many of the top names in extreme sports including 2011 Winter X-Games medalist Caleb Moore, X Games 17 medalists Ronnie Faisst, Adam Jones and Mike Mason, plus world-class medalist riders Taka Higashino, Beau Bamburg, Derek Garland, Nixey Danielson, Brody Wilson, Jimmy Fitzpatrick, Dustin Miller, Wes Agee, Matt Buyten, Geoff Aaron, Keith Wineland, Derek Guetter, and Colton Moore.

Doing what they do best, the legendary Nuclear Cowboyz FMX tribes, the Soldiers of Havoc and Metal Mulisha, play out an epic futuristic battle story of two tribes fighting for survival against the evil Tempest and her Cyborg Army in war-torn Los Angeles in the year 2150. The show features battle scenes played out via amazing choreographed motocross stunts backed by a pyrotechnics and laser display and synchronized to a thumping heavy metal, rock alternative and electronic dubstep soundtrack. And yes – there’s even a snowmobile jump.

This year’s show promises a stepped-up degree of difficulty in the stunts performed by medal-winning athletes, producers say. Nuclear Cowboyz hits 11 North American cities on the 2012 tour kicking off Friday night in Baltimore, MD and continuing through April 15. VIP Fallout Zone tickets get you premium seating and a meet and greet with the stars. They’re expected to sell out quickly, so if you’re a major motocross fan, buy your tickets soon.

Plan to see a Nuclear Cowboyz show? Post your pics on the E3 Facebook fan page and be sure to stock your bike with E3 motorcycle spark plugs or Spark Plugs for a motocross-worthy ride.

 

It was three decades ago that the iconic monster truck Grave Digger came to life on the banks of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina and E3 Spark Plugs is joining fans worldwide in celebrating its 30th anniversary year. Debuting in 1982, the original Grave Digger was a red 1952 Ford pickup truck tricked out as a mud bogger by owner Dennis Anderson. And while his friends were none too impressed initially, they’d soon eat their words.

It was a bit of amicable trash talking with fellow racers that landed Grave Digger its name.

“I’ll take this old junk and dig your grave with it,” Anderson told his heckling competitors who drove newer, sleeker trucks. Where those guys and their trucks are today, nobody knows. But Grave Digger went on to become one of the most enduring and celebrated of all the Monster Truck personalities, growing to string of some 25 race and display trucks.

The Grave Digger is immediately recognizable with its ominous paint scheme featuring green flames, blood-dripping letters, a foggy graveyard scene with tombstones bearing names of competitors, a haunted house silhouetted by a full moon and a giant skull-shaped ghost. A fan favorite is the set of red headlights that glow menacingly when the truck is in competition. A lucky happenstance, those headlights were. Anderson began using them when he was building a transporter out of a school bus and realized that the red stop lights fit perfectly in Grave Digger’s headlights.

In celebration of its 30 years in the mud ring, the 2012 Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam season will tour three new Grave Digger monster truck designs and has released a full line of exclusive limited edition “Grave Digger 30th Anniversary” merchandise including a retrospective DVD. Monster Jam fans can get up close to the newly designed Grave Digger versions as part of the Monster Jam pre-show Party in the Pits.

Got any favorite Grave Digger memories over the years? E3 Spark Plugs wants to hear your stories and see your pics. Post them on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page. And remember to power your own would-be monster truck with E3 truck spark plugs for a stronger, cleaner burn.

Auto buffs, gear up for a fantastic year of car, truck and bike shows. Whether you’re into the latest and greatest auto technology or the sheer beauty of restored vintage treasures, there’s an auto show ticket with your name all over it. To see all the opportunities, you’ll have to do an Internet search. But E3 Spark Plugs has a few favorites.

Topping our list is Hot Rod Magazine’s annual Hot Rod Power Tour. E3 Spark Plugs is a sponsor of this year’s event, which will take drivers on a 7-day, 7-city, 1,400-mile road trip from Detroit, Michigan to Arlington, Texas. Each city will host a one-day car and truck show, where you’ll see some of the most envy-inducing hot rods around. A few host cities also feature races. Then they’ll all rev up and ride out for the next tour stop.

Check the schedule for the 2012 Hot Rod Power Tour and a few of E3′s top car show recommendations. Mark your calendars and be sure to take some pics and post them to the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

2012 Hot Rod Power Tour

• Detroit, MI, GM Proving Grounds, Milford, June 2
• Muskegon, MI, Downtown Muskegon, June 3
• Champaign, IL, Assembly Hall, University of Illinois, June 4
• Madison, IL, Gateway Motorsports Park, June 5
• Miami, OK, Buffalo Run Casino, June 6
• Stillwater, OK, Kicker Corporate Complex, June 7
• Arlington, TX, Quicktrip Park, June 8
• Long Haulers only, Arlington, TX, Venue TBD, June 9

2012 Auto Shows

• North American International Auto Show, Detroit, Jan. 9-22 www.naias.com
• Houston Auto Show, Jan. 25-29, www.houstonautoshow.com
• Washington Auto Show, Jan. 27-Feb 5, www.washingtonautoshow.org
• Philadelphia Auto Show, Jan. 28-Feb 5, www.phillyautoshow.com
• Chicago Auto Show Feb. 9-19 www.chicagoautoshow.com
• Jacksonville International Car & Truck Show, Feb. 17-19
• California 91Truck Show, March 3, www.91truckshow.com
• Daytona Beach Bike Week, March 9-18 www.officialbikeweek.com
• Atlanta International Auto Show, March 14-18, www.goautoshow.com
• DWF Auto Show, March 21-25, Dallas, www.dallasautoshow.com
• New York International Auto Show, April 6-15, www.autoshowny.com
• Minnesota Street Rod Association’s Back to the ’50s Weekend, June 22-24 www.msra.com
• SEMA Show, Oct. 30-Nov. 2 www.semashow.com
• LA Auto Show Nov. 28-Dec. 9 www.laautoshow.com
• Performance Racing Industry Trade Show, Nov. 29-Dec. 1, www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow
• San Diego International Auto Show, Dec. 29-Jan 1, www.sdautoshow.com

 

The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series revs up Saturday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA. All eyes will be on 2011 champ Ryan Villopoto as he begins his fight to defend his title against a full slate of the world’s top riders. And he’ll start that fight with a hard-charging bid to become only the sixth rider in history to win the series’ season opener in back-to-back years.

Villopoto also is the current AMA National Motocross Series champion and the Motocross of Nations champ, and he made headlines in 2011 for his utter decimation of the competition in the Monster Energy Cup. He dominated the field over the course of three 10-lap main events to take home the Monster Million – the biggest purse in the sport’s history. Rumor has it the Poulsbo, WA native, who had married the beautiful Kristen Young just days before, postponed his plans for a South Pacific honeymoon to compete for the Monster Million. We’re betting his bride didn’t mind.

His amazing 2011 season has made Villopoto the man to beat in 2012. But he’s got strong contenders. Chad Reed came in second in the SX championship last year and no doubt has his eye on the top podium spot this season. James Stewart has been loud and proud about his intentions to knock seven-time Supercross Class champ Jeremy McGrath from his title as the all-time winningest rider before moving on to four-wheel competition. McGrath currently boasts 72 supercross wins and Stewart is aiming for 73 before making the leap to NASCAR. And Ryan Dungey plans to capitalize on his reputation as one of the fastest motorcycle riders on the planet – a rep he earned in just two SX season.

E3 Spark Plugs congratulates Villopoto on an amazing 2011 season and looks forward to a thrill-packed 2012 season! Make sure your ride is competition-ready with E3 motorcycle spark plugs.

2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series Schedule

• January 7 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA
• January 14 – Chase Field – Phoenix, AZ
• January 21 – Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
• January 28 – Overstock.com Stadium – Oakland, CA
• February 4 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA
• February 11 – Qualcomm Stadium – San Diego, CA
• February 18 – Cowboys Stadium – Arlington/Dallas, TX
• February 25 – Georgia Dome – Atlanta, GA
• March 3 – Edward Jones Dome – St. Louis, MO
• March 10 – Daytona Int’l Speedway – Daytona, FL*
• March 17 – Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
• March 24 – Rogers Centre – Toronto, ON, Canada
• March 31 – Reliant Stadium – Houston, TX
• April 14 – Louisiana Super Dome – New Orleans LA
• April 21 – Qwest Field – Seattle, WA
• April 28 – Rice-Eccles Stadium – Salt Lake City, UT
• May 5 – Sam Boyd Stadium – Las Vegas, NV

The 2011 Supercross season proved quite the exciting ride. When the dust finally settled, it was Ryan Villopoto at the podium as the 2011 AMA Supercross Series Championship winner. So how will the 2012 season play out? E3 Spark Plugs has a few predictions.

One guess is that we’ll get quite the show from the ongoing rivalry between Australian native and two-time Supercross Class champion Chad Reed and James Stewart, also a two-time Supercross Class champion, as well as a former AMA Motocross champion and the first African American to win a major motorsports title. The two have treated fans to some of the sport’s toughest battles and neither has any plans to back down.

“James and I have a lot of respect for each other,” says Reed, who last year became an entrepreneur founding Two-Two MotorSports. “We both want to win and neither of us lets anything get in the way of that.”

No doubt Stewart shares that sentiment. But he’s also got his eye on knocking seven-time Supercross Class champ Jeremy McGrath from his title as the all-time winningest rider before moving on to four-wheel competition. McGrath currently boasts 72 supercross wins.

“My No. 1 focus is get to 73 wins, and after that, we can hit NASCAR full force,” Stewart, who makes his debut with the Joe Gibbs Racing MX Team next month, recently told USA Today. “We are definitely making steps to hopefully battling with Junior [Dale Earnhardt] and [Jimmie] Johnson. I am looking forward to it as another challenge in life. The cool part is maybe I have a chance to be great in two different sports.”

Of course, if Ryan Dungey has his say, neither Stewart nor Reed will see the champion’s podium come May 5. In just two Supercross Class competition seasons, Dungey earned respect as one of the fastest motorcycle riders on the planet and in 2010 became the second rookie in history to win the Monster Energy AMA Supercross. He came excruciatingly close to defending his title in 2011, letting it slip by a mere 10 points. This year, he joins the Red Bull KTM team.

We’re also expecting an exciting season show from Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle, who makes his Supercross Class debut next month after an impressive five-year run in the Lites Class.

Got a prediction of your own? E3 Spark Plugs wants to hear it. Post your thoughts on our Facebook fan page. And remember to stock your bike with a set of E3 motorcycle spark plugs for a championship-worthy performance.

IndyCar has released its official review of the October 16 crash that killed Indianapolis 500 champ Dan Wheldon. The report acknowledged that Wheldon’s head coming into contact with a fence support post was ruled the specific cause of death, in keeping with the October 17 autopsy that concluded blunt force trauma to the head killed the British racer. However, the report added that the exact cause of the accident itself could not be pinpointed.

“While several factors coincided to produce a ‘perfect storm,’ none of them can be singled out as the sole cause of the accident,” investigators concluded. “For this reason, it is impossible to determine with certainty that the result would have been any different if one or more of the factors did not exist.”

Despite two days of safety testing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway before the start of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship, drivers knew it would be a potentially dangerous race. The track’s size allowed for a large field of cars running at unusually high speeds, which prohibited the “racing grooves” that typically help channel cars into some type of order. The result was track-side chaos. Drivers couldn’t tell where other drivers were or were headed, so routes to safety were hard to come by.

Gian Paolo Dallara, head of Italian manufacturer Dallara Automobili, recently told Autosprint he doesn’t believe that the 220-mph speeds contributed directly to the crash. Instead, he blames problems with wheel-to-wheel contact.

“If two wheels that rotate in the same direction touch, even at just 50kph [31mph], the car behind shoots up in the air,” Dallara said. “There’s nothing you can do.”

Dallara says that the new 2012 chassis had undergone a redesign aimed at reducing the risks of lifting off from wheel-to-wheel contact even before the 15-car crash that killed Wheldon. And in an ironic twist, it was Wheldon who had helped IndyCar and Dallara test the new chassis, logging upwards of 2,000 miles on it. In honor of the racer, Dallara recently announced it has named the new design the DW12. E3 Spark Plugs supports the new name and Dallara’s efforts toward creating a safer race car.

Meanwhile, race officials have dropped the Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the 2012 IndyCar schedule. Pending continued track testing, the series may return to Vegas in 2013.

Officials of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship Series announced its 2012 racing schedule. The 2012 Championship expands to eight events with the series kicking off in Las Vegas on Friday, May 4th on Supercross finals weekend.

Known as the “toughest racing on two wheels,” EnduroCross pits competitors against each other on extreme off-road tracks featuring boulders, logs, sand and mud pits, a water hole and other surprise obstacles like giant tires.

EnduroCross is a favorite of racing fans both in the stands and on the living room couch. Events air on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and the Versus network. Check TV listings for air dates. And if you don’t want to wait for the programming guys, mark your calendar to catch all the EnduroX events live.

2012 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Schedule

• May 4, Orleans Arena (Friday during Supercross weekend), Las Vegas, NV
• June 9, Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA
• Los Angeles, CA, date and venue TBD
• September 15, Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, CA
• October 6, National Western Complex, Denver, CO
• October 20, Comcast Arena, Everett, WA
• October 27, Idaho Center, Boise, ID
• November 17, Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV

E3 Spark Plugs is proud to co-sponsor the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship Series and looks forward to a hard-charging, thrill-packed racing season.