E3 Spark Plugs News

Headed to round five of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs this Halloween weekend? You’re in for a real treat. Traxxas, the company known as the “Fastest Name in Radio Control” will tear up the EnduroCross track with its award-winning Extreme Terrain Monster Truck. Not only will fans get to see whether the nation’s No. 1 brand R/C trucks can handle the toughest indoor motorsport terrain, they’ll get to take a virtual step into the driver’s seat. Traxxas mounts cameras in their trucks and puts them on the right out onto the tracks during race time for air on the company’s HDTV television programming.

Summit RTR truck by Traxxas, the nation's top RCR vehicle maker. See Traxxas trucks in action at the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs Oct. 30.

That’s not all, though. Traxxas serves up more action with a high-flying stunt demonstration featuring its 65+mph E-Revo Brushless Edition, touted the fastest and most technologically advanced RC truck in the company’s extensive lineup of Ready-to-Race vehicles.

“This should be pretty cool for our fans to watch,” said Mike Karsting, VP of Events for Source Interlink Media told reporters. “It’ll be interesting to see how Traxxas’ RC trucks will handle things like the Monster Matrix and Moose Racing Boulder Mountain, and I’m curious to see if they can make it up and over the Kenda Giant Tire finish line.”

Based in Plano, TX, Traxxas creates, designs and manufactures hobby-class radio controlled cars, trucks and boats in nitro and electric categories. With a history of developing innovative, industry-changing products, Traxxas has been the No. 1 selling name in RTR nitro and electric models for the past four years. It’s no wonder – Traxxas’ staff includes a Research and Development department made up of highly experienced engineers who use advanced modeling software, computer-aided machining and a custom-built dynamometer to create and test each new product.

Round five of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs happens Saturday, Oct. 30 at the Denver National Western Complex. It’s the last before the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Grand Championships Nov. 20 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Get your tickets at the EnduroCross website. And get your own ride in RTR condition with E3 performance spark plugs for your car, truck or motorcycle.

Perhaps it’s because the view from behind his desk just can’t beat the flinging mud and screaming fans he’s accustomed to that Kurt Nicoll decided to boot up for Round 5 of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross presented by E3 Spark Plugs this Saturday, Oct. 30 at Denver’s National Western Complex. Dubbed “the toughest racing on two wheels,” EnduroCross combines elements of off-road racing with supercross-style settings featuring rocks, boulders, logs, sand, mud, water holes and obstacles such as giant tires.

Motocross veteran Kurt Nicoll will race the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010.

Nicoll, former KTM racing manager and current COO of Godfrey Entertainment (producers of films, TV series and documentaries primarily focusing on action and motorsports), is looking to qualify for the Vet class main event and will go head-to-head against a tough field of fellow EnduroCross vets from the Colorado area. Just shy of his 46th birthday, Nicoll is coming off Pro class win at the Nitro Circus Halloween Grand Prix in Utah, a combination motocross, supermoto, off-road, EnduroCross event and says he’s ready for the next challenge.

“[I] feel I’m better prepared than a few years ago. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be any good,” he says with a laugh. Nicoll also is a top Motocross GP contender and AMA Supermoto championship winner.

The GEICO AMA EnduroCross presented by E3 Spark Plugs promises a hotly contested battle between current series points leader Taddy Blazusiak of KTM and Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich, the defending series champion. The day’s activities start with a free-to-the-public meet-and-greet with the racers and a pro practice and Hot Lap qualifying session.

“Opening the pro pits and afternoon practice session gives those curious fans a chance to see GEICO EnduroCross at no cost,” says mike Kartsting, VP of Events for producer Source Interlink Media.”Should they decide to stay for the night show, we’ve got tickets available at several different price points starting at 13 bucks for kids age three to 12.”

Saturday’s race is the last before the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Grand Championships Nov. 20 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Visit the EnduroCross website to purchase tickets. Meanwhile, get your own ride running like a race winner with E3 motorcycle spark plugs.

CBS Sports and Lucas Oil Motorsports just announced a TV coverage package for racing fans who just can’t make it to the tracks to see the races in person. Lucas Oil and E3 Spark Plugs racing fans will see 11 hours or more of CBS Sports Spectacular programming – including extensive coverage of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (2011 schedule just announced!)

CBS generously granted Lucas Oil Motorsports a bank of fan-friendly television time slots so fans of all ages can catch the on-track action and follow the 2011 points chase from beginning to end. No worries about missing a race if you’re one of our younger racing fans with a school-day bedtime or a working fan with an early start to your work day. CBS promises conveniently scheduled coverage of the races from the thrilling series season openers to the hotly contested championship deciders.

Still to go for the 2011 season of Lucas Oil Motorsports on CBS is coverage of the E3 Spark Plugs co-sponsored Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series rounds 13 and 14 November 6 and 7 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is a new additional show that CBS added to its coverage plans and does not replace any of the Lucas Oil Off-Road programming already scheduled for speed, MavTV or Versus.

To make sure you don’t miss a single race broadcast, check the Lucas Oil Off-Road Series TV schedule and stop in at the E3 Spark Plugs blog for race results and highlights.

Two rounds and the championship battle for the 2010 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series co-sponsored by E3 Spark Plugs remain, but many already are gearing up for next year’s racing schedule. Rounds 13 and 14 of this year’s season take place November 6 and 7 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the season-ender championship race event happens December 11 and 12 for the season titles in all classes plus the Rockstar Energy/Lucas Oil Challenge Cup.

A shot from the 2010 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series at Speedworld Off Road Park Sunday, September 26, 2010.

With the 2010 season coming to an end, officials announced the 2011 schedule, which closely mirrors 2010′s thus-far successful run. The 2010 lineup featured favored familiar venues and brought record crowds. The 15-round battle for the 2011 season championship begins and ends at the Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. Other stops between the March 12 start and the December 11 championship round include Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA; Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, AZ; and Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT.

“We have had the opportunity to establish some fantastic partnerships while building these unique, purpose built tracks,” says Series Director Tony Vanillo. “While we are making our 2011 plans now, it’s a great feeling to know that we are preparing to return to these tracks for the second and third year. This stability is fantastic for the sport.”

E3 Spark Plugs is proud to remain a co-sponsor of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series throughout 2011, along with MAVTV, Geico Powersports, Rockstar Energy Drink and others.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series – 2011 Schedule

• Round 1 – March 12 – Firebird International Raceway – Chandler, AZ.
• Round 2 – March 13 – Firebird International Raceway – Chandler, AZ.
• Round 3 – April 16 – Speedworld Off Road Park – Surprise, AZ.
• Round 4 – April 17 – Speedworld Off Road Park – Surprise, AZ.
• Round 5 – May 21 – Glen Helen Raceway – San Bernardino, CA.
• Round 6 – May 22 – Glen Helen Raceway – San Bernardino, CA.
• Round 7 – June 25 – Miller Motorsports Park – Tooele, Utah
• Round 8 – June 26 – Miller Motorsports Park – Tooele, Utah
• Round 9 – August 6 – Glen Helen Raceway – San Bernardino, CA.
• Round 10 – August 7 – Glen Helen Raceway – San Bernardino, CA.
• Round 11 – Sept. 24 – Speedworld Off Road Park – Surprise, AZ.
• Round 12 – Sept. 25 – Speedworld Off Road Park – Surprise, AZ.
• Round 13 – Nov. 5 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV.
• Round 14 – Nov. 6 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV.
• Round 15 – Dec. 10 – Firebird International Raceway – Chandler, AZ.
• Lucas Oil Challenge Cup – Dec. 11 – Firebird International Raceway -Chandler, AZ.

If you’re a Lucas Oil/E3 spark plugs racing fan, be sure to check back for race results and highlights throughout the rest of the 2010 season and the thrill-promising 2011 season.

People collect the zaniest things from Pez dispensers to vintage Zippo lighters to toilet seats. And Joe Cook just might be king among spark plug collectors. His New Jersey basement museum collection boasts more than 2,400 spark plugs plus an exhausting amount of spark plug-related items including copies of more than 5,000 early patents, letterheads and envelopes from various spark plug companies, and marketing and promotional items. Over the century and a half that spark plugs have been around, they’ve been packaged in lead, wax and wax paper, wooden containers and decorative tins and accompanied by promotional items such as decals, matchbook covers, glassware and posters depicting Old Hollywood starlets. Cook has many of them.

Spark plug collector Joe Cook holds promotional photos of Old Hollywood starlets once used to help market sparkplugs.

“I originally started restoring antique tractors and Hit & Miss (open flywheel) engines,” says Joe when asked what inspired his spark plug collection. “As I was restoring them, I noticed some interesting spark plugs in them. I was intrigued by them so I removed them, cleaned them up and put them on the shelf. Pretty soon I had about a dozen or so and I thought I must have all the different types that there were.”

Feeling proud of his dozen-strong collection, Joe attended an antique tractor and engine show where fate stepped in – in the form of a fellow antique spark plug collector displaying 50 of them on a table. He informed Joe that there were more than 6,500 manufacturers of early spark plugs and told him of the Spark Plug Collectors of America. Joe joined and quickly climbed the leadership ranks while continuing to build his collection. Many of his spark plugs came into the collection in interesting, even amazing ways.

“My son, Peter, and I were scuba diving in the Bahamas. As we were swimming along the coral reef, I spotted something and stopped and picked it up and put it in my dive pouch,” Joe says. “When we surfaced, my son asked me, ‘What did you stop and pick up?’ I opened my pouch and showed him a spark plug all encrusted in coral. He said, ‘Only you could find a spark plug 80 feet underwater amongst all the sea shells. That’s a one in a million chance!’  Well, on the very next dive I found a second one!”

If you’re feeling inspired to start your own spark plug collection, you’re in luck. Turns out, your collection starter might be only as far away as your granddad’s garage.

A coral-encrusted spark plug plucked from the bottom of the ocean on Bahamas diving trip. Seriously - could you have spotted the plug?

Back in the day, “Every corner gas station made and sold plugs, usually in their local area as they did not have the network to distribute them nationwide, let alone worldwide,” Joe explains. “And everyone had an idea on how to make a plug that would not foul. This is what makes collecting so interesting. Another point to remember is the early spark plugs were re-buildable. When the plug wore out, you could take the plug apart and replace the core and have a ‘good as new’ plug for a fraction of what a complete new plug cost. This is also why there are so many antique plugs still around. No one threw them out. When they were removed, they usually got put on the shelf to be rebuilt. Many plugs are found in old garages and barns just sitting on a shelf waiting to be rebuilt or reused.”

Joe takes portions of his collection on the road to antiques, tractor and auto shows, schools, retirement homes and annual SPCOA meetings. He remains a member of the organization’s Board of Directors and is a former co-editor and vice president. And while he loves his collection, it’s the collecting that’s the most meaningful.

“I have been a mechanic all my life. A spark plug to me used to be the final point of ignition in an engine,” he says. “But now that I have retired and collect them, a spark plug to me is a thing of mechanical beauty, pure joy and fascination and most importantly, a means to an end – The end being the camaraderie of my fellow club members as we share the joys of finding a new addition to our beloved hobby!”

Got a spark plug or related item you’d like to share with Joe? Reach him at joe.ignitor@gmail.com. Tell him E3 Spark Plugs sent you.

The Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series presented by Rockstar Energy Drink is down to its final 2010 event, including the E3 Spark Plugs 75. Each event of the 9-race series features 75 laps of green flag racing and doesn’t count yellow caution flag laps. It also features some of the most talented drivers on the scene today and boasts its own national television package.

Topping fans’ predictions for the series champ are Jim Mardis and Tim Morse. Currently, Mardi s has just 8-point lead on Morse. But Morse, proprietor of Morse Performance Exhaust Systems, has an extra impetus to win. Earlier this month, someone broke into his Burbank, CA shop’s security fence and stoke his race car and trailer. It was a devastating blow, but fellow racers have come out of the woodworks offering help. Among them is longtime friend and sometimes competitor Andrew Phipps, who quickly offered Morse the use of his open wheel modified, his car hauler and his crew. As for the car – we’re talking about the very same one that took Phipps to the 2009 Lucas Oil-Rockstar Modified Series championship.

Another offer came from fellow racer Jeff Murphy. He offered Morse the use of the #76 modified usually driven by his teenage son and racer Broc Murphy, who is recovering from a 150-foot fall from a ledge onto a boulder during a family hunting trip. There may be no honor among thieves, but there definitely is honor, friendship and camaraderie among racers.

Another competitor a betting man can’t rule out is Chris Gerchman, who claimed the checkered flag at the series’ Denny’s 75 at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway in Blythe, CA earlier this month. The win was his fifth for the season and made him the third driver in the series’ history to reach victory lane five times in one season.

Saturday’s race takes place at the Havasu 95 Speedway in Havasu City, Arizona. E3 Spark Plugs will give away its $100 E3 Spark Plugs Hard Charger Award. If you can’t attend the race, be sure to check for TV coverage of the race in your area and visit the E3 Spark Plugs blog for championship news. Want a hard charge out of your favorite ride? Pick up a set of E3 performance spark plugs for your car, truck or motorcycle.

The best spark plugs in the world won’t deliver if the sparkplug wires connecting them to your distributor cap aren’t up to par. Good spark plug wires are essential for reliable ignition performance. Bad ones will cause spark plug misfiring, hard starting (especially during rainy, cold or snowy weather), rough idle, hesitation when accelerating, poor fuel economy and increased hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. On 1995 and newer vehicles with OBD II Onboard Diagnostics, a bad wire-prompted misfiring may set a fault code and light up your “Check Engine” signal.

Good spark plug wires are just as essential to ignition performance as your spark plugs themselves.

If you’ve got any of these problems going on with your ride, inspect the sparkplug wires and look for burns, cracked insulation, chaffing, visible arching and loose plugs or terminals. If you see any of those, it’s time for new wiring. Luckily, replacing your spark plug wires is fairly easy and typically requires no tools. But get it wrong and your hot rod won’t leave your garage until you fix it. To make sure you get it right the first time, E3 Spark Plugs offers step-by-step instructions on replacing your spark plug wires.

• First, lay out your new spark plug wires according to length if they’re not numbered (most will be numbered and most come in black, though you’ll also find them in blue, red, orange or yellow.
• Start at one end of the engine and remove only the first spark plug wire by pulling on the boot at the end of the wire until it pops off.
• Follow the wire with your hand to the other end and remove it from the distributor cap. Note that in some vehicles, this end of the spark plug wire is permanently attached to the distributor cap. You know what that means – You’ll have to replace the entire distributor cap. Sorry ’bout your luck.
• Check your spark plugs to ensure they’re still in good condition. Hopefully, you’ll see spark plugs lightly coated with grayish brown deposits. If they’re covered in black or if the electrode or core nose is worn, cracked or otherwise damaged, replace them with new spark plugs. Keep in mind that spark plugs typically foul long before they wear out and that a single fouled spark plug can ransack up to a quarter of a four cylinder engine’s power.
• Replace the old spark plug wire with one numbered the same or of the same length. Listen for a quiet “pop” that lets you know the wire is securely connected to the spark plug. Most cars have small plastic pieces with slots designed to hold the wires in place and keep them from rubbing together or resting on engine parts. If your vehicle has one of these, use it! It will help them last longer.

DO NOT be tempted to pop off all the wires at once. Even if your spark plug wires are numbered, it’s too easy to get them mixed up and connect your spark plugs to the distributor cap in the wrong order. Do this and you’ll have changed the firing order. Your car will run like a racehorse with a bum leg or might not run at all.

Also, don’t assume that new spark plug wires will be part of your 30,000-mile tune-up. Most shops don’t include this service because it bumps up the cost of your tune up. A new set of wires can cost anywhere from $20 to more than $100 depending on the type of vehicle and the quality of the wires. Don’t skimp here. Cheap spark plug wires won’t save you a dime in the long run.

For us gearheads, a spark plug, of course, is “a device designed to fit in each cylinder of a gasoline-powered internal-combustion engine and to produce the electric spark for igniting the mixture of gasoline and air” (thank you, dictionary.com). But the term “spark plug” can take on a metaphorical meaning too, as evidenced by the plethora of “Spark Plug Awards” out there.

Miss Montgomery County Fair Sara Crocks won the Miss Illinois County Fair Pageant's "Spark Plug Award" for charm and enthusiasm.

For instance, the Technology & Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations’ highest honor, the Silver Spark Plug award, goes to trucking professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the improvement of truck equipment, maintenance, technology and management practices. If you’re a trucker, you might have heard of one of the current Silver Spark Plug award winners, Robert Maye, a regular on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio show, “Tech Talk with TMC.”

The Boy Scouts of America also hands out Spark Plug Awards to boy scouts for meritorious service, plus Silver Spark Plug and Golden Spark Plug awards for adult volunteers who go above and beyond the call of duty.

The United States Power Squadrons, America’s largest nonprofit boating organization, gives its annual Spark Plug Award to the new member who has contributed the most time and effort to the organization. The USPS boasts 45,000 members in 450 squadrons nationwide and is dedicated to making boating safer and more enjoyable by teaching classes in seamanship, navigation and other related subjects. Three US presidents have honored the USPS for its civic contributions.

The University of Wisconsin’s Wisconsin Alumni Association doles out its annual WAA Sparkplug Award to the alumni chapter member “who has consistently and over an extended period of time provided the spark that keeps the alumni chapter programming strong and vibrant.”

The Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce honors young female professionals sure to be among the city’s brightest and boldest future leaders with its annual Spark Plug Award.

One of our favorites: The Illinois Department of Agriculture’s annual Miss Illinois County Fair Pageant hands out the Ruby Crum Memorial Award aka the “Spark Plug Award” to the county fair queen who exudes charm and enthusiasm that sets her apart from her competitors. The current Spark Plug title holder is Miss Montgomery County Fair Sara Crocks of Litchfield.

Do you know of a spark plug award we missed? Leave us a comment. And if you’re itching for a win on the racetrack, or just want a strong, smooth ride down the open road be sure to stock your vehicle with E3 performance spark plugs.

E3 Spark Plugs is stoked to be a sponsor of the 4th Annual Lucas Oil Go-Kart Shootout set for November 5-7 at the Possum Kingdom Super Speedway in Belton, South Carolina. A $10,000 prize is up for grabs in the Lucas Oil Pro Class – the feature event of the weekend. But 20 other classes promise big payouts as well. All total, winning racers will take home more than $40,000 when the smoke clears.

Presented by Earl Pearson, Jr., the Lucas Oil Go Kart Shootout debuted in 2007 and has grown by leaps and bounds in the number of participants and the amount of winnings. This year, the Lucas Oil Pro Class alone offers a guaranteed purse of $18,760. Race organizers also are offering several bonuses, including the E3 Spark Plugs Fast Time Award – $100 cash to the driver who sets the fastest qualifying time in the Lucas Oil Pro Class. The Lucas Oil Pro Class winner gets an extra $500 if his car is running with a CAPPS Racing Engine, plus another $10,000 if he goes on to win the Thanksgiving Thunder Pro Class November 25-27 at the Georgia Karting Komplex in Carnesville.

Not signed up yet? There’s still time to enter. Visit www.earlpearsonjr.net for information on classes, payouts, rules and entry fees. And for a competitive edge, be sure to install E3 performance spark plugs in your racecar.

Sponsoring along with Lucas Oil and E3 Spark Plugs are ASI Racewear, Competition Karting, Capps Racing Engines, H&H Painting and Drywall, Firestone, Hoosier, Avis Electric Company, Scott Lynn Designs, Radical Racing, Ultramax, Zoom Parts for Karts, Georgia Karting Komplex, Xtreme Graphics, Red Buck racing and Bobby Labonte Racing. Want to sponsor an event? Contact Wayne Castleberry at info@earlpearsonjr.net or 904-210-6649.

E3 Spark Plugs racing fans attending Oktoberfest will get a real treat tonight as the Project G.R.E.E.N. racecar – touted as the world’s first environmentally responsible oval track race car – makes its track debut at Oktoberfest Racing Weekend.  G.R.E.E.N. is an acronym for Green Racing Experimental Engine Narrative and it’s a project of Circle Track Magazine, Argonne National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy. Their goal: “To bring creativity back to short track racing,” Circle Track Editor Rob Fisher says.  “In the past racing was a proving ground for OEMs to test new parts and products that would eventually end up on passenger cars.  Lately, racing has become a quest for the level playing field which has hurt the racer’s creativity and created a chasm between what comes out of Detroit and what we use to power our cars.”

Racing fans first read about Project G.R.E.E.N. in the April 2010 issue of Circle Track and have followed its progress since. Project leaders and partners, including E3 Spark Plugs focused their efforts on jettisoning conventional thinking about what makes a great oval racetrack car and proving that fuel injection coupled with alternative fuels could make for a strong competitor on the oval track. Thus far, they’ve reported a significant increase in torque over 85% of the time the engine operates on track testing. And the Project G.R.E.E.N. Camaro’s GM Performance Parts CT525 engine is a bargain at well under $10,000. Researchers also have been testing the car with E-85 fuel, a domestically produced fuel that averages 60% less expensive and is easier on parts than racing methanol.

Tonight, the Project G.R.E.E.N. Camaro will undergo its first major test under race conditions in the 41st Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend’s Dick Trickle “99″ piloted by Dalton Zehr and carrying a data acquisition system created by Argonne National Laboratory. The system will collect real time data to evaluate how the car performs under race conditions and to characterize the petroleum displacement and greenhouse gas reduction potential (Note that the car’s performance won’t be officially scored or listed in the results). Tonight’s race takes place at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, WI.

Joining E3 Spark Plugs in supporting the development of Project G.R.E.E.N. are Sensors Inc., American Speed Association, GM Performance Parts, Mast Motorsports, AR Bodies, VP Race Fuel, Holley, Schoenfeld Headers, Hoosier Racing Tires, Coleman Racing Products, Jones Racing Products, AMSOIL, Comp Cams, Quartermaster, Speedway Motors, ATL Fuel Cells, Quick Fuel Technology, Random Technology, and Phillips Racing Wires. E3 Spark Plugs’ patented DiamondFire technology makes them a natural choice to partner with Project G.R.E.E.N. In fact, E3 is the only spark plug to be deemed a “supplemental emissions control device” by the EPA. But you don’t have to be a race car driver to take advantage. Install E3 performance spark plugs in your vehicle for cleaner, stronger drive.

(Video by Chicago’s WLS-TV ABC-7.)