E3 Spark Plugs News

Check out those awesome shirts! Team E3 Racing winner Dan Bunting and his ExtremePowerboatRacing.com crew recently set the APBA world record for for quarter-mile speed. Check out other recent Team E3 accomplishments and get ready for your chance to win.

As we gear up for the next round, we’re catching up with a few winners from our inaugural Team E3 Racing class.

Team E3 Racing winner Cody Erdmann entered his #52 Ford Mustang in the Track Competition – Dwarf Class at the 50th Anniversary O’Reilly Auto Parts World of Wheels in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and drove away with the Outstanding in Class award. While there, he made a generous donation to the Pinstripe Legends Art Auction, helping to raise more than $54,000 for cancer research at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. On a fast track toward a pro racing career, Cody recently took second place in the Feature Race and the 2012 standings in the Slinger Super Speedway Championship series, winning the Top Qualifier of the Year honor.

A competitive speedboat racer since he was just 16, Stephen Kildahl and his Scott Free racing team recently snagged third place in the Super Boat International Key West World Championships, Superboat VEE Limited class. At 21, he’s the youngest full time driver on the circuit by at least 10 years and balances his time on the boat with his studies at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Fellow competitive boat racer and Team E3 Racing member Dan Bunting also made waves recently. His ExtremePowerboatRacing.com crew team established the quarter-mile speed world record at the American Power Boat Association (APBA) Records Run in New Martinsville, West Virginia.

Back on land, winner Terry Panciera and his Powered by the Complex lawn mower racing team took the checkered flag in the last race of the season and clinched the New England Lawn Mower Racing Association (NELMRA) points championship. And Team E3 Racing’s littlest winner, Jacob “Camokid” Putman won seven races in a row, including the season finale race at Manassas, Virginia’s Old Dominion Speedway, securing the Kid Kart 3 Class 2012 championship.

Are you an up-and-coming racer? Now is your chance to rev up your career! The Team E3 Racing 2013 Sponsorship Contest kicks off this Saturday, December 1. Enter to win $500 in cash, 16 E3 Spark Plugs, official apparel and decals for you and your team. You must be a fan of the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page to win. Like us now, then check the E3 Spark Plugs blog for contest details on Saturday. We’ll pick 12 lucky winners.

Good luck!

Racer Cody Erdmann with Miss Slinger Super Speeday.

For Dee Erdmann and son Cody, professional racing is a family affair. Dee entered Cody, 16, in the Team E3 Racing competition and when we read the young racer’s bio, we knew he was a natural.

The Erdmann family of Mayville, Wisconsin loves racing and has spent years doing “anything involving going fast and turning left” before forming CHE Racing. Young Cody spent his formative years in the garage, watching his dad build racecars. It soon became apparent that the toddler was paying close attention when, at age two, he picked up a fallen lug nut and put it back on the car perfectly. As any gearhead knows, it’s easy to put a lug nut on wrong. That moment would prove a positive omen for Cody’s life. The boy who, at age four, saw Jeff Gordon race and declared, “I’m gonna be like him one day” is well on his way to a long and promising racing career.

Cody’s competitiveness first showed up in his racing RC Oval Pan Cars starting at 10 years old. But racing from a distance didn’t cut it for long. So, at age 15, Cody hit the tracks behind the wheel of a real race car for the first time, competing in the American Super Cup Series. He finished his 2011 rookie season eighth in overall points and second in the rookie standings. During the season, he brought home two heat wins, four top-five feature finishes, nine top 10 feature finishes, and the best placing “Rookie of the Evening” award four times.

Cody Erdmann takes the checkered flag.

Nicknamed “Hollywood,” Cody, Dee and CHE Racing are set for a spectacular sophomore season as a competitive Super Cup driver. But the wise-beyond-his-years teenager isn’t taking anything – especially success on the tracks – for granted.

“Just because people think I’ll win a championship doesn’t mean I will,” Cody says. “I have to believe in myself first to achieve it.”

We here at E3 Spark Plugs certainly believe in Cody and his family, and welcome them to Team E3 Racing.