E3 Spark Plugs News

Jacob “Camokid” Putman is burning up the tracks. making a name for himself at just six years old.

Since the ripe old age of four, Jacob “Camokid” Putman has been chasing a very grownup dream, leaving competitors with more age and experience in the dust. Now, at 7 years old, he’s back for his second year of Team E3 Racing sponsorship and ever closer to a future pro racing career.

The Kid Cart champ who turns seven next month made his racing debut in October of 2010 at just four years old at Old Dominion Speedway (ODS) in Manassas, VA. With a solid fourth-place finish, he convinced his parents, competitors and track officials that he was a natural behind the wheel. He started the next season in Kid Kart 1, but so put his competitors to shame that officials recommended his parents move him up to Kid Kart 2. Head-to-head against older boys with at least two years of experience, he again proved his mettle on the track, finishing the season second in points at King George Speedway and landing the season championship at ODS

That same year, he also finished 8th of 13 karts at the Annual Kid Kart Nationals in St. Louis, MO, joined the Excel Racing team for the 2012 season and formed his own team, J&D Outlaw Racing, with friend and competitor Donald Whorton. The 2012 season also proved a great one for Putman, who again scored the ODS season championship winning nine races in a row. He also scored his first win in the Great Lake Sprint Series. The youngest competitor on the track, he finished his rookie GLSS season sixth in points.

Not bad for a first grader.

Putman starts the 2013 racing season with back-to-back ODS series championships and has his sights set on a GLSS championship. We here at E3 Spark Plugs have no doubt he’ll finish strong. After all, this is a kid who eats, breathes and lives racing – literally and virtually, his parents say.

“If he not on the track, he is at home on X-Box, Play Station, Sims or I racing,” said dad, Vince Putman, also a racer.  He noted that this will be Putman’s last year in Kid Kart, as he’s moving up to the big leagues in 2014.

Meanwhile, “Jacob does a very good job giving away E3 shirts and hats and flashlights and spark plugs to his competitors and lets them know E3 Spark Plugs or part of his winning formula,” Vince Putman said.

For that, we thank Jacob and welcome him once again to Team E3 Racing.

Jeremy Higgins got hooked on dirt bike racing at age three when his dad surprised him with a PW50 dirt bike.

Nineteen-year-old Jeremy Higgins has been slinging dirt since age three when his father surprised him with a PW50 bike.

“From the beginning, I was attracted to it,” Higgins recently told reporters. “I had the training wheels off my PW50 before they came off my bicycle. After a year or two of riding around the yard with my dad, he took me to my first race. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked.”

Today, he’s owning the competitive flat track racing scene and, as part of the Project K Racing team, has been instrumental in developing KTM’s flat track machines. The Bergen, NY native turned pro in 2008 and earned his national number as an Expert Rookie in 2010.

Team E3 Racing winner Jeremy Higgins

Higgins races a 2010 Yamaha yz450f in the AMA Pro Grand National Singles Championship Series, and a KTM 950 and Suzuki SV650 for running the AMA Pro Grand National Twins Series on the Waters Autobody Racing team.

The 2010/2011 season proved a turning point for Higgins. He traveled across the country attending dozens of races and, at a main event in Prescott, Arizona, landed his first ever top 10 finish in Grand National racing.

“I learned a lot,” says Higgins, who recently graduated college as a powersport technician and loves to spend his off-weekends on upstate New York’s motocross tracks. “I cannot wait for next season to keep moving forward and making progress in the series. We have a strong team that never gives up and loves to learn and move forward as a team.”

Throughout the 2012 season, he’ll be competing in the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Twins class and the Expert Singles class throughout the United States.

E3 Spark Plugs welcomes Higgins to Team E3 Racing!

Team E3 Racing Tier 1 winner Dan Bunting has finished in the top 10 of the APR series each of the past four years.

Dan Bunting’s competitive boat racing debut was not exactly all he had hoped for. In his very first race, the UIM World Championships in Marietta, Ohio, he barrel-rolled his boat on the eight qualifying lap. The experience might have been enough to send someone of lesser resolve paddling back to shore for a new landlubber’s hobby. But as a career police officer, Bunting had what it took to tough it out and try again. That’s why he’s a new member of Team E3 Racing.

Bunting quickly got his pride and his boat back into shape and headed back into the water in time for the next race. Long story short, he ended his rookie season in 10th place on the America Powerboat Racing (APR) SuperLeague Circuit and not only landed a Rookie of the Year title, but helped his team score the prestigious Betty May Best Dressed Team Award to boot. Today, he’s a team owner and Formula 3 Points champion.

Bunting pilots a Tunnel Boat in the APR Series Tour and has finished in the top 10 in series points each of the past four years. His team, Tunnel Vision Racing, is co-sponsored by Monster Energy, JEGS and the Hard Rock Café. Earlier this year, he decided to put all he’s learned about performance boats and equipment to profitable use and launch ExtremePowerboatRacing.com, an online store offering safety and performance parts for boat racing.

Team E3 Racing's Dan Bunting also is a career police officer.

Meanwhile, Bunting continues his law enforcement career. A police officer since 1993, he has served as a deputy sheriff in Ohio and Colorado and has held the ranks of patrolman, lieutenant and chief of police. So, the number and name of his previous boat, “Five-O” makes sense.

We here at E3 Spark Plugs congratulate Bunting on his continued success in boat racing and his new business endeavor. If you’re thinking about competing on the water, make sure you stock your boat with a set of high-performance racing spark plugs.

Team E3 Racing just got bigger. Announcing our March winners! Congrats to these 18 up and coming racers.

TIER 1 WINNERS (Win $500 cash, 25 E3 Spark Plugs and Official E3 Race Day Gear/Decals):

• Daniel Alvarez: Nineteen-year-old Daniel “The Hammer” Alvarez of Chappells, South Carolina is much more than a hobbyist when it comes to racing. He’s already got a solid start on a well-rounded racing career with a A.A.S. degree in Automotive Technology from Piedmont Technical College and a scholarship to veteran  racer Tony Blanchard’s RACE 1101 program, where he was so successful, the school created a new award in his honor. The X Factor Award will honor students who successfully recognize and brand a unique marketing image.
• Jacob Putman: Our littlest winner yet, Jacob “Camokid” Putman ran his first official Kid Kart race at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia at the tender age of four. Today, at six years old, he’s racked up multiple wins against kids with more years and more experience on him. And he’s part of two racing teams including J&D Outlaw Racing founded with friend Donald Whorton. He starts the 2012 Kid Kart 2 season as a member of the Excel Racing team.
• Daryl Barrett: Daryl Barrett of Gorham, New York’s Asylum Motorsports Group has been involved in every facet of racing since the age of four. He’s been a driver, crewmember, crew chief, engineer and owner and has worked with several successful racing teams over the course of his career, which includes over 250 wins. He races in the Grand-Am and the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) World Challenge series in DP, GT, GS and GTS classes.
• Jeremy Higgins: Nineteen-year-old Jeremy Higgins races dirt track and this year will compete in the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Twins class and the Expert Singles class on tracks throughout the United States. He races a 2010 Yamaha and graduates college as a powersports technician this spring.
• James Luckett: That’s “Officer Luckett” to you. James Luckett of Romeoville, Illinois is a police officer who participates in exhibition and high school races via Beat the Heat, a nonprofit organization that works to keep kids off the streets. Driving his marked 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme down the drag, Luckett encourages kids to “make the trip to the strip” rather than race illegally on the street.
• John Guthu: De Pere’ Wisconsin’s John  Guthu loves a run on his snowmobile – no snow necessary. He’s entering his eight season in competitive grass drag racing with a new series, the Midstate Grass Drag Circuit. He landed a championship title in his first year of racing and has finished in the top three points every year since in the 600CC non-studded class.

TIER 2 WINNERS (Win 1 Set of up to 8 Plugs and Official E3 Race Day Gear/Decals):

• Brody Goble: Canada’s Brody Goble has been winning on the racetrack since 2005. He’s the  2011 CACC Canada Sports Car Rookie of the Year and a 2012 inductee into the Autosport Dynamics’ ASD Mob program, which recognizes the top emerging drivers in drifting.
• Eric Roberts: Racing isn’t just about the drivers. Eric Roberts is crew chief on a 1979 Chevy Caprice in the Road Warrior class at Punta Gorda Speedway. The Lehigh Acres, Florida resident says he won over a skeptical driver when the team won its first victory after switching to E3 car spark plugs.
• Richard Smith: Souderton, Pennsylvania’s Richard Smith serves as the throttleman for his family’s multi-championship winning Smith Brothers Offshore Racing Team. The team races a 26-foot Joker Powerboat powered by a 500 HP Mercruiser Big Block and a set of E3 racing spark plugs.
• David Pochedly: Painesville, Ohio’s David Pochedly describes himself as a “normal person that believes that E3 Spark Plugs are unbeatable in performance.” He runs them in all his rides, including a 1981 mud truck on 40-inch tires and a worn-out 1998 Dodge Dakota with 230-miles that tops out at 125mph on E3s.
• Daniel Yarbrough: Daniel Yarbrough honed his mechanical skills building mini stock rollers that raced at the Thunder Hill Raceway in his hometown Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Today, he continues building cars and engines for a living, and uses only E3 Spark Plugs.
• Terry Panciera: Terry Panciera of Bristol, Connecticut is a member of the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association. He’s entering his second season in competitive lawnmower racing on a 1985 Lawn Chief.

TIER 3 WINNERS (Win Official E3 Race Day Gear and Decals):

• Bill Watson
• Ronald Volner
• Jeff Byer
• Frank Speer
• Ben Newburn
• Jerry Manes

Check the E3 Spark Plugs blog and Facebook fan page for updates on all our Team E3 Racing winners.