E3 Spark Plugs Welcomes 2013 Class of Team E3 Tier 2 Winners

    E3 Spark Plugs sends out big props to the 2012 class of Team E3 Racing Sponsorship Contest Tier 2 winners. Three top picks from our inaugural class made the cut this year as well. They are: Alex Prunty, third-generation race car driver; Jacob “Camokid” Putman, 7-year-old Kid Kart champ; Daryl Barrett, 30-year racing professional New on the team for 2013 are: Cody Perry, Sport Compact / Hornet division racer; Parker Abed, a competitive racer since age five; Danny Phillips, custom lawnmower builder and racer; John Hummel, 26-year drag racer; Aidan Montgomery Hinds, 7-year-old racer; Tyler Shepard, the “Wheelie Wizzard; bobby brown, truck racer; Tim Spurlock, engine transmission and builder, and truck racer; Tom Benvenuti, vintage snowmobile...

February 5, 2015
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New Concept Cars Amaze at Chicago Auto Show

Zombie lovers, movie goers and “fixie” riders all have surprises waiting for them at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show. The 2013 Chicago Auto Show is underway. And the sights are amazing! Founded in 1901, it’s the nation’s largest auto show with more than 1 million square feet of interactive exhibits. But here at E3 Spark Plugs, we’re most taken by some of the coolest concept cars we’ve seen in a while. The newest on the show floor is the Turbo Camaro Coupe, based on a character in DreamWorks’ new high-velocity 3D animated comedy, Turbo. In theatres July 19, the film centers on a speed-obsessed snail bent on winning the Indy 500. Of course, it’s a Chevy Camaro that helps him chase his dream. The real-world version of the cartoon car equipped...

February 5, 2015
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Thawing Out that Frozen Car Door Lock – E3 Spark Plugs Tells you How

Frozen door locks got you out in the cold? E3 Spark Plugs offers a few clever tips. If you live and drive in what we here at E3 Spark Plugs refer to as the “Frozen Tundra,” meaning anywhere north of the Florida-Georgia line, you’ve no doubt encountered the problem of your car door locks freezing, leaving you – literally – out in the cold. Based in sunny Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where we do sand, not snow (that freak winter of 1989 notwithstanding) we could just prop our flip-flopped feet on our patio chairs and laugh at you. But we have hearts. So instead, we’re going to offer you a few tips for thawing out that frozen door lock so you can get to work/the gym/the monster truck show on time. If your driver-seat door is frozen shut, try another...

February 5, 2015
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E3 Spark Plugs Mourns the Death of X-Games Champion Caleb Moore

Champion snowmobiler Caleb Moore passed away Thursday morning, one week after suffering critical injuries in a crash at the X Games Aspen. A week after a devastating start to the X Games Aspen, champion snowmobiler Caleb Moore has died. Moore, a four-time Winter X Games medalist died Thursday morning from injuries suffered in a horrific crash during the snowmobile freestyle competition finals, which took place Thursday, January 24. Near the end of Moore’s first run, he failed to fly far enough on a backflip. The front sleds of his snowmobile dug into the landing ramp, catapulting him over the handlebars and into a face-first landing before the snowmobile landed on him. After regaining consciousness, Moore was taken to a local hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a...

February 5, 2015
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E3 Spark Plugs’ “Today in Automotive History??? – Benz Patents First Viable Automobile 127 Years Ago

The Benz Patent Motorwagen, the world’s first commercially viable automobile. January 29 marks what is widely considered the birth of the modern automotive industry. On this day 127 years ago, German inventor Karl Freidrich Benz patented a gasoline-powered vehicle of his own design, deemed the first viable automobile. Karl Freidrich Benz at age 25. Benz had received his first engine patent in 1879, followed by patents for the speed regulation system, the ignition using white power sparks with battery, the carburetor, the clutch, the gear shift, the water radiator and, our personal favorite of course, the spark plug. He’s best known, however, for the patent he received in January of 1888 for his first automobile, the Benz Patent Motorwagen. Powered by a single-cylinder,...

February 5, 2015
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1927 Fort Track T Roadster Named America’s Most Beautiful Roadster

Collector John Mumford’s 1927 Fort Track T Roadster was recently named America’s Most Beautiful Roadster. Touted as the world’s longest running indoor car show, the Grand National Roadster Show held its 64th anniversary event this weekend in Pomona, California. And as always, officials named one show-stopper America’s Most Beautiful Roadster. This year, the clear winner was a 1927 Fort Track T roadster, a gorgeous ride that combines Model T parts with Model A bodywork. But the win was a good 30 years in the making. The car began as a rebuild project of various car owners in the 1980s, NHRA Top Fuel champion Kelly Brown among them. Brown and other subsequent owners never quite finished the project and eventually, the car found its way to hot rod collector John...

February 5, 2015
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Banned NASCAR Driver Shane Hmiel Battle Addiction, Mounts Comeback

Formerly banned NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel returns to the tracks this weekend in Accessible Racing’s Race to the Rock. Photo courtesy of “Shane Hmiel Road to Recovery.” An admitted former drug addict once banned for life by NASCAR in 2006 says he’s driven out his demons and wants back on the track. Shane Hmiel was Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series in 2001 and seemed on pace for a very successful racing career. But numerous failed drug tests and one memorable obscene gesture to Busch Series competitor Dale Jarrett made him pro racing’s undisputed bad boy. In October 2010, the controversial Hmiel was paralyzed in a near fatal crash during a USAC Silver Crown qualifying race at the Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana. Hmiel’s...

February 4, 2015
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Stolen “Time Capsule??? Corvette Sells for 1989 Sticker Price – Original Down to the Spark Plugs

1989 Corvette convertible with just 67 miles – a deal of a lifetime thanks to one unnerved Irish car thief. Talk about your great garage finds. E3 Spark Plugs would love to come across one of these – a mint condition 1989 Corvette – so mint, in fact that it’s still got the first price tag in the window. And it recently sold a Chevy aficionado with a time capsule dream for the original sticker price. Mike Robertson, a Newport Beach, Calif. advertising executive had long dreamed of buying a brand new car, then promptly storing it away with plans to take it out 20 years later and drive it like it around like it had just come off the lot. “Like time capsuling a car for myself,” Robertson recently told reporters. “It was just a fantasy.” But...

February 4, 2015
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Holy Spark Plugs! Original Batmobile Sold for $4.2 Million

The original Batmobile, used in the 1960s “Batman” TV show, sold at auction for $4.2 million. Were you the lucky bidder? E3 Spark Plugs has just learned that the original Batmobile has a new owner. Other than the bandied-about phrase “some rich guy from Phoenix,” there’s no official word on just who dropped the $4.2 million final purchase price last weekend at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The 19-foot-long black, bubble-topped car was used in the 1960s Batman TV show and boasted all sorts of futuristic features including lasers, a batphone, the official Bat Ray projector and the ability to lay down smoke screens and oil slicks. The car’s base is a 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept that seller George Barris bought from Ford for a...

February 4, 2015
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Still Time to Register for the 2013 Team E3 Racing Sponsorship Contest

Hey racers and racing crew! There’s still time to register for the 2013 class of Team E3 Racing Sponsorship Contest winners. E3 Spark Plugs is looking for up-and-coming racing competitors and pit crew members who want to rev up their careers. And as long as it has an engine, it doesn’t matter what you race. Our inaugural class of Team E3 Racing members head for the finish line piloting everything from high-dollar speed boats to riding lawn mowers. Crew competitors have been racing team owners, pit crew managers and mechanics. We want to hear from career hopefuls who understand not just the track side, but the business and promotions side of professional racing, too. If you’re chosen as a Team E3 Racing winner, you’ll get a publicity boost via the E3 Spark Plugs...

February 4, 2015
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