Original Message

I raced them for five years. I laughed at them at first, but gained a ton of respect for them very quickly.

1. They were $3400 and you barely had to work on them. Changed plugs every three weeks along with the oil. No valves to adjust.

2. Early years of crates, there were no fake seals or other cheater parts available, so everyone was basically equal.

3. You can't blow them up unless you're an idiot! The first three years of crates at Wall, I don't think one engine blew up other than one guy who thought 44 degrees of timing would make him faster, he admitted it.

4. I ran the same engine three straight years without freshening. Replaced valve springs only.  Pat on the back time, 14 wins and 3 championships, we were making money other than the initial investment of the car.   WHAT A SAVINGS!

5. It put people in the back gate to help pay the Modified purse. On Dirt, at most tracks today, the back gate income from the Crate guys pays the whole Modifed purse.

6. I can go on and on! The cheating involved now and the expense of the engine, almost $6000 new, it may not be worth it anymore. One guy told me he had $9000 into his crate to keep up with my "cheated engine". When I told him mine was $3400 and not cheated, he turned blue!  LOL  It's setup and driving.

It gave me and many others an opportunity to continue racing because the engine was very affordable.