MB Motorsports Engine Builder Ready For Second Round of Clevite Engine Building Contest - Darrell Hoffman & Ed Ramey Looking for Championship

Darrel Hoffman, MB Motorsports engine builder, and Earl Ramey, owner of Hi-Tech Engines, had never worked together until they successfully defeated their opponents during the first round of the third annual Clevite Engine Builders Showdown held at the Circle Track Racing Expo in Daytona Beach, Florida, during February Speedweek. They are ready to put their quick engine building skills on the line once again when they compete in the second round of the Clevite Engine Builders Showdown to be held Tuesday, March 12, 2002 at the Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC.

By invitation only, the contest pairs 16 of NASCAR’s top engine builders, along with their partners, to compete for the Clevite Engine Builder Showdown 2002 Championship. At the beginning of each round, the engines have been totally disassembled, except for the main and rod bearings being prefitted, and the pistons, rods, and rings preassembled. Each pair of engine builders is required to completely assemble and run the engine for one minute, prior to their opponent doing the same thing. The contest is decided by an elimination process through four individual rounds of building an engine and successfully having it run for one minute. The winners in each round are monetarily rewarded for their efforts, with the champions eventually accumulating $30,000.00. 

During the first round, Earl and Darrell defeated their opponent from Bill Davis Racing by assembling and running their engine in 26 minutes, 25 seconds. However, five penalty points gave them a final time of 31 minutes, 25 seconds, but still enough to win their round.

Darrell Hoffman has been building engines since 1982 for many dirt and asphalt drivers in the Midwest. Ten years of that time, Darrell owned his own engine shop in Belleville, Illinois.  Darrell currently builds the engines for the #63 Waterloo Tool Storage/MB Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck team based in Foristell, Missouri. Darrell is also a winning short track dirt and asphalt driver, putting his engines to the test in the modified and late model classes throughout the Midwest.

"I know we can take a lot of time out of the next engine build," stated Darrell. "The only experience we had in Daytona was spending 10 minutes watching the teams ahead of us assemble their engines. When our turn came, we kind of discussed how we would handle the lower end, but the upper end went smooth too. We'll be a lot better in the second round."

Earl Ramey, has owned and operated Hi-Tech Engines in Mooresville. North Carolina for the past 6 years, providing top quality engines to several NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Busch Grand National teams, along with many short track teams. Earl has been building engines since he was 13 years old. He began by helping his older brother, who currently builds engines for Robert Yates Racing. Earl has also built engines for Petty Enterprise and Robert Yates Racing, before owning his own engine shop. Like Darrell, Earl is also an experienced winning driver, piloting his #8 late model on the short tracks of North Carolina.  

"I asked Darrell to work with me in the Engine Building Showdown because I knew he was used to working on Ford engines," commented Earl. "We have only known each other about a year, but I had heard about his talents and strong engines in the Midwest. We did pretty well in the first round, but we will be better in the next round. We plan on winning the Clevite Engine Builders Showdown 2002 Championship."