Samples of Feature Articles
Written by Fred Noer

Bruce Thompson profile
Geneva Lake Association annual directory

When most people look at Geneva Lake, they see a beautiful body of water. When Bruce Thompson views the lake, he conceives works of art - his outstanding photographs of the lake he calls "the blue jewel."

For more than 30 years Geneva Lake has sparkled in Thompson's imagination. "Water is one of the most fundamental aspects in my work," he said. "I have a primal connection to water. I either have to be on it, near it, or involved with it. I love all aspects it generates, including the life forms and the light forms."

Thompson, 58, is a lifelong area resident, having grown up along Sauganash Drive in Country Club Estates subdivision in Fontana. After living outside Walworth several years in the 1970s, he returned to the house in which he grew up and continues to live there with his wife Joan. They have two grown children, Ben and Emily.

Inspiration from Geneva Lake for art has sparked not only Thompson's creativity but that of his grandfather, father, and son. "The lake is a most unique environment," Thompson said. "It is a special body of water, and it has become a destination because of the water quality and the quality of life."

His grandfather, Abijah Thompson, made a Geneva Lake cottage his destination in the early 1900s. The trips for fishing and swimming provided breaks from his career as an illustrator in Chicago, where he served as the art director for Montgomery Ward.

Accompanying Abijah was Thompson's father Richard, who shared an enchantment with the lake and water. During a career in which he became known as one of the foremost American Impressionist painters he produced 1,800 works, and 75 percent of them contains water.

Ben Thompson, 25, continues the family art heritage and connection to Geneva Lake. He was co-sculptor with Jay Brost, Barb Brost, and Ken Wilson of the life-size bronze sculpture of a windsurfer titled "Summer Breeze" on the Fontana lakefront. Ben also draws and paints, and he is employed as a Web site developer at Miniature Precision Components in Walworth.

Although Bruce Thompson did drawing and painting earlier in his life, "those mediums did not come easily to me," he said. "When I picked up a camera, I saw compositions and whole pictures. Photography became comfortable for me. It was easy."

He started in photography at age 19 while attending the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire as a business major with an art minor. A one-semester photography class changed his life. The class project was a book titled "On Water Street," and Thompson became engrossed in the photography. "I applied what I was imbued with by my dad," he said. "I had all these insights and didn't really know what they meant until I started applying it. It all connected."

His formal education complemented what he began learning at an early age from his father, a painter renowned for his mastery of color and light. "We talked about art, and I was exposed to good art my whole life," Thompson said. "He would show me, and I would respond. He constantly was telling me, `Look at the light,' and I started making connections between light, composition, and pattern.

"When I'm in the throes of creating images, I'm not as aware of the subject as I am the patterns of light," he said. "To me, photographs are compositions of light, not arrangements of subjects. Many people say that I photograph like a painter, and I guess that's because I was taught to see by a painter."

His eyes also were trained by looking at works of famous photographers such as Edward Steichen, Ansel Adams, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. "I looked at great work and said to myself, `I can do that,'" Thompson said. "Through self-awareness you recognize that you have something of talent and start to connect with what you could do."

Thompson has traveled many different roads on his photographic odyssey. He has photographed scenes in the United States as well as Portugal, Spain, France, Israel, Mexico, and Canada.

Within a few years of clicking the shutter for the first time he was recognized for his work. In 1972 he received the Kodak International Snapshot Award. Following that, he earned honors at the annual art show at the Wustum Museum in Racine and several Wisconsin art fairs.

The art fair exposure launched Thompson's three-year stint with the State of Wisconsin Division of Tourism as freelance photographer. His mission was to visually create the image of Wisconsin for tourism.

In 1979, with the addition of a family to support, he opened his own studio and concentrated on commercial photography. For more than 20 years the discipline of producing high-quality work and meeting deadlines made Thompson successful.

That phase of his career involved fashion, industrial, and product photography in addition to annual reports and portraits. His clients included local, regional, and national accounts. "The major benefit of the commercial work was the knowledge," he said. "I had opportunities to try new things. I was thrust into situations and had to figure out what went into the shots."

One of his favorite projects was the photography for the popular book Grand and Glorious: Classic Boats of Lake Geneva. It was published in 2002 by Larry Larkin, a prominent resident of the south shore of Geneva Lake.

In spite of concentrating on commercial photography, Thompson's passion for art never waned. He has no particular preference for subject matter - from landscapes to figures. "I like to discover moments that reveal themselves," he said. "Through my photography I feel an urgency to witness the events of life and partake of the beauty that is all around us. And then I can't wait to hand what I have witnessed to somebody else."

Thompson is especially fond of the Geneva Lake area. "I've always loved it because of the variety with the seasons and the weather conditions," he said. "The light always changes."

His color photographs have adorned many magazines, from At the Lake, Sail, and Wisconsin Trails to National Geographic, Gentleman's Quarterly, and the New England Journal of Medicine. His meticulously printed black and white photographs are included in corporate and private art collections throughout the country.

Locally, his images are displayed as permanent collections at Aurora Lakeland Medical Center, The Abbey, Claw's Restaurant, Fontana Village Hall, and Fontana Public Library. He also has published a set of four posters, "Seasons of Geneva Lake," that are available at J'Marc Graphics, McCullough's Prescriptions & Gifts, Details, and Bruce Thompson Studios.

When commercial photography began changing in the late 1990s due to digital equipment and computer image manipulation, Thompson sensed he eventually would have to alter his approach to photography. Finally, two years ago he decided to concentrate solely on art. "I decided to follow my heart, and the break had to be cold, swift, and defining," Thompson said.

"Since then my opportunities have grown dramatically. I want people to see me a very competent artist. When someone buys a piece of my work, I hope it will be revered enough to be passed on to future generations."

For more information or to see Thompson's work, call his studio at 262-275-8089. It is located at N1381 Hwy. 14 northwest of Walworth. His e-mail address is brucethompson21@hotmail.com, and his Web site is www.thompsonsfineart.com.


Dan Huellewig and his 1932 Ford
Drag Racing Action

Upon seeing photos of Dan Huellewig's unique 1932 Ford Victoria, you're probably saying to yourself: "Wait a second, what's a street rod doing in a drag racing magazine?"

Look again. No mistake has been made. Although its overall appearance could fool anyone, the Vicky is racecar, evidenced by the numbers, slicks, wheelie bars and front-mounted Moon fuel tank. When Huellewig, 27, goes cruising in his sedan, it is as an NHRA Super Gasser a quarter-mile at a time in approximately 9.90 seconds.

The pits at a drag race often have been described as a car show, so Huellewig and his Ford have that in common with the street rod scene. Due to its unconventionality, the car is a magnet for attention, as Huellewig has learned since his first outing with the car in May 2004 at the NHRA O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas.

"People tell me they love it," Huellewig said. "They say, `That's the coolest thing I've ever seen.' That's especially true when they look inside or underneath it. A lot of people have said it looks like a street rod."

Not surprisingly, the car was supposed to be a street rod. In 1987 Huellewig's father Dave bought the Downs Manufacturing body (with a two-inch chopped top), Rock Valley fenders and Rod N Race hood. All the pieces are fiberglass. He also purchased a TCI Engineering aftermarket frame based on '32 Ford rails. His intention was to install in them a late-model 350-inch Chevy engine with fuel injection.

Had Dave Huellewig, 55, proceeded with his project, it would have been his fourth street rod. His first was a 1923 Ford T bucket with a big-block Chevy. He built the machine, which he still has, in 1982 when he belonged to the Roarin' '30s car club. He also intended to build a 1940 two-door sedan and a 1933 Pontiac three-window coupe into street rods, but he sold them before completion.

One of the reasons the Vicky never saw the street is because Dave Huellewig was dissatisfied with the choices of a front suspension for the car. He decided to make his own. Using stainless steel throughout, the suspension consists of tubular A-arms, investment-cast spindle uprights, steering arms and brake-caliper brackets. Completing the set-up are GM rotors, Wilwood calipers, Aldan shocks, Jerry Bickel Race Cars springs and Chrysler rack-and-pinion steering.

Seeing a market for the suspension, Huellewig went into business full-time selling the components, and the Vicky served as his display vehicle at car shows. He ended the business in 1990 after three years due to competition and the fact "I was not set up to do it right," he said.

With the end of the business, the car was put in storage. Huellewig turned his attention to operating his heating and air-conditioning business and coping with an illness in his family. In the intervening years his son Dan became involved in drag racing, which Dave did in his teens and 20s, including running a 1965 Chevelle with a 427.

Dan Huellewig's first pass down a quarter-mile was at Mid-America Raceways (MAR) near Wentzville in April 1998 in a 1968 Firebird with a four-barrel 427 Chevy, Powerglide and 4.56 12-bolt rearend. The 3,040-pound 'bird, which he acquired from good friend Steve Martin of Wentzville, runs 10.30s at 132.

A quick learner, Huellewig earned the MAR Pro and track championships in 1999. He won seven races that year, including a sweep of the May events to set a track record, and always advanced to at least the quarterfinals in fields as large as 60 cars. Also at MAR he won the National Dragster Challenge in 2003 and has won seven times in a nostalgia class. It is contested twice a season for cars 1972 and older.

No brag, just fact, Huellewig stated he had the most dominant car at MAR. "They 'hate' me there. When the other racers see me pull into the track, they realize their chances of winning go out the door," he said. "I'm a deadly consistent racer. I'm like a robot. Everything has to be perfect."

Huellewig also has competed with his Firebird at Heartland Park Topeka, Gateway International Raceway, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Route 66 Raceway and Memphis Motorsports Park in bracket races as well as Super Chevy and Good Guys events. In 2001 he participated in 52 races.

Despite the traveling, Huellewig has a full-time job as a radiological technician for Nydic Open MRI in St. Peters, Mo. He operates MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines for medical patients requiring x-rays for doctors' diagnoses.

The seed for the Vicky project was planted in 2000 when Huellewig assisted a friend with his 1957 Chevy in Super Gas. "Once I saw what Super Gas racing was, I had to try it," he said. "But my Firebird was so consistent and I had won a lot with it that I didn't want to cut it up."

With nothing being done with the '32, it was a logical choice to make into a racecar. Huellewig originally planned to run the car primarily at nostalgia events and make exhibition passes at MAR. He even was going to put 20-percent nitro in the tank "just to make it pop," he said. "It would have run low 7s. It would have been something different because people never see a Vicky going down the track."

Work on the car began in December 2002. Much of the construction was done at MB Motorsports in Foristell, Mo. The shop, which fields an entry in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, is owned by Mike Mittler, president and general manager of Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool. The firm is well known in motorsports for fabrication tools and equipment.

The year, make and model of the body alone make the car unusual in Super Gas, but the $80,000 machine is trick all by itself due to the ingenuity of the Huellewigs. They fabricated the four-link rear suspension, roll cage, engine side panels, firewall, undercarriage, tubs and valve covers.

Also featured on the car are reversed door-latch assemblies with push-button release, hidden door hinges, power Lexan windows, remote water pump, custom radiator and handmade front and rear stainless-steel spreader bars and headlight bar. The normally pesky transbrake button coiled cord was eliminated by wires and contacts inside the steering wheel and column.

Many of the items were designed by Dave Huellewig. He said inventing is "in my blood. I had a brother who was really, really intelligent and had five degrees, but I did things with my hands. I just try to keep an open mind by looking at something and thinking how I can do it better." For the last eight years he has worked in R&D at True Manufacturing in O'Fallon, Mo. The firm makes commercial coolers for restaurants and grocery stores.

Engine assembly also was done by the Huellewigs. The powerplant, based on a Dart block, measures 572 cubic inches and has a Callies crank, Oliver rods, JE pistons, ATI balancer, Milodon pan and Peterson pump.

On top are a Dart tunnel ram, Enderle Bird Catcher injector with Biondo throttle stop, Dart heads, Manley valves, Vasco springs, Comp pushrods, Crower lifters and T&D rockers. They are actuated by an .818-inch lift custom cam from PBM Performance Products in Louisville, Ky. The company, which sponsors Huellewig, has a private-label brand of engine parts.

The engine also is equipped with an MSD crank trigger, coil and plug wires, which fire NGK plugs. Fluids flow through Earl's lines, and exhaust exits through Stahl headers. Fel-Pro and Flatout gaskets are used.

Behind the engine are an API Powerglide, Neal Chance 5,800 converter and Jerry Bickel Race Cars chromoly driveshaft. It connects to a Mittler Brothers nine-inch rearend with a 4.10 Richmond gear on a Strange spool. Moser axles, Wilwood brakes, Koni shocks and Bickel springs are used. Goodyears on Center Lines are at all four corners.

The car, which has a 106-inch wheelbase, was painted by Kenny Mutert at I-70 Auto Body in Wentzville. The maroon paint is a Du Pont color known as flame-red pearl metallic.

At only his second national event, Huellewig received the Hedman Headers Best Engineered Car Award. The honor was presented to him at the 2004 Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway (GIR) near St. Louis, Mo.

In terms of NHRA participation, the award was one of few highlights because round wins were few. Last year served to shake down the 2,780-pound car in Super Gas trim. The best numbers were 9.81 at 141, but Huellewig stated the car is capable of 7.90s at 168 flat out.

This season Huellewig plans to run the Ford at approximately six national and eight divisional NHRA events in addition to Super Pro bracket racing at GIR. At the events he will accompanied by his father, mother Marie, fiancée Jessica McKinney (who also bracket races a '71 Nova) and cousins Terry Heppermann and Becky Heppermann.

In five years Huellewig would like to be racing professionally in Pro Stock, which he likes "because how tough and competitive it is," he said. He explained he is making a dedicated effort toward his goal while he is relatively young so he can regroup if his plans go awry.

"I love racing," Huellewig said. "It only lasts about 10 seconds, but I live for those 10 seconds. I like letting go of the button, being one with the car and feeling the speed. I'm motivated by the adrenaline rush that I feel when I get out of the car in the pits. Sometimes I'm shaking while looking at my time card.

"Drag racing is a lot of fun," said Huellewig, a lifelong resident of Wentzville, 25 miles northwest of St. Louis. "I've met a lot of people, and it's nice to travel to the tracks. It's grown into a lifestyle, and I couldn't survive without it."

Huellewig's interest in drag racing has been building since his youth. "When I was a little kid I said that I would race professionally someday," he said. "I said the same thing as a teenager. People told me, `You're retarded.'" They are being proven wrong.

In addition to Huellewig's joy of racing, he is pleased the car was finished for his father's sake. "His dream of working on it and getting it done had come true," he said. "He thought the Vicky was the most beautiful car ever produced."

Should the Huellewigs stand in the winner's circle at a national event or win a championship someday, another dream will have come true.


Greg Ozubko
Inside Motorsports

Ever the realist, little-known NHRA Super Comp and bracket racer Joe McOwen knows he only may score few event victories in his racing career, so he approaches it philosophically: "If you're going to lose, you might as well look good doing it."

And that he does, since the paint job on his S&W dragster was designed by Greg Ozubko, whose designs have set the standard in drag racing the past 15 years. Like any racer, McOwen hates to lose, but the Shamong, N.J., competitor feels he has a winning racing operation accentuated by his car's flashy appearance.

"I put nothing but a first-class effort into my racing, so I want my car to look beautiful," he said. "When my first car came out four years ago, I got nothing but rave reviews, and still today I get comments about it. My new car this year is going to be another winner. I'm exceptionally pleased with Greg's work. It's second to none."

Hundreds of other people would agree with McOwen, as Ozubko has combined his artistic talent with a keen business sense to earn an outstanding reputation for satisfying customers throughout the motorsports world. They turn to him not only for racing vehicle paint schemes but those on helmets, transporters and support vehicles. His striking designs also appear on team uniforms, T-shirts, caps, sweatshirts, golf shirts and sponsorship renderings.

Ozubko, 36, may be known best for art, but his foremost self-evaluation is based on his performance in the business world. "This is just a business solely and totally to me. I provide a service the same way a guy might build a motor, blower, clutch or chassis for people," he said. "I use my talent to produce a product. I just want to get jobs done today and go on to the next day.

"I'm not really interested in the art side of this the way a lot of the other designers are," he said. "I'm more interested in the business and the cars than the art. I'm doing what God gave me the talent to do. It has allowed me further opportunities to run businesses, and I enjoy it."

Although Ozubko has done design work in many forms of motorsports, the largest percentage is in drag racing because he enjoys it the most. The sport hooked him in 1969 when he first went to a race with his brother Richard, 14 years older than Ozubko, at Edmonton International Speedway, a track near Edmonton in the western Canadian province of Alberta. Ozubko was born and resided in Edmonton until late 1997 when he moved to Georgia.

Invariably, Ozubko began drawing pictures of the cars he saw at the track, where he frequently went as a youngster and teenager. Encouraged by his parents, he enjoyed drawing many hours a day, and with his talent he was able to make the cars look real by age 10. About that time he met Ron Hodgson, an Edmonton businessman who owned the track in 1974-81, and showed him his drawings, which Hodgson liked.

Their friendship continues to this day. "Ron took me under his wing and treated me with respect even as a little kid. He always pushed me along and gave me opportunities," Ozubko said. He related that Hodgson took Ozubko to his first NHRA national event at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado at age 17.

"He encouraged me. He is the one person who is most responsible for where I am today," Ozubko said. "I learned by watching how he did things and from his business know-how."

Hodgson, who owns two General Motors dealerships and other businesses in the Edmonton area, remembered meeting Ozubko at the speedway. "He was like a lot of other kids who were enthralled with the race cars. He was very polite and sincere. He was a good kid to be around," he said.

"I saw a natural talent in what he did with his drawings. He had quite a bit of ability," said Hodgson, whose nitro Funny Car driven by Gordie Bonin won the 1979 U.S. Nationals and five other national events. "I gave him free passes to come to the track and go anywhere in the track boundaries."

Ozubko eventually became a track employee whose duties included cleaning the tower and selling programs. "Being at the track all the time allowed me to be introduced to a lot of the racers," he said. "I became comfortable around them, which was useful later in business."

For a while his drawings were given as gifts to the racers, but late in high school he began doing 18x24-inch acrylic paintings and selling them for $50-100 apiece. Many of them were produced for art classes. "I had an arrangement with the teacher to do paintings of cars instead of still lifes because she knew I could do them if I had to," Ozubko said. "I would turn in the paintings for school projects and then turn around and sell them to the racers. It was a bit of a scam, but the teacher didn't know."

After graduating from high school Ozubko attended the University of Alberta. He majored in geography, not art. "I did not major in art because I would have been forced to do what they wanted me to do. Anyway, race car graphics was not part of the curriculum," he said. "College just bought me time to figure out what I wanted to do.

"In my third year I was trying real hard to find a career, but I realized I had a good business at my fingertips," Ozubko said. "All I had to do was pursue it and see where I could go with it." In 1984 he received his bachelor's degree from the university and took a part-time job selling cameras.

In late February 1985, with extensive business advice and guidance from Hodgson, Ozubko began operating his studio on a full-time basis. Placing advertisements and having renderings published in National Dragster and Drag Review resulted in steady work. In the first few years his business grew 30-50 percent annually.

"It was easy for me to get started because there was no competition back then except for Kenny Youngblood in California," Ozubko said. "Everything I did I had to figure out for myself because there was no formal training for something like this. If I had to start today, it would be totally different because there is an industry for this, and there are people who could help you develop.

"There have not been many downs," he said. "It is and has been hard work, but that's only because I want all the business. I've paid a lot of dues." From the late 1980s to the mid-'90s often his workdays ranged from 4:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and he worked six days a weeks for six consecutive months. In the last few years, largely due to computerization of his some aspects of his work, his schedule has become less intense.

"There are days and phases in this business when you have to work harder than others," Ozubko said. "I've always wanted my own business and to control my own destiny so I could do something when I wanted to do it. It's a good situation because I have traveled a lot and developed several long-lasting friendships. I've watched friends win races and had the opportunity to watch a lot of things in drag racing from the inside instead of as a fan in the stands. That's been pretty exhilarating."

A milestone in his career occurred in 1987 when the Top Fuel dragster of NHRA racer Dennis Forcelle was judged the Best Appearing Car at a national event. The honor was Ozubko's first, and it helped to bolster the reputation of his studio, enabling it to grow rapidly. He had one full-time and two part-time employees.

Initially, he worked on 2-4 clients' projects at one time, but that number increased to the point where he has 50-80 current projects. "From what it was in the first year, my business has probably grown 1,000 percent," Ozubko said. "It grew by leaps and bounds there for a while, but I don't track it too closely anymore.

"It was a real challenge to deal with the growth," he said, "but I liked to try to develop new ways of doing things to get the jobs done and keep customers happy. Besides enjoying the success that comes with making money, I like to see pleased customers and have them as repeat customers, who are a tremendous amount of my business.

"It's been neat to find and establish a market and grow up in the sport," Ozubko said. "It has evolved from being a kid just hanging out at the track to doing work for some of the drivers I idolized back then."

Just as each Ozubko design makes a graphic statement on a particular vehicle or apparel item, he considers all of his designs (on more than 2,000 racing vehicles) have made a dramatic impact on drag racing. "I think they have really helped the way people look at drag racing," he said. "The appearance of the cars has a lot to do with it, and I've really concentrated on making drag racing look the way it does today.

"In a smaller picture, race car designing does not garner the most respect because the design does not make a car go faster," he said. "But, in a larger picture, a good design may help a racer get funding to make his car go faster."

More funds flowed into his studio after he received a call in 1991 from Bob Vandergriff Jr., an NHRA Top Fuel racer from Cumming, Ga. Owner of a sports apparel company in Georgia, Vandergriff wanted Ozubko to design T-shirts, caps and team uniforms for Vandergriff's customers. "It turned out to be a good avenue for my customers," Ozubko said, "because a lot of times they didn't know where to go after I gave them their designs. We reached an agreement where I did the artwork and he printed."

Vandergriff, 35, found the arrangement to his liking. "I was not real enthusiastic about other artists' work," he said. "As artists go, he was the best in the business. He was different from other artists who were more art oriented and had to tap into their creative side. Greg was more a businessman artist, and I really liked that about him.

"He was not a guy who couldn't get something done because he was not in a creative mood," Vandergriff said. "If he had to get up at 4 a.m. and get something done, that's what he would do. My business really started to take off because I knew I could count on him."

Initially, Vandergriff was bothered by Ozubko's business location in Canada because "I didn't know how it would work with him living there," he said. "But, it developed into a comfortable feeling, and he did whatever it took."

By 1994 the two men's companies both began growing quickly because of more and more mutual projects, and in September 1997 Ozubko moved from Edmonton to Cumming. "We have the same business philosophies and goals," Ozubko said. "There was no real connection at first, but it grew. We decided to join forces, and he made me an offer of partnership.

"I did not ever plan to own an apparel company, but I was bringing business to the company and only getting an artwork check," Ozubko said. "The printer, the racer and Sport Service were making a cut off it. I disagreed with the philosophy and wanted to get a percentage off that."

To do so meant moving him and his family (wife Gail and sons Jeffrey, 9, and Jordan, 8). "It was a difficult decision because of my family, but I didn't want to be 70 years old sitting in a rocking chair wondering if I should have made the move if I hadn't," Ozubko said. "Even if I tried something and it didn't work out, at least I don't have to answer the `What if?' question."

The move went smoothly due to the faith Ozubko put in Vandergriff. "Bob made it a lot easier because I trusted him completely," Ozubko said. "He would give you the shirt off his back. He may not always come off that way, but that's very much him."

To Vandergriff, company growth necessitated Ozubko's move to Georgia to maintain and improve the management of the firm, which is called Vandergriff Motorsports Apparel. Relationships with Vandergriff's previous partners did not work well because of his constant travel on the racing circuit and poor communication.

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be where I am today," Vandergriff said. "You can't do it without a good artist because this is a very artist-intensive business. But for him it's not just doing the designs anymore, since he handles much of the business and the follow-up and generating new business.

"Having him here has made it much easier on me because he handles a lot of the business on a day-to-day basis," Vandergriff said. "He's very detail-oriented, and I'm not. That's probably why we mesh very well together. I come up with things, and then he goes and dots all the i's and crosses all the t's.

"Anytime you're in business, you have to watch over it 24 hours a day," Vandergriff said. "Before I had people that would promise you the world and not deliver. Greg is not that way. His word is like gold. Whatever he says he's going to do, that's what he does."

What was at first a business relationship has grown into a close friendship. "He would do whatever he can for me, and I would whatever I can for him," Vandergriff said. "We have a really tight, tight friendship. It's fantastic. You can't ask for anymore than this."

Both Ozubko and Vandergriff will keep asking for more from themselves to keep increasing the scope of their business, which includes facilities for doing silkscreening and embroidery of designs containing as many as 10 colors. The men set high standards for quality in their products and satisfaction among their customers such as John Force, Joe Amato, Jerry Toliver, Angelle Seeling, Kurt Johnson and Tommy Gray.

In the planning stages two years, last summer Ozubko and Vandergriff launched Split Second Speed Gear by debuting T-shirts at the U.S. Nationals. The firm is a separate business with a line of merchandise different from that of their regular customers. While the products include motorsports themes, many of the messages on the apparel have universal meanings that could apply to anything from fishing to snowmobiling.

"It's off to a good start, and we have some great possibilities with it," Ozubko said, noting the firm is setting up a dealer network and doing advertising in publications and on its own Web site, from which orders may be placed. More promotion may involve sponsoring a drag car. "We're going to be active and aggressive in promoting it to reach our end goal."

Ozubko has high expectations for the performance of both companies because he anticipates retiring in approximately 10 years. "I'm hoping the move I made from Canada will pay off in a big way," he said. "I work less hard now and eventually I hope I don't have to at all. Bob and I say there's a beach somewhere and drinks with little umbrellas with our names on them. I don't intend to be 65 when that happens.

"Our whole business is dynamic, and we are able to react quickly," he said. "It's not a long, drawn-out thing to do something different. Our philosophy has always been to get the job done now and move on to the next one."

For his studio business, 1999 was another fine year, and he expects the same in 2000 because of high demand for his designs. However, the apparel business demands much of his attention, so "I feel a lot of stress juggling 60 or 70 design projects and handling orders for T-shirts," Ozubko said. "I'm in perpetual motion, and it's a skill to keep everything in check."

He realizes eventually he will have to let someone else operate the design business. Until then, he will continue conferring with customers about their design needs. "The majority of people want my time and attention, and they don't want to pay for others because I have the style they want," he said. "It's not easy to sell someone else's design, but already I've eased off on some of the work. A lot of it just passes through my hands after I do the designing."

When Ozubko is not working, he enjoys playing golf and attending hockey games. He and his family spend every summer at their lake home in the Edmonton area. Ironically, he never has drag raced, and his current street machine is a Porsche 911C2S that "I drive like a grandma," he said. "It's never been a great aspiration of mine to race, but I suppose if I actually did it, it might be different."

As different, no doubt, as the stunning design of the paint job on the car he raced.


Clutch Dyno
Inside Motorsports

Drag racers never are satisfied until they have made the perfect run. And once they do, they try to make it again - and again. Winning demands such an attitude.

Nowhere is the quest for perfection more intense than in the grueling NHRA eliminators of Pro Stock and Pro Stock Truck. Fields usually are separated by mere hundredths and rounds regularly are won or lost by less than that.

Making or missing the show and winning or losing require a perfectly prepared vehicle. Nothing can be compromised, especially what's inside the bellhousing. Clutch set-up must be precise so the vehicle and driver leave the starting line first and cross the finish line as the winner.

Ironically, clutch tuning lacks precision, which is so important to every other component on a Pro Stock car or truck. Just as the clutch is covered by a bellhousing, setting up the all-important device is shrouded in mystery. Even the most astute clutch-tuning wizard cannot predict exactly how a clutch will perform.

Thanks to the ingenuity of Kyle Carrothers, clutch set-up is moving from magic to science. He has invented a machine simply called The Clutch Dyno. Its straightforward name is matched by its singular purpose -- to measure the clamping force of a pedal-style clutch at any given RPM.

"Trial and error are eliminated with my machine," Carrothers, 40, said. "A guy can now make informed tuning decisions and get a much better understanding how his clutch is working. He can document the results from one run and then decide what changes to make for the next run.

"You get data you can relate to vehicle data," he said. "You will be more informed than your competitor, so that should be an advantage." That edge can be found by making a dyno run lasting approximately 40 seconds instead of spending much more time and money testing the vehicle on a track.

A dyno test is a simple procedure. The clutch and flywheel are bolted to the dyno, which has Chevrolet crankshaft bolt pattern (but any style is available). As the unit is spun, data are recorded and downloaded into a computer. They are displayed on a graph that shows clutch speed along one axis and pounds of load on the other axis. The intersections of the two axes indicate the clamping forces at various speeds.

"When you know the clamping force, there's no longer any guesswork about the results," said Carrothers, a resident of Hartland, Mich., northwest of Detroit. "You can put counterweight on and take static load off, for example, and then you can put real numbers to that combination. All changes are experience-based.

"You have hard data about such variables as ring height, spring load, the amount of counterweight, lever design and overall clutch weight," he said. "It's not revolutionary, it's only another tool. It does not automatically mean a team is going to pick up a lot. All racers have baselines, but when or if they desire to make changes, they can be done on the dyno. It confirms the direction and the magnitude of the changes. You can learn from testing what would take years of running a car."

The Clutch Dyno can accommodate clutches ranging from a five-inch unit for a motorcycle to a 9 or 10-inch clutch for a Pro Modified or Nitro Coupe to an 11 incher for an alcohol dragster or Funny Car. Carrothers expects the most common applications will be the 7, 7½ and 8-inch clutches in Pro Stockers, Pro Stock Trucks and Competition Eliminator cars.

Each clutch is tested without its discs and floaters. They are replaced by a load cell. It also is called a strain gauge, which is used widely in industrial applications and other types of dynamometers. The device detects even the most minute movement and electronically converts milliamps into pounds of force accurate to 2-5 pounds. A load cell rated at 6,000 pounds is standard, and it is sufficient to measure a Pro Stock clutch that peaks near 4,000 pounds. Higher load ranges are available.

The dyno's purpose only is to measure the clutch's static and dynamic loads. No discs and floaters are used because their coefficients of friction would have to be measured. "Such a machine would have to be enormous because it would have to have a power supply that's equivalent to the engine of the vehicle the clutch is run in," Carrothers said. "You'd need a big inertia wheel, and you'd want to cycle it through the gear changes to be real effective."

A clutch can be spun to 10,000 RPM, which is how high a Pro Stock Truck revs at the finish line. The number is 200-500 RPM more than a Pro Stock in the lights. A truck leaves the starting line at 7,000-7,400 and shifts at 9,600-9,800. A car's numbers are different, leaving the line at 5,800-7,200 and shifting at 9,200-9,800.

During the test, RPM and load numbers are recorded on a data-acquisition system built by Corsa Instruments in Ann Arbor, Mich. The information is analyzed on a computer software program developed by the William C. Mitchell company of Charlotte, N.C. Several runs can be overlaid on graphs to compare spring adjustments and counterweight combinations. Printouts can be made, too.

The machine, which weighs 400 pounds, has a steel cabinet measuring 24 inches wide, 32 inches long and 34 inches high. Aluminum plate was used to make the frame that mounts a Baldor industrial motor operating on 25-amp, single-phase current.

Details of the spindle were not divulged by Carrothers, saying only that it is "the heart of the design of the machine. It does require finesse for high RPM use." He also was not specific about the controller, but he did relate it is a programmable, industrial-grade unit that has variable speeds and ramp rates.

On the outside of the machine is the data-acquisition control box that has an on-off switch, data log switch (similar to that at the rear of a car or truck for its data recorder) and a data power indicator light. Besides run and stop buttons, the cabinet also has the motor controller that displays RPM and configures the drive to change dyno speeds.

Each dyno consists of 100 components, which Carrothers obtains from various suppliers. He spends 40 hours assembling, testing and calibrating each dyno. He is assisted by Rock Haas, 41, of White Lake, Mich., also northwest of Detroit. The two, who became friends in 1989, race a Super Comp dragster with a 555-inch Chevy built by Carrothers.

Haas, an electrical engineer, does all the wiring on each dyno. He owns Engineering Design Service and Engineering Manufacturing Service in Auburn Hills, Mich., north of Detroit. The firms make automotive and industrial controls.

He also provided a portion of the funding for the project, which was done under Carrothers Racing Equipment. The company, located in Hartland, Mich., is owned by Carrothers.

His enterprise is a part-time venture, since he is employed as a development engineer at Roush Industries in Livonia, Mich., in the Detroit metropolitan area. The corporation is headed by Jack Roush, the former drag racer who fields several NASCAR teams.

Carrothers has worked at the Roush company 11 years. He helped to develop 5.0 Mustangs for Shootout events before becoming the crew chief for a two-car road racing team in 1990-93. In 1994 he was assigned to the Trans-Am division where he developed and built engines. Some of them powered Tommy Kendall-driven Roush cars to three championships. That assignment ended in 1997 with a transfer to the IRL division, a stint lasting through 1999.

This year he has worked in the engineering department, adding further to his skills that helped him develop his clutch tester. While at Roush he also has operated a shock dyno and a carburetor wet flow bench, on which he prepared carbs for Trans-Am and NASCAR cars. He has made dyno test equipment and adaptors, and he has designed more than 20 valve spring retainers, some of which are used in NASCAR.

Before Roush, in the mid-1980s Carrothers managed the engine shop at Koffel's Place in Walled Lake, Mich., where he was introduced to dynos and flow benches. While there he also was partners on a Competition Eliminator car with a 500-inch Chrysler engine and slider clutch that ran in A/A and AA/A. In the early '80s he served an apprenticeship at a machine-building shop.

Carrothers's interest in designing the Clutch Dyno stemmed from his long interest in Pro Stock. "Short of the engine, the clutch is the second most important part of a Pro Stock car going down the track," he said. "Every successful run depends on the clutch."

After conceptualizing the dyno and drawing it on a computer in December 1998, Carrothers discussed his idea with Bruce Allen, who co-owns Reher-Morrison Racing Engines in Arlington, Texas, and drives the company's NHRA Pro Stock Firebird. His brother Roger became friends with Carrothers while working on IRL projects with him at Roush Industries.

"I was interested in Kyle's project because I also have an engineering background and because I thought it could make our car more consistent," said Allen, 50, who has 13 NHRA and 8 IHRA victories in addition to an IHRA national title and two Mr. Gasket Pro Stock Challenge wins. "We know more about what we are doing. Once we have the hard information, then we can do something else. Any piece of equipment is going to make you better. The dyno is like a micrometer because it puts a value on what you're doing."

Allen reported his team experiments with different clutches to find one that weighs less and performs better. Each of them is run on the Clutch Dyno to establish a baseline before installation in the Firebird. "I have confidence that when I make the first run, it's going to be close," he said. "I know we're not going to smoke the clutch out of the car or make a lot of runs to dial in the clutch."

New racers also can benefit from the dyno "because they could get a lot of information before they start to run a car," Allen said. "Anything is easy to obtain in drag racing these days, and most people are not interested in re-inventing the wheel. Even though the track is the final test, the dyno gives you a place to start. You have a better baseline for testing."

Besides lending his encouragement to the project, Allen provided Carrothers with clutches to run. Although Allen's racing team does not have a dyno, Carrothers exchanges testing for Allen's ongoing feedback about the machine and clutch set-up.

After incorporating suggestions by Allen and Roush coworkers, Carrothers began making and acquiring parts for the prototype dyno in January 1999. By April the machine was built, and in May testing began. However, he found flaws in the design that necessitated another design. When the second version was completed 4-6 weeks later, testing revealed its shortcomings. They were corrected in the third design, which was developed over another 4-6 weeks.

That last design satisfied Carrothers. It was used as the basis for building three more dynos. Construction takes 6-8 weeks. Two machines are built at the same time. Each one costs $14,500. Included in the cost is a half-day of instruction by Carrothers.

He and Haas debuted the machine in November 1999 at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show in Indianapolis. Haas recalled several top Pro Stock racers and tuners examined the dyno. On the third and last day of the show, clutch tests were demonstrated. "Once we did live demonstrations, the place went nuts," he said. "If we had done the demonstrations earlier, it would have been better."

Last winter a few teams purchased time on Carrothers's machine at $125 per hour (four-hour minimum). Larry Morgan, Mike Sullivan from Nickens Brothers and Bernard Santavy for John Lingenfelter ran tests. "They mapped out a range of clutch operation," Carrothers said, "and they were able to understand how different combinations achieve the same lock-up result." He stressed that all tests are confidential and all information about a test is taken by the team member.

More demonstrations were given on racers' clutches last April at the O'Reilly Nationals at Houston (Texas) Raceway Park. The machine was operated in the Reher-Morrison pit. "Racers lined up with their clutches in their hands, but we could not test them all because we ended up spending too much time with each one," Haas said. "As the weekend went on, there was less time for racers to come by."

Pro Stock racer Ray Franks did not wait until the Houston event to be convinced he needed a Clutch Dyno, as he ordered one at the PRI event. By March the machine was being used at his Ray Franks Enterprises (RFE) shop in New Carlisle, Ohio, north of Dayton.

Since 1994 the business has produced clutches between 7 and 10 inches diameter. According to Franks, RFE's innovations include the first all-aluminum clutch, the first 7½-inch Pro Stock clutch and the first quick-reacting finger. Each clutch costs $4,000 except the lightweight (20 pounds with discs and floaters) seven-inch titanium clutch that costs $4,800.

"We're very pleased with our Clutch Dyno," said Franks, 46, who has been racing since 1972. "It's a pretty neat invention. Kyle has a real good understanding of how clutches work. In my opinion, every clutch manufacturer should have one."

He came to that conclusion because of the machine's value to the design of RFE clutches. He and others at his company have studied the test curves to see where clutch pressure is applied. Different fingers are designed to change the curves and the rates of centrifugal force.

"It has allowed us to develop fingers that are less and more aggressive for cars and trucks with a lot of bite or not so much bite," he said. "A lot of guesswork has gone into finger design, and we used to have to use math formulas to calculate finger ratios. Now, we can measure different finger designs.

"A lot of people do things on a trial-and-error basis, and they don't give any thought to what they do as long as it works," he said. "But, guys might be 100 pounds away from total lock-up because they can't see it on their on-board computers. They are not as accurate as we'd like to see. That 100 pounds can be substantial and can mean 36 feet on the top end of the track."

If asked about their clutch loads at certain RPM, most Pro Stock teams cannot answer, he contended, adding that answers would have to be derived from math calculations instead of tests. "Most teams are flying by the seat of their pants, but they could do better if they had better control of the clutch," said Franks, who belongs to the Holley Six-Second Club and the Speed Pro 200 MPH Club. He won the 1998 Pro Stock Super Bowl and has two national event runner-ups.

RFE strives for uniformity in clutch production, but Franks has realized that "every clutch is different even though they're made the same," he said. "We can account for that now. We can also use the dyno for developing new clutches because the secret to making fast runs on the track is controlling the tire and car speed. The optimum run is one with no tire or clutch slippage.

"In nine out of 10 cases tire spin is what causes changes in elapsed time," he said. "If you have a more manageable clutch set-up, the car will go faster. The Clutch Dyno enables us to develop a clutch that is more manageable and allows us to achieve a perfect run."

Besides the one at RFE, dynos have been sold to Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, home of John Lingenfelter's Pro Stock Truck team in Decatur, Ind., and East West Engineering, a clutch manufacturer in Azusa, Calif.

East West owners Bob Eakins and his son Randy plan to use the machine to set up and tune multistage nitro clutches. "They are entering uncharted ground because no one has run a fuel clutch on the Clutch Dyno," Carrothers said. "Bob says he will be successful, but the machine will have to be modified, especially the spindle and bearing to take a 4,000-pound axial load. The counteractive force is strong enough to drive the spindle right through its housing."

Having a dyno to handle nitro clutches obviously would expand the market for the machine. Carrothers stating that marketing has to be increased to meet his expectations for sales. In addition to talking to interested people at the PRI show and races, flyers have been distributed and ads published in National Dragster. No marketing has been done to IHRA racers or competitors in other motorsports such as tractor and truck pulling.

Carrothers assumed more dynos would have been sold a year after the machine's debut. "This is my first foray into manufacturing a piece of equipment, but I thought sales would be better," he said. "If five had been sold, that would have met my expectations.

"This winter will be the telltale time because after everybody's done racing they can reflect on the season," he said. "When they analyze why they didn't do better, many will realize their clutch program could have been better."

Carrothers and his Clutch Dyno can help them to improve so they can reach the point of making that perfect run.