As some of you guys know there has been a great deal of talk about fuels to be used while road racing. I decided to make a specific post on this because I do not think some of you understand the importance of race fuel in a high powered car, or at what level it is needed.

If you are running a stock car with a stock tune, running on 93 octane is fine. If the car does see any knock it will pull timing accordingly, plus the tune is so conservative that it probably would have pulled it already for another reason (temps-IAT's-ETC)

Once you decide to go H/C or even more importantly, bigger cubes, it is time to start running race fuel while at a track event. I have heard ridiculous statements like "my tuner can make my car run fine on pump gas" or in general making statements that race fuel is not needed, when that person is making big power from their build. If the car is held way back on power from the tune this is possible, but why did you spend big bucks on your build for if you planned on detuning it right?

While tuning, the car can do fine on pump gas, also while street driving, but once placed in an environment like road racing everything changes. There are variables that no tuner can duplicate on the dyno or street, plus your assuming that the local Volaro is giving you what you paid for, or that the truck driver filled the tanks correctly. I worked at a Sunoco during high school and can tell you that this happened more than once and they just let it go because it would have been a nightmare to correct. Plus the tank was mixed with what was left in it.

Race fuels are more money obviously, but they are watched much more closely as to their quality. Using Torco etc are ok, but there is no way that the blend is 100% correct. The only way to have a proper blend, is to run straight race fuel, unleaded for our cars with O2 sensors, which means the highest that I know of at this time is 103, but most tracks have 100.

I personally like to tune the cars to edge of pump gas, then run straight race gas at the track, that way I am well within the limits of what the laws of physics will allow. I cant stress this enough that it is what the laws of physics will allow! Physics does not sleep late or get hung over, so adding it after the first session is NOT OK unless you plan on driving exceptionally lame that morning. Even after twenty minutes of 3/4 throttling, your car is hot, fuel is much warmer than it will be on the street. As it is pumped threw your drive shaft tunnel it's temps get raised substantially, lowering it's effectiveness to suppress detonation basically. Ever feel how hot your center console gets after a session, well your fuel lines are in there and it's a lot hotter on the other side of that metal!!

Other than part failure (timing chain etc) or me running my 447 out of oil in turn 5 at the Glen from over cornering without a dry sump, and some simply worn out-high mileage deals, every engine failure I have seen is from a lack of proper fuel. Or detonation to be exact.

I have more log time in the drag racing section so I will use those examples, there has been plenty of times that we logged runs on pump gas and alky that showed no knock what so ever, yet when the heads would come off for whatever reason, we see signs of lifting and slight detonation. All this was caused by improper fuels on our part. (pump gas)

If you look at our drag racing customers that have gone season after season now without issue (My first GTO-4RUSH-Asmokegars ZO6-2003VETTE-etc etc) they have a ton of track passes, making ridiculous power for the builds. None of them have any signs of fatigue on their engines at this point, including Jay who is on his third season of heavy racing deep in the nines. All these cars have one thing in common, they all used race fuel from day one, every race- every time.

As I went from building bolt on cars to 1000hp cars this is a lesson that I wish someone laid into me with a bat, please take my advise seriously, it has literally cost me thousands of dollars to be able to pass it along. I have given it to others and was not taken seriously, so hopefully the ECS crew will listen and go season after season successfully on the same engine by doing so.

If the pump is closed that day and all you can get is 93, then pack up and race another day. Let the track know that they lost your business by not having the necessary items in place for a race car to attend, but do not settle! You guys have race cars, just because it has a license plate on it, doesn't mean that you are not making the power, or close to the power, of a Nascar car. Which runs on... race fuel.

Most of the ECS crew are of the "elite racers" while at the track, you guys are generally faster then most there and that comes with a small extra price to pay, and that's fuel. Your builds cost thousands and thousands of dollars to put together, do not go cheap on one of the most important parts you can maintain, your gas tank. Which also includes pulling in when you see a little below 1/4 tank.