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There is something a little different about the power plant under the hood of the Wolfe Racing Pro Mod Firebird for the 2012 season. Gone is the AJ481X wedge and replacing it is a Mike Janis Hemi from Jan-Cen Racing Engines. Several other changes have been made, and with the changes made during the season last year, there is a completely different drivetrain configuration in the car from just 12 months ago.

The team worked extremely hard through the winter to prepare the car for the new engine and April 20 couldn't come soon enough. This date served as the opening race for the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (NEOPMA) series in 2012. Friday, April 20th was a test day for everyone to work out the bugs. We made a few 1/8-mile hits and after working out a few chassis bugs with the help of Mike Janis, Dwayne made a full pull to a 6.13@228 mph, a new personal best. After the run, the crew realized that there was a problem with a rocker arm that we were unable to fix, ending our day. However, with the awesome support from Jan-Cen and Mike Jr., we were back in business on Saturday morning once the FedEx truck arrived.

We were to get 2 qualifying passes on Saturday. With the issues from Friday behind us, a baseline setup and a few more tweaks to the chassis, we headed to the track for the first qualifier. Dwayne would blast down the quarter-mile with a 6.10 @ 228 mph and would represent our first 3-second pass in the 1/8-mile - once again setting a personal best ET and MPH. The crew turned the wrenches a little more and stepped up to a 6.07 @ 231 mph in the second qualifier, again setting a personal best (see a theme here?) and good enough for 5th on the qualifying sheet in the 16-car field.

Due to impending weather, the schedule was changed and we headed right into eliminations instead of getting our third session of qualifying. In the first round, Dwayne would face off against Andrew Handras in his nitrous-powered Cavalier. Handras would have a slight advantage on the starting line, but there would be too much Jan-Cen horsepower for him to overcome. Dwayne powered through the traps with a 6.05 @ 232 mph, resetting the teams personal best once again. In the second round, Dwayne would be paired up with Matt Deitsch, the 2011 NEOPMA Nitrous Champion. Dwayne would have the lane choice based on the previous round performance, but the results would not be what the team was looking for. Upon staging, a transbrake button failure allowed the car to launch unexpectedly and before Deitsch had staged. This resulted in a foul and ended our day. Immediately after the 2nd round, the skys opened and the event was washed out.

We want to send out special thanks to Mike Janis and Mike Janis, Jr. for all the help in getting the setup right the first time out and for helping us make so much progress so quickly. Given the data that we collected this weekend, it is clear that there is a significant amount of performance yet to be gained in our new combination and we are extremely excited about the 2012 season.

It finally came time for the Wolfe Racing team to get some professionally designed T-shirts for our team and fans. We turned to Tyler Clark at Wicked Grafixx for this new design and he definitely delivered for us. Below is a sneak peek at the new shirt design. The shirts can be purchased at the team transporter at all of our 2012 events, at Wolfes Garage in Moorefield, WV or can be purchased via the internet using PayPal. Contact us if you are interested in purchasing a shirt and we will be happy to help. In the coming months, we will be adding a web store to this website to allow online purchases. Until then, feel free to send us an email and we'll take care of you.

Feel free to contact us with any feedback that you have on the new shirt design. We would love to hear what you think.

Our race team has been working extremely hard over the winter to prepare for the 2012 season. There are some significant changes to our Pro Mod Firebird for the new year, but we're not quite ready to release those changes to the general public (just yet). The best way to find out would be to come out to Maryland International Raceway (MIR) on April 20 to see for yourselves. This will mark the beginning of our 2012 season and is also the season opening race for the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (NEOPMA).

Dwayne Wolfe will again be mixing it up with the likes of Tim O'Hare, Steve King and a growing contingent of turbocharged entries in the NEOPMA Blown-Turbo class in 2012. This time, things may be a bit different, as the team worked out some of the bugs last season and found and corrected a few problems over the winter that will make the team quite a bit more competitive. In his first season with the series, Dwayne was able to finish 6th in the points standings out of the 26 competitors. Not bad for a "rookie" season, but the team is looking for a little more in 2012.

Check out our schedule page for the full schedule for the 2012 season. Please keep in mind that this is still tentative and we may be making some changes in the coming weeks.

On Friday, October 21, the Wolfe Racing team loaded up and headed to Maryland International Raceway (MIR) for what was to be the next to last race of the 2011 season. This event, the Snap-On Superchargers Showdown, was rescheduled from September after rain forced postponement of the race. An open test session through the day on Friday was just what the team needed to work out a few more changes made to the car over the last few weeks.

On Friday evening, Dwayne would take to the track for a shakedown pass as well as the first round of qualifying. On the shakedown pass, Dwayne would pilot the Wolfe Racing Firebird down the track to stop the clocks with a 6.23-second elapsed time at 220 mph. After a few changes to the tuneup, we headed back out for the first round of qualifying as the temperature was quickly dropping. The car would experience a bit of tire spin on this run, but Dwayne would drive through it and go through the traps with another 6.23@220 mph.

With 2 more qualifying sessions on Saturday, we had a little more time to get the tuneup right before we needed to head into eliminations in what was shaping up to be an extremely stout field of Pro Mods. On the second qualifier, the changes made to the car were again uneffective and it would again run a 6.23...see a pattern here? So, we went back to the drawing board and took another swing at the tuneup to see what would happen. The car launched hard and would have trouble around the 60 foot mark again with a whisp of smoke off of the rear tires. Dwayne would again drive through the traction problems but the result would be a bit different this time. A 6.19-second elapsed time @ 222 mph showed on the scoreboard as the parachutes deployed. That would establish a new personal-best 1/4-mile time for the team. It was enough to qualify Dwayne in the #10 spot in the field of 16 cars.

In the first round of eliminations, we would find ourselves lined up against Larry Higginbottham (aka "Higg") in his 1957 Chevy. It would be a match-up of two cars utilizing Jan-Cen horsepower under (and through) the hood. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be a great run for either participant. Dwayne would shake the tires at the same trouble spot on the race track that had plagued us throughout the weekend. He would pedal the car and go on down the MIR 1/4-mile, but he would need to shut it off at 6.0 seconds when a vibration originated in the engine. Higg would take the win with a 6.10 to Dwayne's 6.52, but Higg would also experience an engine problem that would end his day.

And so it ends...the season was to conclude at VMP on 10/29 with the final race of the NEOPMA season, but with the engine trouble experienced at MIR, the team will not be able to make that race. After climbing to 4th in the NEOPMA points in our first season, the first round loss at MIR dropped Dwayne to #6 in the points standings for the series. Not bad for a team that was racing in the series for the first time and considering that 26 cars had run with the series throughout the season.

The last two attempts at racing this season ended with rainouts. After a month of inactivity due to the persistence of Mother Nature, the time finally came for the Wolfe Racing team to load up our Pro Mod Firebird and head to Englishtown, NJ for the 9th Annual Shakedown at E'town. This time, we were fortunate to have an excellent forecast that called for uncharacteristically high temperatures for the race weekend and absolutely no chance of rain.

The team has made some extensive changes to the car over the last few months, but everyone had high hopes that the hard work would pay off with performance gains on the race track. Dwayne took to the track for the first qualifier on Saturday afternoon, but the result would not meet the teams expectations. The engine would lose a cylinder just before the 1/8-mile mark and Dwayne would shut it off just before the 1000 ft, drifting through with a 6.39 at a mere 189 mph. When the team arrived back to the pit, the problem was quickly diagnosed and everyone went to work. In addition to the engine problem, a change was also necessary in the transmission before we could head out for the next round of qualifying. The entire team worked diligently and completed all repairs with plenty of time to spare. However, the work would not exactly be rewarded...at least not yet.

On the second qualifying pass, the engine would again lose a cylinder and slow prior to the 1/8-mile. Dwayne would again shut it off in hopes of saving as many parts as possible. So, the team again went to work to repair the wounded powerplant. With some support from Mike Janis of Jan-Cen Racing Engines, the root of the problem was diagnosed and quickly corrected. The team again performed extremely efficiently and completed all of the necessary repairs in plenty of time to make the 3rd and final qualifying round. As Dwayne powered down the quarter-mile, the dense air that had descended upon Englishtown provided just a little too much horsepower. Dwayne would need to pedal the car just after the 60 ft, but he would take it on through with a 6.51 @ 220 mph. This time, however, there would be no damage done. The 6.39 from the first qualifying pass was good enough to qualify us in the #12 position. So, we would head into race day on Sunday against the #5 qualifier, Eric Latino.

Dwayne would give up lane choice in the first round of eliminations to Latino. When the cars left the line, Dwayne had a significant advantage on the lights and he would never trail. The Wolfe Racing Firebird powered through the traps with a weekend-best 6.24 @ 224 mph to Latino's losing 6.91. This would earn us a berth in the second round against the Steve Petty-tuned turbo car of Jose Gonzalez. At the flash of the green, Dwayne would leave with an 0.05 second advantage, but the turbo car proved to be too much. Gonzalez would take the win with a 5.96 to Dwayne's 6.29. Gonzalez would go on to win the event.

In the end, the team had a weekend of which to be proud. Everyone worked extremely hard and persevered through several significant hardships to advance into the second round of one of the premier Pro Mod races in the country and set a few personal performance records in the process.

The photo above shows the result of the race at Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, VA this past Saturday. However, it doesn't tell the whole story.

The weekend began with a plan to head to Maryland and run a test session at MIR on Friday and an invitational race at Capitol on Saturday. After we received word on Thursday that neither event would be held due to the massive amount of rain received in the previous week, the team decided to call an audible and head south for drier tracks and sunny skies.

We pulled into Motor Mile Dragway on Friday evening to do some testing of a new combination that has been installed in the car over the past few weeks. The team was expecting some growing pains during the test session as there was much to learn with the new setup. Unfortunately, the on-track learning ended after only one pass, as one of the newly installed parts experienced a serious failure. After diagnosing the problem and locating the parts to fix it, we disassembled the car and prepared to complete the repairs on Saturday morning.

With our issues on Friday night, we decided to just test on Saturday even though there was a race for us at the track that day. When the car left the starting line on the first test pass of the day, it was clear that the problems from the night before had been corrected. The car smoked the tires immediately, which in this case, was a welcome site. With a few changes to the tuneup, we headed out for our second test pass, following closely in behind the Super Street Outlaws Big Chief class. This time, the result would be drastically different. Dwayne would pilot the Wolfe Racing Firebird down the 1/8-mile with a fairly clean pass, posting a 4.22-second elapsed time at 174 mph. Considering that was good enough for the number 1 position in the Big Chief class, the officials at the track came calling on us. The class had a low car count and they wanted us to participate in the race. We were a bit reluctant given our need to test our new combination, but we decided to jump into the race. On the next pass, we would officially cross the scales to weigh-in for the class and make another clean pass at a 4.24 @ 175 mph. After the second round of qualifying, that pass would actually only get us into the 3rd position.

Given that we came to test and now found ourselves in a race, the mindset should change, but instead the crew chief decided to not change the tuning approach for the day. Heading into the semi-final round, Dwayne would be paired against the Big Chief points leader, Don Tolley, in his blown 69 Chevelle. Dwayne and Tolley would leave the line dead even and stay that way through the 330 foot mark, but Dwayne would pull away on the back half of the track and take the win with a 4.20 @ 176 to Tolley's losing 4.23. That win, accompanied with the win by Greg Meyers in the other semi-final, would put Meyers at the top of the Big Chief points heading into the final. Dwayne would have lane choice over Meyers, in his screw-blown Firebird. At the flash of the green in the final round, Meyers would have a slight advantage on the starting line and the cars would run side-by-side all the way to the finish line. On the top end of the track, our Jan-Cen Roots-blown AJ481X would overpower the screw blown Hemi of Meyers. Dwayne would take the win light with a 4.16 @ 177 mph to Meyers losing 4.19.

We didn't plan to go to Radford, but the weather forced it. We didn't plan on racing, but were convinced to do so. When we did race, Dwayne would defeat the points leader in the Big Chief series twice, in two successive rounds of competition....AND we won the race. It was an interesting weekend.

On June 10, 2011, the Wolfe Racing team headed south to Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, VA. This was our second visit to the track with the car, with the first being a test session sponsored by one of our corporate partners. This time, however, the team came prepared to compete in the "Big Chief" class associated with the Super Street Outlaw Series. This is a wide open class with the primary rule being a weight limit that is specific to each type of power adder. A total of six cars showed up for the event, with two of them being screw-blown cars. So, how would the little roots blower on the Wolfe Racing Firebird fair against the screw blowers?

We made it to the track on Friday night in time to make a single test pass. On that pass, the car would launch properly, but would encounter excessive tire spin just before the 60 ft. mark. Dwayne would pedal the car very quickly, get it to recover and then proceed down the 1/8-mile to stop the clocks with a 4.19 second elapsed time at 173 mph. With a good starting point, the crew put the car away for the night and waited for race day.

As Saturday dawned, it was hot...very hot. Just as we were about to be called to the lanes for the first qualifying session, the skies opened up and a massive thunderstorm dumped several inches of rain and marble-sized hail across the area. Mother Nature strikes again and washes out another event? Not quite. Fortunately, the skies cleared, the track was dried and several hours later, we were on track for our first qualifying session. Taking the information from the night before, the tuneup was adjusted slightly for the first qualifier. As the car launched, there would be no pedal needed this time, and Dwayne piloted the 'Bird down the race track to a 4.21-second elapsed time in the heat of the day and 4600 ft density altitude. This 4.21 would be enough to keep Dwayne as the #1 qualifier for the event.

Entering eliminations, breakage on several competitor's vehicles setup for a strange bracket. All first round "matchups" would turn out to be bye runs. This would setup a second round matchup for Dwayne against Harold Robinson in his Naturally Aspirated GTO. We would lose a grip on the race track in eliminations, but fortunately for us, Robinson would red light, handing Dwayne the win and a trip to the finals. In the other semi-final, Greg Meyers, in his screw blown Firebird, would get a bye into the final, setting up the all-Firebird match-up. Due to some parts issues, Dwayne would slow to a pedaling 4.80 in the final and Meyers would power down the track with an event-best 4.17 to take the win.

While we weren't able to take the win, a #1 qualifying position and runner-up finish on a questionable race track made for a decent outing for the team. Next it is on to Farmington Dragway for the EOPM race in a couple of weeks.

Wolfe Racing, LLC has teamed with an industry-leading fiber optic instrumentation company to adapt the company's revolutionary technology to the world of motorsports. This technology has been progressing steadily over the last few years and the time has come to approach harsh environments such as that presented by a Pro Modified vehicle. With the knowledge that the team has regarding the capabilities of the fiber optic products, we firmly believe that they will allow significant advancements in the next few years in the world of drag racing as well as throughout all of motorsports.

The use of fiber optics as a means of performing sensing measurements is not a new concept as it has been highly in aerospace and other industries. However, until now, this specific technology has not been used in motorsports. Optical fiber is lightweight, rugged, inexpensive, around the same diameter as a human hair and it provides an extensive measurement range. All of these traits make it perfect for use in motorsports.

An initial test has already been completed with this equipment on board the team's Pro Mod Firebird with good results. We are not at liberty to discuss any more details of this testing at this time, but more extensive information will be made available in the coming days or weeks. The team will continue testing the equpment throughout the year at select events.

Check back for more details on this new, exiting and absolutely amazing technology that Wolfe Racing is helping to bring to motorsports.