Will Crate Engines Kill The Performance Aftermarket?
PRI Crate Engine Conclave
 The first crate engine shot fired at national short track racing -- An GM LS-1 based engine for the ASA. (GM Performance photo) |
The Performance Racing Industry had its annual PRI Trade Show of racing parts in Orlando last December. The place was packed to the edges with manufacturers that build hard-core performance to make your car or racecar go faster. No fuzzy dice here.
Yet, in this great representation of an aftermarket (non-OEM) auto industry that has built largely by capitalistic entrepreneurs over the past 50 years, there is worry.
Worry about “crate” or “spec” or “factory sealed” engines being supplied by the OEMs into the short track racing at the local and regional level where many of these aftermarket manufacturers and sellers have made their livelihood. They built the performance aftermarket.
Sure, factory-supported racing at the highest levels like Indy or NASCAR has been going on, either out the front door or back door of the OEMs, since auto racing started.
But it is only within the last few years that the OEMs, and GM in particular, have turned their massive manufacturing and distribution and price operating scale advantages on racing at the local short track level – into Limited Late Model and Super Late Models classes.
 How is the aftermarket responding to GM's Limit Late Model engine? Richard Maskin (of DART) said, "We've been thrown under tractor trailers full of crate engines. We built the aftermarket! You have to fight fire with fire. I'm going to produce an $800 iron engine block next year." |
When the insightful head of GM Racing Herb Fishel convinced the American Speed Association (ASA) to adopt a GM LS-1-based factory-produced engine a few years ago, that was the start of factory signed, sealed, and delivered crate engines moving down from the highest levels (read nose-bleeding expensive) of racing like LeMans, Indy, etc.
Previously, ASA engines had been built by a variety of specialist and individual racing engine builders across the U.S. But essentially overnight, they were forced out of that market, or the market changed so much and they didn’t adapt – depending on which side you advocate.
GM turned on one of their engine factory lines for one day, I repeat, that is one day to build enough racing engines to supply all the teams in the ASA with crate engines. And at a cost of roughly about one-half what they were from specialist or custom race engine builders. What series and promoter and racer would not go for that!
