Team “O” Motorsports Makes PDRA XPS Debut at DRAGSTOCK XIII

PITTSBORO, NC – The naturally aspirated, factory hot rod machines of Extreme Pro Stock (XPS) will rejoin the Professional Drag Racers (PDRA) 2016 tour as the organization heads to its marquee event of the season, Dragstock XIII, held September 8-10. XPS points leaders John Pluchino, Richard Penland, and Brian Gahm are all expected to be in attendance, along with other XPS favorites as the class makes its fourth appearance this season.

At least one new entry will be in attendance at the highly acclaimed GALOT Motorsports Park for the 13th running of Dragstock. Team “O” Motorsports will attend its inaugural PDRA event, returning to Pro Stock competition after a long layoff. The team remained sidelined during the various transitions that Mountain Motor Pro Stock has been through in recent years. Team “O” Motorsports owner Richard Otwell has faith in the PDRA program and decided it was time to put his car back in competition. The Chevrolet Cobalt has been given a complete makeover, including new windows, paint and fresh engines and is now ready for battle against the toughest eighth-mile Pro Stockers on the planet.

“We went for a simple, clean appearance, and everyone seems to love the new color,” informed team manager and co-crew chief, Jeff Owen. “The makeover was entirely done in house. Kevin Cowger and the guys next door in the Custom Performance Hot Rod Shop were instrumental in getting the factory headlights installed, a project that is more difficult than first meets the eye. Regretfully, the engines were put in mothballs when XPS was dropped from the class lineup last year, and it’s taken a lot of time to restart our in house engine program. Thanks to Scott Benham’s hard work and Slick Rick Racing Heads we’re ready and very excited to make our PDRA debut.”

Along with the car’s overhaul, it’s also getting a new driver.

Otwell is a weekend warrior near his Texas home, but his business keeps him from traveling with a national series. So for his Pro Stock operation he tapped Scott Benham, owner of Race Engine Development, to be the Team “O” pilot. Benham’s been behind the wheel of a race car for decades, but Dragstock will be his first national event piloting a Pro Stocker.

“When you grow up in a racing family, watching heroes like Bob Glidden and Lee Shepherd, you always dream about getting behind the wheel of a Pro Stock machine,” confessed Benham, who has years of experience driving stick shift doorslammers, albeit with less horsepower than the Team “O” Cobalt. “The opportunity came for me to drive for Team ‘O’, and now I’m sitting in the seat. I worked for several years for another Pro Stock team, so we have quite a bit of experience as far as being around them. Just haven’t been behind the wheel of one a lot.”

Benham has had his current engine shop for a decade and owned a speed shop for twenty years before that. The 825 cubic inch Chevrolet Hemi in the Team “O” Cobalt is a Sonny Leonard original design that Benham has put his own twist on. “We’ve been running it for three or four years on and off. It shows pretty good promise. We’re always in R&D mode. We have our own dyno and it’s all in house. We found a little power, so hopefully it’s enough for Dragstock.”

“We love the PDRA and are so glad to finally be able to support the organization and Extreme Pro Stock,” added Owen. “We want to support. We’re a firm believer in the eighth-mile series and what they can do. We want to go to as much as we can. Richard is a pretty cool owner. He’s let us go to a lot of races that he couldn’t attend himself.”

Owen adds thanks to Gene Jones with Maxima Racing Oil for partnering with Team “O” Motorsports, which is made up of an entirely volunteer crew.

“Without Richard’s drive and inspiration we wouldn’t be here,” Benham says of the team owner. “I enjoy working with the guys and learning and teaching. It’s a lot of fun. And that’s the main key. We’re going out to be competitive and have a shot to win, but at the end of the day it’s all about having a good time. We’ve all got jobs, so we don’t want to make this one.”

For more on Dragstock XIII, visit www.pdra660.com.