Tom Kempf Sets Sights on $10,000 Payday at Shakedown at the Summit
After driving to an incredible 4.09 and 188 mph in the eighth-mile in Outlaw 10.5 competition last year, Tom Kempf 
decided to make some changes to his ’02 Firehawk to help it clock even quicker and faster times.
He started by delivering the car to Skinny Kid Race Cars, where its bolt-in factory-style suspension was replaced with strut-style suspension, and by turning his 454 cubic-inch LS bullet on a billet Dart block over to Billy Briggs, who freshened it with a new set of Gibtech pistons, BME rods and a Callies crank before placing the Craig Thibeau-prepped Mast Motorsports canted-valve Mozez heads and sheetmetal intake back on top.
Kempf then replaced the 88mm turbos he had been running with a set of 91mm Precision turbos on loan from fellow racer Nick Agostino to maximize his engine combination, and relied on Rodney Massengale of RPM Transmissions to set his Turbo 400 up with a new dump valve system and massage it to complement his ProTorque converter.
Longtime crew members – and friends – Joe Borschke and Kevin Gluski took care of some fabrication work, including a new exhaust system for the car, and Borschke ran new wiring throughout before a new front clip was brought in to replace the previous front clip, which last year had been repaired after a bounce off the wall and a run-in with some cones. All of the upgrades helped the car go from 2710 pounds to a svelte 2640 pounds.
Kempf was back in action by the end of August, and proved his prowess by driving to a 4.17, the top qualified spot and the win in Outlaw 10.5 as part of the Heads-Up Series at Milan Dragway in Michigan in early September. As a bonus, he also recorded a personal best 60-foot time of 1.01 and is inching closer to his goal of a .999.
“The car was running consistent 4.teens that day on a really conservative tune because I was just focused on the race game and not the record game,” said Kempf, of Commerce Township, Michigan. “But we can see in all of the data that we finally have a recipe that works, and hopefully, I’ll have a turbo car that will front-half like a nitrous car and back-half like a turbo car.”
With his sights now set on 3.90s, Kempf is heading to the Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown at the Summit presented by Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels, Sept. 16-18 at Summit Motorsports Park, where he’ll run Precision Turbo and Engine Outlaw 10.5. The 16 car field promises $10,000 for the winner, $2,000 for the runner-up, followed by $500 for the semifinalists, $300 for the quarterfinalists and $200 for eighths.
“I’ve been going to Shakedown for years, and it always brings out the best of the best racers,” said Kempf. “I’m really looking forward to this race.”
Summit Motorsports Park is at 1300 State Route 18, Norwalk, Ohio. For more information, please call 419-668-5555 or visit www.summitmotorsportspark.com .
