are two of the nicest, most sincere people you'll ever meet.
I've had the opportunity to interview Mark in the last few weeks,
and gain some insight into what makes him tick. Read on...
Hardcore50.com: Mark, you've burst on the NMRA
scene this season, partnering with Ed "The Flying Frog" Kowalczyk.
What were you involved in before, and what's your racing
background?
Mark McKeown: Yes, it does seem like we “burst” onto
the scene, and we have thoroughly enjoyed this season of getting
to know the folks, cheering them on & doing whatever we can to
support them. We made the decision to “leap” after watching
the organization for quite some time. After an Internet post
searching for a racer to work with on a serious R and D effort we
received numerous inquiries. We reviewed racers’ past performances
and individual program needs and all things considered we felt
strongly about working with Frog. He’s an excellent driver (as was
the Rainman...) We’ve also made an excellent friend who has
“lived” at the shop on many off race weekends this season.
We’re very glad we chose to work with Frog. We’ve yet to show
the progress that we’ve made to date on his old program and we
feel even more confident about what we are going to do with the
new stuff. (Heather wants me to make sure I let your readers know
that we will be making a showing at the Ford Fever Classic,
October 18 and 19, at Maryland International Raceway in Budds
Creek, MD. Look for our vendor pit where we’ll be marketing our
chassis building operation and of our course our engine programs.
During that weekend we expect to be supporting Frog in the Mild
Street class and Billy Laskowsky in the Street Outlaw class. Come
cheer us on!)
As far as my previous involvement - I spent 13 years as a
motocross racer with the last five years racing as pro and semi
pro. I decided to end my MX career on an up (finishing 5th in our
AMA district) and while I could still walk. I turned to NHRA and
IHRA bracket and match racing.
During that time I had enough success with my engine programs and
chassis building to warrant other racers to ask where I had had my
engine built, work done, etc...and of course I did my own engines
and cars. That’s how MME began. Since then I’ve had the
opportunity to crew chief race teams and develop engine programs
which have competed in NHRA Pro Stock Truck & Comp. Eliminator,
NHRA and IHRA bracket and NASCAR Busch Grand National.
Several years ago I decided that it was time to focus on our
business rather than my own racing program. Instead of campaigning
my own car I have been working with teams to boost their
performance.
Hardcore50.com: What kind of NHRA records have your
engines been a part of?
Mark: I wish I could say that my records are in Pro
Stock but they aren’t (yet.) I was hired as a crew chief and
engine builder by a team that campaigned Chryslers in NHRA Stock
and Super Stock. I had built very few Chrysler engines by that
time and the learning curve was steep. However, within four months
we had netted nine national records. That was a very good and
exciting experience as my engines were competing against the very
best. In fact, some of the engine builders had been building
Chrysler engines longer than I had been living on this planet!
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Hardcore50.com: I know you've been cobbling together
some used and recycled parts for Eddie this season, while
you build him a new bullet. Care to elaborate on what his
new engine will include?
Mark: We’ve been working with Ed in conjunction with
building an in house MME, Hot Street engine program. Our new
engine will include....If I tell you, I’ll have to kill
you...
But seriously, my approach is based upon deciding what I’d
like if there were no limitations imposed by the rules. I
then study the rules to know how I can get what I want
within the rule limitations. I work backwards to accomplish
what I want within the parameters of the rules. |
Regarding the
hardware - I saw a need for a change in the valve train for
Pro Stock Truck Ford engines. I saw a similar need for a
change in H/S - therefore I transferred many of these ideas
to H/S. However, H/S has been quite the challenge since we
are not allowed to weld the heads.
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Hardcore50.com: We know you tend to concentrate on
"class" racing, like Hot Street. Where does your Pro Stock
background come into play when designing an engine for a
class like that?
Mark: You are always “handcuffed” by the rules and
without power adders you are forced to use the latest
technology or develop new technology where the rules have
you handcuffed - that’s what makes naturally aspirated
engines very technical. Having to think “outside the box”
and be creative is a byproduct of having developed engine
programs within the Pro Stock racing environment.
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Hardcore50.com: How would Hot Street/Street Bandit
type engine development carry over to a slower class, such as Pure
Street/Street Warrior?
Mark: Naturally, technology rolls down easier than is
rolls up. Learning what the engine wants is the key. Usually the
“higher” classes allow more modifications so you can experiment in
more ways. Once you figure out how to make the faster engines
powerful, you apply the principles to the slower classes within
their rules. This is where the “working backwards” approach, that
I mentioned earlier, comes into play.
Hardcore50.com: What is the most important thing in
determining parts selection for a particular combination?
Mark: It's hard to say what the most important aspect
is. A few important parameters that we examine are:
1. how the engine will be used - street, street/strip or
race engine,
2. type - class engine or not and amount of maintenance to
be expected,
3. performance,
4. durability, and
5. budget.
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Hardcore50.com: Through your involvement in NHRA's Pro
Stock Truck class, what have you learned that you can put towards
your everyday engine development programs for someone like one of
our members?
Mark: When working on something like P/S, generally
speaking, the sky’s the limit - there are few limits on
modifications. When your imagination comes up with something that
appears to be a better solution or alternative you have to go for
it. Given the level of competition you are forced to be creative
and that better enables you to find ways to work around obstacles
in other classes. 100% creative freedom teaches you to keep your
mind open when working around obstacles.
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Hardcore50.com: Through your involvement in NHRA's Pro
Stock Truck class, what have you learned that you can put towards
your everyday engine development programs for someone like one of
our members?
Mark: When working on something like P/S, generally
speaking, the sky’s the limit - there are few limits on
modifications. When your imagination comes up with something that
appears to be a better solution or alternative you have to go for
it. Given the level of competition you are forced to be creative
and that better enables you to find ways to work around obstacles
in other classes. 100% creative freedom teaches you to keep your
mind open when working around obstacles.
Hardcore50.com: Your slogan is "Scientific
Performance". How can your research on engine combinations benefit
the average guy?
Mark: (Leave little to chance.) The slogan came after
working on several engine programs where “black magic,” “rumor of
the day,” “the expert of the week,” and old wives tales drove the
direction of the racer, and in turn, his or her team's
performance. Our objective is to not operate that way. We use
positive experience, proven methods, sound theory and good
engineering principles to develop and put our programs in the
right direction from the start. The economic benefit to the
“average guy” and everyone else is that money is saved by reducing
the amount of trial and error, with the emphasis on error. We all
make wrong decisions but the odds are definitely in your favor
when you approach a situation this way and it’s cheaper to build
one good engine that you can grow with vs. an unsuccessful engine
that forces you to start over again - let's do it right the first
time!
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Hardcore50.com: Camshafts are often referred to as the
"brain" of the engine. How much can the correctly selected
camshaft (custom ground) benefit a racer versus an "off the shelf"
grind?
Mark: Custom, off the shelf - doesn’t matter - if
it's wrong, it's wrong. An engine is all about flowing air and the
cam tells the engine when to start flowing and stop flowing the
air. Every engine has its ultimate cam profile - therefore it is
my feeling that its better to give the engine what it wants
or needs as opposed to picking a camshaft that is ready and waiting.
The ultimate cam could be on the shelf but the ones out there are
usually a grind of lobe profile that fit 95% of the general
public. When I say “fit” I mean that in the literal sense
(physically.) Just because the duration and lift fit in the
engine, doesn’t make it the correct cam.
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There is more to picking out an appropriate cam than duration #,
lift # and separation #. The intensity of lobes has a lot to do
with cam selection or lobe selection when it comes to performance
and usage. The overall design of the engine needs to be looked at
when examining the intensity of the lobes. We also use different
size lifters, roller wheels, and rocker arms, to name a few parts
that help us get the desired result from the cam.
Hardcore50.com: What are the differences someone would
notice by internally balancing an engine, versus an external
balance?
Mark: If the crankshaft was originally designed for
external balancing, the first thing that someone will notice is
the hole in their wallet where their money used to be....
There really is no performance advantage but it does allow you to
swap or interchange other parts such as flywheel, harmonic
balancers, etc.
Internally balanced crankshafts cause less loading for flex at
high RPM which equates to longer main bearing life.
Hardcore50.com: So far, we've only discussed naturally
aspirated engines. Do you also have experience with building blown
and turbocharged engines? If so, please, tell us some of the
differences between building for a naturally aspirated engine, and
one that is forced induction.
Mark: Yes, we have successfully built just about
every type of racing engine there is - the predominant difference
between types of engines is in how the engine breathes - port
design, total combustion volume and cam. On the other hand there
is a structural difference...
Engines are a study of physics, both geometric and pressure.
Engines and their components respond to pressure differential. It
is pressure differential that makes an engine breathe and what
pushes pistons. Different style engines just have different
pressure differentials. We have to use the cam to control pressure
differentials within the engine and to tailor them to our needs.
In studying how the engine breathes you have to analyze pressure.
Naturally aspirated engines as we call them are actually forced
induction. We live in a pressure vessel of 14.7psi average (our
atmosphere.) Therefore, naturally aspirated engines are running
14.7 pounds of boost. Forced induction engines just have more
boost.
In looking at the structural differences, naturally aspirated
engines respond to small journal crankshafts, light weight
connecting rods and light pistons, with high ring packs.
Forced induction engines have bigger main and rod journals,
heavier or thicker pistons with lower ring packs. There is a more
heat resistant ring material and heavier bearing on the connecting
rods and usually a heavier wall or OD wrist pin.
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Hardcore50.com: What's your position on engine airflow
in conjunction with engine development?
Mark: I think too much emphasis is put on advertised
airflow numbers - in other words - we all know air flow is very
important in the design of an engine but it often becomes a
numbers game and the numbers game is overrated - i.e. racing flow
benches, instead of properly designing the engine.
For instance, most of the time cylinder heads are advertised
with peak flow numbers. You may often hear “low lift flow
numbers are really what you want”, “mid lift flow numbers
are optimum” or “maximum area under the curve” is what you
are shooting for.
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However, in reality there are some engines, depending upon class
where you do have to concentrate on low lift flow numbers because
of restrictions such as class lift rules. But there are also
instances where we, in the development of a cylinder head will go
to great measures to kill low lift flow. A cylinder head can be made to flow a ton of air and kill the
engine’s performance at the same time. An example of this is
killing the efficiency of the chamber to obtain more flow through
the port.
This is where experience comes into play in knowing what flow
characteristics each engine will need or will be available because
of rules or design restrictions.
It all comes back to controlling airflow by pressure differential.
Rules that limit parts selection or modifications force you to
look at where the airflow is available or practical.
Hardcore50.com: What do you see for MME’s involvement
in NMRA in the future?
Mark: We plan to continue to
travel to as many races as possible to support our “team” racers
of which the list is currently growing. We are pleased to
announce that MME will also be supporting PBM Racing with our
services next season.
We will also be exploring other sanctioning
bodies such as Fun Ford Weekend, PRO and NMCA.
Hardcore50.com: How can someone get more information about
your programs?
Mark: Give us a call and ask about our chassis and
engine “packages.” We offer the convenience of getting your engine
and chassis all from the same shop, reducing or eliminating
typical scheduling and coordination problems between chassis and
engine builders.
Thanks so much for your time, Mark (and Heather). We
appreciate you sharing your insight with us!
To contact MME:
MME Racing
9875 Adams Willett Rd
Nanjemoy, MD 20662
Phone: (301) 246-9225
http://www.mmeracing.com
