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As an example, Dan modified some aircraft It is ironic that the major conclusion that Dan Aerodynamics is one area which proved
heaters into wrap around tire heaters. "It's a lot Press has reached after years of exhaustive mystifying even to an innovator like Press. "I
easier to do two good laps in qualifying if the experimentation is that "the simpler the car is, didn't think it was 'important on a short track
tires are already heated up to 220 degrees." he the better. We learned the hard way that some where you're only going 100 mph or so but I was
says. of our trick stuff wasn't worth the complication wrong. The first time I tried a full length belly
This use of sponsor's resources plus hard and now we stick to basics." pan and ground effects skirts on the car it put
work and ingenuity has allowed Press to go The big jump in technology of which Dan has me into the wall because they didn't extend
faster while spending less money than the been such a part has raised the overall level back far enough."
competition. Wife/bookeeper Bonnie says: (and cost) of stock car racing to new heights. Since Saugus is completely flat it is ex-
"Our budget is about one third less than what "We don't have the big advantage we used to. tremely hard on brakes. "We tried just about
several other of the top teams in this area are Everyone has caught up to us," he says, 'The everything to keep the brakes cool including
spending." days _of the Easterners coming out to the West spraying a freon and water solution on them.
While a major center for the racing equip- coast and running over us with superior cars Now we use Wilwood Grand National brakes
ment industry, California has comparatively few are over too." and we haven't had any trouble. I've found that
race tracks. "This puts us at a real disadvan- With all of the equipment now available it is everything is so inter-related that if you're hav-
tage because the guys in the East learn a whole much easier for someone with a big enough ing brake problems it's often a sign that some-
lot more about what they're doing racing five bank account to go really fast. Fortunately the thing isn't right with the chassis."
nights a week." Dan says. knowledge and effort which have served Press "I've tried just about everything you can think
"Dave Watson, Mike Miller, Larry Detjens
and Larry Phillips have always helped us in
every way when they come out here. They
don't know the meaning of keeping secrets.
They'll tell you anything you want to know."
By combining the mid westerner's hard
earned knowledge with their own constant ex-
perimentation, Press and Brockers have al-
ways managed to stay a step or two ahead of
the competition. Dan was the first into the 16
second and 15 second brackets at Saugus and
he perennially sets fast time.
Unfortunately he has often been in the DNF
column, partly due to his innovation. His friend,
1979 Saugus champion Tru Cheek says; "I bet it
has cost Dan at least $100,000 in prize money
he didn't make over the years because he was
always trying something new."
At one point Dan strung all of the parts which
had failed while he was leading onto a wire in
his garage. The wire was soon filled and he
stopped the practice, "because it was too de-
pressing."
"We seem to go in cycles, with one year of
experimenting and DNFs followed by a good
one where we have a real advantage."
Interestingly for such an innovator, Dan has
been very successful using chassis built by
someone else. "I've found that if you're going to
learn anything you've got try out only one thing
at a time. If I was building my own chassis along
with everything else I wouldn't have any refer-
ence point."
The latest car features a chassis built by
successful local builder Dave Jackson and in-
corporates several of Dan's ideas. It was built to
Saugus' rules which were liberalized in re-
sponse to Press's success under the older,
more restrictive ones. "The way the chief stew-
ard put it was, they were going to take our unfair
advantage away." Dan says.
The car weighed 1900 lbs dry and was only (top) Press begins to emerge from his car following a 1981 wreck. The car was brand new, replacing the one he wrecked in
39" high. "We may have gone to far with that 1980 (shown in bottom photo) when he hit the wall wide open with the Nitrous button on.
car," Brockers says. "it was so low that Dan
kept getting into wrecks because the other and Brockers so well are still important. of and some you can't when it comes to chassis
guys couldn't see him coming. So we raised it." No one understands better than Dan Press and I've come to the conclusion it's best to keep
Also, it was difficult to ballast the car up to the the intense interaction between chassis, en- it simple. At one point I even went back to
2800 lb. Saugus minimum and keep everything gine, tires, brakes and all the other factors in- Chevy truck arms at the rear just because they
in balance. "We ended up with 65% of the volved in making a car go fast today. His obser- were a known quantity. I'm glad we tried so
weight on the left side at first which was too vations should be enlightening to anyone inter- many different things because now we know
much." ested in short track racing. that works and why."
The car's low weight was achieved without "The cars today are so complicated that you Dan's current car uses coil over suspension
resorting to such ploys as thin wall tubing. "The need a good crew to be competitive, even for a which he likes for the usual reasons of simplic-
most you can save that way is 50 lbs. or so and weekly show. We have a smaller crew than ity and reduced unsprung weight. "They're par-
you end up sacrificing safety." Brockers says. most. There's just me, Conrad, Bonnie and ticularly nice on the front end because there
The weight reduction was primarily the result of maybe a helper." isn't much room up there. I'd say that on the
attention to detail. After winning the championship, Dan dynoed rear regular springs would be just fine because
"We use only two instruments in the car, the his engine and found that it was some 90 HP space isn't a problem and coil overs are expen-
lightest brackets that will do the job, have as down from the competition. "That showed how sive."
little overhang as possible, use rack and pinion good our chassis was but right then I stopped Press uses a rack and pinion steering which
steering, it all adds up," Dan says. They put all building my own engines and went to Mehalek he builds from Datsun parts. "Rack and pinion
the excess weight items removed from the car Power Systems. One guy just can't do every- is lighter and more direct and I like its simplic-
in a barrel, which was soon filled. thing on a car anymore." ity." Continued on page 86
JULY 1981 49