Bill C. Taylor Gets Honored

At this year's annual Memphis Rodders Reunion Bill C. Taylor and Larry Coleman were the honored guests. The Memphis Rodders paid tribute to the years of hard work that both men have put into the racing industry in Memphis and around the world. The nostalgic night included videos about the honorees, pictures from the past, and several cars on display. It was a great night to see old racing buddies and meet some of the legends. Thanks to the Memphis Rodders for a wonderful event!

Another Great Day at the Track

This past weekend was the Million Dollar Race at Memphis Motorsports Park and it was another great day at the track. Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to everyone for coming out!

The New BTE T-Shirts Are In!

They won't last long, but the new BTE T-shirts are finally back in stock! This time we have light gray and a navy blue to choose from. Shirts are available in sizes Small to XXX Large. Check out our website at www.bteracing.com and visit our Apparel Section to purchase one today.

Come and see us this weekend!

It is time again for the Million Dollar Race at Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis Tn. (October 2-5) And we will be there with the trailer and plenty of race products! So be sure to stop by and say "Hello".

If you are looking for updates and discounts on BTE products, sign up for our newsletter at www.bteracing.com. You can get monthly emails that alert you to sales and free shipping on many products.

September Updates

Well, the NEW 2008 BTE Catalog is out and looks great! You might have received yours in the mail by now. If you haven't, give us a call at 1-800-626-1828 or look for it on our website at www.bteracing.com. There you will find a link at the top to view it as a pdf file.

Our website is a great way to learn about our products, as well as place an order. The website offers reduced prices and free shipping on featured items. And with over 6500 products, we will have your needs covered. I am constantly updating our product information on the bteracing.com website with pictures and detailed descriptions, so be sure to check it regularly.

New Catalog Available Soon

Our 2008 Summer/Fall catalog will be arriving in mailboxes soon. We will also have the publication available online in .pdf format shortly. The follow up printing in the spring will feature our new and improved late model lineup of transmissions, torque converters, and related performance products.

Beating the fuel problem by going local

One important element of drag racing during the last 10 years has been the "big money" bracket racing. Large, high payout events across much of the south and eastern coast have brought racers from across the country to compete for $10k+ purses.

In the last 2 years, this type of racing has declined dramatically. Some may point to rising fuel prices, while others highlight the unsustainable lifestyle of massive, professional level bracket racing operations. For whatever reason, there are simply fewer of these events.

During this decade of high dollar, high profile racing, across the country small tracks continued to operate their usual weekend events. Small, casual, and friendly (on the wallet, for the family, and just in general), these tracks are the true backbone of the drag racing industry.

Feeling the pressure from towing 500+ miles or not feeling appreciated by a national sanctioning body as a sportsman racer? Look to your own community for racing events that are happening every week.

StagingLight.com's Dragstrip Finder

Waters/Team Moser Engineering bring home 2008 President's Cup National Championship Iron Man

From Danny Waters Jr. Motorsports:

FOR IMMEDEATE RELEASE:Budds Creek, MD

Danny Waters Jr and crew rolled up to Budds Creek MD with one thing in mind, bringing home their first National Event 'Iron Man' of the 2008 IHRA Knoll Gas Nitro Jam racing series. When the smoke cleared, they had done just that!

'This Moser Engineering, 2008 American Race Cars dragster was on a mission this weekend!. Eventhough the track surface was extremly hot, these Hoosier Racing Tires kept us hooked up with consistant 60 foot times all day long'.

To top it all off, it was Waters' very first Father's Day. 'When I rolled back into the staging lanes after the Final round, I handed my dad the Iron Man and said Happy Father's Day! After a couple of moments and laughter, he handed it back and said 'Happy Father's Day from your son!!!'. What a great feeling, words couldn't describe how proud we both felt.'

This final round win should bost the Moser Engineering Quick Rod entry solidly into the top of the National Points standings with room still left to improve.

Getting technical support

Just as a quick reminder, if you need any technical support with any of our products, don't hesitate to contact us at 662-851-3213 or via email at tech@bteracing.com. We will promptly address any questions or comments you have. We are also in the process of converting our technical and instructional documents to .pdf formats for online access.

Getting to know us: Bryan Robinson

On a regular interval, I will post information about members of our team. I like knowing a bit more about who I interact with in customer/vendor as well as partner/partner relationships. As a business, we feel it is very important that our customers and partners know not just about our prices, products, and services, but also about our credentials and character. - Brandon


Bryan Robinson is a true racing specialist and valued member of the BTE/Memphis Performance team. Bryan's father Johnny Robinson is a 30+ year veteran of bracket racing. Bryan grew up working with his father in their family commercial fishing business on the Tennessee river. Mr. Robinson had been a friend of my family for years, but I didn't meet Bryan until I myself was doing some driving of the first BTE test car at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Bryan, who had likely been driving a race car before he could legally drive a passenger car on the public road system, was a formidable racer on the local tracks and regional bracket races. In 2002 and 2003, Bryan and his father stepped up their racing program and competed nationally for the NHRA Super Gas and Super Comp championships, and in 2003 Bryan was crowned winner of the NHRA Super Gas title. Both Bryan and I had recently completed our undergraduate college degrees, and I felt he would be a tremendous addition to our team at BTE / Memphis Performance when the racing season concluded. I was graciously invited to Pomona, CA that year for the final NHRA event and awards ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Bryan and I departed from Memphis early in the week to begin race qualifications at Pomona, and his parents and wife Cassie arrived later in the week.

Traveling is a highly effective setting for really getting to know someone: how do they handle stress or fatigue, how to they interact with people from other areas of the country or world, what are their food allergies (don't feed Bryan shrimp), or how do they have fun (that poor rental car...)?

Bryan gave a great winner's speech, and shortly after our return, Bryan joined us here at BTE / Memphis Performance.

Since then, Bryan has continued to race locally, regionally, and nationally in many classes. He has expertise in throttlestop, bracket, and recently, class racing. When not racing his own dragster, Bryan is currently partnered with contemporary and mutual friend Luke Bogacki on a A/SA and B/SA car competing on the NHRA and IHRA circuit. Bryan also leads much of our internal and external testing for new products and new torque converter combinations.

After a long week at the office, Bryan is usually bound for a race on the weekend. He is truly a racing enthusiast.

Bryan may be contacted at bryan.robinson@bteracing.com our via our phone at 1-800-626-1828.

New High Gear Powerglide Piston (And how it was born)

Unlike some performance industries, the drag racing drive train industry has been supplied for nearly thirty years by junkyards. Using often modified OEM parts from the economy two speed Powerglide transmission of the 1960s and 1970s, drag racers, transmission builders, and parts suppliers championed the simplicity, durability, and for many years, availability of core, junkyard parts.

During the course of the last several decades, these qualities have been affected by consumption of available parts, junkyard scrap recycling, the elements, and the ever increasing demands put on the transmissions by higher quality racing surfaces and increased engine output levels.

Even before the depletion of available OEM core parts, several components of the Powerglide transmission have proven to be clearly unsuitable for racing, such as the OEM iron clutch hub and the input shaft. These were quickly redesigned and manufactured.

As time passes, the two curves of availability and durability change and more parts are fashioned from new material because of these changes, such as the case, gearsets, and pumps. Parts manufacturers like BTE must meet the demand of higher output engines from their customers and also combat the dwindling supply of OEM parts.

Recently, the industry has reached a point of no-return. Core prices for junkyard cores have risen so high in price that it is now more economical to manufacture new parts than buying old oem parts and re-manufacturing. (And a new, designed specifically for racing component is much more desirable than a 40 year old reworked piece from a junkyard, right?)

The pictured high gear piston is one of the last holdouts of the OEM days. This new piston replaces the factory design primarily due to low availability and not performance limitations. We've changed the design to use a spring pocket for spring retention. These billet aluminum pieces are strong and suitable for all applications.

Thanks for reading. I'll be adding a variety of posts and videos here at the blog covering what's going on inside our operations or anything interesting from the racing community. If you have any questions or suggestions for a topic, please leave a comment or email me at brandon.barrentine@bteracing.com.

BTE/Memphis Performance

Welcome to the BTE Racing/Memphis Performance blog! Let's stay connected through this blog, or on our Facebook page. We will also be updating our YouTube Channel soon with videos taken around the shop. We hope you learn a little more about BTE Racing/Memphis Performance. Hope to hear from you soon!