It was a fun and exciting weekend in Boise as Krabill drove his Northwest Hitter to victory at the 2013 Ignitor at Firebird. Phenix is excited to be sponsoring the team at Bucky Austin Racing this season and we enjoyed seeing them in action. 

Defending Ignitor champ Jason Rupert was running his Black Plague Funny Car, but struggled with tire shake all weekend. That didn't stop the team from having fun and making the best of their time on the track. 

Also making his debut was newcomer Scott Stanger driving his Bad Manners Nitro Funny Car. Scott has long campaigned his Bad Manners Fiat Blown Alcohol Altered and made his move into Nitro with the new car.

Phenix is proud to be affiliated with all of these teams and we wish them the best this season!

Scott and his wife Jenny have been racing their "old school" blown alcohol '48 Fiat altered for over 20 years, and are very excited to move into the NFC ranks. While this is the first nitro burning entry they have owned, they spent
several years working with Scott Mason on his Chevy powered NTF dragster known as "Sudden Impact". Mason and his former crew will be picking up where they left off with the dragster. Lyle Mason, Scott Mason, Bill Taft, and Boyd Abercrombie bring an enormous wealth of knowledge to the team. "As you can see from the rendering, it is our goal to keep the look and feel of our car as a true tribute to the funny cars of the past." 

Phenix is looking forward to working with Scott and the team and seeing their debut at the Ignitor.

Adam Sorokin is the son of the late Mike Sorokin, legendary driver of the Hall Of Fame inducted “Surfers” Top Fuel team of the ‘60’s. Adam’s father was tragically killed from a clutch/driveline failure at the wheel of a Top Fuel Dragster at Orange County Raceway on December 30th 1967. Adam was only a year old and his mother was eighteen. As Adam grew up, his mother made sure he knew who his father was and what he did for a living. She brought him to the races at Orange County Raceway and introduced him to racers who knew his father. It was at this point that the hook was set. Meeting the drivers and watching them in their fire suits and helmets roar down the quarter mile in Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars sparked something in Adam. His mother, Robyn recognized this spark, but was less than enthusiastic to have her son follow his father’s footsteps into the same dangerous (and potentially fatal) activity. The same father who was killed at the age of only 28! So even though Adam’s mother showed him where he came from, she also tried to keep him from being too enamored with racing - but it was too late. It’s all Adam really wanted to do now. In 1985, Adam’s mother was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer at the age of 37. It would be just four months later that she too would pass away but not before giving Adam her blessing to do what would make him happy in life. She told him “I know what you want to do – please be safe”. At 18 years old, Adam knew that was a green light to pursue a racing career. 

The 2012 Heritage Series Points Title was a great victory for the team.“It was a great year for us,” said team owner Bob McLennan. “Having the small block win it is so special for our family — this one was for (team founder) Jim McLennan. I know he was watching over us. The entire team knows he is our foundation to running this car. He provided us with the never say die confidence in the small-block Chevrolet.”

Champion Speed Shop is led by Tony Bernardini, along with Mike Perry and Jeff Stich, who specialize in cylinder-head maintenance; Dave Carkhuff works the bottom end; Tom McLennan dials in the clutch; Tom Homer manages the fuel; Dennis Barranza and Nick Sharp serve as the anything-goes utility-men , Bob Gavron keeps everyone well fed and Sparky keeps everybody honest as the team statistician.

Phenix is proud to be a sponsor of the team and we wish them the best of luck this weekend and in the upcoming season.

-Bio courtesy Adam Sorokin and Champion Speed Shop. Photos by Steve Bunker and Nitro America.

The car is once again piloted by Kris Krabill, one of the fiercest and youngest drivers on the Nostalgia Funny Car Circuit. At an early age of 16, Kris joined the list of young racers in a series of bracket racing events. During 1992-1994, Torco Racing Oils signed on as a primary sponsor for Kris’s Super Comp dragster. As a young racer, Kris won close to 30 races and finished in the top ten each year. At the end of the 1994 season, Kris met Gary Turner during a race in Woodburn, Oregon and worked as a full-time crewmember on Turner’s Top Alcohol Dragster until the 1997 season.

During his 2006 Nitro Nostalgia Funny Car rookie season, Kris secured the 2006 Goodguys Nostalgia Funny Car Championship and became the 3rd member of the honorable Auto Meter 5 Second Club. In the 2006 season, Kris also went undefeated and had his name become forever etched in the history books as being the first Funny Car winner at the famed California Hot Rod Reunion. Since the 2006 racing season, he has competed all over the country and has won the largest races in the class.

Kris and the team at Bucky Austin Racing are going to be intense competition on the track this season. Phenix is proud to be a sponsor of the Northwest Hitter and wish them the best at the upcoming 2013 March Meet. Bio courtesy kriskrabill.com

All of our customers in the Southern California area know John Lasater, who has been an outside sales rep for Phenix Industries since the beginning. John has been absent from visiting his clients for the last four months due to illness. It
was recentley discovered that John has cancer and will have a tough road ahead in the treatment of the disease. Our best wishes and prayers go out to John and his family and we are hoping John will be back visiting with his customers and doing what he loves, spending time in hot rod shops and interacting with people.