Jack Burns is owner and founder of Burns Stainless LLC, an engineering and exhaust components supplier in the professional motorsports industry.  Together with his partner, Mr. Burns has developed Burns Stainless into a premier company in the motorsports arena.  With a non-compromising, detail oriented approach, Mr. Burns assisted professional race teams to win championships at the highest echelons including NASCAR Sprint Cup, NHRA, ALMS and FIA.  The son of a Ford dealer, Mr. Burns acquired a keen interest in all things automotive building a V-8-powered Anglia Gasser in his teens, circle boat racing in his mid-20s and 30s and now races TAG karts as a hobby.

Rich Keller has been an engineer within the Champion Spark Plug organization for his entire professional career, beginning in 1980 upon graduation from Purdue University. Throughout his career, the Champion brand has been virtually synonymous with race-winning performance in NASCAR, Formula One, NHRA and IHRA racing. He is based at Federal-Mogul’s Powertrain Energy Group research and development center in Plymouth, Mich., where engineers develop next-generation engine and ignition solutions for the original equipment, replacement and performance markets.

As director of product engineering, Rich oversaw the development of many of today’s most popular Champion products, including Champion Platinum Power, Double-Platinum Power and Iridium spark plugs for automotive applications; Champion PowerSport plugs for ATV/UTV, snowmobile and personal watercraft engines; as well as the company’s highly successful lineup of NASCAR and Top Fuel racing plugs. He also was responsible for development of Federal-Mogul’s portfolio of advanced nickel and precious-metal alloys as well as the award-winning Champion SureFire™ alumina ceramic material, which dramatically enhances plugs’ high-voltage/high-temperature performance characteristics. Rich has expertise in virtually every area of plug engineering, from materials development to the design of production processes and equipment.

During his career with Champion and Federal-Mogul, Rich has helped keep Champion on the leading edge of virtually every major technology trend involving the ignition system, from the introduction of copper-core center and ground electrodes in the 1980s, to fine-wire center electrodes and platinum-type plugs in the 1990s, to the adoption of iridium technology for automotive plugs in the past decade. (Champion pioneered the use of iridium plug technology for aviation applications more than 30 years ago.)

Rich received his Professional Engineering License from the State of Michigan in 1988 and is a member of SAE and ASME. The proud owner of a 1967 Corvette, he resides near Toledo, Ohio.

Paul “Scooter” Brothers

Position: Co-Owner & V.P., COMP Performance Group (COMP Cams, TCI Automotive, Quarter Master Industries, etc.)

Hometown: Memphis, TN

Email: scooterb@compcams.com

Website/Blog: www.scooter-brothers.com

Facebook: Scooter Brothers

Timeline:

Harold Bettes is author of Engine Airflow and co-author of Dyno Testing and Tuning. Harold has been a mechanical engineer for over 40 years and has been involved in motorsports in one fashion or another for more than half a century. Harold Bettes is a recipient of many awards for his contributions in furthering mechanical engineering, the motorsports industry and the aftermarket. Bettes is widely acknowledged for his expertise concerning dynamometer and flow bench applications. Harold is a consultant on test facilities, equipment and high performance engine designs and configurations and his personal contact information is in the black book of many engine developers, and team owners. Bettes has been the MC for the Advanced Engineering Technology Conference for over 20 years.

Richard Maskin’s career as a race car driver was short, but his impact on motorsports as an engine builder and manufacturer has been long lasting. The seeds that were planted 40 years ago when Maskin was a struggling Pro Stock racer with an AMC Hornet grew into Dart Machinery, a respected manufacturer of competition cylinder heads, intake manifolds, and engine blocks.

Maskin’s first serious race car was a 1955 Canadian Pontiac powered by a small-block Chevy V8 that competed in C/Modified Production in the mid-’60s. Next came his record-holding “Mouse Pack” Camaro that he campaigned in a variety of Modified eliminator classes. Maskin made the leap to Pro Stock in 1972 with an AMC Gremlin driven by Dave Kanners. The Maskin & Kanners team soon traded in the stubby Gremlin body for a more aerodynamic Hornet that established Maskin as one of the most innovative engine builders in Pro Stock.

During his Pro Stock days, Maskin learned how to produce complex cast-iron cylinder heads from scratch. This hands-on experience laid the foundation for Dart Machinery. Dart’s forged aluminum Hemi heads took the nitro-burning classes by storm in the ’80s. Dart’s innovative Race Series heads for big-block Chevrolet V8s soon followed, putting Pro Stock airflow technology in the hands of sportsman racers. After capturing back to back Pro Stock championships, Dart’s Big Chief heads became a formidable force in classes ranging from Pro Street to Top Dragster.

The company expanded its product line to include competition engine blocks which have become the industry standard. The business that Richard Maskin started in his basement has become a multi-million dollar enterprise.

Dart Machinery developed the 500ci big-block engines that powered Jeg Coughlin Jr. to the 2000 NHRA Pro Stock championship and supplied 358ci small-blocks for the Jeg’s Pro Stock Truck team. Maskin’s engines were also instrumental in the success of 1996 and 1997 NHRA Pro Stock Champion Jim Yates. Dart Machinery was named “Manufacturer of the Year” in 1995, and Maskin was voted the “Pro Engine Builder of the Year” on the Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing Team in 2000. In 2009, Crain’s Detroit Business listed Dart Machinery among Michigan’s “Top 20 Aftermarket Parts Suppliers”.

Today Dart products are used throughout the racing world. Maskin recently “retired” from Pro Stock, and is concentrating his efforts on diverse projects ranging from Dart’s innovative and affordable SHP small blocks to monstrous billet aluminum Pro Mod engines. And to think that it all began with a Pro Stock Rambler!

Gary Stanton has long been regarded as one of the country’s premier engine builders by manufacturers and racers alike.  Horsepower roars from the three dynos in the 20,000 sq. ft, “state of the art” shop, located in Nicholasville, KY.  Gary and his highly capable crew crank out an impressive 250 motors a year.

He began his career in racing building sprint car chassis in Phoenix, AZ.  He was soon the largest chassis builder in the United States.  During this time Gary fielded race teams that ran the gamut from an Indy car team, World of Outlaws sprint cars, USAC Silver Crown, sprints and midgets.  His impressive roster of drivers includes Al Unser, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Dave Blaney, Brad Doty & Steve Kinser.  His teams have won championships and Gary was inducted into the Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 1997 Stanton teamed up with Mopar to develop a new aluminum engine and handed Chrysler the Silver Crown championship just a short year later.  A winning partnership was born and Gary has been developing engines for Mopar ever since.  His shop currently produces the bulk of the Hemi crate motors that are available through Mopar.  The rich racing heritage is represented by having built motors for race teams, including those owned by: Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne,  Ryan Newman., Tracy Hine, Don Garlits, Roy Johnson and Irving Johns.

Current Position: General Manager, Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil
Education: University of Tennessee, Knoxville – 1996
Certifications: Certified Lubrication Specialist, Society Of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers

I started racing go-karts when I was 8 years old, but by the time I was a teenager, I realized a driving career was not for me.

My father raced in NASCAR from 1980 until 1998. For many of those years, Dad operated our own independent race team in the Charlotte area, so I spent several summer’s working on Dad’s team. I started by sweeping the floors and taking out the trash. By the time I went to college, I was traveling with the team.

At the time, my mom lived in Nashville, TN and worked for an advertising agency, so I decided to try my hand advertising instead of racing. I attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and in May of 1996 I graduated with a BS in Communications. After graduation, I moved to Charlotte, NC, and I went to work for a local advertising agency.

I learned really quick that working on race cars was a lot more fun than designing ads for banks, so I went to work for Melling Racing. We fielded the #9 NASCAR team that Bill Elliott made famous back in the late-1980’s. Melling Racing was also one of the original Dodge teams when Dodge got back into NASCAR in 2001. After working for Melling Racing, I joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2004.

At Joe Gibbs Racing, I began studying lubrication fundamentals and chemistry. In 2010, I earned the title of Certified Lubrication Specialist.

Born in 1966, growing up on a farm in the Midwest can be a peaceful experience, but not for Bill Schlieper. Bill always found himself surrounded in racing. In fact, his father John Schlieper began building winning engines in 1953 on the family farm in Brookfield, Wisconsin. By the time Bill was 5 he would be cleaning machines, sweeping floors & even standing on a milk crate to see while he glass beaded pistons & valves. Working with his dad at Schiepers Speed Shop, he grew up around torque and horsepower. You could say racing has always been a part of his life. Working various jobs at the shop and even running the dyno at only 16 years old. Traveling and supporting races soon became his life. Running up and down the road with the likes of Jack Flannery and Ted Musgrave was then a daily routine. After winning the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1990 & 1991 with Jack Flannery, Bill along with his brother John Schlieper Jr, looked to start their own engine shop with partner Al Schill in Franklin, Wisconsin.

In the fall of 2001, buying his father’s existing shop in Sullivan, Wisconsin was their next step. After adding on a new assembly, store and dyno area, Pro Power Racing soon captured back-to-back World 100′s at the famed Eldora Speedway with Brian Birkhofer then with his own brother Dan Schlieper. With 3 Knoxville National wins, 3 USA National Championships, Lucas Oil Off-Road Championships, World of Outlaw Dirt Late Model Championship the dirt domination continues on. Pro Power Racing is proud to partner & develop products with Dart Machinery, Manley Performance, VP Fuels & Isky Cams just to name a few. Working closely with manufacturers has allowed Pro Power Racing to be cutting edge in the innovation & development of their open competition engines.

Bill is married to Josie and has 2 children Jake 19 & Paige 17. Bills current schedule includes Dirt Late Model, Dirt Modified, Lucas & Traxxas Off-Road racing series.

Stephen Golya is the Principal R&D engineer for JE Pistons. Mainly concentrating on piston design, his other functions include applying new technologies benefiting piston and engine performance.

Originally from England he worked for Menards Competition Technologies (MCT-UK) and the Capricorn Group (Perfectbore Ltd). Prior to these he helped start Motorsport Component Forgings (MCF Ltd) which later merged with Perfectbore creating the piston and forging divisions of the company. Throughout his career, Stephen has worked on a variety of motorsports development projects for professional series including Formula-1, NASCAR, NHRA and Japanese GT.

Stephen received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from University of Manchester in 1995 and a Master of Science Degree in Engineering Design from the University of Loughborough in 1998. He is currently collaborating with a Californian State University on future R&D projects.

After relocating from England to California with his family he has found new and diverse challenges within the US racing scene. Stephen enjoys all aspects of engineering and science. He has started a tutoring program within JE Pistons that offers engineers the ability to design and analyze their ideas, further evolving piston design.  So far, Stephen has successfully implemented two patents with JE Pistons and looks forward to pushing the bounds of engineering further benefiting the motorsport arena.

Dr. Dean has presented several times at AETC and is enthusiastic about cars, racing, and especially fuels, and has spent the better part of his life in the investigation of racing gasolines and the more exotic fuels.
Dr. Dean decided while in the Army in Korea, there had to be better things to do, so after release from the Military, he earned a BS degree in Chemistry (1957 from the University of Utah, all the while racing flathead Fords on “Fuel” at Bonneville and drag racing at Salt Lake City.

A Master’s Degree was conferred by New Mexico State University (1959) and a PhD in chemistry from Michigan State University (1962). While teaching chemistry at NMSU, he built and raced an injected fuel dragster, using all kinds of additives to the 98% nitromethane, most of which did not work. But the many students that were influenced by this, made it all worthwhile.

During this time, he was involved in consulting for NASA and the Apollo Project, as well as acting as the Fuel Checker for all the NHRA National Meets.

He has been the recipient of many awards recognizing his dedication and contributions. Among these awards are “The Ralph Teator Outstanding Teacher’s Award” (Society of Automotive Engineers) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Advanced Engine Technology Conference.

At this AETC, Dr. Dean will elucidate all kinds of fuels for Circle Track racing, including “Cheater fuels” and how they work.