The BME Bulletin
#1 NOTES FOR THE NEW YEAR The Bill Miller Engineering Top Fuel team is gearing up for the 2009 season with new parts and a proven driver and crew combination. The BME/Okuma/Red Line Oil Dragster finished 2008 on a strong note, knocking off one of the top title contenders in the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. The team has devoted the off-season to R&D for the upcoming campaign, including the completion of a three-year project to develop the Gibson/Miller Mark II Supercharger and debut of a new chassis in the Spring. "Our intention is to run the same schedule of races in 2009 that we did last year," said team owner/crew chief Bill Miller. "We've continued to make steady progress with our Mark II Supercharger program and our experiments with fuel injection nozzles in the cylinder heads. We have a new BME connecting rod design for nitro-burning engines that showed great promise in our initial tests, and we plan to continue to evaluate and refine the product for future release." Miller will also unveil a new Top Fuel Dragster that is currently under construction at the BME shop. "We purchased all of the tooling from legendary chassis builder Don Long," Miller revealed. "Long had a 30-foot table made from 1-inch thick steel with fixtures for building dragsters. It's really a remarkable piece of equipment, and as a machinist, I know that the quality of the tooling affects the quality of the finished product. "The new car, BME 01, will be tailored to our driver, Troy Buff," Miller added. "Our current car was built for a taller driver, so the foot box is longer than it needs to be for Troy. By shortening that section we can make the chassis more flexible. We're also moving the engine forward several inches to put more weight on the front end without adding ballast. We're optimistic that the improved balance will make the car less prone to wheelstand during a hard launch." Salute to the Champions BME Forged Aluminum Connecting Rods, Forged Aluminum Piston and Wrist Pins were the choice of champions again in 2008. BME was on board with NHRA Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher and Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon. Clint Bowyer won the NASCAR Nationwide Series title driving for Richard Childress Racing with BME pistons, and scored a victory and 17 top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Joe Gibbs Racing entries driven by Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin combined for 10 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with BME pistons, and Pro Motor Engineering provided the power to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with BME. "Okuma plays a key role in the company's success by providing the CNC machining centers that we use to manufacture pistons and connecting rods. When I talk to customers about the precision and quality of Okuma equipment, I speak from personal experience." "We come to work every day to make parts that successful racers and teams want to use," said Miller. "That's what we do at Bill Miller Engineering."
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