Have a rough season last year? Take advantage of the off-season to refine your chassis setup. Here are the top 10 most important areas of concern facing teams in dirt track racing.

While taking the tour around the annual Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council meet-ing in Los Angeles recently, we ran across the latest addition from QA1, its low-friction ball joint. This patented ball joint features an infinite preload adjustment that allows breakaway torque to be set as low as 0 lb-ft, delivering completely smooth, bind-free operation.

We approach the new season hopefully and with newfound knowledge. We now have another year under our seatbelts and, with that, a better understanding of our asphalt race cars. We can't let that go to waste as we prepare for our '08 season.

In the modern short track racing world of both dirt and asphalt competition, shocks have become one of the most important tuning tools we have. They compliment the current setups, especially the radical big bar and soft spring setups. And so, we complete our trilogy of shock technology articles with the final installment on how to tune the transitions.

In this segment of the Series, you're provided some considerations directed toward component selections that form the "foundation" of a high performance or racing engine. To round out an understanding of how such choices may affect the combustion process and its ability to optimize power with reliability, some additional aspects need to be discussed.

Bearings are usually taken for granted-until the bearing comes out in more pieces than when it went in. We'll explore the selection, installation and maintenance of various bearings which will allow you to keep your racer in top condition and give you a better shot at seeing that checkered flag.

Mention the word crate motor at any racetrack in any town around the country and you will get one of two opinions. Either they're the best thing since sliced bread or they will be the final nail in the coffin of short-track racing. In the motorsports world, crate engines are the topic, a political hot potato that is the equivalent of healthcare, Iraq and social security all rolled into one.

The off season is an ideal time to upgrade the safety equipment on your racecar. So, we decided to do just that with our latest Circle Track project car, the ABC Supply Ford Fusion of Urban Force Racing. Follow along with this photo essay as the guys from Urban Force install a brand new window net system from G-Force.

Let's review a bit of physics in preparation for Part 2 of our technology transfer series on page 28. All elements in a rotating body have a measure of kinetic energy. Simply stated, this is "energy in motion." If you place a weight on a table, relative to some distance from the floor, it exhibits "potential" energy as a function of the object's weight and height above the floor. At this point, potential energy is at a maximum, kinetic (moving) energy is zero.

We have been asked to present more basic information on subjects such as shocks. Sometimes, no matter what your level of understanding of a particular technology, it can be a good thing to be refreshed on the more basic information. So, we present a multi-part series on the racing shock.

It may be the most widely-used-and most recognizable-name in racing, but Holley isn't resting on its laurels. In an effort to reduce the need for expensive carb tuners and provide racers with an even better carburetor right out of the box, Holley has introduced its new lineup of Ultra Series carbs.

There is no denying that crate motors are now a big part of stock car racing. The lower initial cost of a sealed crate motor-versus a built race engine-has allowed many new racers to find their way into the sport and made racing just a bit more affordable for veterans.

Editor's Note: When we commissioned this article from Bob Gosch (better known as "Bob the Driveshaft Guy" in NASCAR shops), we had no idea how complicated this seemingly simple part was. It is critical that the part match the application in many different ways. Here he explains why in Part One of a two-part analysis that every racer should heed.

There are several reasons that Chevrolet's V-8 engine package is so popular among racers and widely supported by the aftermarket. It is compact and relatively lightweight for its displacement. It has a dependable oiling system that holds up well to high-rpm abuse. It's comparatively easy to build and find ways to make power. And finally, the design has remained relatively unchanged since Chevrolet first debuted its 350ci V-8 in 1968. It wasn't phased out of production until 1996, when the LS family of engines took over.

Thanks to NASCAR's big push to improve driver safety in the past few years, the trickle-down effect has produced greatly improved seat and belt designs that are affordable for the Saturday night racer. For once, something besides the ever-increasing costs of racing is being passed down from the big leagues to us regular racers.

One of the great things about IMCA Modified racing is the no-nonsense approach the sanctioning body has taken to teching its race cars. When it comes to engines, the IMCA has one of the thinnest rule books you will find in stock car racing. Instead of a bunch of limitations on which parts you can use, the sanctioning body depends on a relatively cheap claimer rule and market forces to keep costs in line. The idea is that you can do just about whatever you like, but you could be claimed.That means the challenge is to build as much horsepower as possible as cheaply as possible. And for an enterprising engine builder, that can be a lot of fun. The key is to understand which components in the engine will give you the greatest bang for your buck and which components you should save a few bucks on. Jeff Hill, the owner of Jeff's Performance in Sherman, Texas, has been a significant player in the IMCA Modified engine game for years, and he says he is constantly finding new ways to make more power for less money.

One of the worst experiences in the world has to be spending all the time and money required to build a new race engine only to spin a bearing or have some other problem develop before it has even completed the break-in process. Building your own race engines can save you a lot of money (not to mention giving you the pride that comes from beating the competition with your own stuff), but race engines are too expensive for learning by trial and error.

Crate motors may not be for everyone, but for some racers there is no doubt that the ability to drop a crate motor into their race car has made competition fun and affordable once again. General Motors has certainly been the leader when it comes to crate motor racing, and its Chevrolet 602 and 604 circle track racing engine packages are appearing at tracks all across America.

After every race or two, you probably have a list of items to check on your race car. Most likely, you check your brake pads for excessive wear and the rotors for cracks. You may check your suspension components for damage and your ball joints and tie-rod ends for slop and signs of wear.

NASCAR Late Model Stock driver Nick Losito takes his safety inside the race car seriously. His car owner, Don, is also his father, and you can bet he takes Nick's safety even more seriously.

Over the past few years, we have run across some teams who, for the goal of attaining maximum power, chose to run without an alternator. We started thinking about that and decided to see if there were any detrimental effects associated with varying levels of input voltage to the ignition system.

We already know the main selling point for racing with alcohol fuel (methanol) in classes where it is allowed: In an engine tuned correctly it can make more power than gasoline. That's all you need to know, right? But alcohol is also a tricky fuel that is notoriously hard on engines, especially wherever aluminum is involved.

Comp Cams (R) has taken camshaft technology for open wheel Modified racers into the next century with the introduction of its T/C Camshaft line. The series is comprised of 10 new cam designs in four categories available for mechanical flat-tappet and solid-roller applications.

The Real Square (TM) Alignment System is designed to provide precision chassis setup and wheel alignment. This system is accurate, repeatable, and easy to use. You can quickly and accurately align all four tires at the contact patch, set toe, and more without using a string or tape measure.

Of all the setup parameters, including moment center location, alignment ranks at the very top of the list. Why? Because when your alignment is off, no other setup parameter changes will compensate for it. The alignment package has a tremendous influence on the way a race car handles.