Mike Janis Racing proudly announces they are building a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt for IHRA Pro Modified competition next year. The car is being built by G-Force Racecars of Tonawanda, NY, and is scheduled to fly the Eaton colors at March’s CompetitionPlus.com Spring Open. Please stay tuned for more information.
E-mail any comments or questions to mikejanisracing@gmail.com
Over the past few weeks there have been some reports as to what our team has been up to this off-season. Some of these reports have been a little off the mark so, I decided that if you want factual updates on the goings on with our Eaton Sponsored Team that I should give them to you.
I will keep a “BLOG” (Diary) here and update it at least once a week. I’ll fill you in on what we’re up to and also field some questions from you.
Episode 1: I didn’t have a better name for my first entry so live with it.
Ok let’s get down to it.
Eaton will be back as our Major sponsor again in 06’ along with Aeroquip. Just about all of our other sponsors have confirmed that they will again be with us and we have some new ones in the works.
As most of you know we are having a new car built by Jim Salemi’s G-Force Race Cars in Tonawanda, NY. http://www.gforceracecars.com The chassis is progressing steadily.
I am currently working with a few designers for the new look of the car. One is Mike’s nephew Scott Janis. Scott is a college student at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is very good artistically and should have a future in graphic arts. Another designer we have tapped is Jaret Rice. Jaret is also college student but he is not taking any graphic arts classes. He’s just talented with a pencil.
Through our Assistant Team Manager, Mike Rasnick, I am fortunate enough to also be working with Troy Trepanier of Rad Rides By Troy. http://www.radrides.com While Troy doesn’t do the actual artwork on the rendering it is from his mind. One of the Rad Rides employees Adam Banks is the one who put pencil to paper for our rendering. Troy said Adam is a do it all kind of guy, anything from renderings to metal fabrication.
Working with Troy and his father, Jack Trepanier, has been surprisingly easy. I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been a car nut since Enoch begat Methuselah so, I was a little nervous during our first conversation. After talking with Troy and Jack a few times it’s like you’ve known them for years. Jack is an old Gasser guy from way back and Troy is a Pro Mod fan. Those two points really helped out. Be sure to check out the rad rides site. The craftsmanship is unreal! They are currently in the final stages of a 69 Cuda being built for the Salt Flats. Get this! It’s powered by a turbocharged 4 cylinder pumping out over 1,300 ponies.
Of course I always confer with a close friend who just so happens to be the best drag car designer out there, Roderick Burke. http://www.hotrodsbyburke.com Rod has quickly become one of the top designers over the last few years. I met him online while sim racing. He was customizing some of the cars in the game and I asked him to help me with a paint scheme for Mike’s vette. Now he has a client list a ¼ mile long.
Here are some of the renderings.
That’s it for now. I’ll be heading to G-Force on Monday and I’ll try to get some pics to post.
I went down to G-Force this morning to check on the progress of the car but no one was there. I guess with Christmas landing on the weekend they took Monday off as the observed Holiday. I’ll try to stop back there on Tuesday and post some pics Tuesday evening.
Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think of this blog deal.
mikejanisracing@gmail.com
I stopped by G-Force today to check on the progress of the car. Time is starting to close in but, Jim says we’ll have her in time. We are expecting the car the week of Feb 14th.
I took some pics of the car to post. Yeah I know I had the wrong date set on some of the pics. You don’t have to tell me about it.
Here they are—–chassis
Well, the holidays are over and it’s back to work.
I stopped by Scott Jahren’s shop today. Scott is a skilled painter located in Tonawanda, NY. Scott is also a bracket racer who has taken home some IHRA hardware. Scott’s shop is actually located about a mile or less from G-Force.
In order for the car to be completed on my timetable the bodywork and paint will be done while the car is being built and the body is off of the chassis. So having G-Force and Scott’s shop so close makes things easier for everyone.
I went over some colors with the guys there and they agreed to shoot some test panels for me so I can select the appropriate colors and painting technique. (They have a great technique but we are trying something different on the car that they haven’t done before.)
While Scott and his crew will handle the paint and some of the graphics, Sean Kennedy of Vicious Cycle will be taking car of the airbrush artwork on the car. Sean’s work has been featured in just about every biker print mag there is. While he specializes in bikes he is a drag race who runs a blown altered from time to time and would like to paint more drag cars
I also spoke with Jack Trepanier (Troy Trepanier’s Dad) of Rad Rides by Troy today. Previously Troy and I had talked about some changes we would like to make to the last rendering he sent and I wanted to see how they were coming. Troy is super busy getting their 69 Cuda ready for testing.
I’ll touch back with those guys next week to see how the Cuda did and to see where we are at with a new rendering. The rendering isn’t that important because I have a good idea of what the car should look like and I have enough renderings on hand to convey what I want to both Scott and Sean. On the other hand I tend to make Mike and Mike Jr. nervous when I say, “Trust Me” but, they always do (trust me) and I’m thankful for that.
I also stopped by G-Force today. Plenty of progress has been made since before the holidays. The chassis looks to be close to ready for final welding and the front end is almost finished with its stretch.
That’s it for now. I’ll keep you posted as we go.
Mike and the guys at the shop have been very busy lately. Mike has been doing some fuel system work on the flow bench and making some runs on the dyno. It seems like the things found on the flow bench are turning into ponies on the dyno. These are only preliminary tests and further pulls will have to be made at a later date as to verify the data but it’s looking real good.
If you’re interested in having your fuel system flowed contact Mike at Jan-Cen by calling 716-668-2096 between the hours of 9AM and 5PM est. Monday thru Friday. A basic flow is $400.00 any parts needed are additional.
Also Mike will make his services available to racers at the track this year. Either Mike or one of his crew can be made available to assist your team at the track of your choosing. Prices are on a Per-D-M basis. Call soon our schedule is filling up fast with our own races and match races.
Speaking of match races…we will once again be having a match race on Fourth of July weekend this year. Lancaster Dragway Park has secured our team and we are currently looking for a quality opponent to give the fans their monies worth.
In other news… Steve Hermann the teams Lead Mechanic and Jack-of-All-Trades is doing some carbon work on the new car and applying some of the technology that our team learned last off-season in the wind tunnel. Steve tackles just about any job needed from machinist work to bodywork and everything in between. Over the last two seasons he has become an invaluable member of the Mike Janis Racing Team.
See you soon.
I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated this but things are starting to move pretty fast around here and I’m just trying to keep up.
Sponsorship has been at the forefront of my responsibilities as of late. Along with my regular job and helping the wife with our three-year-old son it gets a bit hectic (She does most of the hard work I’m the “Play Friend”). Luckily I’m a hyper guy and I rarely slow down. (Sometimes that’s not a good thing but at least I realize it.) We will have a few announcements to make soon regarding some NEW and some returning sponsors. One of the new sponsors is from the automotive aftermarket and I am really pleased to be working with them. Their products are top of the line and I hope their involvement with our team will bring them the recognition they deserve from races of all classes.
I’ve been working with Roderick Burke of Burke Designs again on our paint scheme and I think we finally have something. I was jumping around from designer to designer getting ideas but nothing jumped out at me. Then I just decided to take it upon myself to sketch something up. I showed it to Mike and the crew and they liked it pretty much instantly. (That’s not an easy task to please all of them. There are some pretty different ideas of what each guy wants. ) My art skills aren’t that bad but I suck when it comes to laying the color on the paper, so I sent it over to Roderick and he’s going to add the colors and some of his own ideas to it. With Roderick’s help I hope to have one bad ass looking ride for Mike’s shot at a 3rd title.
Click here to see some of the past renderings I posted along with a few new ones. The one we settled on is still in the works and I hope to have it out soon. It’s a combination of several of the ones on this site.
I received a correspondence from someone through this blog asking for a “day in the life” piece on our Pro Mod team. I’m going talk to the guys and see if I can get something from each of them. It’s not all glamour and celebrity believe me.
That’s it for now. Expect some announcements soon from Mike Janis Racing’s Eaton and Areoquip Team regarding Sponsorship for the upcoming season.
The body finally went to paint on Friday the 10th of February. Scott Jahren will be handling the paint on the car with the airbrush work to be applied by Sandy Richter.
Sandy is from the Boston Hills area of Western New York. She is a talented artist whose work can be seen around Western New York on both moving and non-moving objects. Sandy was commissioned by the Buffalo Zoo for a series of awesome murals. Sandy is known in the area for here true fire technique. While many have tried to duplicate the effect, which has become popular due to Mike Lavalle’s appearances on the TV shows Rides, Overhaulin, and Monster Garage, very few have achieved it. Sandy is one of the few and for a very good reason. Sandy apprenticed under Lavalle for three years. Travelling the country and demonstraiting their Killer style of paint to the masses.
Because of the artistic talents of both Scott and Sandy we have decided to let them have at the car. They both know what we as a team like and we gave them an outline with the assistance of Roderick Burke but, they have free reign to make the car what they please. I’m really excited!
We are hoping the painting of the body will be completed by the end of the week.
As for the rest of the car… Well the chassis is just about completed and will go out to powder coat on the 21st. After that it will head over to Jan-Cen Motorsports for final assembly.
Mike (Janis) is putting the final touches on the teams main powerplant for the season as well as the few spare motors.
Our plans are to make the 6th annual Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco Race Fuels CompetitionPlus.com to be held March 9 - 14 at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga.
While some of the professional prognosticators have our team near the middle of the pack for next year, we’re not looking at the same tea leaves. But, that’s ok overlook the two time champs and the WidowMaker will get ya!
Things are starting to move along rather quickley now.
The chassis is now at Mike’s shop, Jan-Cen Motorsports, and is coming together rather well.
The latest design for this year’s crew uniforms is in. Nothing flashy just you basic black. “Black is Evil”
We are still waiting for some of the parts to get back from plating and powder coat but, there is still plenty to do without them.
The body of the car is all painted and ready to be mounted as soon as it is needed. Scott Jahren and Sandy Richter did a fantastic job. I’ll have some pics shortly.
The floors at Scott’s shop were very clean when I stopped by on Friday as Sandy was laying on the graphics. Why you may ask? From everyone walking around with their jaws on the floor. There was a steady stream of people coming through his Tonawanda, NY shop to get a glimpse of the car.
I was able to put Scott and Sandy together on this car and I think they will be working together on many more. Don’t hesitate to give Scott a call (716) 692-2236. If you can imagine it these two can paint it.
The guys still have their eyes set on making the 6th annual Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco Race Fuels CompetitionPlus.com to be held March 9 - 14 at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga. .