VP Racing celebrates 30th year of making power

National Dragster, Mar 11, 2005

When Steve Burns and Fred Morrison were dispensing fuel from a drum in the back of their pickup in the mid-1970s, they never envisioned the powerhouse that VP Racing Fuels Inc. has become today. Now renowned for its racing fuels and other top performance products, VP is celebrating its 30th year of "makin' power" for the motorsports industry.

According to Morrison, VP's president and chief executive officer, a key reason for the company's success and longevity is focus.

"We have always remained focused on racing," he said. "We never took our eye off the ball by getting into oil refining, making pump gas, or running a chain of convenience stores."

With its roots deep in drag racing, it's fitting that VP is entering its fifth year as NHRA's official racing fuel.

"Drag racing has always been perhaps the most important segment of our business," said Morrison. "It's where we started and where our reputation for quality, performance, and innovation began to build. We've enjoyed great success with numerous championships in NHRA, and we're proud of our association with the preeminent sanctioning body in drag racing."

VP's success in NHRA includes 29 consecutive years of fueling its Pro Stock.champions, believed to be the longest such streak of any manufacturer in the industry. More recently, the company swept all NHRA Pro championships in 2004 as well as all Sportsman classes. It was such results that laid the foundation from which VP branched into virtually every conceivable form of racing. Now, the familiar VP Racing logo can be found on everything from circle-track, road-race, and off-road cars and trucks to motorcycles, ATVs, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, and powerboats. Even airplanes, RC cars, and chainsaws have experienced power boosts from some of VPs exotic fuels.

If drag racing was VP's foundation, then the seeds of the business were sown in San Antonio in 1975. As a 22-year-old drag racer there, Burns began his quest for better racing fuel in the laboratory of a small local refiner with borrowed equipment. Convinced that the manufacturers of the day weren't producing optimum power with their fuels, Burns began researching things such as burning speeds, energy values, and octane to develop several prototype fuels. With the help of engine builders like Lyle Cherry and Reher-Morrison dynoing fuels and testing at the track, Burns documented a significant increase in horsepower. The evidence was strong enough to convince none other than sk-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock world champion Warren Johnson to become VP's first paying customer in 1975. VP's first fuel was C12, arguably the winningest fuel in history when one takes into consideration its use in all racing categories.

Burns brought Morrison aboard in 1977, and the two delight in reminiscing about servicing national events as two young kids with a dream who paid no heed to their limitations or scarcity of resources. VP grew quickly, and knowing that his strength lay in research and development, Burns asked Morrison to apply his managerial and administrative skills as president and chief executive officer in 1987. The duo proved formidable, and VP has enjoyed a minimum of double-digit growth in virtually every year of its history.

Today, VP Racing manufactures more than 60 unique blends of racing fuel and has fueled champions in almost every racing category and class on land, sea, and in the air. In addition to NHRA, its affiliation with sanctioning bodies and claims on championships runs the gamut - American Motorcycle Association (AMA), American Speed Association (ASA), Formula USA, Good Guys Rod & Custom, International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), National Mustang Racing Association CNMRA), National Street Car Association (NSCA), PRO hot Rod & Street Car, PRO Trucks, SCORE, Star Mazda, Stars of Karting, Toyota Atlantic, Trans Am, and many others.

In addition to superior power, the most common reason teams cite for using VP's fuels is consistency. This is a critical factor for racers and a source of pride for the people at VP. The company achieves its consistency through total control of its production process, from blending, leading, and dying the fuels through testing and storage. Folks familiar only with pump gas might be surprised to learn the level of complexity in the manufacture of racing fuels, which can include 300 to 500 components in the blend. Contrasted with its competitors, which typically offer just a handful of blends to cover a broad sweep of applications, many of VP's more than 60 blends are customized to ensure optimum performance in very specific, tightly defined applications.

When evaluating racing fuels, most racers think first of octane. Octane is an important factor in preventing detonation, but preventing detonation is not the only consideration in selecting a fuel. Fuels with lower octanes but higher energy values and faster burning speeds can prevent detonation while producing more power. That's why VP takes such pains in analyzing the application for each of its fuels; each application can demand a special combination of fuel properties to achieve optimum performance. And with the cost of race engines up to $100,000 and more, racers like the assurance offered by VP's fuels in terms of getting the best protection along with top performance.