Published: October 03, 2009 11:02 pm      

Local engine builder finding racing success

When the cable television program “Pinks” was at O’Reilly Raceway Park earlier this year, engines produced in Kokomo were in the spotlight.

Grams Racing Engines supplied the power for Sammy Walker, runner-up in the competition, for Michelle Harrison in the field and under the hood of Bob Meiring’s car in the Quick 8 show.

For the past 31 years, Kerry Grams has found his niche in motorsports, building, tuning and testing engines for dragsters across the Midwest.

Grams, 49, travels to different drag strips and helps the teams tune up their engines for a rapid run down the 1/8-mile or 1/4-mile patch of asphalt.

“I do a lot of out-of-state stuff,” Grams explained, “I work on some really fast cars. Guys who have bought a high-dollar engine that they can’t get tuned-up right call me.”

Grams has been providing the service, and over the years, has gathered a lot of data that helps him work out the bugs in a supercharged or nitrous oxide engine.

“That was pretty awesome,” he said of the run on “Pinks.” “We were at Gateway [Ill.] that weekend and the guys were calling and giving updates round by round.”

A self-taught mechanic, Grams worked in a local machine shop for 12 years and then ventured out on his own. When he is building an engine, he leases equipment from a local shop.

“I was a hot-rodding kid,” Grams said, explaining his start in the business of building racing engines. “I was running on the streets and figured that wasn’t the smart thing to do. I went to the track [at Bunker] Hill and really liked it.”

Grams said he doesn’t do much work in Kokomo and explained he has a mobile test stand that he takes to a racer’s garage to make sure an engine isn’t smoking or leaking fluids.

He and his wife of 31 years, DeDe, who were Kokomo High School sweethearts, are gone most weekends from April through October.

The couple, along with Bunker Hill resident Bill Coonce, own a supercharged altered dragster named “Black Reign” and has found success over the past few years, making 11 of 13 finals in competition and now competing in match races.

Black Reign is sponsored by Olson Paint & Body and Drew Olson Graphics in Peru, Dan Dishon Performance Transmissions in Logansport, Family Practice Dentistry in Kokomo, T-Rax trailer accessories in Bunker Hill and a Canode Chassis from Marion.

“I sold my car in 1997 and started doing the tuning deal,” Grams said. “They hired me every time the car raced for four years. It got to the point if I’m going to go every week, I might as well own a car again.”

The team won two competitions in 2004 in the Jeg’s Super Quick competition and finished second in the point standings.

Prior to that, Grams held the speed record from 1992 to 1995 for a time set in a altered dragster he owned.

Over the years, Grams has built engines for tractor pullers, mud boggers, sprint cars and modifieds.

“I like working on any of them — hands-on tinkering is my niche,” Grams said. “I probably like the drag cars the best because you get feedback to the thousandth of a second.

“I grew up going to Salem and Winchester, some of the dirt tracks,” he continued. “I grew up watching the sprint cars. You can make a change on a sprint car and have it not show up on your lap times. I want the feedback.”

Grams said most of his business comes through word of mouth.

“I’m more of a grassroots guy,” he said. “I help the guys in the lower classes. I haven’t worked for anyone famous like John Force.

“I get the guys that have been through everybody else and can’t get it running right,” Grams said. “It’s a challenge. I’m the guy they call when nothing else works.”

DeDe Grams helps the team on race weekends by checking the tires between runs, packing the parachute and cleaning the car after each run.

“I enjoy it as much as he does,” she said. “I enjoy the racing. My dad was a mechanic and I worked in the garage with him. I really love it.”

Grams hopes his business continues to grow so that in the future he can purchase a building and hire some employees.

• Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can be reached at (765) 454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com