Over the last couple of seasons, Andy Manson has been trekking back and forth across the eastern half of the country making a name for himself in the radial racing classes. He competed in the NMRA for several seasons in their now-defunct Drag Radial class, using a Modular engine and Vortech supercharger before moving to a turbo setup for 2012. Manson is back in the news again, making the change back to a Vortech supercharger for 2013 as he readies his car for the NMRA’s new Street Outlaw class.

“We updated the car last year, but we’ve got a new 440 cubic inch DiSomma Racing engine for this year. We’ll probably take the Modular and put it into another car for Ultra Street to run some local stuff, but I’m feeling that in order to make the power we’re going to need to succeed in the new Street Outlaw class, we’re going to need this engine. We have Don Bailey assisting us with tuning this thing, and we’ve gone back to Vortech and we’re going to run their XB-105 supercharger,” he explained. 

The engine has just come off the engine dyno, where it was broken in wearing a cast intake and a carburetor before the EFI system was slapped on top.

“We’ve got a sheetmetal intake from Dave Hughes at HRE out near Pittsburgh on it now, and we were able to make some pretty good numbers with it on the dyno. The engine is in the car and we’re currently working through some issues with fitment. I’m planning on talking with Chris Alston about using one of his gear drive systems for the supercharger,” Manson said.

His initial plan was to run in X275 with the car, but he’s had to modify those plans as the brand-new engine does not fit the 2013 class rules.

“I hear the Bruders are supposed to come out, and I want to race against the best. When I went to DiSomma to have this engine built, I told him I didn’t care what it cost, as long as it was enough engine to be able to beat them,” he explained. Manson has plenty of confidence in his team’s abilities, quarterbacked by chassis builder and crew chief Chris Acors of Acors Performance in Doswell, VA.

“I’m planning on racing 12 events with the NMRA and NMCA to focus on quarter-mile racing with this beast, and hopefully we do real well,” he says.