At the recent MacTrack Westernationals, the Crow Cams Best Engineered Award was bestowed to Keys Family Motorsport for their brand-new AA/AP-Top Doorslammer Camaro, which contested the Pro Slammer bracket.
The bright orange car was making its race debut at the March 3-4 event – which also included the penultimate round of the 2017/2018 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series – and the nod from ANDRA with the Crow Cams Best Engineered Award punctuated a long stream of compliments received by the team.
Held at the Perth Motorplex, the MacTrack Westernationals was the first competitive outing for the new car following a 14 month build process and the completion of licensing just weeks earlier.
“To receive the Crow Cams Best Engineered Award at the MacTrack Westernationals was a very pleasant surprise,” explained Wayne Keys, who thanked Applied Automotive Race Engines, Perth Diving Academy, RJ Metals and Dale Signs for their support of Keys Family Motorsport.
“While we were building the car it wasn’t a conscious part of our wish list (to receive the award), but we did set out to build a very well-engineered car, a nice car, and we have been able to do that. It is a good example of what can be done at home with help from a small but dedicated group of friends.
“The car has worked right out of the box, it is going straight and showing good performance – we are a little way off yet but now that we know the car will do down the track, we can adjust things accordingly and make it go quicker.
“The feedback we have gotten so far has been amazing. We are not a ‘look at me’ kind of team, we are a family-based operation and self-funded, however, it has been very nice to hear the appreciation of the car from everyone – from those on the hill to the other racers and to the officials and ANDRA, they all seemed to love it!” grinned Wayne.
“It was cool being the first of the late model breed of Camaros to get out there as well – we didn’t expect that to happen as we knew of a few others that were underway so we thought they would beat us to it – it was a steady 13-14 month build from start to finish; every available moment that I wasn’t at work, you could find me in the shed!”
While the Keys Family Motorsport Camaro wasn’t able to progress to race day in what was a very competitive field at the Westernationals, there is no arguing that it was a strong debut for the new car.
“It was a jungle out there at the Westernationals, it was a very quick field and we have only really just set out and are still in the testing phase and working towards getting the car up to a level at which it can be properly competitive,” explained the Oakford (WA) racer.
“We run the roots style supercharger, so we probably don’t have the out and out performance of the ‘screw’ guys, but we do have a little bit of a weight break advantage so hopefully can put that to good use when we get to that stage.
“Until then, we really need to heavily emphasise the support we have had from far and wide – from our crew to everyone else who has gotten behind the car, we have really appreciated it.”
For full results from the MacTrack Westernationals, please click here.
From burnouts to blown alcohol, street and strip, Crow Cams’ valve train technology has you covered with world class performance and reliability. For more information, visit www.crowcams.com.au
Image above: High Octane Photos
