Epic News: Noted Engine Builder And Super Stock Racer Charlie Westcott Jr. Buys Former Cunningham Ford Pro Stock Operation – Will Compete In 2015


Epic News: Noted Engine Builder And Super Stock Racer Charlie Westcott Jr. Buys Former Cunningham Ford Pro Stock Operation – Will Compete In 2015

There are certain people in the world who are simply motivated by opportunity and challenge. Charlie Westcott Jr is one of those people and the proof is in the recent announcement that Westcott purchased the pro stock of the late John Cunningham as well as all of the remaining inventory of Ford Racing pro stock parts that the company had to sell. Reportedly he has seven blocks and 40 sets of heads. Boom goes the dynamite! As one of the leading drag race engine builders in the country and the driver/owner/builder of the famed War Fish hemi Barracuda, the Westcott family is no stranger to the rigors of high horsepower competition. Charlie himself has said that it may actually be cheaper to build a pro stock engine than a SS/AH mill. That’s pretty incredible but we do know that those SS/AH engines are like pro stock motors in may ways due to their extreme nature and how much developmental work has gone into refining them over the years.

Weestcott Jr. has the chance to rekindle a lot of people on the pro stock class because of his approach. He’s a throwback guy to the Gliddens and the Johnsons of the world that were capable of building their own engines, tuning their own cars, and driving them as well. The reality is that most pro stock racers now lease engines from builders or even other competitors to be competitive. While that may be the “smart money” if you aren’t an engine builder yourself, Westcott is. While we don’t expect to see the guy come out and start wiping the floor with people left, right, and center next year, we do expect the car to be at least competitive and capable of qualifying. That qualifying part seems to be an important part of the equation for Westcott who references the $5,000 paid to qualifiers in one of his posts regarding the purchase of the operation and the plan going forward. No doubt Charlie’s pits will not be packed with 20 guys hustling around. It is going to be a streamlined operation relying on the vast amount of experience that the Westcott family has amassed in the dyno cell and on the track over the years.

We love the guy’s attitude and will really geek out if he is able to get the Ford combo ahead of where it is now. Obviously he will be a man on a proverbial island as Ford has liquidated their last parts and support will be non-existent. But doesn’t that just make the whole damned thing that much cooler?

Here’s a notable posting Charlie has left on ClassRacer.com. This is going to rule.

You guys keep talking about valve springs lasting 4 runs. Big deal.
We change our hemi springs in 10 runs.
So if I go to a race wint a new set on, and I qualify I change them.
Now to go through another set (4 more runs) I have to win.
I dont mind spending 600 to get 5K for qualifying
and another 600 to win 35K

The expenses in the class as I see it are
1) People/Overhead
2) Traveling
3) Parts

I dont have to spend 200k a year to get on the CFE program for heads
I can make my own camshafts, intakes, pistons, blocks, etc.

How much do you think Ogburn used to spend to race a hemi? Semi, uniforms, 10 people at a race etc.
My point is spending money wisely will get you a long way in life, and wasting money wont buy you a trophy.

Also people keep saying that the ford is not a good engine. They dont know what they are talking about. The heads are the same as the dodge, the block is the same except cam location is higher in the ford. The problem is (in my opinion) not the parts. The people that are running them now with little or no success, had the same results in the past with other brands. I am asking this as a question because I dont know, did Larry Morgan ever win with the Dodge? I thought I heard the last time he won a race was in 91 or something.
Anyways, its sunday morning, and I have to get back to work.
Thanks to all the people cheering for me. I wont let you down,
cw

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CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH AN INTERESTING THREAD ON CLASSRACER.COM WHERE WESTCOTT HAS BEEN COMMENTING 

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13 thoughts on “Epic News: Noted Engine Builder And Super Stock Racer Charlie Westcott Jr. Buys Former Cunningham Ford Pro Stock Operation – Will Compete In 2015

  1. BBR

    “man on a proverbial island”….

    I was thinking he’s more “water skiing behind the titanic”. It’ll be a helluva ride while it lasts.

  2. Jim

    Wow. Take about throwing money out the window. Even Larry Morgan has realized it’s time to stop beating a dead pony.

  3. MoJoe

    Smokey Yunick was once asked why chevies are better than fords and he replied, “The engine doesn’t know who’s name is on the valve cover.”
    You go kick ass Mr. Westcott Jr.

  4. N2O Hemi

    Wescott Jr has always been a loudmouth sourpuss in the ss/ah class and has no personality. He’s a hell of a racer though. Gonna be fun to watch Erica Enders kick his ass.

  5. Luther Hopp

    After seeing his comments on his competitors in the SS/AH class from the past it seems he has a bug in his butt about anyone who isn’t as supreme as him. Despite that I hope he is successful with Ford parts as NHRA Pro Stock has become about as exciting as the an all Super Comp drag race.

  6. jack pine

    Charlie and his Dad are two of the hardest-working guys I have ever spent time with. He talks a bunch of trash online, but seems to have the skills to back it up.

    My favorite SS/AH moment was watching him borrow a motor from a fellow racer and swap it into his Cuda between rounds to show up and win the Hemi Challenge. Everybody pitched in to help.

    Can you imagine if he brings that ethic into Pro Stock?

    I worked with Larry Morgan and I always thought he was pulled in too many directions to be successful as a driver. It killed Larry to leave Mopar but they drove him to it by making his deal smaller and smaller every year.

    That may be Charlie’s undoing in Pro Stock. Lots of pressure to qualify. I agree with Jack Issi; Wayne Jesel does not throw in with losers. He has helped Charlie’s combination immensely through testing, etc.

  7. RockJustRock

    What I want to know is where do all those valve springs go? If every racer is going through them like that a national event must mean thousands of valvesprings. Recycled?

  8. Very Cherry Racing

    Go get ’em Charlie Sr. & Jr!! Good luck in 2015. We need the competition.

    Paul Shill
    SS/BM 67 Camaro

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