Many of you have read about the exploits of Kevin Wesley and his numerous Redeye-powered SRT® Chargers and Challengers scaling Pikes Peaks or scurrying around some twisting road course in the rolling hills of Ohio or Virginia. He’s raced some tricked-out rides over the past couple of decades, proving to the naysayers that the Challenger and Charger can turn, handle and run with the best of them. His numerous wins and records behind the wheel of these HEMI® engine-powered machines have shown the pessimists how a balanced, rear-wheel-drive car with a big honking supercharged V8 under the hood can destroy the “sporty car” competition in their own playground. But now, Wesley Motorsports is all in on another form of racing, namely quarter-mile competition, the purest form of racing. Wesley Motorsports will once again put their magic touch on specially prepared 2021 Challenger Drag Paks driven by David Davies and Warren Walcher, two battle-hardened veterans of the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown series and NMCA Factory Super Cars class. With their suspension expertise, Wesley Motorsports will once again put their chassis tuning expertise to the test this upcoming drag season.
Because Wesley Motorsports’ role has grown in NHRA and NMCA drag racing, they’ve expanded their facilities and have acquired an additional shop to house all their weapons of mass destruction to be unleashed on the competition this year. “With our new shop and expanded staff of trained technicians, we can offer Challenger Drag Pak owners numerous options to suit their race needs. From complete car builds to off-season updates, to scheduled maintenance during the race season, we are now scoped to handle numerous tasks for a diverse customer base. We can even provide racers a transportation service and not just get their cars to the track, but have them set up, dialed-in and ready to race upon their arrival,” said Kevin Wesley, President and CEO of Wesley Motorsports. “We use the vehicle prep disciplines learned in our years of road racing and apply them to the Drag Pak. We’ve also been working close with Bilstein on their drag race shock and spring components that come on the Drag Pak, and fine tune them even more for greater consistency in launching these 1,500-plus-horsepower Challengers on nine-inch-wide slicks.”
So how did this father of two, whose full-time gig as an owner of a software and management consulting business, get so engrossed in various forms of racing and make it a business? “It’s the old story of being in the right place at the right time. In 1993, the One Lap of America was leaving from Detroit, and I went down to watch the cars leave. I knew one of the teams from Mopar® Action magazine and they were driving Richard Ehrenberg’s (tech editor) 1969 Plymouth Valiant in the race. One of the drivers, Dave Zelkowski, was a Chrysler Engineer at the time and he got called away on Minivan Engine Calibration work and wasn’t able to leave for the week. I had known Rick for about a year, and he asked if I wanted to go. Being young and flexible with work, I didn’t care if I lost my job for this opportunity,” laughed Kevin.
So off he went, a newbie driver racing across the United States in a grueling event that was part road rally, part road course, and long days of driving non-stop. “Rick (Ehrenberg) was very trusting (still not sure why) and at New Hampshire International Speedway, he tossed me the keys and said to take the car out for one of the sessions and see what I could do. I had never driven the Valiant at speed, never driven a road course, but I placed in the top 10 and from there it started. Rick let me take the car to a few driving schools after that to get some actual instruction and then I ran One Lap for the next 7 years as my primary racing focus. We had faired pretty well with the Valiant from 1993 to 1997 in One Lap, winning our class a couple times and finishing as high as 4th overall. My first major victory came in 1999 with the Overall Win at the One Lap of America and that was my first paid driving gig,” noted Kevin.
Over the years, Kevin has also successfully attacked the famous Pikes Peak Hillclimb. This place has been a haven for adrenaline-fueled automotive and motorcycle thrill-seekers since 1916. The challenging course has seen many enthusiasts setting out to conquer the 14,115-foot summit that requires going all out on a 12.4-mile course that has 156 corners to get to the top. In a Charger SRT Widebody, Kevin recently raced to the clouds pushing the 4,000-plus-pound behemoth up this iconic course. But it was years earlier Kevin realized for him to seriously follow his high-octane passion and be successful, he needed a dedicated shop to maintain and house his racecars. This eventually grew and soon word got out among other racers and manufacturers looking for Kevin’s expertise in setting up everything from full on racecars to weekend warriors.
With Kevin’s determination, he founded Wesley Motorsports back in 2015 and it was his organized approach to motorsports that made his business stand out among so many others. “I made sure to combine driving skills, team organization and promotion of the team’s efforts across all contemporary forms of media,” commented Kevin. “I made sure to focus on chassis and suspension dynamics and worked with both the OEMs and the aftermarket in developing products for Road Racing, Drag Racing, Autocross and even High-Performance Street applications. Just last year, we became the official on-track race support service provider for Direct Connection Parts and the Dodge//SRT brands at numerous SCCA, NASA, NHRA, NMCA and MSHS, across the country. We’re also a certified Bilstein Technical and Service Center and we get involved in all aspects of Bilstein aftermarket product development and support. We’re going wide open in 2023 and that’s the way we like it around here!”
Check out these pics of Kevin’s rides he’s either driven or tuned along with his new shop!
