Competition Cams

Last updated
Competition Cams, Inc.
Type Privately held company
Industry Automotive aftermarket
Founded Memphis, Tennessee, USA (1976)
FounderJohn McWhirter, Ivars Smiltniks, Tom Woitesek, Bob Woodard
Headquarters Memphis, Tennessee
Key people
Chris Douglas, CEO & President [1]
Products Automotive parts
Number of employees
100-250 (2004)
Parent Industrial Opportunity Partners
Divisions Automotive
Motorcycle
Go-kart
Website www.compcams.com

Competition Cams, Inc., often styled as COMP Cams, is a specialty performance automotive aftermarket, motorcycle, and kart parts manufacturer. The company has five US locations including headquarters in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

Contents

History

Although founded in 1976, [2] Competition Cams wasn't incorporated until 1977, when it began by selling valve train products through satellite distribution stores. The company has acquired manufacturers of transmissions, electronic fuel injection, and nitrous oxide systems through its holding group, COMP Performance Group, consisting of 13 companies. [3]

In the late 1980s, the company contributed to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), and its annual trade show in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Competition Cams was started by John McWhirter, Ivars Smiltniks, Tom Woitesek, and Bob Woodard. Former owners, Ron Coleman and Paul Brothers were inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2000 and 2005, respectively. [4] [5]

In January 2020, Competition Cams was acquired by private equity group Industrial Opportunity Partners.

Industry contributions

COMP Cams created the "Spintron" engine testing system, which uses an electric motor to drive a dummy engine outfitted with high-speed sensors and cameras to record data about the valvetrain dynamics. [6] The test observes valve-spring seat pressure, coil dynamics, camshaft and pushrod flex, and lifter movement to identify problems in the engine's performance. [7]

A partnership between Richard Childress Racing, Okuma, and COMP Cams was established to develop the process for grinding camshafts for NASCAR engines, with an Okuma GC34NH cylindrical grinder; a CNC grinder. [8]

COMP Cams developed the process of ion nitriding for camshafts, or Pro Plasma Nitriding. [9] This is a 36-hour process that uses pulsed nitrogen plasma in a vacuum controlled environment to embed chains of nitrogen ions into the camshaft surface approximately .008” - .010” deep, significantly hardening the surface. [10]

COMP Cams also developed a new surface finishing process called Micro Surface Enhancement (MSE). [11] By removing peaks from the surface finish (speaking in nanoscale terms), it improves bearing surface performance and life span of camshaft lobes and bearing journals. [11] The appearance of this new process is somewhat reminiscent of the development of superfinishing in the 1930s in the respect that a new metalworking process for surface finish improvement was developed in the quest for better shaft life span in automobile engines.

Sponsorship

Competition Cams does not sponsor a NASCAR team directly, but has access to advertising through a deal with NASCAR where the COMP Cams contingency sticker is placed on every NASCAR race car. [12] Contingency sponsorship is a common form of 'after the fact' sponsorship whereby racers place stickers on their vehicles from companies that post monetary awards to racing teams for winning, in exchange for visibility and the right to use images of the driver and their car in promotional literature and advertising. Similarly, COMP Cams also posts contingency awards to drag racers and various other classes of auto racing.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camshaft</span> Mechanical component that converts rotational motion to reciprocal motion

A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams, in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines, mechanically controlled ignition systems and early electric motor speed controllers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford FE engine</span> Reciprocating internal combustion engine

The Ford FE engine is a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976. The FE was introduced to replace the short-lived Ford Y-block engine, which American cars and trucks were outgrowing. It was designed with room to be significantly expanded, and manufactured both as a top-oiler and side-oiler, and in displacements between 332 cu in (5.4 L) and 428 cu in (7.0 L).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timing belt (camshaft)</span> Part of an internal combustion engine

In a piston engine, either a timing belt or timing chain or set of timing gears is used to synchronize the rotation of the crankshaft and the camshaft. This synchronisation ensures that the engine's valves open and close at the correct times in relation to the position of the pistons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Modular engine</span> Engine family produced by Ford Motor Company

The Ford Modular engine is Ford Motor Company's overhead camshaft (OHC) V8 and V10 gasoline-powered small block engine family. Introduced in 1990, the engine family received its “modular” designation by Ford for its new approach to the setup of tooling and casting stations in the Windsor and Romeo engine manufacturing plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grinding wheel</span> Abrasive cutting tool for grinders

Grinding wheels are wheels that contain abrasive compounds for grinding and abrasive machining operations. Such wheels are also used in grinding machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Roush</span> American businessman and race team owner

Jack Roush is the founder, CEO, and co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, a NASCAR team headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, and is chairman of Roush Enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edelbrock</span> Company

Edelbrock, LLC is an American manufacturer of specialty automotive and motorcycle parts. The company is headquartered in the Memphis area, with a Southern California R&D Tech Center located in Cerritos, CA. The Edelbrock Sand Cast and Permanent Mold Manufacturing foundries are located in San Jacinto, CA. Edelbrock has two facilities in North Carolina: the Edelbrock Carburetor Division in Sanford, and the Edelbrock Race Center in Mooresville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nitriding</span> Nitrogen diffusion case-hardening process

Nitriding is a heat treating process that diffuses nitrogen into the surface of a metal to create a case-hardened surface. These processes are most commonly used on low-alloy steels. They are also used on titanium, aluminium and molybdenum.

Chevrolet Performance, formerly GM Performance Parts, is an automotive performance parts brand that sells everything from camshafts and cylinder heads to high-performance crate engines and upgrades for late-model vehicles. It was founded in 1967 to support the Trans-Am Camaro race teams. Chevrolet Performance was formed as a way to support all the various Trans Am teams across the United States, but the brand saw enough demand to start selling high-performance parts to the general public. Today, Chevrolet Performance not only sells performance parts, but also helps develop Chevrolet’s high-performance vehicles and supports teams in nearly every form of automotive racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevrolet Camaro (fifth generation)</span> Motor vehicle

The fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro is a pony car that was manufactured by American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet from 2010 to 2015 model years. It is the fifth distinct generation of the muscle/pony car to be produced since its original introduction in 1967. Production of the fifth generation model began on March 16, 2009 after several years on hiatus since the previous generation's production ended in 2002 and went on sale to the public in April 2009 for the 2010 model year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holley Performance Products</span>

Holley Performance Products is an automotive performance company based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded in 1896 in Bradford, Pennsylvania, by George Holley and Earl Holley. When the company was based in Michigan it was a major producer of carburetors for many Detroit-built automobiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contingency sponsorship</span> Form of auto racing sponsorship

Common in auto racing, contingency sponsorship is a form of sponsorship whereby race teams place company decals on their vehicles in exchange for awards for winning or meeting certain performance goals. These awards can be monetary, or can include credits for free or discounted equipment.

Surface grinding is done on flat surfaces to produce a smooth finish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triad Racing Technologies</span> Company

Triad Racing Technologies was a body parts and chassis supplier for NASCAR teams that ran under the Toyota manufacturer. The company was originally formed as Triad Racing Development before it was merged in late 2008 with Bill Davis Racing by Michael Held and Marty Gaunt. Originally, TRT was intended to field a full-time Sprint Cup Series and three full-time Camping World Truck Series teams that were originally owned by Davis, but a lack of sponsorship caused the organization to close all of its teams and lay off most of its employees. MBM Motorsports eventually invested into TRT, acquiring the company's equipment for use in the team's Cup and NASCAR Xfinity Series programs.

Ferritic nitrocarburizing or FNC, also known by the proprietary names Tenifer, Tufftride and Melonite as well as ARCOR, is a range of proprietary case hardening processes that diffuse nitrogen and carbon into ferrous metals at sub-critical temperatures during a salt bath. Other methods of ferric nitrocarburizing include gaseous processes such as Nitrotec and ion (plasma) ones. The processing temperature ranges from 525 °C (977 °F) to 625 °C (1,157 °F), but usually occurs at 565 °C (1,049 °F). At this temperature steels and other ferrous alloys remain in the ferritic phase region. This allows for better control of the dimensional stability that would not be present in case hardening processes that occur when the alloy is transitioned into the austenitic phase. There are four main classes of ferritic nitrocarburizing: gaseous, salt bath, ion or plasma, and fluidized-bed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ProCharger</span>

ProCharger is the automotive supercharger division of Accessible Technologies, Inc. (ATI), a manufacturer of centrifugal compressor technology in multiple industries, located in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Inovair is the name of the company’s industrial products division.

The 1986 Coca-Cola 600, the 27th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on May 25, 1986 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 11th race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Dale Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing won the race.

Ed Iskenderian, commonly known by his nickname, "Isky", is an American hot rodder and entrepreneur.

The Porsche 645 Spyder is a sports-racing car built by Porsche. Planned as a successor to the Porsche 550, the car was discontinued in favor of the revised 550A and the Porsche 718. The only example completed, nicknamed "Mickey Mouse", was destroyed in a crash.

SFI Foundation, Inc. (SFI), formerly known as SEMA Foundation, Inc., is a nonprofit organization which administers standard for motorsports equipment, including racing suits, roll cages and other technical components. The organisation was founded to prevent injuries among drivers, and today plays an important role in standardisation, certification and quality assurance of equipment. The FIA approves or in certain cases requires SFI-approved equipment in competitions.

References

  1. ↑ "F-150 Lightning Named Truck of the Year; Edelbrock Names Chris Douglas President, CEO". Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). 2022-12-15. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  2. ↑ "Competition Cams Inc. - Private Company Profile". Business Week. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Archived from the original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  3. ↑ "COMP Performance Group" . Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "SEMA Hall of Fame - Ron Coleman, 2000, Competition Cams". www.semahof.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  5. ↑ "SEMA Hall of Fame - Paul "Scooter" Brothers, 2005, Competition Cams, Inc." www.semahof.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  6. ↑ Magda, Mike. "What is a Spintron and How Does It Work?". blog.trendperform.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  7. ↑ Steele, Lance (2007-06-01). "High Technology Helps COMP Cams Deliver Performance". Off-Road Business. Advanstar Communications. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  8. ↑ Lorincz, Jim (2008-09-01). "NASCAR Is All About Teamwork". Manufacturing Engineer. Society of Manufacturing Engineers. 141 (3). Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  9. ↑ COMP Cams (2018), "Pro Plasma™ Nitriding", COMP Cams website, retrieved 2018-04-11.
  10. ↑ Fisher, Rob. "Engine Lubricants - Solving The Flat-Tappet Puzzle". Circle Track. Interlink Media. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  11. 1 2 Korn, Derek (2018-04-01), "Evolution of performance camshaft grinding, finishing", Modern Machine Shop , 90 (11): 68–75, retrieved 2018-04-11.
  12. ↑ "Contingency stickers fill front fenders and help with bottom line". ESPN. 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.