| Situated in the burgeoning
cluster of motorsports businesses along Northfield Drive
in Brownsburg, Indiana, Stealth Motorsports’ Joey
Martin engaged in a significant amount of risk late
last year when he made a significant investment and
took the helm of a company whose future was a bit uncertain.
Made famous for its revolutionary midget designs in
the early ‘90s by company founder John Godfrey,
midget warfare still accounted for a significant chunk
of its business, but the wingless sprint car market
they once dominated (and truly king in Indiana) had
completely changed with the sweeping success of J.J.
Yeley’s seven year old coil-front/sway bar combination.
Even though Jon Stanbrough won more races than anyone
in 2003 with a tried and true four bar Stealth, everyone
wanted what Yeley had, forcing Martin to take action,
design something better, and win over customers who
had been swept up in the Twister craze.
With the help of his Arizona pal Yeley, the end result
was the “2K4”, immediately branded by
Kevin Briscoe as the best machine he’d ever
driven after just one night. A nine time winner with
his 2K4, true, Kevin Briscoe could probably still
conquer all with an old Shores, but the new car’s
success truly shined with the emergence of a new superstar
in Bryan Clauson, whose second full night in his black
7 had him knocking Kevin from the top of Bloomington’s
qualifying charts. Winning six times in what is essentially
his first real season of 410 sprint cars, the fifteen
year old looked good on a variety of heavy/rough,
smooth/slick, and rough/slick surfaces, rarely finishing
outside of the top-five, beating veteran drivers,
and making it look easy in the process. Second year
pilot Kris Deckard even showed massive signs of improvement
with his 2K4 while Stealth employee Justin Marvel
continues to rave about his new ride after a big win
at Terre Haute.
Focusing on dirt sprint, dirt midget (with a new
wide body offering), Focus midget, and 600 micro competition
(while offering pavement versions of sprints and midgets
as well), Stealth has also finalized an agreement
with Larry Neely to sell Twister chassis and parts,
with existing T1 designs in stock and a new T2 creation
coming out in 2005.
Scoring 2004 midget championships with Scott Hatton
(BMARA), Ray Bull (ARDC), Craig Carey (MARA) and yet
another sprint car title at Bloomington Speedway with
Kevin Briscoe, it appears as though Martin has come
up a winner after rolling the dice last October/November.
With that in mind, it is with great pleasure that
I welcome Stealth as a new sponsor to this particular
area on Hoseheads. Planning a big open house during
the week of PRI along with neighbors Vital Express,
Titan Racing, Impact, and IPC, be sure to stop by
the Indy area shop at 1650 Northfield Drive in Brownsburg
or give them a call at 317-858-7777. A west coast
arm is located at 2440 Stanwell Drive in Concord,
California. You can make their phone ring at 925-288-WEST.
Our simply log on their Steve Elliott designed website
at www.stealthms.com. |
