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LAMOT not Crassi’s first new model
He will once again hop behind the wheel of a car in a new division when the Late Model of Tomorrow (LAMOT) era begins during Holland’s season-opening card Saturday evening. Crassi hopes for the best. About eight cars are expected Saturday. “I joined the NASCAR Pro Truck class at Holland when it started in 1996 and at first we got many trucks and I was able to win the 1998 championship,” Crassi said. “Then as it got more expensive, guys started dropping out and the class fizzled out at Holland a few years later. I am a believer in the LAMOT concept.” The LAMOT cars are the brainchild of veteran car owner Gordon Trank, his driver T. J. Johnson, driver Mike Ticco, Crassi and retired driver Jerry Szalansky. The cars resemble the full-body, full-fender Late Models that raced at Holland for years. The differences are that the LAMOT car uses a GM 602 cubic inch crate engine, harder compound Goodyear Eagle tires, a lower cost Bilstein Shock package and run on street pump gasoline rather than specialized racing fuel. According to LAMOT organizers, their costs are lowered by engines that can be purchased for $3,200 dollars. They claim that the harder Goodyear tire compounds ($105.00 per tire) will allow racers to have a set last about eight races with no drop-off in performance. The softer compound tires last one race and cost $125 per tire. The shocks are $115 apiece. The car’s wheelbase is the same as the other area asphalt Late Model classes. Even with gasoline costing nearly $4 per gallon at the pump, this still is cheaper than the almost $10 per gallon price tag being charged for special mix racing fuel. Many of these cost-saving measures have been tried elsewhere with varying degrees of success. “I sharpened my pencil and figured out what it’s going to cost in the LAMOT,” the 52-year-old Crassi of Gowanda explained. “The cost will be lower and with the 602 engines putting out about 50 less horsepower than what we had before and with the rev limiter chips retarding the power of the engines when we hit 6,000 rpm, the engines should stay together. Also I have some DIRT Sportsman guys interested in buying our engines at the end of the season so there’s resale value.” The LAMOT cars will run exclusively at Holland under a three-year agreement. Many remain skeptical of the LAMOT concept but Holland General Manager Tim Bennett says that he has faith in the new car. “I’m very excited about the new season and having Holland be the exclusive home of the LAMOT cars,” Bennett said. “Watching the division grow and compete here for years to come will be very rewarding.” Ticco is a veteran Late Model driver best known for his exploits at Lancaster. He cautions teams that it will take time for LAMOT teams to realize a savings. “The savings is not going to come when you make an initial investment in buying a car to get into competition but the real money saving will come later when it costs less from week to week to race,” stressed Ticco. “For those who have to transition their existing Late Model cars to meet the new LAMOT package I guess it will cost about $4,500 initially. But this is an affordable premier type division.”
Source:
Larry Ott / Buffalo News
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