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The
RacePump story
Race Pumps is the latest chapter in noted
innovator Howard Stewart's passion for the performance racing industry.
A passion that dates back to the first NASCAR race he attended in 1962
with his family. A passion that has included nearly
every aspect of the industry. Here is a brief
summary of the journey that led to the Race Pump Piston Fuel Pump, the
most significant accomplishment of a long career.
His father, Cliff Stewart, instilled his love of
racing in Howard. His dad owned a furniture manufacturing business in
North Carolina and ran a number of successful racing operations
including the factory AMC effort in NASCAR's pony car division and
Rusty Wallace's Pontiacs in the Grand National series (today's NEXTEL
Cup).
Howard started working for his dad at age eleven,
changing the oil on his dad's fleet of trucks. By age 13 and through
high school, he managed the fleet on his own, taking care of everything
from engine rebuilds to body and paint. He went on to operate an auto
salvage operation for 4 years. An interesting note, Terry Labonte
purchased the operation after he won the Winston Cup championship in
1984. He said he had worked in a salvage yard as a kid and his goal had
been to own one!
Stewart has had his own race team running NASCAR
Late Model Asphalt with noted drivers Morgan Shepherd, Geoff Bodine and
Jay Hedgecock.
He started in the high-performance industry in the
70's when he ran 3 retail speed shops known as Hot Rod Barns. That led
to setting up HRB Distributors which serviced hundreds of wholesale
accounts with product lines including Holley, Edelbrock, Carillo Rods,
DelWest Valves, Crane and Comp Cams. HRB Distributors grew into
Performance Corner, a performance retailer program with hundreds of
locationsÉ Stewart founded the program as Performance
Connection before selling to a group that took the concept nationwide.
Stewart began designing and manufacturing his own
products about 25 years ago when he saw a need to correct the inherent
design flaws in the small block Chevy cooling system. A successful line
of high-performance water pumps was developed and later purchased by
another company in 2000. He was awarded his first patent for the LC/SB
(Liquid Cooled/Self-Bleeding) brake system and began consulting with
the top NASCAR teams. Stewart has been granted 5 more patents on brake
and cooling systems.
Over the years, he has consulted
on engineering solutions with:
• General
Motors
• Ford
Motor Company
• Daimler
Chrysler
• Mazda
• Sunoco
Race Fuels
• Hendrick
Motorsports
• Robert
Yates Racing
• Roush
Racing
• Petty
Enterprises
• Richard
Maskins/Dart
The fields of consulting have
been as diverse as the clients:
• Fuel
Systems
• Brake
Systems
• Chassis
Development
• Cooling
Systems
• Aerodynamics
• Data
Acquisition
Always seeking a better racing mousetrap led to 16
years and tons of scrap aluminum developing a fuel pump that took
advantage of the small block Chevy's fuel pump pushrod geometry and
does away with the ancient rocker arm and diaphragm conventional pump
design. It's one of those classic design solutions that looks so simple
when you first see it and makes you wonder, "why didn't I think of
that?" Well, Howard Stewart did and it's taken 16 years to prove it!
So, now you know a little bit more concerning the
guy that personally answers your emails.
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