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RE: f500
I see not many have responded here but I know there are aprox. 15 in the mid-west and 30 or so in the East. This was the biggest class in the east last season and will be even bigger this year, I have sold parts to 7 or 8 new racers all across the country. One reason this class is so popular in the East, besides being inexpensive, is they have it seperated into Pro and Semi-pro and they actually force the better drivers to run pro ONLY. The mid-west circuits should follow this lead since this is the ONLY CLASS WITH SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH in the last few years. John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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10/02/08 06:56am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: New Arctic Cat Racer?
Just to clear things up, I don't know if Larry Day or Aaron Fellows will be racing this season but I have made plans to work with PJ and Dan Fenhaus. The chassis that Gary raced last season was designed by myself and Mike Hill and Mike built 95% of it, he is a great fabricator.
I am involved with PJ and his crew in a similar manor, PJ's brother Mark is also a very clever mechanic/fabricator so I expect big things this coming season. John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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09/24/08 08:23am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Jeff Moyle killed in parasailing accident
Jeff was a great person and I am glad that I had the good fortune of knowing him on and off the race track. Jeff truly "went for the Gusto" in everything he did and will be sorely missed by all that knew him. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Moyle family. Sincerely, John Hooper
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jhooper/HRE
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09/15/08 10:05am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Hooper 440 Pipe Improvements
The latest Jaws pipes would probably not work any better than what you have now UNLESS the cylinders and heads were updated to the latest specs to match. The "Power inc." pipes you have now are still a good pipe for a lot of engines. John Hooper
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jhooper/HRE
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08/11/08 09:37am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: HOOPER Racing will build Arctic and Polaris engines
Just to clarify: I won't be branching into the Polaris high performance trail stuff, only racing engines, and only 440 and 600 twins. Thanks, John Hooper
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jhooper/HRE
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03/18/08 08:26am |
Ovals & Enduros
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HOOPER Racing will build Arctic and Polaris engines
I figured I might as well make it official before the rumor mill got it all wrong. At this time I do not plan to work exclusively for one team next season, I will be building 440 & 600 Arctic & Polaris engines for ice oval and drag racing. I will offer technical support and advice on the designing and tuning of chassis and clutches to teams using my engines. Sincerely, John Hooper
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jhooper/HRE
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03/04/08 02:07pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Valcourt Questions Please on #180
Jeff, Around 2000 or 2001 I came up with the idea to weld hooker plates on with one end extended beyond the clip to gain more scratch lines in this area near the windows. After my sleds started getting dominant holeshots and winning races apparently someone or some group decided that something had to be done. The new rule was not voted on and put into the ISR book, as it should have been. This new rule was put in place after the first race @ Beasejour. Nobody made any attempt to contact me or P.J. even though we were the only guys running this setup. We had no idea this rule existed until we were hauled into tech. AFTER qualifying for the top 10 in the W.C. at Eagle.
I have no doubt we would have been Dinged except when I finally got to read this NEW RULE and pointed out that it also stated the the hooker plates must be centered on the clip and the Wahl sleds had small hooker plates that were not centered on the clips. Dave Wahl spoke up and said the rule was not supposed to be worded like that, it was only intended to stop the procedure of extending the clips past the end of the plates. At this point Jerry and his crew decided to just make us remove any studs that were on these extended plates and race in the final rather than D.Q. most of the top 10. I know this sounds fishy but this is EXACTLY what happened. I am not blaming anyone in particular but you can draw your own conclusions. Sincerely, John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/26/08 10:12am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Valcourt Questions Please on #180
Jeff, Around 2000 or 2001 I came up with the idea to weld hooker plates on with one end extended beyond the clip to gain more scratch lines in this area near the windows. After my sleds started getting dominant holeshots and winning races apparently someone or some group decided that something had to be done. The new rule was not voted on and put into the ISR book, as it should have been. This new rule was put in place after the first race @ Beasejour. Nobody made any attempt to contact me or P.J. even though we were the only guys running this setup. We had no idea this rule existed until we were hauled into tech. AFTER qualifying for the top 10 in the W.C. at Eagle.
I have no doubt we would have been Dinged except when I finally got to read this NEW RULE and pointed out that it also stated the the hooker plates must be centered on the clip and the Wahl sleds had small hooker plates that were not centered on the clips. Dave Wahl spoke up and said the rule was not supposed to be worded like that, it was only intended to stop the procedure of extending the clips past the end of the plates. At this point Jerry and his crew decided to just make us remove any studs that were on these extended plates and race in the final rather than D.Q. most of the top 10. I know this sounds fishy but this is EXACTLY what happened. I am not blaming anyone in particular but you can draw your own conclusions. Sincerely, John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/26/08 10:05am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Valcourt Questions Please on #180
Jerry, I am not going to point fingers at anyone in particular but the "HOOKER PLATE RULE" was a little different than you explain. This NEW rule was put in place AFTER the first race @ Beasejour, NOT at the ISR meeting as it should have been. There was supposedly a bulletin sent out but SURPRISINGLY the two race teams that would be affected by this new rule NEVER got one. The targeted sleds were MINE and P.J., We were NOT informed of this rule until our sled went to tech. AFTER!! qualifying for the W.C. The only reason we were not tossed out on this WITCH HUNT was because, after reading this new rule I brought it to everyones attention that because of the way it was worded most of the qualified racers would not be legal and at THAT point you stepped in and suggested we compromize on the rule until the next race. I probably will never know for sure who was behind this "WITCH HUNT" but there is NO doubt that is what it was!, Since there was NO GOOD REASON for this rule other than to punish a couple teams with good holeshots. Sincerely, John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/26/08 07:17am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: New Junior Class
Jeff you are correct that some sort of clutch change would also be needed but still this would be a lot cheaper than building another sled. I would be willing to do the dyno testing, @ no charge, with various size restrictors and publish my findings on jetting etc. John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/16/08 07:12am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: New Junior Class
One more thought: We could use the same F-500 sleds we run now with carb. restrictor plates to bring them down to around 50 h.p for junior 1. Dad could use the same sled as junior!
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jhooper/HRE
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02/15/08 01:07pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: New Junior Class
Good ideas.,The 488 is much easier and cheaper, I still think it's a little too fast for junior 1 but we could simply put a restrictor plate in front of the carb. then take it out for junior 2. With a little research we could spec. certain years of the 488 and use pretty much identical rules to F-500. John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/15/08 07:08am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: New Junior Class
This concept makes a lot more sense than the $25k champ 380 rules in the west. I would be happy to put together a set of rules for this deal. Jerry has a good point about using the fan chassis, it is virtually the same anyway, I would definately spec. just 1 F/C engine around 340- 400cc with the complete pipe except a race silencer, weight rule would be around 360 - 375 lbs. All chassis rules would be the same as F-500. SIMPLE, CHEAP & FUN, thats the secret to attracting new people. John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/14/08 07:18am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Ban on leaded race fuel !!!
I should have clarified that I believe U.S. & Canadian race organizations should all adopt the same " SPEC.unleaded fuel policy" ASAP. Spring of 2008 would be fine by me. Sincerely, John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/12/08 07:04am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Ban on leaded race fuel !!!
I don't see any cause for alarm, The "NO LEAD" policy will likely be everywhere soon. Nascar already decided to get ahead of it and ALL other race organizations should follow. We should not wait until we are forced to change, it is widely accepted that lead is "BAD". We would be wise to get out of the "GREEN MOVEMENT" crosshairs while we can. We really don't want these jerks scrutinizing every aspect of our sport. As an engine builder I see this as a just another challenge. I am sure we could find a fuel company to supply a consistent unleaded SPEC. fuel and a method of policing it, we would simply need to adjust compression and jetting accordingly. Sincerely, John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/11/08 08:12am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: race gas
If the barrel remains "factory sealed" most fuels last for years as long as it is stored near room temp., An open barrel can also last a long time if it is kept near room temp. and closed tightly immediately after each use.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/04/08 02:14pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Who is the "The King Of Ice Ovals" ?
This is a tough one. I guess to really crown a "King" we would need to agree on the various qualities that a King must have. We would never all agree on that either! I would crown Jacques "King" because of his longevity at or near the TOP of the sports premier class and his showmanship on & off the track. If you are giving a "BEST DRIVER" award J.V. would also be a contender BUT there are a few others that certainly qualify. Considering only driving talent and Huevos size, My choices would be: Mike Houle, Larry Day, Terry Wahl, Jacques and Gary Vessair. Other greats would be: Dave Wahl, Tim Bender, Brad Hulings, Guy Useldinger
One of the best ways I have found to judge a driver, is his ability to extract every bit of speed from his machine. When you have a Larry or Terry on your sled you don't really even need good comunication all you need to do is watch closely to what the machine is doing in the corners, they will drive it in deep enough to make the sled do something wrong and they will get on the gas earlier each lap until it does something wrong exiting the corner. Race drivers that have the ability to run a sled on the edge every lap are rare. A driver that drives reckless and far beyond his sleds capability is also not what you want. If you see a race sled that looks like it's handling fine but it's not out front, the driver isn't doing his job.
I cannot judge guys that raced before 1985 and the new crop have not had enough time to prove themselves yet.
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jhooper/HRE
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02/01/08 11:46am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: NEWS: J. Villeneuve, Jan. 23, 2008
Jacques, I hope they used a metric bolt, SAE bolts would probably fight with your French blood;). I knew you would be back, it is just a matter of time, the sport needs exciting racers like yourself. Happy healing. Your friend, John Hooper
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jhooper/HRE
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02/01/08 07:18am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Boonville Pro Champ Results
Just a little history, The sled that Aaron won the race with is the sled We built for Phil Moulton to drive in 03 then Larry won every Major race including the W.C. in 04 with it. Aaron drove this sled in 05 then I sold it to Rick Kersten because Phil was driving for him and felt that this was the best chassis he had ridden and wanted it back. I don't know the details of how George Samson aquired this sled but it's been a good one and it is still fast, even with a Rotax! ;) John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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01/30/08 07:15am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Any picks for the EPT?
Howard, you could be right, it is a 1 day race and who knows if Larry will have any seat time before the race. Mike Emerson is probably a safer bet, he has good equipment and has gotten faster each season. Will the mystery driver be on a PROVEN sled?? Mike Platt is also an unknown, I don't know if he has ever been on good equipment before, now we will see what he's made of. John H.
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jhooper/HRE
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01/25/08 06:52am |
Ovals & Enduros
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