Fri, 30 Jun 2006, 01:19 PM Some Assembly Required

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2006 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Bruno Massel and his dad

There were some new classes added to the NHRA Competition Eliminator field this year and one of those is the DD/AT class. While not a wildly popular or wildly populated class yet, it could become both if Bruno Massel and his dad have their way. "I've worked on the television shows for the NHRA sport compact series the last few years and I've become enamored with these cars," the younger Massel said. "Dad has always worked with the big block V-8 and nitrous and that kind of stuff but we thought we'd try our hand with this car." Dad is Bruno Massel Sr., one of the true veterans in the sport. "Dad raced back in the 60's and he had an A/A car called 'The Gladiator.' Plus he had a lot of success running in the Super Comp and Super Gas classes," Bruno said. Indeed he did. Several national event final rounds, lots of divisional wins, a Division 3 championship in 1988 along with a win in the Sportsman All-Star race in 1989 plus a couple of top ten finishes in the national points made Bruno Massel Sr. one of the more accomplished and respected racers in the country. "Dad's sixty-three now and he doesn't want to drive anymore but we have always enjoyed racing together so we decided to try this project together." From what everyone has seen over the years, anytime someone takes on a project that includes a turbo car it is quite a challenge, but from what we've seen so far, the Massel's are up to it.

Massel does burnout.

The new class, DD/AT, is reserved for four-cylinder cars that must carry an amazing 16. 40 pounds per cubic inch. "Ironically we're a little heavy for the class," Bruno said. "We've got a new engine, a big one at 134 cubic inches that is more efficient and has a bigger bore and that will make us even more competitive. Right now the engine we have is 129 cubic inches and some of the guys can't believe that we can run like we do with such a small engine and so much weight." Bruno, who has worked with and watched the turbo cars that run on the sport compact series, has always been intrigued by this new technology. "These cars have great potential and there are some really creative and bright guys working on them. We've seen what they can do with unlimited turbos and alcohol and now we'd like to put that technology to work with a production block, four-cylinder car on gasoline." The engine that he uses in his Chevrolet Cobalt is one of the new GM Ecotech engines and he has been working on it for quite some time. "We have the folks at Turbonetics helping us," Bruno said. "They have a lot of experience with these engines and they're getting into all forms of racing, including tractor pulls and boats and stuff like that." But the turbo is only one part of the equation, the car, the chassis and the drive line all have to work together. "We have one of our own Bruno's Transmissions with a torque converter and a four-speed in the car. But the key is getting a handle on the turbo." When he first decided to go the turbo route Bruno said he opened up Big Stuff 3 ECU kit and saw the maze of wires that came with it and was stunned. "I just looked at it and said 'Where do all these wires go?' I knew there was some assembly required but I was in awe of what we had to do."

For about six months over the winter Bruno and his dad set out to build one of the ultimate Competition Eliminator cars. "We decided to get a car from Jerry Bickel because he builds great race cars and we needed a good starting point. Then we got a lot of help from a lot of people especially with regards to the turbo. It's a very close fraternity amongst turbo guys and everyone wants everyone else to do well with the turbos." Among those who helped were John Meaney, Mylon Keasler and GM Racing's Russ Oblenes, three of the most well respected names when it comes to the art of making a turbo car run. "I have to admit that when it comes to mechanics I'm an idiot," Bruno said. "That's why it's nice to have dad and the kind of guys we have working with us on this project. And I must say, I'm learning something every day." One of the things that he learned was that no matter how much preparation you have and no matter how ready you think you are, things don't always go as planned. "We debuted the car at Englishtown and we just wanted to make a good showing and not embarrass ourselves. Well, that's what we did. It was Father's Day, my dad's birthday, our first time out with the car and nothing went right. And I know what everyone was thinking, here comes another one of those turbo cars that won't run." At first they thought the problem was with the converter so they swapped that out and the car still didn't run, and it wasn't until late in the weekend that they discovered a small nick in one of the turbo blades. "That's all it takes for these cars to not run. They either seem to be running all out or not at all."

Once they diagnosed and fixed the problem Bruno and his dad headed for St. Louis and there they proceeded to pick up the number one qualifying spot with a solid run of 7.573 at almost 180 miles per hour. "I'm still learning all about driving this car," Bruno said. "There is such a technique to getting it off the starting line and keeping the boost up and making it all the way down the track. We believe that if all goes right, the car could run in the 7.30's." All didn't go right in round one of the eliminator when Bruno lost to Tom Schmidt when the car ran 8.30. "Like I said, it's all a learning process and that was part of it for me." Next up will be the Division 3 race this weekend in Stanton, Michigan followed by a trip to the Sportsnationals and several other division races. Near the end of the summer the team will look at several of the national events including Maple Grove, Virginia, Dallas and maybe even Pomona. "We'd like to make a run for the division title and see where we can finish in the national points. But most of all we want to learn about this car because we plan on staying with it for several years."

When Bruno Massel isn't racing he is working at one of his other occupations, either doing television or modeling. "I've done the ESPN sport compact shows for about three years now. They're everything that this racing isn't. Loud music, lots of girls and bouncing cars. But I enjoy it." He also is a model who is very much in demand. "I've done some Ralph Lauren underwear ads and was on contract with them for a couple of years. Now that I'm getting up there in 'model years' (he's thirty-two), I do more ads for Kohl's, Bloomingdale's and stuff like that." He has been all over the world in his modeling career and just this past winter spent time in Switzerland, but for now he is concentrating on making this turbo car run. "I do the TV mostly in the spring, the racing in the summer and the modeling in the fall so the schedule works out just right." Plus he now spends time with his wife of three years and, of course, his dad. "I'm very lucky the way things have worked out," he said. "And I know we'll make this car work." It's a long way from dad's A/A that he ran at Indy back in 1965, but if the Massel family history is any indication, we may have the first really competitive four-cylinder turbo car on tour for the rest of the year and for years to come.

Bruno Massel's car carries the name of WyoTech on the side of it and that's a relationship that he is very proud of. "I did some work for them on a TV show a while back and got to know them very well. They wanted a spokesman for the school and they picked me. It's a great school with a wonderful reputation and I'm proud to represent them. And they love NHRA drag racing." Now all we have to do is make sure they don't find out that Bruno is "an idiot when it come to mechanics" and everyone will be happy.