 Shannon Jenkins (left) looks over one of his Gene Fulton-built powerplants with Speedtech co-owner Brandon Switzer in their Tuscaloosa, AL, shop. |
Jenkins already has two IHRA and two NHRA Pro Mod championships on his resume, while Castellana is the defending IHRA Pro Mod champ. To cap it off, Jenkins was named IHRA’s Crew Chief of the Year in 2005 for tuning Awesome Motorsports to a one-two finish in Pro Mod points.
Beyond their IHRA/NHRA schedules, the Iceman and Castellana also compete on the growing American Drag Racing League (ADRL) circuit and both have recently ventured into the Pro Outlaw doorslammer world driving the same ’68 Camaro, with Jenkins winning at Orlando and Las Vegas last year, and Castellana driving it to victory lane at Bradenton, FL. Switzer also has an extensive competition background, competing as a successful Pro 5.0 Mustang racer before giving up the trackside life to concentrate on the business end of things.
 An overhead view shows how full and busy the Speedtech/Awesome Motorsports facility really is, with the two racecars tucked away in the background. |
Together, after just a couple of years in business, the talented trio have already made a big impact with Speedtech in the ultra-competitive nitrous industry and racing is a big part of that success as it provides invaluable research-and-development opportunities, as well as proves the value of their products.
DRO was fortunate enough to be invited inside the Iceman’s “Cooler” about a month ago, just after the team returned from the IHRA race at Rockingham, NC.
Not a lot of room is devoted to the storage and preparation of IHRA’s top-two Pro Mod points finishers last year. That’s Castellana’s championship-winning 2005 Chevy Cavalier beside the wall and Jenkins’ runner-up ’68 Camaro (cover photo).
A full array of heavy machinery is on hand, both for building Speedtech products and fabrication needs for the racing operation. The machine with dials in the background is used for nitrous flow testing and analysis. Technician Matt Bonnett is responsible for preparing all of the team’s nitrous bottles.
