I would like
to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Jensen’s
Engine Technologies and our race team. I would like to start off by giving
you a bit of background information on Jensen’s Engine Technologies,
our race team, and myself. My earliest involvement in racing came through
my older brother, Rich Jensen, who, when I was about 12 years old, started
competing in one form or another of motor sports, from go-carts to drag
racing, modifieds and late models. Lacking the financial resources to
race myself, I participated by helping Richie in any way possible.
By the time I turned 16, the need to build
a racecar of my own was finally fulfilled. I purchased a 1968 Camaro and
built my first engine, which promptly blew up before leaving the garage.
(I have since learned a great deal about engine oiling). From that point
on, it has been a constantly rising learning curve. Whenever I could scrape
together some cash, it went into a newer, faster engine for my car.
In 1985, at age 20, I was working full-time
in an industrial machine shop and part-time in an automotive machine shop.
For 7 years I maintained this 2-job status, getting plenty of experience
machining and building performance racing engines.
I gave up the part-time job in 1992, bought
some equipment and opened my own engine shop. For the next 3 years the
shop stayed part-time and produced a number of winning race engines, from
Street Stocks to Late Models, even nitrous drag engines, one of which
produced well over 1,000 hp (from 434 cu. in.), and pushed my Camaro into
the 7’s, making it the first small block street car to achieve such
an outstanding performance.
On January 1, 1995 I gave up my full-time
machinist job, bought more equipment (including a near-new Hines engine
balance), and took on a partner, the late Tom Larnard who ran the parts
counter. We were now a full-time operation and learning at an ever increasing
pace.
Now, 20 years later, Jensen’s Engine Technologies
is a very successful operation with a new 3,800 sq. ft. building and all
of the equipment needed to build or rebuild engines from every aspect
of the performance automotive field. At J.E.T. we build race engines for
drag, oval, marine, and even mud boggers. We also build performance engines
for street use and restorations. We can perform all automotive machine
shop operations in house for race or stock jobs, all with a level of precision
and craftsmanship that you will not find anywhere else at any price. If
you check out our shop order form by clicking on the link on the website,
you will find that our job and labor rates are very reasonable. And with
our buying power we are able to offer the best pricing on hardcore race
engine parts. This, coupled with our low overhead, makes it possible for
you to get a high quality engine at the best possible price.
Our race team consists of a 1964 Corvette,
powered by a single turbo-charged Chevy small block. These high tech,
high horsepower cars are becoming very popular so we built one to figure
out how to make them work. 2004 was our first year with this car. It ran
a best e.t. of 6.48 at 215 m.p.h., and we weren’t even close with
the tune-up. We have learned a great deal about these types of engines
in our first year, and expect more consistent performances in the mid
6.30’s at 220 m.p.h. in 2005. This year so far we pulled out a 6.25 @ 229mph, and that was just testing.
The race team is an amazing amount of work,
but the benefits are worth the work. Add the workload from the shop and
it just gets to be more than one guy can handle. At the shop, my full-time
guy is Joe Barna. He is awesome at his job. He does flawless work and
needs little supervision. The race team workload is handled by me and
my crew. Rob Felegie handles the clutch, transmission, and intercooler.
Chris Fisher handles the fuel, chutes and tires, Liana Fisher handles
the video and is back-up on the computers... and last but not least, my lovely fiance Brenda takes care of feeding the crew and making sure the car is shined up
Our Race Cars
1964 Corvette Pro Mod
1967 Corvette Pro Street
Race Results
Magazine Articles
Copyright © 2005 J.E.T.
Images Courtesy of Todd Dziadosz