Tommy Phillips Prepares For 2013 Season

February 5, 2013   ·   0 Comments

Forney, TX: Sportsman racing stalwart Tommy Phillips and his Philco Race Services team are busy preparing for the 2013 NHRA Lucas Oil Series season.  Phillips will once again field a variety of sportsman vehicles with primary backing from K&N Engineering and CBS Arc Safe.  The team will consist of two NHRA Super Comp dragsters, a Super Gas Corvette Roadster, and Super Stock Cavalier.  Phillips, a 27-time NHRA national event winner and teammate Riley Ledbetter will handle the driving responsibilities.

“I’m excited to get back to the track,” said Phillips.  “We haven’t made wholesale changes over the winter; we’ll be starting the season with the same cars.  But we’ve put in a lot of hours over the winter refining our combination and our program in general.  I’m confident that I’m starting the season as prepared as ever.  I’m incredibly fortunate to be involved with K&N, CBS Arc Safe, and all of our associate marketing partners.  Those companies have been behind me for a long time, and I’m honored to continue to represent each of them.”

K&N Engineering will serve as a primary sponsor of the Philco Race Services team for a fifth consecutive season.  CBS Arc Safe is in only its second season as a primary sponsor of the team, but their parent company Circuit Breaker Sales, and the Ledbetter family have been involved in Phillips’ racing efforts on some level for the better part of two decades.

Phillips has also added JEGS Mail Order and TNT Supercars to his list of Associate Marketing Partners for the 2013 season.  JEGS is an industry leader, having delivered the best in high performance for over 50 years. Nearly every part and piece utilized on Philco Race Services machines can be purchased through JEGS or online at JEGS.com.  TNT Supercars has been a part of Phillips racing operation since he started the company in 2005, and with new owners Art Zunker and Dillon Bontrager, it is once again a prominent part of the team.  In addition, Phillips welcomes back the following cast of associate marketing partners: Sterling Robertson of East 80 Truck Sales in Abilene, TX,  Robert and Wynette Hudgins of Lee-A Inc., Art and Randy Zunker of Team Beyond Reason Motorsports,  Shady Oaks Bingo, Katy Bingo, and Duane and Heidi Robison.  He also thanked Sunset Racecraft, Hughes Performance, Lucas Oil Products, Hoosier Racing Tire, and VP Racing Fuels for their role in his winning combination.

“I’m really excited about the alignment with JEGS,” expressed Phillips.  “Everyone in sportsman racing knows JEGS and the Coughlin brothers.  They do a lot for our sport and strongly support sportsman racing in particular, so we feel very fortunate to have them as part of our program.   We’ve known each other for a long time andexplored the idea of partnership before, but the timing was just never right.  Now it finally is, and I look forward to working alongside John, Mike, Jeg, Jr., Troy, Woody and everyone at JEGS.”

Although they have always been a core part of the program, the other associate marketing partner that really stepped up their involvement in 2013 was TNT Supercars.  Since selling the company to Smiley’s Racing Products in 2007 and turning over the leadership position to long time friend Frank Kohutek in 2010, Phillips has kept a close eye on TNT.  “I just had too many irons in the fire back then and needed to commit more time to my family and our businesses, so I left TNT, but never really quit loving the company I started in the shop behind my home.  I love our cars and have a lot of my racing experiences built into them, so I am very pleased to be back involved with the company.”  The new ownership group is really committing the time and resources to further grow TNT Supercars in the drag racing industry” added Phillips.

While Phillips will begin his 2013 season with the same competition vehicles and transporter as he used in 2012, there has been one major addition to the Philco Motorsports team. Phillips’ longtime friend Jay Thornburg has been hired as team manager and crew chief.  Jay is a national event winning racer himself, and brings years of on-track experience to the team.  He will serve as the teams truck driver, tuner, and at-track representative.

“I can’t put into words how happy I am to have Jay on the payroll at Philco Race Services,” said Phillips.  “I’ve been trying to talk him into doing this for several years, and the pieces finally fell into place.  We’re great friends, and I’ve always enjoyed racing with him in the past.  He’s very level headed, even tempered, and thoughtful, so he will be a great asset to my team.  We balance each other and work together very well, so I know that we’ll have a lot of fun this season and hopefully have some great success along the way.”