PREFERRED CUSTOMER EDITION JULY 2012 Chad Hord 2011 AMSOIL Cup Champion Many of the world’s top racers depend on AMSOIL products to protect their vehicles – the same products you can use to protect yours. Online Store: ™ www.amsoil.com Racing is Research Telephone: 1-800-777-7094 TABL E OF CONTENTS PREFERRED CUSTOMER EDITION JULY 2012 M AGAZINE STAFF Editor Kevin McBride Vice President, Marketing & Communications Associate Editor Joel Youngman Publication Manager Terry Johnsen Staff Writers Kathy Anderson John Baker Terry Johnsen Joel Youngman Graphic Design Manager Jeff Spry Senior Graphic Designer Luke Boynton Content Contribution Len Groom Racing is Research™ | PAGE 6 Jeremy Meyer Patricia Stoll Editorial Contribution FEATURES DEPARTMENTS Dan Peterson Advertising 6 Racing is Research™ 4 From the President’s Desk Ed Newman Back Issues 8 AMSOIL Generates Significant 9 Tech Talk Back issues of AMSOIL Magazine are available for $1 each. Order G17PC and Presence at Laconia 12 Racing & Promotional News specify the month and year. Motorcycle Week On the Web 14 Centerlines and Updates www.amsoil.com 10 AMSOIL Drivetrain Fluids President and CEO Provide Maximum Protection in A.J. Amatuzio Extreme Operating Conditions ADVERTISEMENTS Executive Vice President and COO Alan Amatuzio 11 AMSOIL ATF Saves Cost of Executive Vice President and CFO New Tranny 2 Look For Us in the Winner’s Circle Dean Alexander © 2012, AMSOIL INC. 5 Specially Engineered for All rights reserved. Flat-Tappet Cams Printed by Service Printers Duluth, MN USA. 15 Tested and Proven Testimonials AMSOIL INC. 16 Got a Problem with Ethanol- Communications Department The AMSOIL Building Blended Fuels? Deal with it. 925 Tower Ave. Superior, WI 54880 [email protected] THE COVER Racing provides a valuable venue for AMSOIL to test and validate lubricant performance. | JULY 2012 3 M AGAZINE One year from now, this month, we will 10W-40 was ahead of its time in conceivable application. That, coupled be celebrating our fortieth anniversary. 1972, it does not compare to the with our continuously increasing To be clear, that’s forty years from the oils we formulate today. Increasingly advertising effort and the massive adoption of our multi-level-marketing advancing engine and component impact our Dealers have had in the program in 1973. It was a year earlier, designs are demanding much more field, has penetrated customer groups in 1972, that our original 10W-40 from lubrication. Higher temperatures, that were left untapped forty years passed American Petroleum Institute tighter tolerances, increased ago. testing at Southwest Research in San horsepower, and emissions and fuel Antonio, Texas and gave us claim to economy requirements present a Despite the considerable changes, “The First in Synthetics.” much greater challenge today for however, much remains the same. The lubricant formulators. And many of AMSOIL Dealer business opportunity For those who don’t know, when I the industry-imposed obstacles we remains more viable than ever. I first brought my synthetic motor oil battled in the beginning are rapidly can only imagine the extraordinary to market I attempted to sell it by disappearing as the push for synthetic success that lays waiting for our traditional methods. But my success oil and extended drain intervals Dealers. And, to be sure, AMSOIL was limited. Synthetic motor oil was continues to gain momentum. will continue its unwavering drive to unlike anything motorists had seen deliver the absolute best lubricants in before. Although it was superior to The look of the company, of course, the world. conventional petroleum motor oil by has changed too. Where once a all measures, it cost considerably single viscosity of motor oil was more to formulate and, therefore, was manufactured in one tiny brick considerably more expensive as it building, we now see hundreds of sat on the store shelves. Consumers viscosities of virtually every type of would see the price compared to lubricant manufactured in one of the A.J. “Al” Amatuzio the inexpensive conventional oils most advanced blending facilities and, not understanding the benefits, in the world. We have continued President and CEO, AMSOIL INC. would not purchase my oil. It was to reinvest in the expansion of the frustrating. If only, I thought, I could company as our sales have grown have ten minutes of a consumer’s time though the years, and we now occupy I could convey the many benefits and a staggering 400,000 square feet of undoubtedly secure a sale. research, production and warehouse space. Dean Alexander This led me to the concept of direct Executive V.P. / sales. A sales force of distributors We have seen changes in our Chief Financial Officer would bring the product to the people. markets also. In 1973 AMSOIL Face to face, they could explain the synthetic motor oil was purchased value the oil provided. I then took primarily by savvy auto owners who Alan Amatuzio it a step further and, with the help appreciated the superior protection Executive V.P. / Chief Operating Officer of Direct Jobber Shirley Green and the oil provided or those who others, developed the multi-level- valued the convenience marketing sales plan we employ today. and cost savings of This form of direct sales provided extended oil drain AMSOIL Dealers the opportunity intervals. While those to register other Dealers, and all types of customers could then build their businesses as remain at the core of aggressively as their determination our sales, our appeal allowed. It is this milestone that we has broadened celebrate in July 2013. significantly. The extensive AMSOIL We have come a long way. The product line now industry itself has changed reaches all markets. dramatically. Lubricants are now much We offer lubricants more sophisticated than they were for virtually every A.J. “Al” Amatuzio forty years ago. While our original President & Chief Executive Officer | 4 JULY 2012 M AGAZINE Z-ROD ®’s high-zinc formula provides protection that oils formulated for today’s vehicles don’t deliver. ENGINEERED FOR EXCELLENCE Online Store: www.amsoil.com Telephone: 1-800-777-7094 For AMSOIL, a day at the track isn’t just entertainment. Research through racing provides the opportunity to develop and validate AMSOIL lubricants in some of the toughest applications around. The effect doesn’t apply only to products for racing applications; it resonates throughout the entire AMSOIL product line. It’s an underlying philosophy captured in the phrase “Racing is Research,” and it has helped guide product development since the company’s early days. Seeking ways to validate his revolutionary synthetic lubricants in offer convincing proof that the lubricant meets the most demand- the early 1970s, AMSOIL President and CEO Al Amatuzio instinc- ing conditions encountered by owners of SUVs and trucks. tively knew America’s race tracks and courses held an answer. For many, nothing proves a lubricant’s effectiveness like its perfor- “Racing allows us to identify the most extreme operating condi- mance in high-powered racing applications, which require a level tions and develop lubricants that meet or exceed those standards,” of performance beyond the average car or truck. said Len Groom, Technical Product Manager, Powersports. “The information we gather has direct bearing on the passenger car/ Such was the case with legendary racer Bobby Unser. He needed light truck market as well, with vehicles becoming more sophisti- a gear lube capable of withstanding the punishment doled out cated and generating increased power and heat.” by Colorado’s famous Pike’s Peak Hill Climb, an event Unser won a record 13 times. His rear differential was failing prior to reach- Prior to Severe Gear, off-road racers, rockcrawling competitors ing the summit. Amatuzio supplied Unser’s team with AMSOIL and others were using a popular gear lube with less-than-ideal Synthetic Gear Lube, and the differential performed flawlessly performance. The predominant product was capable of clinging throughout several practice sessions, qualifying and race day. The to gears despite intense centrifugal forces, shock-loading condi- partnership was a win-win, providing AMSOIL valuable data and tions and the steep angles from driving over massive boulders and a convincing demonstration of the lubricant’s performance. It also obstacles; however, its ability to stay in place came at a price. “The placed Unser in the best position for victory. The deep-seated gear lube was the consistency of molasses,” said AMSOIL Race connection between AMSOIL and racing was born. Program Manager Jeremy Meyer. “Extensive manipulation was required to increase its temperature into an operable range. Before Seeking Out the Most Extreme Situations a race, some teams actually raised their vehicles and ran them in The cumulative information AMSOIL has gathered through rac- place to warm the gear lube.” ing has been instrumental in the development and validation of The synthetic chemistry of Severe Gear eliminates the need for numerous products, including Severe Gear® Synthetic Gear Lube. pre-race warm-up by providing excellent fluidity. SAE 250 and A rapid increase in engine power and towing capacities offered by SAE 190 Severe Gear, used in rockcrawlers like the AMSOIL- modern SUVs and trucks highlighted the need for a gear lube that sponsored machine driven by Brad Lovell, incorporate a unique raised the bar for performance. AMSOIL responded with Severe tackifier that clings tenaciously to gears and bearings in severe- Gear, a product that has been extensively validated in the severe service vehicles. “Competitors are always amazed how even the conditions of off-road racing. Its excellent performance in the 900- heavy viscosities of Severe Gear provide excellent protection while hp trucks driven by Scott Douglas and his AMSOIL Super Team remaining fluid,” said Meyer. The other viscosities also provide ex- counterparts in the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL | 6 JULY 2012 M AGAZINE ceptional protection, but are optimized for fuel efficiency.