The sixth year of the Valley Automotive Machine Performance (VAMP) Heads Up Street Series is under way. Dave Hight, the founder of VAMP racing and owner of Hight Automotive, Collision Repair, Machine, and Speed Shop, said he started the heads-up street series in 2003 to get kids away from street racing.

"Drag racing on the strip, not the street, that's the motto," Hight said. "If I can save at least one life, it was worth it."

Through the VAMP racing series, Hight said old and young have an avenue to legally race their street cars in a family environment.

The race format is index style, ranging from Factory Street (14.20) to Outlaw Street (10.00). Hight said he also started a drag radial class that runs on an eighth-mile track--a true heads-up competition.

The VAMP series started in 2003 with only 40 racers, but Hight said it is not uncommon now to see more than 150 racers show up for an event.

The series consists of eight races starting in the spring and finishing in the fall. Unfortunately, the first two scheduled races of the season had weather-related cancelations, but a two-day event on June 7-8 at KCIR is scheduled to make up for one of the missed races.

KCIR is VAMP's hub, but this year a race will also be held at Mid American Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa, and another at Mo-Kan Dragway in Ashbury, Mo.

Becoming a member of the VAMP Heads Up Street Series costs $40 annually. Membership benefits include points tracking, eligibility for bonus payouts, and discounts on VAMP performance products.  Race participation costs $35, which guarantees each racer a minimum of four runs.

"People are realizing that they can come and have fun and not spend a fortune," Hight said, adding that a lot of families participate. "It is a very economical race."

Hight said he pays out $3,000 each race and also gets a lot of help with prizes and trophies from  sponsors such as O'Reilly Auto Parts, Edelbrock, Nitrous Express, VP Race Fuel, Factory Motor Parts, and Arrow Speed Warehouse, to name a few. 

 
"Our following through the speed shop and our race series has some great people in it," he said. "The racers are a good group, and it is more of a family-type atmosphere through the whole thing. Our preamble before we started was to have fun and keep the competition close, so anybody could win."

Hight said his creation and involvement with VAMP racing has in turn generated business for his machine shop, speed shop, and Hight Automotive, the parent company that opened in 1981.

"VAMP has enhanced Hight Automotive in that if a guy wants a set of heads or gears put on a car, we can provide that service," he said. "We can sell the performance parts, and we can install a nitrous system."

Hight's wife, Marilyn, runs the office at Hight Automotive, an ACDelco Technical Service Support (TSS) shop, while Hight said he runs the machine and speed shop, and his son Greg manages the automotive repair shop.

It is important, he said, that traditional domestic repair work is separate from performance work. First and foremost, he said, he is an automotive repair shop. "We have to be careful about mixing the two because it is a different ballgame -- they are really two different things."

Hight said his involvement with VAMP brings in engine work, gear installation, and other factory hot-rod accessories, along with retail business in his speed shop.

"We are a diversified shop," he said. "If a customer needs a set of heads redone, or crankshaft digitally balanced, or complete engine assembly built, we can do that right here." 

 
Hight said that four years ago, he purchased a Dynojet drive on dynamometer, capable of 1,500 HP. The Dynojet allows him to test and tune a vehicle before it hits the speedway, he said.

"The dyno will give so much information beyond torque and horsepower," he said. "It will let you know if your engine has any oil leaks, driveshaft vibrations, or bent axels."

Testing a race car on the dyno allows drivers to pick up on situations that could cause some potential problems at the track, Hight said, adding that if a performance customer gets work done at his facility, he offers dyno time for free.

Hight said that due to his diversification in services from body work to machine work, he is able to avoid a lot of the slowdown that many in the automotive industry experience with the slumping economy.

"You have to adapt to the new ways," he said. "It helps that we do this under one address. If a guy thinks he is going to open a speed shop in a busy town and make a killing, he has another thing coming."

The economy has not seemed to affect VAMP Racing, however. Hight said he has seen a continued 15-20 percent growth in racers each year.

Tickets to go to the all-day event are $10. The next race will be held at KCIR on June 7-8, followed by another KCIR race on July 12.