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Bumps And Grinds. . .

A History Of The Racing Camshaft Business

Story by Jim Hill, with research and input by Harvey J. Crane, Jr.           

July 09, 2009 

One of the most intriguing, and perhaps least understood segments of the performance and racing automotive industry is the camshaft and valve train business.  Since the term “hot rod” was coined, racing cams companies have been a mainstay of the racing industry.  They’ve also produced some of its most colorful, creative and perhaps eccentric characters.  For many years small cam grinder shops were the norm.  Today, mega-companies dominate the cam and valve train market.  Fortunately, there remain many smaller, independent firms who have found their own niche within an industry that is itself a niche. 

How did the cam business attain such prominence, where did it come from, and who made it happen?  We set out to ask those questions, and to uncover some answers. 

The concept of changing the shape and function of an engine’s camshaft obviously stemmed from the desire to make an engine produce more power.  It’s also hardly a stretch to say that no other single component of modern engines is as mystery-laden as the camshaft.  From the earliest this ordinary item has been extensively modified, and then expected to produce extraordinary results. Exactly when, where and who can take credit as the first racing cam company is a question that has been shrouded in confusion and misinformation for many years.

To sort through this question’s marketing hype and promotional fluff we decided to start at the beginning, not just of the racing cam industry, but with the genesis of the automobile itself. 

German inventor Karl Benz and his company, (founded in 1888) is generally credited with building the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine.  However, American ingenuity, mass production and inspired marketing made auto manufacturing one of the world’s dominant industries. 

In 1893 Charles and Frank Duryea founded what is thought to be America’s first auto company, the Duryea Motor Wagon Company.  They were soon followed by Ransom E. Olds and the Olds Motor Vehicle Co.  Mr. Olds’ first venture was brief, and he sold his company, which in turn was sold to General Motors, where it became GM’s Oldsmobile division.  Henry Ford’s Ford Motor Company, the Cadillac Motor Company, and Alexander Winton’s auto company followed.  Olds also founded another American auto nameplate, REO, which began building automobiles and later evolved exclusively into a truck company.

Although Henry Ford is often recognized as the inventor of the mass-production assembly line, the fact is that Ransom E. Olds invented this breakthrough of modern manufacturing.  Uncle Henry, the father of the Model T and Ford Motor Company, perfected the concept of assembly line manufacturing for producing reliable, affordable motor cars for the masses.

By 1900 an amazing number of firms were building “motor carriages”.  These early, crude vehicles were powered by included internal combustion engines, usually burning gasoline or kerosene, steam, and electric powered vehicles.  If you thought today’s “hybrid” gas-and-electric vehicles was a 21^st century concept, guess again.  There were gas/electric hybrids as early as 1910, but by 1915, the gasoline engine became the favorite power source for automobiles.  Efficient, reasonably reliable, and inexpensive to produce, gasoline engines also offered great potential for improvements in power output and reliability.

As the global auto industry prospered, speed and racing were called upon to sell automobiles to the buying public.  Initially, the auto companies themselves were at the forefront of racing, but car owners themselves soon began tinkering with and testing their vehicles against others. 

The competitive spirit existed existed even before there were cars.  Americans and Europeans wanted to find out who had the fastest horse and then the fastest automobile.  They were soon engaging in “contests” to find out whose car was fastest. From this rather casual beginning was born the sport and later the industry of auto racing. 

In the U.S., mechanically inclined men were quick to modify these early vehicles.  Those with metal working and machining skills were soon boosting the power output of stock engines and improving the handling of stock chassis.  These backyard tinkerers were the beginning of what we now refer to as “hot rodders”.  Some of these amateur efforts were good enough that they eventually advanced into professionally engineering, designing and manufacturing true racing engines.  But the hot rod inspired racers continued to provide plenty of competition for even the best-heeled factory racing programs.  Fact is, these backyard efforts proved equally adept at increasing power and speed as much as the most sophisticated of factory efforts.  

As power output increased the early hot rodders began demanding stronger, faster parts, capable of performing at the level competition required.  It was this unending quest for more horsepower and speed that led to the birth of the American racing camshaft industry.  While it may be actually impossible to pinpoint the exact year that the “hot rod camshaft industry” was created, most agree that it likely occurred sometime during the decade known as “The Roaring 20’s”. 

During the 20’s America’s economy was surging.  A restless, new generation of Americans had just returned from World War I, eager to live large after the horrors brought about by “The Great War”.  Their well documented excesses earned them the title of “The Lost Generation”, and one of their favorite gadgets was the Ford Model T automobile.  Henry Ford’s sturdy, inexpensive T made it possible for large numbers to own automobiles, and Henry’s “Flivvers” were soon being cut-down, lightened and modified for racing.  It was the era of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, Prohibition, bootleg booze, gangsters, speakeasies and the nation’s first leisure generation.  These young and upwardly mobile Americans also created a huge awareness, interest and participation in what became the golden age of auto racing.  The Roaring Twenties proved to be the perfect hothouse for sprouting the seeds of the American racing cam industry.

Now 77 years of age, Harvey J. Crane, Jr., remains a major figure in racing camshafts and in the speed equipment industry itself.  Although he came along too late to have been a part of the embryonic, 1920’s period of the racing cam business, Harvey and the company he founded, Crane Engineering, (later Crane Cams) ultimately achieved an iconic status in the industry.  Harvey’s involvement in Crane Cams ended unhappily in 1989, when he was ousted from the company he founded.  Ironically, the Crane Cams, Inc., Division of Micronite, Inc., shut its doors in February, 2009, ceasing all operations and perhaps forever deleting a brand name and product that was once a cornerstone of the entire performance automotive aftermarket. 

Although he’s not involved in day to day operations of a manufacturing company, Harvey remains a dedicated and active student of the art, science and craft of designing, producing and measuring camshafts.  Now more than a half century after he entered the business of grinding and then designing racing camshafts, Harvey Crane’s name and the products he created remain “household” in the memory of racers, engine builders, and performance enthusiasts. 

We asked Harvey if there was any one individual who he considered as “Father of the Racing Cam Business”.  Without hesitation Harvey credits Ed Winfield as one of the pioneers of the racing industry, and the man who “invented” the racing cam business!

Ed Winfield was born in LaCanada, California in 1901.  A younger brother, William “Bud” Winfield came along in 1904, and together, the Winfield Brothers became legendary among early racers and racing engine builders.  Ed’s name and legacy lasted his entire lifetime, and stories of Winfield’s deeds and accomplishments remain as top lore among students and historians of the racing industry. 

Harvey Crane quickly noted that: “Ed Winfield got in on the ground floor of the racing industry, and he did it when that floor was made of dirt!”

Winfield actually made his first performance oriented camshaft in 1914, when he was just 13 years old. These were motorcycle cams with individual lobes pinned to a common shaft, a practice that was common in early engines and still widely used for large diesel engines as well as some modern automotive engines. Ed’s initial attempts at cam manufacturing were discouraged by some, but his natural curiosity and mechanical aptitude led him to stubbornly press on.  He proved them wrong and from that humble beginning Winfield laid the cornerstone of experience and knowledge that lasted a lifetime.  This eventually became a key segment of a racing and performance parts industry that annually sells over one hundred million dollars in highly specialized products across the nation.

Harvey continued:  “I was fortunate to have spent some time with Ed Winfield, before he passed away.  I went out to this home, and we spent several hours talking about the old days and how it was.  Ed told me that when he was 17, he built his own first camshaft grinding machine.  He started by convincing his mother to provide the money he needed to buy a used cylindrical grinding machine.  Ed’s mom was a successful Los Angeles area real estate sales agent and investor, and was fairly well-off for the time.  His first shop was at home, working in his mother’s garage.  He modified the grinder to accept a rocker table so he could grind lobe shapes.   He began making reground camshafts for Ford Model T’s.  Those Ford T engines were the most popular and cheapest and were easily the most popular for circle track racing on dirt and wooden board tracks.”

“Winfield’s homemade cams were available in two basic profiles: Semi-Race and Full Race.  After running both he decided he needed a grind that fit comfortably between the two profiles, for different track lengths and driver styles.  He came up with a third master that had more duration and lift than the Semi Race grind, but less than the Full Race.  He used the Full-Race master lobe for the intake lobe, and the third cam lobe master as an exhaust lobe.  This mix and match of profiles he called a “Three-Quarter Race Cam”.  Not only had Winfield created the first cam lobe profile for a specific racing application, he had unwittingly coined the first catchy racing cam marketing name for a business that would one day thrive on tricky product names that were sometimes pure nonsense. Ed said he didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s how it happened!, Harvey reflected.        

Three-Quarter Race has since become a sort of generic term for a camshaft that works acceptably in everyday driving, officially organized and sanctioned drag racing events as well as impromptu street acceleration contests.

Winfield’s vast knowledge of racing engines began with his early exposure to auto racing legend, Harry Miller.  Miller’s powerful and distinctively styled racing cars became an icon of their era, and his genius for designing and building advanced race engines was legendary.  Winfield went to work for Miller at the age of 14, where he was placed in the carburetion department.  His quick learning ability soon moved him into the machine shop where he learned to machine parts for the famous Miller racing engines. 

Harry Miller was widely known for his frugality.  Young Winfield was making the princely sum of $.60 cents per hour, and Miller soon offered Winfield a “raise” to .70 cents per hour to stay with his company.  Miller was not only stingy with his money, he was also a known tyrant, and Ed had several first hand experiences with Miller’s wrath. 

Harvey remembered:  “Ed said Harry Miller was impossible to please.  In spite of the fact that Winfield had quickly accepted greater and greater responsibility in his job and risen to earn the respect of his co-workers, Miller offered a pay raise of ten cents an hour for Ed to stay on with him.  Miller may have appreciated the work Winfield was doing, but of course he never said as much and Winfield thought his pay offer was an insult.  Ed decided he had enough of Miller’s methods and left soon after.” 

The young Winfield began to pursue his own interests, launching a successful career that lasted throughout Winfield’s entire lifetime. 

During that lengthy career Winfield involved himself in camshaft production, cylinder head design, modification and flow improvement and other engine advancements utilized by many of the most successful racing operations and drivers.  These included Miller, Offenhauser, Deusenberg, Frontenac, Meyer-Drake and others.  Ed’s brother Bud Winfield’s hugely successful Winfield Carburetor business was also a mainstay of those early racing days.  Long before there was a racing heritage for Holley, Carter or Stromberg, Bud Winfield’s carburetors were the first choice of racers in every type of competition.

In his later years Ed Winfield became reclusive, and shunned the spotlight.  That never dimmed his reputation as an innovative, gifted cam manufacturer and racing engine expert.  In 1969 Winfield ground what would be the last cams he would make, those being a group of cams for a Meyer-Drake racing engine. 

“Ed Winfield had over 55 years of producing camshafts to make maximum horsepower and torque at the rpm the engine and components were capable of winning.  I’d say that was quite a career and lifetime”, Harvey noted.

The very fertile Ed Winfield “tree” of racing camshaft companies spawned nearly all racing cam companies, even those of the current modern era, either directly or indirectly.  The exception to this was the racing camshafts produced by Pierre Louis “Pete” Bertrand, a contemporary and competitor to Winfield.

Bertrand was born in 1902, in Mexico.  Bertrand’s father was superintendent of a large Mexican silver mine.  His family later moved to a farm in Nebraska, where Pete grew up.  In the 1920’s he built and raced a dirt track sprint car, and in the early 1930’s moved to California, with his race car in tow.  In 1934 the youthful Bertrand finished an 8^th place finish in the AAA Pacific Coast Sprint Car circuit.  A serious crash in 1935 sent Bertrand for a lengthy “sheet time” stay in the hospital.  Bertrand’s hospital time brought him the unlikely benefit of meeting Esther, his nurse, whom he would later marry.

Not long after his first hospital stay Bertrand crashed again.  This time he hung up his leather helmet for good.  In order to stay involved in the sport he loved, Bertrand began grinding racing camshafts for area circle track racers.  His primary competitor was Ed Winfield, and for several years Bertrand and Winfield traded cam sales between “east side” or “west side” LA racers.

Late 1941 brought World War II and a major slow down in the racing camshaft business.  Most racing participants and spectators were in uniform and headed for either the European or Pacific theatre of the war.  This harsh reality plus wartime rationing of gasoline, oil and tires forced racing to take a hiatus.  During this time, in 1942, Pete Bertrand contracted pneumonia.  Without the benefit of antibiotics his condition worsened and Bertrand died at the young age of 40. 

One of Pete’s shop employees was a racer named Clayton Sherman “Clay” Smith. Smith purchased Pete Bertrand’s business and equipment from his estate, and quickly renamed his new company Clay Smith Cams. 

Smith’s company managed to outlast the war, and within a short time became a successful supplier of racing cams to the SoCal racing scene.  He also fielded a sprint car. Rodger Ward, who would later win the Indy 500, drove the Clay Smith Cams Special.

While competing in a race at Du Quoin, IL, in 1954, Ward’s car crashed with another, careening across the track where it struck and killed its owner, Clay Smith.  Clay Smith Cams, the offshoot of Pierre Bertrand’s original company, changed hands a several more times until settling in the ownership of George Striegel, in 1968.

Clay Smith Cams today is operated by Striegel’s family, and it produces not only racing cams, but a variety of promotional items adorned with the famous cigar smoking, clenched-tooth woodpecker. 

Auto racing and camshaft companies who designed, produced and supplied cams for racing were few in number during the years that preceded World War II.  Racing grew during those years, in spite of the severe national economic downturn of the Great Depression.  Still, motor racing became a diversion from the hard times.  Racing was further romanticized by films that Hollywood produced to exploit its drama and pageantry.  Local racing grew in popularity, further expanded by the creation of hundreds of dirt short tracks. 

Such local racing was dominated by the inexpensive, plentiful Ford Model-T plus a number of specialized “speed equipment” items.  Although still cheap as well as powerful, the Model-T was challenged in the early 1930’s by the newer, more refined Ford Model-A four cylinder, the Ford Model-B, and later the Ford V-8, the first of a long line of the legendary Ford “flathead” V-8’s that remained in production up until 1953.  It was the Flathead V-8 in particular that gave rise to racing camshaft companies as well as many of the pioneer names of the modern speed equipment industry. 

During the 1930’s names such as Winfield, Miller, Frontenac, Cragar, Riley, and Rajo laid the cornerstone for the speed equipment industry.  By the end of the 1930’s and early 40’s, Edelbrock, Offenhauser, Edmunds, Engle, Iskenderian, Weiand, Herbert and others were creating an American industry that hit its stride following the War Years and during the 1950’s and 60’s.

The new industry heavily favored the Southern California region, where hot rodding began, but the fever almost immediately spread all the way East.  The historical model for American racing seemed to be on closed-course tracks, usually circular or oval shaped, and predominantly on a hard-packed, clay-dirt surface.  Drag racing, although informally practiced on city streets, came about as a post-WW-II form of motorsports when city fathers of several Los Angeles area municipalities decided it was time to crack-down on illegal, dangerous street racing.  An old airport at Santa Ana, California became the location for the first organized drag races, and that opened the door to another wave of car-crazy young people. 

For racing engine builders and camshaft grinders the growth rocket left the launching pad when returning WW-II servicemen brought all that acquired mechanical knowledge and energy home.  They quickly channeled that energy into motor racing, in the process force-feeding an industry.

In the years immediately following WW-II racing welcomed the return of the American Memorial Day classic, the Indy 500.   About this same time a new form of circle track racing, sired by brash moonshine whiskey transporters of the Southeast, and drag racing, which evolved from the unsavory image of greasy, leather jacketed, street punks surfaced.

At Indy the “Triple A”, (American Automobile Assoc.) ruled with an iron fist.  When that organization dropped racing in favor auto clubs and emergency road service, a new group, USAC (United States Auto Club) stepped in and moved open wheel racing forward.  USAC also recognized the potential of the emerging sport of stock car racing.  Still, USAC is best remembered for making the Indy 500 the premier racing event in the U.S.

Down South the population preferred full fenders on their race cars.  By 1948, Washington, D.C. auto mechanic and sometimes racer turned promoter William H.C. France and a handful of drivers, mechanics and promoters created NASCAR (National Assoc. for Stock Car Auto Racing).  “Big Bill” was very much a product of his era, a tall, lanky, raw-boned man with unequalled vision and a strong will that resulted in his legacy, NASCAR, becoming today’s premier racing series and organization.

Often from the wrong side of the tracks were street racers who preferred their racing in a straight line, and on public roads.  The resulting heat generated by street racing crashes led to local law enforcement crackdowns on the hooligan hot rodders.  It wasn’t until drag racing grew into a bonafide motorsport that drag racers found the abandoned airfields of WW-II well suited to their racing sport. 

Out of this chaos stepped a young Oklahoman, a WW-II tank corps veteran, now a Californian and hot rodder.  Wally Parks took the passion of tire smoke and speed and molded it into a socially acceptable, relatively safe motorsports series that is today mainstream, and a billion dollar industry.  Parks founded NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) with its slogan “Dedicated To Safety”.  As he was growing his NHRA organization, Parks partnered with fellow So-Cal rodder Robert E. “Pete” Petersen to publish and edit Hot Rod Magazine, itself now an icon in the automotive enthusiast publishing industry.

Other forms of racing found the post-war years fertile ground for growth.  SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) preferred the European style of road racing, and several boat racing organizations took aquatic motor racing to the rivers, lakes and oceans.  Acceleration up the side of a mountain became a sport unto itself, and the Pike’s Peak event continues to draw hundreds of contestants and thousands of spectators to its annual Colorado “race into the clouds”.

Modified internal combustion engines powered all of these sports, and each engine used a camshaft manufactured by an aftermarket cam maker.  During those post-war years the racing cam industry flourished alongside the engine components industry whose products were equally important to racing.

Most of the best known cam makers as well as supporting companies who provided raw materials for the cam makers evolved from this late 1940’s, early 1950’s era, and most were located in Southern California.  This group included: Kenny Harmon and Cliff Collins (Harmon & Collins); Ed Iskenderian; Howard Johansen; Bruce and Dave Crower; Chet Herbert; Jack Engle; Clay Smith and Dempsey Wilson.

Back East cam companies included: Harvey J. Crane, Jr.; John Schooler; Caesar Laterio; The Ambler Brothers, Ray Giovannoni and a handful of others who bucked the SoCal trend and began their operations in shops located on “The Right Coast”.

Although he never owned a camshaft company, famed Chevrolet engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov had many cams created for various Chevy factory racing programs.  These he later made available to the buying public through local Chevy dealers.  Zora’s “Duntov Cams” included the “097” and “30-30” solid lifter profiles originally made for Corvette road racing and still available today.

Most of these cam companies experienced significant growth during the late 50’s and through the 60’s.  Others split up and their employees opened their own cam companies on both coasts.  Those included: Lunati Cams; Cam Dynamics; Competition Cams; Cam Techniques; General Kinetics; Sig Erson (later known as Erson Cams); Huggins Cams; Moon Cams; Potvin Cams; Norris Cams; Reed Cams; Racer Brown Cams; Schneider Cams; UltraDyne Cams; Weber Cams; Race Cams, Inc., and many others, mostly small shops and usually one-man or minimal operations.

Many of the racing companies that sprouted in the 1920’s and later blossomed during the 1950’s and 60’s, became major icons of the racing and performance automotive industry.  Some also disappeared entirely or were absorbed into other racing oriented firms that considered racing camshafts a secondary portion of their market.  Still, the hot rod car culture of the 60’s drew heavily on the mystique and names of those early, famous cam grinders, and a few remain a part of today’s racing and performance industry. 

To a non-gearhead type all the fuss about a seemingly simple, basic mechanical device used to time the opening and closing of engine valves must seem ludicrous.  However, to racing fans and participants the black magic and mystery of what goes into all those bumps on a stick is beauty in its purest form.

 (Sidebar To: “Bumps & Grinds, The History Of Racing Camshafts”)

“Cam Wars” And The Age Of The Racing Camshaft

Story By Jim Hill

The 1960’s decade saw tremendous growth and changes for the racing camshaft business.  This most intense decade of the “golden era” saw tremendous growth in both circle track racing and drag racing.  However, it was in drag racing that the racing cam companies really hopped atop the wave capturing the attention and changing the culture of America.  Young Americans were anxious to buy or build a car and take it out to the drag strip.  Their interest and passion not only embraced the performance automobile, it spawned a genre of music that glorified the cars and drag racing.  Groups like “The Beach Boys”, “Jan & Dean”, and “Ronnie & The Daytona’s” made hot rod cars and drag racing – both sanctioned as well as illegal street racing – a mainstream activity.  It was from this decade that the “Cam Wars” emerged as maybe more than a mere footnote to racing and the camshaft business in the 1960’s.

In 1964 one of the most popular and closely observed and followed categories in drag racing were the Supercharged Gassers, and most notably, the A/Gas Supercharged class.  These were comprised mainly of classic pre-WW-II body styles, Willys, Ford, Chevrolet coupes, and a few years later, Anglias and Austins.  All were powered by supercharged, fuel injected V-8 engines, usually Chevy small-blocks, Oldsmobiles or Chrysler 392 Hemis backed by automatic transmissions, to tame the high-winding horsepower and short wheelbases of these “hot rods gone wild”.  On the West Coast and especially in Southern California, A/GS match racing became hugely popular.  Tracks began paying appearance money and hosting big-purse, open competition events for the blown Gassers.  To hype their events and draw more paying spectators track promoters spiked their advertising – in particular broadcast radio ads – with interviews from drivers.  These ranged from tame comments about breaking a track record, to far more colorful and emotional ads that had drivers taunting and even mildly threatening competitors.  The participants were rarely unfriendly among themselves.  They had years-long friendships and many had grown up together, but these high-impact ads not only hyped the spectator gate attendance, it boosted the racer’s income and spread the rivalries across the nation.  Suddenly the top A/GS teams were booking cross-country “tours”, match racing at tracks and taking on the local heroes.  A/GS cars, drivers and their speed equipment sponsors were benefitting from coast-to-coast interest, and the racing camshaft companies were the busiest and most aggressive of them all.

Drag racing in the mid-60’s was covered by three nationally distributed tabloid newspapers, independents Drag News and Drag World, and NHRA-affiliated National Dragster.  All carried coverage of A/GS racing, and all carried ads from racing cam companies touting the success of their products in the A/GS cars they sponsored.  Ed Iskenderian’s Isky Cams and Jack Engle’s Engle Cams were the first to square-off against each other.  Isky had Big John Mazmanian’s 392 Chrysler Hemi powered, candy apple red ’40 Willys and back-East, “Ohio George” Montgomery’s Chevy powered ’33 Willys coupe.  Engle had Stone-Woods & Cook’s Olds (later 392 Hemi) powered, light blue ’41 Willys and K.S. Pittman’s Chrysler 392 Hemi powered Willys.  Both cam companies had numerous other A/GS entries rising up to take an event or record some fantastic new all-time track record.  Like the track’s radio ads, the cam company ads themselves soon turned tongue-in-cheek vicious.  Weekly papers carried ads created by the cam companies promoting their newest cam grinds and slamming their competitors, and their sponsored A/GS stars. 

The drag racing papers loved the increased ad revenue.  Racers were cashing-in on the increased match race bookings and drag racing fans loved the weekly bickering over who truly was quickest and fastest.  Other racers running in other classes took note, and the cam companies all experienced a surge in sales and awareness of the importance of the camshaft in a racing or street performance engine.

Being “East Coast” based, in Hallandale, Florida, Harvey‘s Crane Cams were rarely seen or used on “The Left Coast”.  That is until Ohio George Montgomery yanked the small-block Chevy from his powder blue ’33 Willys and installed a blown 427 SOHC Ford.  Montgomery initially went to his sponsor Isky to obtain camshafts for his new ‘Cammer Ford, but Isky was unable to supply them.  Montgomery desperately needed racing profile camshafts, and his next call was to Hallandale Harvey.

Montgomery was a reputable and loyal racer, and appreciated the help that Isky had given him over the years, but the stock SOHC Ford camshafts were completely unacceptable.  When Montgomery approached Ford’s racing officials about getting camshafts, they referred him to Crane.  That alliance came from the close working relationship Crane had developed with Ford for its 427 SOHC racing program.  Ford’s A/FX SOHC racers were mainly using Harvey Crane’s cams, and with great success.

Although he was reluctant to leave Isky, Montgomery had little choice but to switch to Crane.  That decision began a relationship that lasted throughout the remainder of Montgomery’s entire racing career.  With the big-block SOHC 427 Ford powering his ’33 Willys, Montgomery was quickly in the thick of the A/GS fray, and challenging the entrenched California stars with Crane Cams decals displayed on his ’33.

Montgomery’s success against the touring A/GS California cars brought attention to Harvey’s products, and suddenly there a new market opened for him, west of the Rockies.  The “big switch” of Ohio George from Isky to Crane thrust Harvey Crane’s Florida cam company into the crossfire of the hot and heavy action of “Cam Wars”, in 1966, and Crane quickly began inserting its own ads into the weekly drag racing tabloid papers.

All this activity with track promoters, new star drivers and product endorsement advertising that centered around the A/GS racing came to be known as the “Cam Wars” era.  While the language and direction of the ads were sometimes bizarre, the end result was that every on-track drag racer as well as street racer became acutely aware of the importance of having the best camshaft profile available for his car.  This made the cash registers ring for both cam companies and speed equipment retailers.

Several decades now removed from those wild, go-go days of the 1960’s, both Ed Iskenderian and Harvey Crane remembered their roles in “Cam Wars”.

“We went back and forth between us (Crane Cams), Isky, Engle and sometimes Crower, spouting off about how superior our products were to all the others, and how our sponsored A/Gas Supercharged cars were quicker, faster and winning more than those of our competitors.  It was all a lot of fun and we waited each week to see what the other guy’s ads were going to say, then we’d respond with our own ad, even more bold and brash than the others!.  Finally, we ran an ad that Ed Iskenderian never answered.  His next week’s ads simply said “Ed’s Gone Fishing”, and that ended the Cam Wars”, reflected Harvey J. Crane, Jr., recently.

“But you know, the best thing to come out of all that publicity was that everyone became more knowledgeable about how important the camshaft is to the entire engine and drivetrain package.  Racers especially began to realize that changing cam profiles could make them go quicker and faster, and that began the idea of running several different cams, the importance of using accurately manufactured cams, degreeing-in any cam they ran, to make sure they were buying accurately made cams, and in ‘tuning’ cam timing by advancing or retarding cam-to-crankshaft phasing or playing with valve lash clearances.  As an unplanned side-effect of the Cam Wars, all the camshaft companies were able to sell more and that helped us to invest in creating new products and improving existing ones.  It was all very good for the racing camshaft industry and ultimately, for the races and engine builders”, noted Harvey.

Indeed, the science, art and craft of creating, manufacturing and marketing racing camshafts and valve train components remains critical to success both on and off the race track, whether that track runs straight ahead, turns left or right and left.  Arguably, no single component in a modern racing engine is more important or more romanced than the camshaft, and that wonderful, often whacky era of the “Cam Wars” somehow continues to spark the imaginations and memories of all who lived it.

Bumps And Grinds

The History of the Racing Camshaft Business

By Harvey J. Crane, Jr., as told to Jim Hill

“This is the history of those individuals that I inadvertently put into the racing camshaft business and who ultimately became my competitors.”

1966 – John Reed

Reed Cams, Atlanta, Georgia

            Almost immediately after Pete Robinson, a virtually unknown part-time racer from Atlanta won the 1961 NHRA Nationals, Crane Engineering’s business took off like a Cape Canaveral rocket.  A few short months later, in early 1962, Jim Nelson drove the Nelson & Martin Dragmaster Dart to the Top Eliminator title at the NHRA Winternationals, in Pomona, CA.  The 413 Dodge “B” engine used by the team of Nelson and Dode Martin also used a Crane roller camshaft. 

            As Harvey saw his business surge forward he realized that he needed help in the engineering area, and that help should come from the talents of a degreed engineer.

            Harvey’s first choice was another young Atlanta racer and former Georgia Tech engineer, John Reed, who also happened to be a friend of Pete Robinson.  

            “I sent John an airline ticket to come down and visit with me in Hallandale.  He stayed at my home with me, my wife Mildred and our four kids.   I offered John the job as my Chief Engineer, and he seemed genuinely interested in the offer.” 

            John Reed spent three days “interviewing” with Harvey.  During that time he was shown all phases of how Harvey Crane designed and manufactured camshafts, including how Harvey used a Bridgeport vertical milling machine to produce model cams.  From these models came master cam plates made for the cam grinding machines.

            “When John left to return home to Atlanta he said he would call me in a few days with his decision.  John must have thought a lot about my offer, because within a few days of getting back to Atlanta he went out and bought himself a camshaft grinder!”, Harvey laughed.

            “John wasted no time in jumping into the business with both feet.  That was the beginning of Reed Cams”, Harvey added.

            Harvey’s machinist’s training made him fanatically aware of the importance of maintaining extreme accuracy in every phase of manufacturing components for racing engines, and that the camshaft and valve train were the most critical components in the entire engine assembly.  Harvey also knew that making model cams on a Bridgeport was at best, only moderately acceptable for producing the high quality cam lobe profile tooling required to manufacture acceptably accurate camshafts.  This quest for greatly increased accuracy later led Harvey J. Crane, Jr., to become the first aftermarket racing camshaft manufacturer to obtain the minute accuracy of a computer numerical controlled Moore grinder to perform the critical initial tooling job.  At that time the Bridgeport mill was the only alternative available. 

            John Reed’s visit with Harvey taught him what he needed to know to employ a Bridgeport mill to make his own model cams.  One of the drawbacks to using a Bridgeport for model cam tooling was that finished model cam lobes were somewhat rough, and showed visible machining marks.  To smooth away those marks, John Reed’s employees were known to hand polish the model lobes while answering phone calls.

            As talented as he was, John Reed knew nothing about camshaft lobe profile designing.  John realized that to be successful, his company would need original cam profiles that went beyond the competitor’s camshafts he copied and reproduced.  Reed was clever enough to realize this and soon hired the services of a man who was already knowledgeable in cam lobe design.  That man was Harold Brookshire. Years later, after working for Competition Cams, Brookshire opened his own racing camshaft business, UltraDyne Cams.

            Harvey was quick to note that John Reed was an intelligent and likeable man, and continued to be friendly with him for many years afterwards.  To his credit, John recognized the potential of NASCAR® circle track racing early on, and Reed Cams gained a foothold in the NASCAR® Grand National market in the late 1970’s.  Because John Reed focused much of his attention on the NASCAR® circuits, and was a cash contingency awards sponsor in NASCAR®.  Because of that, many NASCAR® races in the 1970’s and 80’s were won by cars displaying Reed Cams decals.

            John Reed’s other passion was airplanes, and aerobatic flying.  It was this hobby that took his life when in 1977 John tragically crashed a stunt plane he was testing for a friend.  John’s sister Carolyn continued to operate Reed Cams for several years after John’s death.  As of August, 2009, Reed Cams appears to no longer be in business.  Calls to their phone number (770/474-6664) indicate that the number has been disconnected, and www.reedcams.com is no longer recognized as an operating internet address.

            More recent information indicates that Atlanta area former drag racer Butch Shirley has purchased Reed Cams, its equipment and the rights to the brand name.  The fate of whether or not Reed Cams will ever be reopened for business remains unknown.

1968 – Joe Lunati

Lunati Cams, Memphis, Tennessee

            Harvey J. Crane is quick to note that one of his favorite competitors in the racing camshaft business has always been one Joe Lunati.  

            Joe was a very successful drag racer from Memphis, Tennessee.  He won a number of regional and major NHRA national events with a homebuilt, A/Modified Sports car that ran an injected small-block Chevy with a Coleman & Taylor automatic transmission.  The car had a dinged and dented Devin sports car body that was deviously misleading.  It ran like crazy, and Joe won a lot of events and set a lot of national records.   When A/Factory Experimental evolved into the early Funny Cars Joe hung a Corvair body on his homebuilt chassis and added a big-block Chevy, running the car in match races and open competition as an injected Funny Car.  When competition moved up to tube chassis and supercharged engines Joe built a nitro burning, big-block Chevy powered Funny Car called “The Dixie Twister”.  That upstart, homebuilt Funny Car nearly won the NHRA Nationals in 1966.  However, Lunati ran the car out of his pocket, with no major sponsorship backing.  The expense of fielding a blown, nitro Funny Car were rising almost as fast as the speeds they were running, and it became difficult for Joe to race competitively with big-money backed Funny Cars.  Another more serious negative was the alarming number of serious explosions, fires and crashes, several of them fatal, which were plaguing the Funny Cars.

            “I used to work closely with Joe Lunati when he was a racer”, Harvey recalled.

            “When I wanted good feedback on how a new cam design was performing I would send a sample cam for Joe to test.  Within a couple weeks Joe would call me and report on whether it worked, or didn’t.  What I did not know was that Joe was copying every cam I sent to him, at night, after he finished his day job grinding cams for a Memphis engine rebuilder.  It was during that time that Joe found a niche in the NHRA Stock Eliminator market, specializing in camshafts that checked legal in 1950’s Junior Stockers.   Joe’s little niche was overlooked by almost everyone, and he gained knowledge and a following with his Junior Stock cams, most of which were simply  reground on stock camshafts.  Joe sold many of those cams to another Memphis cylinder head preparation and engine building business that also specialized in lower classed, Junior Stock racers.  That company was Racing Head Service, the parent company of what ultimately became Competition Cams”.

            In ’68 Joe stepped up and bought his own cam grinder.  He was suddenly in the racing cam business, and named his new venture Lunati Cams.  Joe hired a more knowledgeable cam designer, and together they did a lot of “reverse engineering” on existing Crane Cam profiles.  This allowed Joe’s new cam company to jump into the far more lucrative small-block Chevy drag racing market.  By broadening his market and capitalizing on his still strong reputation among fellow drag racers, Joe’s Lunati Cams grew until it became a very successful racing cam company.  Lunati later branched out into selling complete engine assemblies, crankshafts, rods and pistons, and later the street performance cam and valve train market, all with considerable success.

            To the uninformed, Joe Lunati remains very much a slow talking, Tennessee “country boy”, but that façade conceals a shrewd yet honest and ethical businessman who is known for keeping his word. 

            In the early 1990’s, an investment group purchased Holley Carburetor from its parent company, which who had become eager to diversify into other non-automotive markets.  The “new Holley” quickly went on a buying binge.  After negotiating terms that suited Joe, the Holley group bought Lunati Cams for a seven-figure sum.  Unfortunately, Joe’s company fell into the same fate as that of many of Holley’s acquisitions, until Lunati Cams were bought away from Holley in 2008.  One of the first moves made by the new owners was to return Lunati Cams to the business model that made it originally successful, the one established by Joe Lunati.

            “I’ve always liked Joe Lunati, because even though he was a competitor, he was always an honest and trustworthy man.  When Joe owned Lunati Cams he was one of the few Crane Cams customers with no credit limit.  I always knew that Joe’s word was solid, and he always paid his bills on time”, Harvey reflected.  

1972 – Mark Heffington:

Crane Cams, Competition Cams and Cam Dynamics

Memphis, Tennessee

            Most people familiar with the performance automotive industry and its personalities will recognize Mark Heffington for his association with the company he founded, Hypertech.  Hypertech is a performance aftermarket pioneer in the reprogramming of computer control systems in modern automotive and truck engines to yield more horsepower and torque.  However, Mark Heffington’s career in the high performance industry actually began at Crane Cams, in 1972.  Mark was hired by Harvey J. Crane to become Harvey’s back-up and assistant in the cam lobe design area at Crane Cams. 

            Harvey had been piloting his own airplane since the middle 60’s, with a solid record for safety.  By 1972 the Board of Directors of Crane Cams, Inc., became  concerned that Harvey’s enthusiasm for flying might jeopardize the company should his flying career end abruptly in a crash.  They insisted he locate a likely successor capable of designing cam lobe profiles, and it was that search that led him to a bright young engineer named Mark Heffington. 

            When he came to work at Crane Cams Heffington’s cam design knowledge was nonexistent.  However, Heffington was highly intelligent and he learned the unique craft of camshaft lobe profile design quickly.  For reasons unknown, when Heffington came to work at Crane Cams, he was not required to sign a legal non-disclosure, non-compete document.  Two years after joining Crane Cams Mark abruptly resigned his position and returned to Memphis, TN.  Harvey recalls that Mark told Harvey that he was going home  to Memphis to return to college and complete his engineering degree.  There was considerably more involved, and some time later Harvey learned the “whole truth” of the matter.

            At that time, Racing Head Service was an established Memphis company that specialized in preparing cylinder heads and engines for drag racing.  Their original customer base involved Junior Stock drag racers, but the company had begun to branch out into all of the Sportsman classes in both NHRA and IHRA.  RHS began as a three-way partnership between Ivars Smiltniks, Bob Woodard and John McWhirter.  RHS was also an early and large customer of Lunati Cams.  Joe Lunati initially produced cams for RHS aimed at Junior Stock racing.  These cams met the NHRA Stock Class tech specs, but provided increased power.  This arrangement worked well until a disagreement led the partners to decide to create their own racing cam business.  They planned for this new cam company to become a captive supplier of camshafts for the rapidly growing RHS.

            In 1976 Smiltniks, Woodard and McWhirter convinced Mark Heffington to leave Crane Cams and join them in establishing their new racing camshaft company.  Mark would bring his cam lobe profile design knowledge to the new firm, and the RHS partners would provide the capital necessary to rent a shop, purchase a camshaft grinding machine and other necessary shop equipment.

            A short time later these same individuals convinced Tom Woitsek, the Camshaft Grinding Foreman at Crane Cams, to join them in Memphis.  Tom was an experienced cam grinder operator with several years of grinding machine set-up and maintenance.  His experience and knowledge was sorely needed. The other partners in the new venture had no practical knowledge of cam grinding or how to set up a department, make the machinery operational and maintain it to insure accuracy and consistency.  The move brought an additional bonus, as Woitesek’s wife, Diane, came with him.  She was also a former Crane Cams employee, (working in accounting and data processing), and provided needed office management for the new company.  Tom Woitsek was initially an employee of Cam Dynamics, but later became a minority partner in the corporation.

            Cam Dynamics was thusly formed, and the small company began steady, aggressive growth by making inroads into the racing camshaft market, which was then wholly dominated by Crane Cams. 

            For unknown reasons, the four-way partnership of Heffington, Smiltniks, Woodward and John McWhirter ran into difficulties.  A strong disagreement ensued, and the original RHS principals, Ivars Smitniks, Bob Woodard and John McWhirter, decided to oust Heffington from the partnership.  While he was out of town attending a race, Mark Heffington was notified by phone that his desk and personal possessions had been removed from his office in the Cam Dynamics shop, and placed outside!  He quickly returned to Memphis and somehow gained access to the building, returning his possessions inside, and secured the shop with his own locks and an especially aggressive and large K-9!  The die was cast for the dissolution of Cam Dynamics’ founding partnership, but yet another new racing cam company was just beginning to emerge.

            When the wheels came off the original Cam Dynamics partnership, Ivars Smiltnek, Bob Woodard and John McWhirter realized that securing legal counsel was necessary.  They turned to a young Memphis attorney with no knowledge of the racing cam business, but a keen eye for potential.  He agreed to handle the legal affairs of the three RHS members, accepting some cash as compensation for his legal services, and some shares in the brand new venture proposed by Smiltnek, Woodard and McWhirter.  The attorney’s name was Ron Coleman, and the new racing cam company would be named Competition Cams.  Ron Coleman is now a principal owner in Competition Cams and the Comp Performance Group, along with Paul “Scooter” Brothers.

            Tom Woitesek, like Heffington, an original Crane Cams employee, decided to remain with the RHS contingent, to continue his role as manufacturing leader.  Woitesek  was later granted an unspecified number of shares in the new company.

            Now a major part of the Comp Performance Group, Paul “Scooter” Brothers was a Memphis area drag racer who was a former employee of Racing Head Service.  Scooter joined Competition Cams and through the years rose to become a co-owner of Competition Cams and the COMP Performance Group.  Ironically, none of the original RHS partners in Cam Dynamics remain.  Ivars Smiltnek passed away some years ago.  His brother, Russ Smiltnik, also a Comp Cams employee and associate, has retired.  Early associate Tom Woitesek and his wife Diane have also retired.  Ron Coleman now serves as Chief Executive Officer of the COMP Performance Group, and is a major shareholder.  Both Ron Coleman and Scooter Brothers have been named to the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketers Association) Hall of Fame and remain active in the affairs of the performance automotive industry trade association.

              Following the ouster of Mark Heffington, Mark retained the name and some of the assets of Cam Dynamics.  He immediately set out to regroup the company, and kept the name Cam Dynamics as its trademark.  The new firm struggled initially, but quickly rose to become a strong influence in drag racing and “Outlaw Sprint Car” racing market segments.  Heffington’s Cam Dynamics staked an early claim in the niche market of Pro Stock and sportsman drag racing.  His cam designs and marketing helped him grow the firm to become a force in the racing cam market. 

            More irony emerged when Harvey J. Crane, Jr., and Crane Cams, bought Mark’s Cam Dynamics cam company, eventually relocating it to Crane Cams’ then headquarters, in Daytona Beach, in 1982.

             A very creative and resourceful individual, Heffington became fascinated with the concept of releasing the potential of late model, computer controlled vehicles for power, performance and even fuel economy.  He saw a lucrative market for these products and used some of the funds he realized from the sale of Cam Dynamics to Crane Cams to enter into the new and emerging field of performance automotive engine controller electronics.  Heffington chose the name Hypertech Performance for his new company, and the firm retains that trademark today. 

            Initially, Hypertech began by removing OEM vehicle computers and re-programing them to increase stock engine hp, torque and rpm.  He also found ways to program the vehicle ECM (Electronic Control Module) units to accept installation of non-stock components such as performance camshafts and valve train components, exhaust and intake enhancements, further increasing the power output of the formerly stock engine.  Success with cars soon led him to the light truck market, where increases in load hauling power and improvements in fuel economy produced an eager sales audience for Hypertech’s products.  Today Hypertech is a leader in performance enhancing, computer control products, and Mark Heffington has become an industry icon in this niche market.

            Cam Dynamics survived as a Crane Cams subsidiary company and brand name into the early part of the new century, and Cam Dynamics’ camshafts and valve train components were marketed to Crane Cams’ wholesale distributors.

            On January 24, 1989, Crane founder Harvey J. Crane, Jr., was ousted by Gene Ezzell and a group of dissident board members Ezzell cultivated into creating a coup.  All of the Crane Cams board members stood with Ezzell and voted to fire Harvey except Board Chairman Grayson Maule.  At that time the company’s board was made up of 10 members, one of which was an employee elected as the ESOP representative.  Following the ouster of Harvey J. Crane, Gene Ezzell convinced the board to appoint him as President.  Former President Grayson Maule then became Chairman of the Board.  

            In the early 1990’s, with Crane Cams’ founder Harvey J. Crane now completely removed from all association with the company Harvey founded in 1953.  As CEO, Ezzell ordered the incorporation of many of the original Mark Heffington-Cam Dynamics racing cam lobe designs into the Crane product line.  Cam Dynamics’ street performance grinds and the Cam Dynamics brand were retained as a low-priced product line for retail discounting by Warehouse Distributors and emerging “mail order” retailers.  Cam Dynamics as a brand name was eventually discontinued in the U.S. market, and relegated to status as a brand name distributed only in Australia, where it was sold by Aussie speed equipment distributor, Chris Tormay. 

            The Cam Dynamics brand name and trademark registration and the original cam lobe profiles and tooling survived as part of the “intellectual properties” auctioned off in the liquidation of Crane Cams Division of Micronite Technologies assets in April, 2009.

1974 – Dave Generous – Cam Techniques

Sarasota, Florida

            Dave Generous was yet another of Harvey’s “racing cam hothouse” transplants.  Generous initially came to work as a technician in Crane Cams’ engineering department.  His immediate supervisor was another engineer, Don Hubbard, who worked for many years for Harvey.

            Dave Generous had no knowledge of designing cam lobe profiles, but quickly learned quality control procedures while working inside the Crane Cams engineering group.  He later left Crane Cams and joined John Andrews, of Andrews Products, in acquiring source code data for cam lobe profile design.  This agreement allowed them to mutually share in the cost of purchasing the source code data, and then to pursue their own separate interests in the camshaft business.

            Dave Generous eventually opened his own racing cam business, in his home state of Connecticut, calling it Cam Techniques.  Generous has since relocated Cam Techniques to the warmer climate of Sarasota, Florida, where it remains today.

 1975 – Ron Weir, Rick Rapp and Greg Kramer: Race Cams, Inc.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

            Like so many members of the racing camshaft industry, Ron Weir got his start in the business working for Harvey J. Crane, Jr.’s Crane Engineering Company, in Hallandale, FL.  Ronnie Weir began his career while in his late teens, working first as a cam grinder operator before being moved inside, to become one of Crane Cams’ most popular Performance Consultants.

            The “Performance Consultant” concept was created by Crane Cams, and featured knowledgeable individuals with hands-on racing experience and training in cam and valve train component applications plus engine and drivetrain knowledge for all forms of racing.  Each “PC” had a specialty of racing:  Drag racing; Circle Track racing; Marine racing; Tractor Pulling, etc.  Incoming tech inquiry calls could also receive input from another Performance Consultant who might be more familiar with a specific type of engine or racing.  The coined name “Performance Consultant” provided a label for the unique wealth of knowledge made available to callers, absolutely free!  Even more unique was the fact that Crane Performance Consultants would freely recommend products from other manufacturers without any sort of inter-company compensation.  It was just one racer talking freely with another, and the advice was provided without the burden of commercializing.  Crane Cams’ service became widely known as the finest available in the industry, and was widely copied as the basis for many racing and performance firms’ customer service operations.

            Weir’s knowledge of camshaft manufacturing and the services of a Performance Consulatant led him to become popular with racers and Crane Cams customers.  This knowledge became his entrance into the North Miami engine building firm of Rahilly & Grady. Rahilly & Grady later became Rahmoc Racing, after relocating to North Carolina.  Rahilly & Grady were just beginning to step into the NASCAR circle track racing arena.  Ronnie Weir joined the company, then located in North Miami, to grind cams for the Rahilly & Grady engine building business and to assist with customer service.

            When that opportunity soured, Weir and South Florida racers Rick Rapp and Greg Kramer cast their lots together to found Race Cams, Inc., of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Race Cams focused primarily on the drag racing market, and in particular, sportsman racers and engine builders. 

            The three-way partnership ran into personality difficulties and within a couple years Race Cams, Inc., was dissolved.  Rick Rapp opened his own engine building business (later relocating that business to Las Vegas, Nevada, where it remains today) and Greg Kramer pursued other opportunities.  Ronnie Weir opened a small, single cam grinder shop and has moved on to several other states since.

1976 – Tom Woitesek

Crane Cams, Cam Dynamics & Competition Cams

            Although Tom Woitesek was previously covered as an integral and original part of both Cam Dynamics and Competition Cams, we regress in offering additional information about Tom and his place in this story.

            As noted previously, Tom was a former employee of Crane Cams. Tom Woitesek first learned the camshaft manufacturing craft while working at West Hollywood (Florida) Auto Parts.  Woitesek began as a cam grinder, regrinding stock cams for the replacement parts store and machine shop.  (Note: In the days prior to inexpensive replacement cams for engine rebuilders, the regrinding of stock camshafts was a commonplace, economical solution when the original cam was worn.) 

            Tom was originally hired as a camshaft grinding machine operator at Crane Cams, in Hallandale, and soon rose to Cam Department Supervisor.  In 1972 he accepted an offer from the original, four-way partnership of Cam Dynamics, and moved to Memphis, to share in the initial creation of what would become Cam Dynamics.  When Heffington separated from that group Woitesek chose to remain with Heffington’s original partners, Ivars Smiltniks, Bob Woodard and John McWhirter, and was involved from the beginning in the formation of Competition Cams.

            One of Tom’s first duties at both Cam Dynamics and Competition Cams was to organize and establish the cam grinding department.  Woitesek was very knowledgeable in organizing and setting up cam grinding equipment and the support tooling needed, a skill obviously key to the early success of both Cam Dynamics and Competition Cams.

            Tom Woitesek eventually became a minority partner in Competition Cams, and was active in the manufacturing operations of that firm until his partnership share was bought out and he retired.  Tom and his wife Diane, also a former Crane Cams office employee, worked together for several years during the creation and establishment of  Cam Dynamics, and later Competition Cams in their rise to industry prominence.

1974 – Don Hubbard – Crane Cams and Universal Camshaft

Hallandale, Florida, Muskegon, Michigan

            Don Hubbard is a degreed engineer who Harvey first met while Hubbard was working for the U.S. Army, at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia.  Hubbard was a hot rodder at heart and designed and built several race cars.

            Hubbard came to work at Harvey Crane’s Hallandale facility in 1968, serving as Crane Cams’ Chief Engineer.  In 1974 Harvey sent Hubbard to become President of his new acquisition, Universal Camshaft Company, in Muskegon Heights, Michigan.  Universal was an old-line camshaft manufacturer that dated back to the days after World War II, when the plant made camshafts for heavy duty engines.  In later years Universal became the largest and most highly regarded source for high quality, steel roller camshaft cores, carburized to withstand the stress of high rpm engines.

            Universal became troubled in the late 60’s, and Harvey bought the company in 1974, primarily to insure that Universal would remain a reliable source for 8620 billet steel camshaft cores for Crane Cams and other racing cam companies.  Most other racing cam companies during that period relied on Universal as their only source of steel camshaft cores, and there was considerable concern that Universal might cease to be able to provide the steel cam cores they desperately needed.  The day following the announcement of Harvey’s purchase of Universal Camshaft Company one of Universal’s best racing camshaft clients called Harvey.  This call came from an industry legend, and he was anxious to find out if his only supplier of 8620 steel cam cores would continue to supply him with cores.  That question was answered immediately and Universal continued to be the racing cam industry’s primary source for steel cam cores.  The revitalized firm’s output grew even more after it was relocated to Daytona Beach and in 1982 became known as Crane Cams Daytona.  Four years later the entire Crane Cams operation moved from Hallandale, its birthplace, to a newly expanded manufacturing and distribution facility in Daytona.

            Hubbard remained with Universal Camshaft until Harvey recalled him back to Hallandale.  Soon after, Universal Camshaft’s equipment and workforce was relocated to the new building built by Crane Cams, in Daytona Beach, 1981.  Don has since retired to Florida’s west coast.

Harold Brookshire 

Reed Cams, General Kinetics Cams, Competition Cams, and UltraDyne Cams

Olive Branch, Mississippi

            Harold Brookshire is one of those individuals who seem to have always been involved in the racing camshaft business.  Brookshire was a chemical engineer from Mississippi, but became interested in racing and camshaft lobe profile design.  His cam design knowledge was self-taught and he took his first true cam company job with Don Tewles’ General Kinetics Cams, in Detroit.

            Brookshire left Tewles and General Kinetics within a short time, moving to Memphis, and a position as the first cam designer for Competition Cams.  For his work Harold used proprietary cam lobe profile design software on a timeshare computer system in a remote location.

            Curiously, Harvey J. Crane, Jr., once offered Harold the job as cam designer at an entirely new racing cam company he was planning to open in the Memphis area.  Brookshire’s interest was initially strong.  He was prepared to accept Harvey’s offer… until Harvey insisted Brookshire sign a non-compete, non-disclosure, two-year contract.  Brookshire initially agreed, but then refused.  A short time later Harold started UltraDyne Racing Cams, in a suburb of Memphis, across the state line, in northern Mississippi.

            Brookshire’s UltraDyne Racing Cams ran into legal issues with other competing cam companies and the Internal Revenue Service.  The company’s operation was once suspended for tax liabilities with IRS. 

            Most recently, Brookshire joined Lunati Cams shortly after it was acquired by Holley Performance Group, serving as cam designer.  That position lasted for only a short time and Harold left Holley-Lunati.  Brookshire continues to be involved in the racing cam industry, these days as a cam design consulting source, and resides in northern  Mississippi, just outside Memphis.