Robin Lawrence: Born Into Hot Rodding

Robin was born into hot rodding. His father drove an Olds-powered '50 Mercury, and raced a 55 Chevy Stock car in the late 60's. After that, Hot Rods or Street Rods were the main focus. As a child, Robin attended what was truly the first Street Rod Nationals held in Farmer's Field in Peoria Illinois – an event that was filled with hot rods At the age of 13, Robin started working on his first project car, "T" Roadster Street Rod. He had the car running by the time he was 16 and complete several years later.

While Street Rods were cool, he was drawn to the performance side of the hobby. Robin looked for ways to quantify his performance improvements, and that would lead him to drag racing. The Roadster was not a good test bed for drag racing, as it would need a roll cage. So, Robin used his daily driver to start testing at local drag strips in 1986.

By 1987 he met Tom Rix, an accomplished Pontiac Turbo Buick Regal racer. Robin helped Tom with his Buicks and made many contacts while attending the Buick GS Nationals in Bowling Green Kentucky. It was there that Robin became fascinated with turbochargers and Digital Fuel Injection. Ken Duttweiler, a perennial expert in the field, started to school Robin in the art of tuning boosted fuel injected engines.

In 1994, Robin built a turbocharged Digital Fuel Injected racecar to compete in the NMCA "EFI" – an index class based on the combination. The car ran .90 seconds under the index and mid-nine second times on a 10.50 index. While sorting out the car, Robin ran several of the NMCA races. The car appeared at several NMCA events in 1994, proving to be not only fast but reliable.

Following on his success in NMCA, Robin opened a speed shop specializing in High Performance power adders as well as tuning and installation of fuel management systems. In 2000, Robin built a "shop car" to compete in the NMRA's Factory Stock class. He finished third in the points with one runner up finish in the first year. Robin stepped up his program in 2001 with four wins and a second place finish. In 2002 he again finished second with fout runner-up finishes. In addition, to the second place finish, he was one of ten racers recognized with the "Top 10 Signature Award" by the NMRA.

With his continued racing success, Robin's car became a test bed for several manufacturers. Those companies included Clutchmasters Clutches, Auto Meter, Fidanza Flywheel, and HP Motorsport. As his expertise in the automotive aftermarket industry grew, Robin began contributing to several automotive magazines. Robin has gone on to pen dozens of in-depth technical articles dealing with building and racing heads-up drag cars.

In 2003, Robin made the switch to the Real Street class. With support from Vortech Superchargers, Clutchmasters, Fidanza, Car Shop, and Don West Dyno Service, he entered the class with a runner-up showing in his first race. Robin would end the season with a third place position in the points along with three runner-up finishes.

He also received the "Ambassador of the Year" award at the NMRA Awards ceremonies. During his 2003 campaign, Robin also appeared on the television show "Inside Drag Racing." In 2004, Robin again finished a strong third place in the points, and he began planning a new combination for the 2005 season.

Late in 2004, Robin approached Steve Turner the Editor of one of Primedia's top-selling enthusiast car magazines. The plan was to take a NMRA Real Street Car on the length of the Hot Rod Power Tour. This would showcase the streetability of the cars while promoting the Real Street Class. Steve was very interested in the project and wanted the story for his magazine. With support from Joe Hige at Detroit Locker, Ricky Best at Paxton Superchargers, Detroit Locker, Fidanza Flywheels, Denso iridium Sparkplugs, and Motive Gear, Robin's new project was an overwhelming success.

In June of 2005, Robin completed the 1800-mile Hot Rod Power Tour with Ricky Best riding shotgun. The car was mentioned three times in Hot Rod Magazine and became one of the most photographed cars that year. It has been used in many sponsors' advertisements since.

At the racetrack, Uncle Robin finished 2005 with one runner-up and a third place finish in the point standings. Shortly after that, Nitto Tires signed Robin as part of the Nitto Race Team. Robin has become an integral part of the Nitto Tires drag slick testing program. Other companies that Robin has been involved in testing programs include Mr. Gasket/Hurst, Tremec, Racecraft Inc, Anderson Ford Motorsports/EFI Systems, Bassani Exhaust, MSD Ignition, Clutchmasters, Pro Power Parts, CP Pistons, Areomotive Fuel Systems, Paxton/Vortech Superchargers, Trick Flow Specialties, Weld Racing and Cometic Gaskets.

With GM Performance Parts stepping in to take over primary sponsorship of Uncle Robin's racing program, one can only imagine how far this hardworking, dedicated, and talented racer can go.