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Klarr Racing Engines: fire-spitting, pavement-shaking,
profit-making power
Wally Northway  MBJ Staff
Writer
IN
FORREST COUNTY Fire-spitting, pavement-shaking power that would
seem the whole story of Klarr Racing Engines, maker of high-performance
motors for professional racers and serious-minded speed demons. And,
indeed, about 30 years worth of trophies, photographs featuring
trophies and press clippings announcing trophies fill the complex just
north of Hattiesburg and attest to
the companys success.
But
the real story is not the engines but the man, Ricky Klarr. A child
prodigy, Klarr, 45, has overcome a physical disability and created a
reputation of being one of the best drivers and engine-builders in
professional racing by parlaying innate talent and ability with
tremendous family support.
Ricky
was born with a bad hearing impairment, but God gave me the talent
of being able to look at something, understand how it works and how
it could work better, Klarr said. My father realized it, saw something
in me, and encouraged and supported me.
His
father, Leo, was originally a row crop farmer who converted to sod,
the operation today known as Mississippi Grass Nursery. Truly a
family operation, all members chipped in.
At
the age of seven, Klarr was operating a combine. His driving skills
were exceeded only by his mechanical and analytical ability. He
recalled as a child opening automobile models, scanning the
instructions and then throwing them away.
When
Leo switched to sod farming and new machines and technology were
introduced, the mechanics duties fell more and more to Ricky. One day,
Leo told Ricky to fix a Jeep that was parked at the farm. The
engine was totally seized. Ricky completely diassembled the motor and
put it back together first time, no instructions. He was 10-years-old.
His
race car building and driving began in the early 1960s on a small
scale indeed slot cars. Klarr built these serious toys from wheels
up. He dominated area tracks.
The
rule was that if your car left the track, you had to go get it and put
it back on the track. There were many times that I was so far ahead
that I left the track and still won, Klarr said with a wry smile.
As
soon as he turned 15 and got his drivers license, Klarr was off and
racing with his father. He originally competed in the National Hot Rod
Associations (NHRA) superstock category. The category judges the winner
of each race by the car that comes closer to a pre-established time, a
system Klarr never liked. So, he decided to jump up to
competition eliminator where the first across the finish line is
the winner.
His
rookie year in the new category in 1979, Klarr and his team (which
included Leo) won best engineered car in class. In 1981, Klarr was
named driver of the year. He was fast, but his competitors never
knew how fast he really was.
We
sandbagged, Klarr said, grinning. We didn’t show them everything we
had. We had a competitive advantage, and I wanted it to last a l-o-n-g
time.
By
1984, Klarr’s racing operation had outgrown Leo’s facilities on the
farm. So, they built a new complex next door. Ricky, with no previous
experience and no instruction, did the entire interior walls,
wiring, everything.
A
spat with the NHRA over a Klarr-made device soured him to the
organization, and he left in the early 1990s. He briefly competed
on dirt oval tracks in the late model division. According to
Klarr, his car finished first in 85% of the races he ran over
about a two-year period. He quit out of sheer boredom.
Today,
Klarr has completely retired from driving. But in 1997 he did
return to the NHRA scene as a builder, and he continues to build
and work on engines with price tags that can range from
$20,000-$150,000 or more.
A
major project at interview time is a prime example. It is a huge,
650-cubic-inch, nitro-burning engine for a customer in Chicago. When
finished, Klarr said it should develop a knuckle-whitening 1,700
horsepower.
In
this day and age when technology is supposedly making work easier,
Klarr said computers are actually making engine-building harder.
When
I first started, where you could get a competitive advantage was in the
clutch, he said. That’s what transfers the engine’s power to the wheels.
If you knew how to set up a clutch where the tires wouldn’t lose
traction, you had a big advantage.
Today,
everybody has computers to adjust their clutches. It’s all an
even playing field. So, if you want to get that something extra,
get there that split second quicker, you’re going to have to get it
from the engine.
For
Klarr, it’s still the competition and striving for perfection that
keeps his blood up.
I
see these guys come from nowhere, land some sponsor, stick about
$500,000 in the bank for themselves, then go out and not even
try. Hey, they’re set up, but the sponsor has just gotten taken. That
makes me sick.
I’m
not going into a project unless I feel good about it that will be
competitive. I don’t do this for the money. And I don’t race for
second. I race to win.
Contact
MBJ staff writer Wally Northway at northway@msbusiness.com or
(601) 364-1016.
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