EVANS MILLS, NY – The Sportsman Modified division at the Evans Mills Raceway Park has a new motor package available for race teams for the 2024 season. Off season research and development completed by Rylee Gill, a Pro Late Model and Sportsman Modified driver at EMRP and others has led the track to introduce an “EMRP 5.3L GM LM7 Engine” option into the Sportsman Modifieds rulebook currently posted on the Rules webpage of www.evansmillsracewaypark.com
This package is meant to give drivers a competitive option to the current 602 Crate and ROC Built options at a great price point. On the project, Gill said “I saw the rising cost of a crate motor, and wondered if there was a way to utilize this platform to solve that problem. I expect it will run equal to EMRP’s crate and two barrel packages.” This package although not very common at circle tracks has been in use before, “the LS platform has seen much use in the drag racing scene, as well as moderate circle track usage with the W16 and various other dirt track engines.”
On what to expect when putting together a 5.3L GM LM7 engine Gill said, “Racers should expect the cost to be just over half of what it would cost to put together a crate engine package.” Current 602 Crate engines could run in the price range of $6,500-$8,500 in some places. On the cost of the new 5.3L GM LM7 Gill said, “I built our test mule for right around $3,500-$3,700, and I was moderately thrifty with where I bought the parts, and what types of parts I used. Everything for the test mule engine came from Summit Racing Equipment, with the exception of the camshaft, valve springs (from Cam Motion), and the rocker arms (from Michigan Motorsports).”
A dyno test was completed on the new engine package yielding 425 horsepower. Gill mentioned of the test, “there was very little research and development done on the camshaft selected, so there may be more on the table with a different camshaft.”
Another perk Gill found in this new package is the relief a driver will feel during the rebuild process noting, “If somebody wanted to pull an engine they had apart in the garage and do piston rings and bearings, it can be done for less than $300. If somebody wanted to move to a new core engine, with no major damage to the old parts, there is about $2,200 worth of parts that will transfer over to the new core engine.”
This project has been in works for just under a year and will support the Sportsman Modified division at EMRP that has seen strong growth each year.
For more information regarding rules for the Sportsman Modified division contact EMRP at emrptechinspector@yahoo.com, emrpgm@yahoo.com, or (315) 323-6033.