Vic Hill
There are some areas of the racing business that have been impacted by the shutdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic while others have seen less impact. A variety of pieces and parts that go into the machines that tear around dirt and paved surfaces have become harder to find because the manufacturers of those pieces and parts were either completely or partially hampered at some point over the past year. As a result, there have been some shortages in certain areas.
Vic Hill Racing Engines supplies power plants to the likes of Jimmy Owens, Ricky Weiss, and Bobby Pierce as well as many more in various divisions of racing. Company owner Vic Hill says that while his efforts have, to a degree, been impacted by the shutdowns of the past year, there has been an even bigger issue that has affected his supply chain.
“We’re really fortunate that when this stuff first hit, we had a lot of stuff on order so we got to build and really didn’t have to slow down that much,” Hill told InsideDirtRacing.com. “We had a few manufacturers, I mean everything has been slower, but as far as not being able to get it at all, that’s not been the case with us so far. The company that produces the block we use, our block is specific to our engine we designed and they actually cast the block, was bought out and the corporation that bought it started looking at the financials or whatever and that has been the biggest thing that’s killed us. Covid affects it some, obviously but they’re up and running now. They’re way behind because of restructuring.”
Hill also pointed out that oil tanks have been in short supply industry wide due to another bit of corporate restructuring rather than pandemic-forced closures.
Due to the fact that some states such as California had more mandated closures than others, parts from those places have been spotty in terms of availability at times.
“I do have quite a few(suppliers from those states) but they’re really not doing too bad,” Hill said. “The piston company we use and the crankshafts, we’re doing okay with them. I’ve not felt that yet, other than the blocks. And that isn’t strictly due to Covid, but like I said, they got bought out.”
Aside from building engines for other racers, Hill drives for his own team as well. And while his engine business has not suffered terribly from the shutdowns, he knows of some other aspects where teams are having difficulty finding parts.
One area that has been noted for shortages among some is wheels. Hill said that, like his engine parts, he was fortunate enough to be well stocked when the shutdowns came.
“I’m not because I ordered wheels a long, long time ago,” Hill stated. “But I do know that with some companies, if you order wheels, you are six to eight weeks out right now. I think what they did during shutdown, obviously they couldn’t manufacture, so they used up all their stockpiles and now they’re trying to regroup on that. I was fortunate there on the wheels.”
Vic Hill (1) had a stockpile of wheels prior to the pandemic but others are experiencing shortages
Hill also points out that his engine building company diversifies in terms of some suppliers which allows them to find many of the parts they need.
“I guess we have timed it right and bought enough quantity, but like I said, it hasn’t hurt us yet,” the former Richard Childress Racing employee said. “Rocker arms and valves, we use two companies for a lot of this stuff. I don’t strictly put all my eggs in one basket with a company, whether it’s pistons or valves or any of that, and that helps us quite a bit.”
Hill says he has actually seen an uptick in his business during the craziness of the past year.
“What’s crazy about all this stuff that’s going on in our world right now is that I’m busier than I’ve ever been,” Hill estimated. “Owens, Ricky, and now Pierce, and everybody that runs that open engine we’ve got loves them and they want more. That’s a downside of the block part of it, I had three come in last week and they’re sold before they even got there. But if someone came to me right now, I could not give them a true date on a new open engine. Now if it’s a Modified engine or something like that, we could find enough stuff.”
Hill himself had to shutter his own business for a while but has largely survived intact.
“We shutdown pretty much during that first big wave when we were supposed to,” he recalled. “But I would go in myself, it’s my business, and go in and work and Jason(Lawson) would come in and do some stuff. It’s been a pain in the butt, but it hasn’t just buried us.”
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.
