RYRE Unveils New RY525 Engine Program…
ROBERT YATES RACING ENGINES HIRES DON BLACKSHEAR AS LEAD DEVELOPER FOR THE NEW RY525 ENGINE PROGRAM
April 2, 2021 (Mooresville, NC) … Robert Yates Racing Engines, exclusive supplier of the NASCAR Spec Engine, is pleased to announce that Don Blackshear has been appointed as Lead Developer for the new RY525 Engine Program.
Don is a familiar name because of his successful drag racing career. In 1987, he first gained national notoriety as a 17-year-old Champion in the NHRA Super Comp class before moving up to alcohol dragsters where he enjoyed a solid reputation as a winning driver. It was only a matter of time before he started his own business, Blackshear Racing Engines, providing competitive engines for a number of different racing classes. He is highly respected in the motorsports industry from his Hall of Fame background in drag racing to building open engines for top racers in the Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio area.
Blackshear has over 40 years of experience designing, machining, and assembling championship and race winning engine combinations and spearheaded work with GM Performance Engineering to develop the new forged piston CT525 engine that will be utilized in the new RY525 program.. “Don’s experience and creativity combined with his ability to troubleshoot any issue is invaluable as well as maintaining vital relationships with our customers,” said RYRE General Manager, David Lewis.
“Don has been able to provide a sealed, cost-contained engine that has the performance and durability to compete with the open-built engines in those applications. Our team agrees that all that racers really want is to be competitive, and with the RY525 program, we’re giving racers a chance to reduce their costs at the same time,” stated RYRE owner, Carolyn Yates. “Robert would be so proud!”
No modifications will be allowed to the RY525 engine. Each engine will be sealed using a unique technology allowing the customer or tech inspector to scan a QR code to instantly access the build documentation on that engine along with a photo of the seal when it was originally installed at the RYRE shop.
The circle track engine packages will come with the QR program. By visual identification, the customer is aware that the seal has not been tampered with after shipping. In 2020, Blackshear led the sealing program for several different series that had rebuilder programs and is confident the system works.
The RY525 engine uses the same LS3 engine platform first introduced in the 2008 Corvette as the base for this Spec Engine. The CT525 looks like a race engine and if the results are any indication, it performs like a race engine. It is very difficult to argue with a competitive engine that costs substantially less than a competitive open engine and there is a place in the racing world for both. The RY525 program will focus on providing competitive cost containment engines utilized in Sprint Cars, Late Models, Modified and Road Race applications.
Don Blackshear can be reached at 724-977-7424 or by e-mail at dblackshear@ryr.com.
