About Sonny's Racing Engines

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A Brief History...

In 1968, after building engines as a hobby, Sonny Leonard opened up a two bay garage (Sonny's Garage) in Madison Heights, VA. Business grew and his 1968 Chevelle race car was sold for the down payment on a 1,000 sq. ft. building in Lynchburg, a short distance across the James River. Machines were added as business continued to grow and a 5,000 sq. ft. shop was purchased in 1977.

During this time, Sonny campaigned a number of race cars with the name "Southern Rat." In 1981, a violent testing accident caused by a suspension failure destroyed practically the entire car. The engine was salvaged and sold to Chuck and Charlie Sneed for their "Code of Arms" Pro Stock. Its success led to the development of a number of Pro Stock engines for them and helped attract other customers like Johnny Dowey, Carlton Phillips, Rickie Smith and Harold Denton.

In 1987, Bill Kuhlmann purchased a SAR 615 cu. in. engine kit over the phone. After shipping, Bill assembled the kit and made history - the first race out - by making the first ¼ mile 200 MPH pass in a full-bodied car at Darlington, SC that spring. Being a racer himself, Sonny realized the importance of this accomplishment and he initiated a club to honor those who achieved this feat."

By 1989, the walls were bulging again and plans for a new 11,000 sq. ft. building were begun. In June of 1990, SONNY'S AUTOMOTIVE RACING moved into its present state-of-the-art facility that includes: two SuperFlow dynamometers, a five station head porting room, a sheetmetal and welding shop for fabricating manifolds, and separate engineering, tooling and conference rooms. In 2007 Sonny's added an additional 4,000 sq. ft. for a total of 15,000 sq.ft.

In 1991, Sonny started another 200 MPH Club. This one was for the unlimited Pro Stocks that have meant so much to him over the years and is in memory of Jim Ruth, a long remembered friend and dedicated customer. At the 1994 Fall Nationals in Bristol, TN the 16 member Pro Stock 200 MPH Club was completed.

At present we have two CNC vertical mills. Two five axis used to CNC port our cylinder heads also an in-house programmer and mechanical engineer.

Credentials:

SONNY'S AUTOMOTIVE RACING has more than 50 years of experience with racing engines

Home of more than 70 National and World racing record holders (land and sea)
IHRA 7.90 class World Champion 1988 Jim Crawford (Chevy)
13 IHRA Pro Stock World Championships
- 1986 (Ford) Rickie Smith
- 1987 (Ford) Rickie Smith
- 1989 (Pontiac) Rickie Smith
- 1990 (Pontiac) Tommy Mauney / Williford Farms -
- 1992 (Chevrolet) Billy Huff
- 1993 (Olds) Doug Kirk
- 1994 (Olds) Billy Huff
- 2009 (Chevrolet) John Monticalvo
- 2014 Cary Goforth
- 2015 Cary Goforth
March 1987 (Chevy) Bill Kuhlmann - 202 MPH (first full bodied ever to run 200 MPH, Pro Modified was born in 1988 by Ted Jones and IHRA
1991 - Billy Dewitt - 6.96 (Pontiac)- The first naturally aspirated Dragster in the six second zone with a Powerglide
1991 - The winner of the 5th Setouchi Rose Cup Hiroshima, Japan -Superboat class - Mr. Cigarette Team
1991 - The First Pro Stock in the six second zone - Harold Denton 6.98 / 198 MPH (Pontiac)
1990 - The first aluminum GM block to accommodate 700 + cubic inches in joint project with Donovan Engineering
1993 - The first 800 + cubic inch GM based engine
1994 - The first 500 + cu. in. small block Chevy
1998 - The first GM powered Pro Stock car to run in the 6.60's @ Budds Creek Maryland-Tony Gillig
2000 - The First 500 + cu. in. NHRA Ford Pro Stock to run 200 mph - Robert Patrick
2000 - IHRA Pro Stock E.T. record holder 6.60 - Jerry Yeoman
2000 - IHRA Pro Stock MPH Record holder 210.77 - John Montecalvo
Top Sportsman World Champion - Steve Splawn - IHRA Top Sportsman
2003 - GM Hemispherical head was designed and fully machined and debuted
NHRA/Competition Eliminator - Nick Mitsos/Vinnie DeCeglie record holder for MPH 211.36 on 11-06-04 and ET 6.52 on 04-02-05
2005 Winner of the ADRL - Billy Pilcher with his Sonny's 732 Hemispherical headed engine
2005 Two time winner NHRA Top Sportsman - Steve Derosa with his Sonny's 762 cu. in. engine
2005 $50,000.00 Big Dog Winner Troy Coughlin / Jeg's using his Sonny's Hemispherical headed engine
2007 NHRA Top Sportsman Division 3 Champion - Mike Coughlin / Jeg's
2007 NTPA Division 3 Pro 4WD Champion - Mark Mangan
2007 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle World Champion - Matt Smith (Cylinder Head Development)
2007 ADRL Pro Nitrous Points Champion
9/29/07 Dean Goforth completed the Sonny's 220 MPH Club with 223.62 at Budds Creek, MD
2008 Sprint Cup Champion-Hendricks Motorsports (Cylinder Head Development)
2008 NTPA National Champion 4WD - Pete McKeeth
2008 NTPA National 2nd place in 4WD - Mark Mangan
2009 Sonny's Designed a new 5.300" wedge head
2009 Frank Tamez World's Quickest and Fastest full bodied car with a N/A Engine with an Automatic trans 6.33 @ 221 MPH
2009 Troy Coughlin World Champion Pro Street NMCA
2009 Troy Coughlin National E.T. and Speed Record in NMCA Pro Street 6.27 @ 225 MPH
2009 Dennis Radford Quickest Qualifying time in NHRA Pro Mod History 5.92 with Sonny's new 864 Pro Mod Engine
2009 Mike Coughlin Div 2 Top Sportsman Champion
2009 Todd Hoerner Quickest and Fastest run in NHRA history in Comp Eliminator in A/AA 6.466 @ 216.55
2009 Dean Goforth ADRL Extreme Pro Stock National E.T. record Holder (4.05)
2009 John Monticalvo IHRA World Champion
2010 Cary Goforth ADRL Extreme Pro Stock National E.T. Record Holder (4.04)
2010 Cary Goforth ADRL Extreme Pro Stock National Speed Record Holder (179.04 MPH)
2010 Todd Hoerner New NHRA National E.T. and MPH Record Holder In Comp Eliminator A/AA 6.52 @ over 214 MPH
2010 Rickie Smith Joins the Sonny's 240 MPH Club
2010 John Montecalvo ADRL Extreme Pro Stock World Champion
2011 Dennis Radford joins the 240 MPH Club
2011 Craig Olson Quickest and fastest Naturally Aspirated car with an automatic transmission 6.26 @ 223.01
2011 Cary Goforth ADRL Extreme Pro Stock World Champion
2011 Pete Mckeeth Grand National Enderle National Pull Off Champion
2011 Matt Mangan Region 5 Enderle Pull off Champion
2011 Pete Mckeeth NTPA 4wd Grand National Truck Pull Champion
2011 Mark Mangan Region 3 Points NTPA
2011 Cary Goforth National Record Holder ADRL Extreme Pro Stock 4.03
2012 Cary Goforth ADRL Extreme Pro Stock World Champion
2012 Danny Perry Extreme Outlaw Pro Mod Champion
2012 Jason Brammer NTPA Grand National 4WD Champion
2012 Todd Hoerner Quickest and Fastest EFI Equipped Extreme Pro Stocker 6.23 @ 225.85
2012 Todd Hoerner First Driver in History to win with electronic fuel injection in Extreme Pro Stock
2013 Cary Goforth ADRL Extreme Pro Stock E.T. Record Holder 4.008
2013 Danny Perry Big Dog Pro Mod Champion
2013 Rickie Smith NHRA Pro Mod Champion (Using Sonny's designed 5.300 bore spacing cylinder heads)
2013 John Deflorian ADRL Extreme Pro Stock Speed Record Holder 180.22
2013 Jason Brammer NTPA Grand National 4WD Champion
2013 Joe Loch WCSA Pro Street Champion
2014 Jason Brammer NTPA Grand National 4WD Champion
2014 Cary Goforth IHRA Pro Stock World Champion
2014 Cary Goforth PDRA Pro Stock Champion
2015 Jason Brammer NTPA Grand National 4WD Champion
2015 Jake Zaring Pro Pulling League National 4WD Champion
2015 Cary Goforth IHRA Pro Stock World Champion
2015 Travis Harvey PDRA Pro Nitrous World record Holder 3.703
2015 Travis Harvey Big Dog Pro Mod Champion
2015 Cary Goforth IHRA Pro Stock Champion
2016 Mark woodruff Radial vs the World Champion
2017 Cary Goforth PDRA Extreme Pro Stock Champion
2017 Jeff Brooks NHRA D1 Top Sportsman Champion
2017 Payton Davis NTPA 4WD Champion
2017 Steve Nicholson Super Street Car Nationals Champion, Outlaw 10.
2017 Ben Ellis Grand National Overall Champion
2018 Ben Ellis NTPA 4 WD Grand National Champion
2018 Steve Bost Western Series PPL 4WD Champion
2018 Danny Johnson NTPA 4WD Grand National Overall Winner
2018 Carmen Foster 2nd Place NTPA Grand National Championship
2018 Jordan Ensslin 2018 NMCA Pro Street Champion