By Mary Lendzion

Vic Ellinger has had a cool collection of race cars through the years.

First, he had a Duster 340 which he purchased as a teenager and still has. Then, he had a dragster, followed by a Dart Sport, but in the winter of 2006, he went in a different direction when he made the trip from his home in Ohio to New York to purchase a Volvo.

“The guy sold it for a song, which is really why we bought it,” said Ellinger. “Many people mistakingly think I’m a Volvo enthusiast.”

First up for the car was a visit to Diamond Race Cars in Ohio, where it was inspected from front to back, and from top to bottom. Diamond Race Cars also set it up for a 440 cubic-inch Mopar engine built on a stock block by Mark Cook of Wakeman Power and boasting Wiseco/K1 pistons, rods and crank, a Trick Flow Specialties top end, Harland Sharp roller rockers, Trend pushrods and a Comp cam and lifters. The engine sips methanol from an APD carburetor, and is backed by a Powerglide by Fleenor Racing Transmissions and an ATI MRT converter.

Ellinger had help from some friends in getting the car race-ready.

“Good friends and brothers Keith Davidson, Nick Samsom and I completely dismantled the car and replaced all of the Heim joints, windows and wiring, and built headers, which were welded up by Craig Adams and his dad Bill Adams,” said Ellinger, whose car is outfitted with a Strange strut front end and a four-link Moser Dana 60.

Finessing and fine-tuning through the years, Ellinger has been tenacious in the car in Edelbrock Super Pro and Edelbrock Pro at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, and has earned several second- and third-place finishes in Edelbrock Pro. He also has wrapped up wins at the $10 Grand Nationals, which is now the Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels $40 Grand Nationals presented by Hughes Performance, as well as the Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels No Box Bonanza presented by Injector Experts, Cometic Gasket Halloween Classic presented by Harland Sharp and the Lucas Oil Super 64 presented by American Race Cars at Summit Motorsports Park, and at events at other tracks across the country.

“I can’t complain at all about my career so far,” said Ellinger. “Without the support of my family, Jessica Berberich, Keith Davidson, Mike Reid, Tom Hanna, Chad Wright, Al Lapointe and Nick Sansom, we wouldn’t have all these great memories to enjoy together.”

Last year, Ellinger was focused on his job as Automotive Sales Manager at Wiseco/K1 Technologies in Ohio, and only raced a couple of times in his car, which runs high 9s in the quarter-mile and low 6s in the eighth-mile. But, he’s preparing for more pavement-pounding this year, and he recently had his car at Diamond Race Cars.

“It went back to Diamond Race Cars for some changes that Matt Dadas, Nick Sansom and I have been wanting to do for a long time,” said Ellinger. “It was hard to mess with a good combination, but it was time. Dan Davies did a fantastic job making the key changes we made to the front and back suspension, as well as handling critical driver fitment issues, which should help with overall consistency.”

In addition to chasing a championship in Edelbrock Pro in the Edelbrock Super Series, which begins April 17 at Summit Motorsports Park, Ellinger plans to belt in for the 29th Annual Mickey Thompson $40 Grand Nationals presented by Hughes Performance, which promises a $262,875 payout, Sept. 3-5 at Summit Motorsports Park, and the 24th Annual Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels No Box Bonanza presented by Injector Experts, which has a $131,100 payout, Sept. 24-26 at Summit Motorsports Park, among many other races.

“I would like to mention the guys who put faith in me well before I ever won anything substantial, including Tommy Kundrik and Brandon Legath at Mickey Thompson, Joey Hessling and John Kyle at APD, Mark Cook of Wakeman Power, Tim Irwin at Moser, Mike Downs, who was at Trick Flow Specialties, Micky Hale at Cometic Gasket, JC Beattie at ATI Performance, Erik Brock at Precision Turbo/HPL, Marc Erickson at AutoMeter, Tommy Kirk at Mac Fab Beadlocks, Aaron McCaulla at Finish Line Race Fuels and Gary Fleenor at Fleenor Racing Transmissions,” said Ellinger. “Keeping up with the young guns is a challenge as you mature in life and age. I enjoy the challenge, as it helps to keep me from just going through the motions due to being in the game for so long. As years go on, I feel that setting an example for those guys in behavior and presentation is a responsibility, and I need to do my best.”