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In the past 30 years, Dan Drinan has worked on and driven Indy
cars, defied death several times in midgets and Indy cars and used his
talents to build some of the slickest cars on four wheels. But his latest
contribution to open wheel racing is impacting racers all over the country.
Drinan’s Dri-Bar is a rear anti-roll system that neatly bolts straight
into any chassis under the seat to the lower frame rails and hooks right
into the bearing carriers. The system not only gives the advantage of roll
control, but allows the driver to adjust the balance throughout the race.
This past weekend, the DRI-BAR system rolled into victory lane for the 100th
time.
The Dri-Bar system. (DRP)
This success story began last year
when Damion Gardner captured six out of seven USAC sprint shows on the west
coast using the Dri-Bar.
“The original torsion bar setup had the
right rear torsion bar doing two jobs. It controlled compression and roll,”
explained Drinan, whose shop is located in Gasoline Alley about a mile from
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “So we built a system to specifically
control the roll part of the action, which allows us not only to separate
the control of the roll, but also soften the rate for compression and
increase forward drive.
“With more roll control, we can run the car
much tighter and at the same time have the ability to adjust the weight
transfer as it changes throughout the event.
“We start the race with
a full load of fuel in the car, the best grip provided by the moisture in
the track for the night and the most weight transferred. By the end of the
race we have no fuel, very little race track grip left and we’ve used up the
tires so with less grip we transfer less weight and need a much lighter
spring rate to resist it.”
To celebrate the Dri-Bar’s100th win (which
occurred this weekend) and his 20 years in business, Drinan Racing Products
is reducing the cost of his Dri-Bar from $975 to $795 for the next two
weeks.
“Things have been slow with the rest of our fabrication
business so we prepared a large inventory of the Dri-Bars and components,”
said Drinan, who had some epic battles on and off the track with Tony
Stewart, as well as USAC officials.
“I still want to drive but I
finally reached a point that making the business work is more important than
getting on the track. I’ve always cared more about making the best part
rather than profit so this is the first time I’ve ever put making money in
front of own racing.”
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