Skip to main content

SCCA Mazda Engine Builder Trusts Only AMSOIL

Championship Engine Builder Trusts Only AMSOIL

More than 1,080 miles covering six states separate Jesse Prather Motorsports, in Topeka, Kansas, from Virginia International Raceway.

And yet Jesse Prather’s influence at the track in October for the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) annual “Runoffs” was unmistakable as an estimated 20 cars had one of his motors under its hood. In 2017, that number was 32. And two of those cars won national championships that year.

Top driver becomes top engine builder

That’s all to say that Jesse Prather is a big name in SCCA road-racing circles, particularly for competitors at the Runoffs, the SCCA’s biggest event. Many of them source their engines from Prather’s shop, where he puts his wealth of racing experience to work.

Although Prather has raced himself, winning three SCCA national championships, and has built race cars, today he mostly builds high-performance engines. He’s developed a niche building Mazda engines, but he also builds Honda, BMW and other foreign-made engines.

No doubt his father’s experience racing British sports cars for parts of three decades played a part in Prather’s career. Prather’s father opened a racing shop in Kansas around 1990, where Jesse worked for 10 years. It was there he started working on Mazdas.

“A customer wanted me to build a rotary engine for his RX-7, and it just kind of snowballed from there,” Prather said. His success behind the wheel laid the foundation for his success as an engine builder.

“[When you win], people want to know where you’re getting your equipment from. I built it all myself, so that’s how I started this business.”

AMSOIL Break-In Oil key to success

Today, Prather runs his own business, and AMSOIL products are a huge part. In fact, every engine that leaves Jesse Prather Motorsports is shipped with AMSOIL Break-In Oil inside the crate. It was this product that drew Prather to AMSOIL several years ago.

“I was looking for an oil that would seat rings properly, but that I could also run hard on the dyno,” said Prather. “With a lot of the break-in oils out there at that time, you couldn’t run the engine hard on the dyno because it couldn’t take the heat that we put them through on initial break-in.”

Break-In Oil (SAE 30)

Engine break-in is vital to building a championship racing engine. If the piston rings don’t seat properly against the cylinder wall, engine compression can suffer, reducing horsepower.

In Prather’s case, engine design posed additional challenges.

“We used forged pistons with thin rings to reduce drag in the bottom end of the engine,” he said. “I used to always have a lot of trouble getting these rings to break-in to the cylinder wall.”

Prather tried several techniques to solve the problem, but AMSOIL Break-In Oil proved most successful. “Now the rings seat in the first 10-15 minutes versus having to run an engine 2-3 hours before the rings seat – and sometimes they’d never seat,” he said.

“Every single engine I ship has AMSOIL Break-In Oil shipped in the crate with the engine. It’s a required step to using a Jesse Prather Motorsports racing engine.”

Jesse Prather

Racing oil just as important

Prather’s use of AMSOIL products doesn’t end after break-in.

He recommends AMSOIL DOMINATOR® Synthetic Racing Oil in his engines due to its excellent wear protection and heat resistance.

(Should you use racing oil in your daily driver? Find out here.)

“Even after running fairly high oil temperatures during a race, the oil does a good job absorbing the contaminants we put it through,” said Prather.

Most customers have their engines rebuilt after two years or 20 hours. It’s then that he sees DOMINATOR’s excellent performance first-hand.

“When I get these motors back, I see that the bearings have been protected. We don’t have bearing scuffing. We don’t have bearing deterioration. I don’t see extensive wear in some of the chain-driven camshafts. I don’t see excessive wear on the bore or on the pistons.”

“It’s amazing; it just works. And we abuse it. This oil gets abused day in and day out.”

Jesse Prather

DOMINATOR® 10W-30 Racing Oil

Prather’s use of AMSOIL extends beyond the motor.

He uses Synthetic Manual Transmission and Transaxle Gear Lube in all synchronizer-equipped transmissions. He also uses SEVERE GEAR® Synthetic Gear Lube in the differentials and some transmissions not equipped with synchros.

As Prather says, wear protection is the key to a good differential fluid, particularly in high-demand racing applications that undergo tremendous pressure. And SEVERE GEAR meets his demands.

“Even up to 300°F (149°C), SEVERE GEAR doesn’t break down; it continues to protect. It can take the heat and it still protects those gears.”

Jesse Prather

New Easy Pack for simple differential oil servicing.

AMSOIL isn’t just for racing

Prather makes sure his customers know just how well AMSOIL performs.

“I tell them it does the best job protecting their engine, period. I’ve been around racing for 40 years, and I tell them it works the best for what we’re doing with these cars.”

“I’ve seen the least amount of wear in the engines and the best protection of any other oil I’ve ever used, and I’ve used a lot over the years.”

Jesse Prather

While Prather has notched plenty of wins on the track, he derives more satisfaction from seeing his customers win.

“I’ve had a customer win a national championship every year for the last multiple years,” he said. “And that really is what drives me to keep pushing.”

As with many AMSOIL users, Prather’s initial positive experience with one AMSOIL product convinced him to try others. He now uses AMSOIL products in everything he owns with an engine.

“I’ve expanded into using AMSOIL in all my engines, from my lawnmowers, to my RV, to my skidsteer, to all my family’s vehicles. I use it exclusively. I don’t have any other oils in my shop,” he said.

And the reason he uses it, as his customers have found out, is that it simply works.

“That’s all that matters to an engine builder. It’s not about being loyal to a certain company – it’s about what works. I trust AMSOIL exclusively with all my racing engines,” said Prather.

AMSOIL-Sponsored Chase Sexton Takes Supercross Crown

AMSOIL-Sponsored Chase Sexton Takes Supercross Crown

As I plopped down on the sofa with my second cup of coffee Sunday morning, I tuned the DVR to watch the Supercross finals from Vegas (#centraltimezoneprobs). I knew two things from watching heats and LCQs the night before:

1. Those whoops were pretty gnarly.

2. With temperatures steadily approaching triple digits during the day, the track was drying pretty fast, making it super slick.

But, I also knew that GEICO/AMSOIL/Honda’s Chase Sexton just had to finish in sixth place or better to secure his first 250 Supercross championship.

Championship within reach

Even if Justin Cooper (who sat 10 points behind Sexton) were to win the East/West Shootout, Sexton would secure his first championship by finishing at least sixth in the main event. Mimicking the patient, controlled riding style he’d displayed all season, the GEICO/AMSOIL/Honda rider sailed through in the top five, ultimately crossing the finish line in fourth place and securing a 250SX East Championship.

video
play-sharp-fill

Initially slated to run in the East Coast series, Sexton switched to the West a week before the start of the season after an injury to Christian Craig. After breaking his collarbone while riding his mountain bike, the 2018 Rookie of the Year switched again back to the East. Cameron McAdoo stepped in, filling his vacant spot on the West.

video
play-sharp-fill

Patience pays off

Consistently riding in control throughout the season, Sexton landed his first career win in East Rutherford, N.J. After an injury took front-runner Austin Forkner out of the title running in that same round, Sexton moved into first place with just the finale left to go.

Shop AMSOIL Dirt Bike Products

Qualifying second Sexton headed to the final in Vegas knowing what he had to do. In addition to Sexton’s championship, GEICO/AMSOIL/Honda riders RJ Hampshire and Cameron McAdoo capped the team’s night with second- and third-place finishes, respectively.

“It feels super good; it hasn’t really sunk in yet, being 19 years old and winning my first championship is unbelievable.”

Chase Sexton

“It was the longest 15 minutes plus one [lap] I’ve ever done; track was gnarly. Yeah, it was a super-sketchy track, and the whoops were gnarly. [I] had some moments with my teammate, and there were some hay bales knocked out on the track. It was really hard to decide if it was a good move or bad move, but it couldn’t have worked out better.”

video
play-sharp-fill

Riding high from the championship fumes, the attention now turns to the outdoors with the opening round of Pro Motocross from Hangtown in Sacramento, Calif., just more than a week away.

As always, be sure to tune into our FacebookInstagram and Twitter to see how #TeamAMSOIL is doing and where we are off to next.

We’ll see you at the races!