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This famed K&N sponsored vehicle along with the driver Abel Ibarra will be at Elsmere High School.

Ibarra wanted to make that little Mazda into the fastest street car anyone had ever seen.

“My whole goal was to build this little car into the ultimate street racer car,” Ibarra said. “I was going to go out there and kill all the V-8s.”

He achieved his goal. The car is part of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California. But his path to legendary status was not exactly the one Ibarra planned. Ibarra turned his Mazda into one of the fastest dragsters in the history of the NHRA. He wants to share his experiences with the next generation of car builders and drivers when he joins Prime Motivation and its tour of high schools.

Ibarra made a drastic change to his Mazda R100. Instead of using a supercharged engine, he decided to go with a turbocharger. It was a bold and unconventional move, but one that made all the difference in the car.

“He’s a pioneer. He doesn’t follow people,” said Bill Montgomery, Marketing and Business Development with Prime Motivation. “He’s a leader. He’s very easy to approach.”

The first time Ibarra raced his Mazda R100, it wasn’t all that impressive. He took it to an event in Bakersfield, California and it didn’t perform anywhere near where he had expected. It was fast, Ibarra said he ran an 11.20 second on his first run and another at 10.80 seconds.

“It was breaking up really bad,” Ibarra said. “When I went out and made another attempt and ran a 10.8. That got a lot of people’s attention. I wasn’t even launching the car. It was breaking up.”

On the drive home, he stopped at an In-N-Out in Bakersfield. He made some adjustments on the car and decided to rent out a track in Palmdale to make some more runs. In Palmdale, the car broke the 10-second barrier. Ibarra said he made runs in the 8-second range. The rest is history.

Ibarra took the car all over the country, breaking records and winning events. Now the car is part of the NHRA museum. He has two other Mazdas that he races now. But he will bring his Mazda R100 to the students at Elsmere High School to talk about how to make a career out of drag racing.

“It’s a great opportunity to go to the schools,” Ibarra said, “show the kids if you study, stay in school, or if you follow a career in cars, what you can achieve.”

Montgomery said the focus of his Prime Motivation campaign is to find ways to motivate high school students and teachers into learning more about the automotive industry.

“These kids nowadays, they feel like they are entitled, because of their cell phones, they feel like there is a ‘beam-me-up-Scotty’ and all of a sudden some money is going to fall out of the sky,” Montgomery said. "Abel used the car and what he’s done, he can now talk to these kids about work. You got to continue to do the work, like I did.”

Ibarra said he wants to let students know there are plenty of opportunities in auto racing and motorsports.

“My main thing is to talk and communicate with the kids and let them know they have different options and how important education is,” Ibarra said. “Especially nowadays, without a career and education, you’re not going to get anywhere. Any kind of communication that I can have with them, even if you only reach a couple, you’ve done a great thing. Just to try to communicate with as many of them as I can.”

Montgomery added that the opportunities in the automotive industry are endless. Exposing students to those opportunities is beneficial to companies in the automotive industry.

“Nobody knows about the automotive industry anymore,” Montgomery said. “We are trying to bring education not only to the students, but to the teachers. When we go, these teachers get excited about stuff. Sometimes, the teachers end up talking to Abel more than the students. They are so intrigued."

“Everybody’s pushing the four-year college. The cities and the states, their mandate goal is 100 percent on college. I’m all for that, but that’s not reality. That’s a big problem. That’s why we need to be on campus. We’re not going to get 100-percent. We’re just not going to get there.”

Ibarra said the level of interest from the students is always high. They can also relate to Ibarra, because at one time, he was a student looking for a way to succeed in motorsports.

“They are always interested,” Ibarra said. “What they find amazing is wow, you really did grow up in the hood. You grew up in the hood and you know how to do all of this. They definitely want to know, how did you start, what did you do? They do get a big interest. I was really good in school, I got good grades, and I wanted to become an engineer and take it to the next step. I even went to USC on a Mechanical Engineering scholarship. You can do lots of things, you just got to put the effort into it.”

K&N offers more than filters. Check out our line of men's and women's wearables

Let those in your life who are likely to gift you something better than a lump of coal know about the selection of products and wearables at the K&N Filters website.

Dropping a hint is as easy as heading to the page on the K&N site for the product you lust after, and clicking on the image of the K&N box with a big red ribbon on top. You’ll be able to fill out the information for the person to whom you’d like to send this subtle hint, and before you know it, the message appears in their inbox. Now there’s no longer an excuse for them gifting you a pair of sunglasses that spell out the word LOVE in rhinestones.

The really cool part is that you can send a message with your desire for this K&N item to more than one potential gift giver, or send different requests to different people. We make it simple!

Here are some gift of the most popular ideas from the team at K&N:

Air Intakes

Our number one requested item is an air intake. K&N air intakes come in different series to address particular applications, but all are guaranteed to increase horsepower in your vehicle. The concept behind all of them is that air flow restrictions can exist between the air filter and engine. K&N air intake kits virtually eliminate restriction in the air path by replacing the filter and air path to the engine.

77-series metal cold air intake systems for trucks and SUV’s combine both performance and style

The K&N 77-series metal air intake kits combine outstanding performance and style for trucks and SUVs. Many K&N air intake owners opt for the visual appeal of these systems. These K&N 77-series air intakes come finished with grey and polished intake tube finishes.

K&N 63-series high performance air intake kits are a sister product to our 57-series kits. Our 63-series kits are truly state-of-the-art. We start with the largest conical shaped air filter we can fit into the engine compartment, while retaining the use of factory holes and mounting points. This extra filter size provides even more airflow at lower restriction than a standard K&N OEM replacement filter that is limited to the size of the factory air box.

K&N 69-series air intake systems are built for performance and show. This free-flowing mandrel-bent aluminum tube induction system was designed specifically for sport compact performance vehicles. These air intakes systems come with a high-flow conical air filter designed to provide increased surface area and dust-filtering capacity.

K&N Blackhawk systems feature a black powdercoated intake tube combined with a Dryflow air filter

To make your appeal to your Secret Santa that much more enticing, K&N is offering a $25 rebate on any air intake system purchased at knfilters.com until December 31, 2016. See the rebate page for more details.

Air Filters

Our number one gift given are K&N air filters, which are available for most automobile and light trucks, motorcycles and snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and even chain saws and other yard equipment.

K&N automotive replacement air filters are manufactured for just about any car and truck on the road. K&N automotive stock replacement air filters are manufactured with an oiled cotton filter media that’s both washable and reusable. These filters are designed to achieve high air flow while maintaining filtration levels critical to ensure long engine life. K&N replacement air filters are backed by the K&N 10-year/Million Mile Limited Warranty.

K&N motorcycle and ATV stock replacement air filters are also manufactured from an oiled cotton media for high air flow and outstanding engine protection, keeping dust and dirt out of your engine and on the outside where it belongs. K&N motorcycle and ATV stock replacement air filters have a long service life and when dirty are simple to clean.

Replace your vehicle's stock cabin air filter with a washable and reusable K&N cabin air filter

K&N also manufactures many direct replacement air filter elements for small industrial engines, utility lawn and garden units, air compressors, generators, chain saws, and more. Most are made with synthetic air filter media which can be cleaned with K&N synthetic air filter cleaner and reused again and again.

For boaters and owners of personal watercraft, K&N Marine Flame Arrestors are a popular choice as they are both marine approved per the SAE J1928 standard as well as being washable and reusable, and designed to improve horsepower and torque.

Detail view of the Winged Chopper Women's Tank Top available from K&N

If you’d rather give or receive something soft and wearable, K&N has a full-line of hats, t-shirts, jackets, socks, banners, signs, patches and more.

In the hat department, K&N offers three choices including one with the K&N logo encircled by an oval, K&N performance filters logo, and what’s seen in winner’s circles across the globe – the K&N racing hat.

If you think the hat list was comprehensive, consider the K&N t-shirt lineup. There are 19 separate and unique designs on black, white, grey, and red backgrounds, plus two additional designs in long-sleeve Ts in black and white.

Should the weather turn a bit nippy, K&N has you covered as well. There are three zippered hoodie sweatshirt designs that show your support for K&N, in black or white, depending upon style. And if your ride is a custom bagger, K&N offers two designs of 100% cotton sleeveless button-up shirts available in black and charcoal, with your choice of "skull & bones" or "ride or die" designs.

K&N offers a wide range of wearables for women as well. There’s a retro-styled K&N “shield” V-neck, a choice of five different t-shirt designs, with background colors ranging from white to pink to espresso to black. All are made of 100% cotton and most are pre-shrunk for a great fit right out of the box. There are two choices in long-sleeve shirts, a faded off-the-shoulder T in black or dark heather grey and a K&N “shield” long-sleeve T available in the same colors.

For warmer days out at the track, K&N offers six different tank top designs, with colors including white, blue, red, pink, berry, and black. There’s even a t-shirt for the younger set. Available in heather grey or pink, the shirt features a 1969 Camaro launching with the caption “My Dad’s Car Is Cooler Than Your Dad’s”.

For the ultimate in stocking stuffers, how about some K&N socks. Made of 100% soft, breathable bamboo yarn, they’re available in white with black letters and black with white letters in men’s sizes. In women’s sizes, the socks are white with a pink K&N logo.

If you’d like Santa to bring you decorations for your man cave, consider some of K&N’s quality signage. For example, the K&N Pro Series nylon banner is 72 inches by 42 inches with metal grommets in each of the four corners as well as one top center and another bottom center for a sag-free installation.

If you’d prefer a metal sign for more of a retro look, K&N has you covered there as well. The K&N logo metal sign, which is 20 inches wide by 9 inches tall and features the K&N logo embossed in color. The sign comes with small mounting holes drilled in each corner. Two strips of double-sided tape are also included as a mounting option

If you are still not sure what to get someone, ask them to go to knfilters.com, where they can find the items they would like to receive and click the gift box on the product page to send you an ever-so subtle note. On the other hand, if you would like to send a gift wish to someone, go to knfilters.com, locate the items you would like to receive and click the gift box on the product page to send them your gift request. It’s that simple.

And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Elves at K&N Filters.

The RK-3945 intake looks great in both chrome (shown) and black

Good looks aside, the RK-3945 intake is a proven power enhancement bolt-on accessory. The numbers don’t lie. The K&N dynamometer reveals an estimated 4.5 horsepower boost for a 2016 883cc Sporty wearing a RK-3945. For a 2015 1200cc Sportster, the dyno run shows a gain of an estimated 8.5 horsepower. The torque numbers are also impressive using the RK Street Metal intake on both Harleys. The combination of higher horsepower and torque will result in impressive acceleration and lively throttle response. Take a look dyno charts link on the product page to see all of the numbers. You’ll be impressed.

The intake is installed by removing the restrictive stock intake and filter and bolting on the attractive and carefully-engineered custom aluminum backing plate to the throttle body. The intake features an aluminum, integrated, internal-run breather system. A substantial, vibration absorbing gasket is also included in the kit. The installation process is simple and straightforward.

The RK-3945 intake is easy to install on your late model Sportster

The filter comes pre-oiled and ready to install out of the box, and all installation hardware is included. Like all K&N filters and intakes, the RK-3945 is made in the USA and is backed by the K&N 10-year/Million Mile warranty.

Look through the application list below for the Harleys that will benefit from the RK-3945 or RK-3945B Street Metal intake.

The RK-3945 and RK-3945B fit the following H-D bikes:

2016 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL883N IRON 54 CI - All Models
2016 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL883L SUPERLOW 54 CI - All Models
2016 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200X FORTY-EIGHT 74 CI - All Models
2016 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200V SEVENTY-TWO 74 CI - All Models
2016 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200T SUPERLOW 74 CI - All Models
2016 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200C SPORTSTER CUSTOM 74 CI - All Models
2015 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL883N IRON 54 CI - All Models
2015 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL883L SUPERLOW 54 CI - All Models
2015 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200X FORTY-EIGHT 74 CI - All Models
2015 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200V SEVENTY-TWO 74 CI - All Models
2015 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200T SUPERLOW 74 CI - All Models
2015 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200C SPORTSTER CUSTOM 74 CI - All Models
2014 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200X FORTY-EIGHT 74 CI - All Models
2014 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200V SEVENTY-TWO 74 CI - All Models
2014 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200T SUPERLOW 74 CI - All Models
2014 HARLEY DAVIDSON XL1200C SPORTSTER CUSTOM 74 CI - All Models

The RK-3945 comes ready to install and ride

All of the necessary hardware comes in the box with the RK-3945B (pictured) and RK-3945

Can't you see yourself behind the wheel of this beast and terrorizing the next track day?

Whoa, what? Freightliner Pikes Peak Special.

Yup, it’s that Mike Ryan, owner/driver of the first Class 8 truck to compete in the famed Mt. Washington Hillclimb in New Hampshire and went on to established the truck record on that New England peak. The truck also holds the current class record on Pikes Peak.

Mike Ryan in serious preparations to take on the 7.6-mile Mt. Washington Hill Climb

The truck itself has as fascinating a history as you’ll find with any race vehicle. It started life as the Sterling Pikes Peak tandem rear axle race truck. Freightliner’s parent company Daimler had purchased Ford’s big truck line in 1997 and rebranded the trucks as Sterling. Freightliner engineers, working in their off hours, engineered the chassis utilizing the company’s sophisticated design software and then built it in their “skunkworks” from late 1999 into early 2000.

Mike says he's the first driver to drift a semi truck "intentionally". Love that disclaimer!

In 2001, driving chores of the Sterling were assigned to Molly Morter-Currie, who brought with her a CORR Class Championship, while Mike raced his Freightliner. Molly took home a second place finish in the tandem-axel division of the Big Rig class. Not only was Morter the first female to race a big rig up the mountain, she received the prestigious 'Rookie of the Year' award.

In a strange turn of events the truck spent the new few years at the Madras, Oregon Proving Grounds and then in a Freightliner warehouse in Portland.

The wrecker crew winches Mike's truck out of the trees at the 2014 Pikes Peak Hill Climb

In 2014, Mike had an “oh (you know what)" experience when the truck fell off the road at Pike’s Peak. As a result, the truck received a thorough rebuild where he repainted the aluminum framerails, for which Mike has spares, replaced 90% of the fasteners, turned the cross members into water tanks for the brake cooling system, installed a new water-methanol injection system, new turbo system, completely new ZF based independent front suspension, 17” Bendix vented rotor air disc brakes, new custom-built Fluidyne radiator and intercooler, freshly rebuilt custom King Shocks, new hood, bumper, windshield, paint, and about 50 other items.

When you're turbocharging a massive diesel engine you need massive pipes

With 14 class wins and 7 records in 18 years we find it hard that Mike would have trouble finding a buyer for this thing.

Jessi Combs and her stunning BMW R nine T

Before we get to the custom Beemer, let’s talk about the bike’s impressive builders. Jessi is a multi-talented innovator, racer, and TV personality. Her degree in custom automotive fabrication is put to spectacular use on her wide-ranging vehicular projects. She is a land speed record holder, a Baja 1000 podium finisher, and a champion of other racing disciplines.

The Real Deal BMW was designed to match the wide twin engine, and yes, that's a K&N filter

The R nine T provided a unique and exciting challenge for the multi-talented builders. “Building an R nine T was a unique build for the both of us,” Jessi said. “While we have built plenty of motorcycles, cars, and trucks, the wide boxer engine had us designing and building outward in order to give the bike a proportionate stance, rather than trying to slim it all up.” Clearly those are the words of someone with an acute awareness of design.

The seat adds to the retro-cool R nine T motif

When asked about Real Deal’s use of K&N filters, Jessi was enthusiastic in her praise of what the products offer. “We use K&N on most of our projects,” Jessi said. The endorsement goes even farther. “I have them on all my personal vehicles. I’m not sure why anyone would have anything else!” As for the specific use of K&N filters on the R nine T, Jessi said that in addition to her trust in the performance and filtration benefits that K&N filters provide, there was also an aesthetic purpose. “On this bike we were able to get rid of the air box, so the K&N filters enhanced our ‘naked’ look.”

Fans of cool custom motorcycles are the true beneficiaries of the creative partnership of Jessi and Theresa. The R nine T build is a tribute to speed, character, and the raw beauty of performance. K&N is proud to be part of the magic!

Theresa Contreras works her body work magic on the R nine T

Jessi Combs getting the metal bends just right