“I was reminded the other day of a phone call I received over 40 years ago. There was this 15- year-old kid from central Nebraska that had read an article in the April 1977 issue of Hot Rod Magazine about a 302 Boss engine that I had built using a regular 302 Ford block and 351 Cleveland heads and decided he wanted to build one himself. This industrious young man found the block and heads in a Nebraska salvage yard and hired a machine shop in his hometown to do the machine work. But he was stimmed in his engine build when he couldn’t find a Boss 302 intake manifold at any salvage yard anywhere in Nebraska. Well, that kid cold-called me at my shop and shared his story, and asked if I knew where he could get a used boss 302 intake manifold. I remember chuckling to myself, but at the same time, I was impressed with this young man with enough gumption to call me. So, I told him I would sell him one and shipped it off COD. Fast forward 40 years and a friend called me and asked me if I remembered that story. I told him I did, and I wondered why he was asking. He told me that that kid grew up to start a business that had grown into one of the largest manufacturers of crate engines in the country, Blueprint Engines. I was aware of Blueprint Engines and knew them to be a quality crate engine, but I had no idea that the kid I helped all those years ago founded and operates that company. My friend went on to tell me that that kid, whose name was Norris Marshall was now running for the Board of Directors of SEMA. My immediate thought was, how wonderful, is there any way I can help? My friend suggested that I might consider endorsing Norris, which it is now my privilege to do.Today, Norris employs over 300 people and builds over 55 engines a day. More impressively, he operates over 10 dynos and three emission cells, and he is committed to working to address issues related to the Clean Air Act, EPA, and CARB which are essential to the future of the performance market.”