The United Council of Corvette Clubs, Inc. was conceptualized in a Holiday Inn parking lot in Cleveland, Ohio in July, 1975, when two strangers, Winston Grays of Cleveland, Ohio and C.J. Kincaide of Detroit, Michigan met. Winston broached the subject of forming a new national corvette club that would more accurately reflect their cultures and backgrounds. After a lengthy discussion, Winston and C.J. exchanged telephone numbers and promised to stay in touch with one another. Two months later, Winston phoned C.J. and informed him that he had joined a local corvette club in Cleveland, and that his new club and C.J.'s club, V-8 Estate, should meet and continue the discussion that began two months earlier. The birth of the UCCC had begun. In 1978, just three years later, the UCCC was formed. The first official UCCC convention was held in July, 1979, just one year later, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Thanks Winston & C.J. for your vision.

         Attorney Winston Grays

     May 17, 1946 - July 31, 2004

THIS PAGE ARE QUOTES FROM THE UCCC CORVETTE CHRONICLE
THE CORVETTE CHRONICLE UCCC MOURNS THE LOSS OF A GREAT LEADER

September 2004 THE CORVETTE CHRONICLE
Volume 1, Issue 7
September 2004 Volume 1,
Issue 7

THE COMPETITION DESK
UCCC members and especially UCCC competitors suffered a great loss on July 31st with the passing of Attorney Winston Grays, one of the founders of the United Council of Corvette Clubs, it's first Vice- President and former UCCC President (1999 -2002). Winston was the man who envisioned the UCCC when there was nothing. He initiated the movement toward a national corvette organization that catered to a small but growing minority segment of corvette owne rs. Winston's greatest attribute was his tremendous vision. His ability to see potential, opportunity or even hazards when others saw nothing was amazing. As the UCCC'S first Vice President, he warned us about dividing the organizations into regions, saying it was potentially divisive. Six or seven years later, the regional system did just that and resulted in a split-up which followed regional lines. As President, he told us that too many people were enjoying the convention atmosphere without financially supporting the event, something that no one else saw. He instituted policies that required financial involvement by all in attendance. The convention's profit during Winston's administration went up 500%. He reinvested the newly generated profits back into the organization. Winston was the competition program's best friend He invested over $30,000.00 in the competition program during his presidency, a figure that was beyond imagination in prior years. He believed competition was the heart of the UCCC and needed to be improved whenever and wherever we could. He purchased everything we needed from our own traffic cones to the most sophisticated timing equipment. As a result of his efforts, he program has almost doubled in partic ipation. Time always seems to prove Winston right.
We will miss his leadership and wisdom.
C. J. Kincaide

My fellow club members, I was deeply humbled by the show of support of UCCC Club Members that made the journey to Cleveland, Ohio to give a great UCCC Farewell to our member Winston Grays, one of the founders of our organization and our past President. "Thank you", to all the members and friends who sent cards and flowers to the family. We will always remember, but never forget, the financial stability and visions that Winston brought to this organization.
Let us continue to pray for Jeanie and the family.

To Winston's UCCC family,
This isn't just an ordinary "Thank You", it's given as a special token of my appreciation for I am filled with endless thanks and gratitude of the good feelings that you all gave to me. You made me feel cared about and that is one of the most important feelings in the world. You gave of yourself in your time and interest and I want you to know that I will always remember your kindness. You ALL Are special people who went out of your way for me and my family and I am grateful that you were there for me.
WITH LOVE AND APPRECIATION,
LOVE ALWAYS, JEANIE GRAYS

                           John Lingenfelter

           October 6, 1945 - December 25, 2003

John Earl Lingenfelter, 58 years old of Decatur, Indiana, passed away on Thursday, December 25, 2003 in Adams County Memorial Hospital. He was born on October 6, 1945 in East Freedom, Pennsylvania, the son of the late Melvin Earl Lingenfelter and the late Ellen Emma Musselman. He married Cynthia S. Lingenfelter on July 9, 1999. John was a member of New Beginnings Faith Center, Decatur; National Hot Rod Association (NHRA); Multi Time NHRA World Record Holder; National Corvette Museum (NCM); Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA); Adams County Lodge #127 Fraternal Order of Police; and a past member of Bonneville Nationals, Inc. (BNI). He was owner and operator of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering in Decatur for the past 30 years. He also competed in Sport Compact Drag Racing with NHRA.

Surviving are his wife, Cynthia S. Lingenfelter of Decatur, Indiana, two daughters, Mrs. John (Kerri Ann) Page of Frisco, Texas, and Mrs. Jon (Kelly Jo) Kline of Decatur, Indiana, two grandsons, Jordan Ross of Frisco, Texas, and Jonathon Kline of Decatur, Indiana, granddaughter, Olivia Kline of Decatur, Indiana, brother, Charles Lingenfelter of Charlotte, North Carolina, two sisters, Mrs. Richard (Jayne) Longenecker and Mrs. Rod (Mary Ellen) Claycomb both of Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania, stepson, Clayton J. Carroll of Decatur, Indiana, and stepdaughter, Leah R. Carroll of Fishers, Indiana.

John was preceded in death by one brother, Jerry Lingenfelter.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday, December 29, 2003 at The Bridge Community Church with Pastor Jerry Setser officiating. Interment will follow in the Decatur Cemetery.

Friends will be received from 11 a.m. -7 p.m., Sunday, December 28 at the Zwick & Jahn Funeral Home, Decatur, Indiana. Preferred memorials are to Adams County Memorial Hospital Extended Care Unit or New Beginnings Faith Center.

Serving as pallbearers will be Chuck Griffith, Rob Vanderhart, Clayton Carroll, Joe Jolly, John Kline, Tom Cress, Greg Krauss, and Gordon Holloway.

Who Is John Lingenfelter?

John Lingenfelter has been building, racing, and winning with small-block Chevy engines since 1972, when he arrived on the drag racing scene by winning the Super Stock Eliminator class at the U.S. Nationals. Since that time, he's been a frequent visitor to the winner's circle, building and driving winning Super Stock race cars to capture 13 national tittles. His success created a state-of-the-art engine building facility, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. Many of today's top drag racers run a Lingenfelter-built engine, and, since 1984, he's been building high performance engines for the street.

John Lingenfelter's passion for speed really kicked in with the introduction of Tuned Port Injection on the Corvette in 1985. A procession of progressively faster and faster Corvettes began to occupy his garage as John began to dig into the secrets of this 'electronic small block'. Soon, his TPI 383 stroker small blocks were not only emissions legal, but could put a C4 Corvette into the low 13s / high 12s with just an engine swap. At the same time, John Lingenfelter began to realize the limitations of the stock TPI system, and its inability to feed larger displacement engines. His research on this subject led him to redesign the TPI system from the ground up. Lingenfelter started with a clean sheet of paper, and totally redesigned the intake manifold, intake runners, and plenum. His more box-like induction system was a success. Where normal TPI motors ran out of steam at 4800rpm, the new JL-1 intake system pulled to 6000rpm and even higher. Later, the system would come to be known as the "Super Ram". John Lingenfelter began to grind camshafts for this Super Ram intake, the result of the matched cam and intake packages was port fuel injected power where no TPI system ever dreamed of existing.

Lingenfelter collaborated with Reeves Calloway in 1988 to produce the engine for the Calloway "Sledgehammer" Corvette project. Under the wrench of John Lingenfelter, the 355cid twin turbocharged small block Chevy that was the heart of the Sledgehammer Corvette produced over 900 horsepower. After the engine was tuned, the car was driven from Calloway's shop in Connecticut to the Transportation Research Center, a 7.5 mile oval in East Liberty, Ohio. Here, a top speed test of the Sledgehammer netted an astounding 254.76mph in 5th gear. As a testament to the durability of one of John Lingenfelter's mills, the car was then driven from the track back to Calloway's garage.

In 1989, John's greatest attempt at top speed began on the Bonneville Salt Flats. There, taking a '89 Firebird Trans-Am, whose aerodynamics he thought were superior to the 'Vette's, he managed to drop in a twin turbocharged 355cid small-block that was making an astounding 1400 horsepower! John's goal? 300mph! To this lofty end, John rigged up a set of six(!) nitrous bottles in the rear hatch area of the Firebird. These nitrous bottles injected their charge not into the engine, but into the intercoolers for the two turbos, using the super cold gas as a cooling medium in the air to air capacity. The result was that the turbochargers outlet air temperature dropped radically, far more than would have been possible using just normal atmospheric air. This did some pretty incredible things to the horsepower output of the engine. His first run in the car netted a 298mph top speed. A second run managed only 293mph. Soon problems started to plague the Bonneville trip, and with a mounting costs and no sponsorship, Lingenfelter had to settle for going 298mph, just 2mph shy of his 300mph goal. In true John Lingenfelter style, despite attaining what no other normal man could hope to accomplish, he wasn't satisfied and thought that the car could have gone faster... That is an example of the driving force behind what motivates John Lingenfelter.

In 1990, John Lingenfelter configured his red '86 Vette with full safety options and dropped a carefully prepared 408cid small-block that produced 540 horsepower at an unheard of 5400rpm. He completed this car and entered it in the Nevada Silver State Classic top speed contest. Despite melting both the TH700-R4 and the Gear Venders Overdrive unit,, John's 'Vette managed to post a 157mph average for the 93 mile course while maintaining a speed of over 206mph for over five minutes. Placing 3rd overall, John was again very disappointed. He thought the car should have gone much faster...!

From all of these experiences, and many more not shared, John Lingenfelter has accumulated a tremendous knowledge of engine mechanics and he uses that knowledge on every engine that leaves his shop. Lingenfelter Performance Engineering has built engines for circle track cars, many drag racing classes, motor homes, off-road trucks, national champion SCCA autocross racers, and even powerplants for ambulances and law enforcement vehicles! Taking these experiences as a whole, there are few small-block performance paths that John Lingenfelter has not tested, tried, and bested in the past 20 years. It is this on-going experience and John's ceaseless quest to continually improve existing power levels of the high performance small block street Chevy that inspires so many others to reach a little further, work a little harder, and go a little faster.

If you want to know more about John Lingenfelter, or to gain some of his wisdom, then you need to buy this book. You can find it online at many sources.

                             Chip Miller                  Chip Miller 1957 Corvette

                                           October 6, 1945 - March 25, 2004

Chip Miller Dies at 61

Beloved husband, father, grandfather, coworker and friend will
be sorely missed by all.
Chip Miller passed away on March 25 at the Mayo Clinic at the age of 61 from complications related to Amyloidosis. He was surrounded by loved ones in his final moments.
Miller was diagnosed with primary Amyloidosis in December 2003. The rare plasma cell disorder, which attacks the body's main organs, affects about 2,000 people each year. Currently, there is no cure.
After the diagnosis, Chip and his wife, Judy, established a Web site at CaringBridge to keep family and friends updated during diagnosis and treatment. Visitors to the site were able to read Chip's patient journal and leave words of support in the guest book. Chip and Judy used this site to communicate with the many, many well-wishers who had expressed their concern. Chip and Bill Miller started the first automotive event at Carlisle in 1974. Their business has grown to 12 automotive events this year, including Chip's favorite, Corvettes at Carlisle. Each year, more than half a million people come to events at the Carlisle Fairgrounds. His interest in automobiles began when, as a child, he saw a magazine in a gutter with a custom car on the cover. He became fascinated with Chevrolet Corvettes after seeing an ad for a new 1957 Corvette. Chip has owned more than 80 Corvettes in his life, as well as many other vehicles. He was very interested in racing, especially vintage Corvettes.

Miller was a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America, Shelby Owners Club and at least a dozen Corvette clubs.
Chip remained positive until the end and continued to think of others rather than himself. "It shows how selfless Chip is and the wonderful person he is," said Diane Vaughn, co-worker and friend of Chip's for more than 20 years. "He wants to widen the knowledge of this disease so that through him, others will live."

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to:
Chip Miller Charitable Foundation
1000 Bryn Mawr Road
Carlisle, PA 17013-1588