Eric R. Simone – Owner, Sole Proprietor, Shotgunhemiparts LLC

Mr. Simone has spent the last 15 years of his career, and most of his adult life devoted to the racing & motorsports industry, specializing in race engine construction and development, dynamometer testing, and racing piston design & sales.  Mr. Simone officially began his career in Motorsports working for John Vermeersch at legendary Total Performance in Mt. Clemens. MI.  Total Performance held several contracts as a major outsource for Ford Motor Company’s performance and aftermarket wing, Ford Racing Technologies.  In 1995 employed as an engine assembly technician/machinist/fabricator, the high point of his tenure was that he went on to achieve a zero comeback rating fulfilling Totals’ contract for worldwide warranty re-work and re-deployment of defective/damaged crate engines returned to Ford Racing from 1995 to 1999; and then again from 2001 to 2003 with both Livernois Motorsports and Holbrook Racing Engines.

  Seeking the next level, Mr. Simone then went on to spend the next part of his career as an engine development / dyno technician at Roush Industries in Livonia Michigan. He was quickly moved within 60 days to the motorsports division, Roush Racing.  There he became a key player in the daily development and dynamometer testing of engines for all Jack Roush owned Winston Cup and NASCAR Super truck engine programs from 1998 to 2001.   Household names such as Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Kevin LaPage, Johnny Benson, Kurt Bush, Greg Biffle, and Ricky Rudd would all benefit directly from the work performed by him in the dyno cell for his employer, Jack Roush.  Mr. Simone also performed valvetrain Spintron testing and verification of valvetrain parts & packages when not engaged in the dyno cell.  This allowed valuable insight as to how a valvetrain really works, how it reacts to subtle changes in components, and how the RPM limit for any valvetrain package on a test fixture such as the Spintron machine differs from the real world in a running engine.

Livernois Motorsports then hired Mr. Simone as a Sr. Engine & Dyno technician, where his first task was to finish construction on their Superflow 901 engine dyno & test cell.  Starting with a cinder block room, a dyno console, and a ½ completed water system; he managed within 10 days to install fuel, air, water, and all electrical systems to get the cell operational and running.  Continuing his work in race engine development and construction of engines for Livernois’ entire customer base; he primarily concentrated this time on nitrous assisted and hi-boost turbo charged racing engines, as he worked to help the Livernois sponsored NMRA Outlaw 10.5 car win its first World Championship in 2002 driven by Dan Millen.

Holbrook Racing Engines was the next to benefit from Mr. Simone’s work.  Continuing his career as an engine build technician, machinist, and dynamometer technician, his primary focus was on 815+ cubic inch IHRA Pro Stock engines, NMRA Pro 5.0 engines, IHRA Top sportsman engines, and most any other class/brand of racing engine(s) from 2002 to 2003.  Building engines for Michigan based racers like Tofi Hadad, Tom Jacobs, Clyde & Jimmy Detrick, Mack Travis, along with IHRA Pro Stock driver Chuck Demory, Mr. Simone was able to help owner Chris Holbrook secure a loyal customer base for his newly re-established engine shop.

Employed from 2003 to 2010 as a technical representative/sales representative for Diamond Pistons, Mr. Simone was responsible for providing technical support of Diamonds line of custom and shelf stock racing pistons, and developing/marketing Diamond’s entire line of products, with strong emphasis on pistons geared toward the Ford brand of engine, which is considered his area of expertise.    Much of Diamond Pistons current product catalog was conceived and developed by Mr. Simone.  There, he supported a multi-brand product line by offering years of hands-on, experience-based technical know-how and assistance to everyone, from the professional shop owner/racer, to the average customer via telephone and e-mail. 

Recently asked to be a consultant to the racing industry, Mike Maverigan from Precision Engine Magazine published a 5-page article in their September 2008 issue quoting Mr. Simone pertaining to the proper data, procedure, and specific details required for ordering custom racing pistons (from any piston supplier).   

Wanting to stand out from the crowd, and be recognized for parts & services that are a cut above – Mr. Simone applied for, and was granted a trademark by the United Stated Patent & Trademark Office in 2008. Shotgunhemiparts is proud to offer its own line of high-performance & racing engines and parts under the brand name, Shotgunn®.  All parts and engines sold by Shotgunhemiparts carry the Shotgunn® trademark name, assuring the customer that if it doesn’t say Shotgunn®, it’s not a Shotgunhemiparts product.

In October 2009, Mr. Simone participated for the first time in the Jegs Engine Masters competition, sponsored by Source Interlink Media.  In his first attempt, with his 533 C.I. Boss 429 based entry, in a field of 30 competitors, he was able to tie multiple-time EMC Champion Jon Kaase’s Boss 429 based entry for the highest HP number, making 856 HP on 91 octane pump gas – thru 3 ½” racing mufflers.  While noteworthy, this only earned him a 13th place finish due to the cubic inch size and a broken valve spring on his scoring runs.  Seeing the potential and the excellent workmanship, Popular HotRodding Magazine published a 7-page article on the Boss 429 entry by Mr. Simone and his Shotgunhemiparts team, titled “The 8-barrel Shotgun”.