Blog

  • Will Martin: Chief Executive Officer

    Will Martin: Chief Executive Officer

    After receiving his B.S. in Business Administration and a minor in Spanish from North Carolina State University in 2007, Will set his mind to achieving a life goal of his: serve his country at a high level as a Navy SEAL. Throughout Will’s 9.5 year career as an officer in the SEAL Teams, he held a variety of cross-functional leadership positions across multiple East Coast Naval Special Warfare commands. Over the course of 4 international assignments, ranging from Counter-Terrorism operations in Africa to the training and development of multi-national security forces in South America, Will has demonstrated a proven ability to build, lead, and manage highly efficient teams, developing tailored solutions to achieve complex strategic objectives. As Deputy Regional Commander of US Special Operations during his most recent deployment, Will orchestrated and supervised operations for 148 Special Operations personnel across 4 South American countries in support of US national security objectives. After honorably discharging from the Navy in October, 2019, Will joined the National Speed Team as Vice President of Operations to apply his skills of building & managing highly effective teams to the private sector, in an innovative, fast-growing business.

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  • Jordan Watson: Founder & Chief Revenue Officer

    Jordan Watson: Founder & Chief Revenue Officer

    Jordan Watson is Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of National Speed.  Since day one Jordan has been dedicated to National Speed’s vision.  Through his lifelong passion for everything performance automotive and having experience in every area of the company’s operation, Jordan is known as a walking encyclopedia of both the technical and business sides of National Speed.  This deep experience gives him a unique perspective for shaping the company’s culture, offering, and customer experience.  Jordan has recruited an A+ team, created processes and systems that ensure repeatable operations and has led National Speed to where it is today – a proven concept that is ready to grow!  He is driven by a strong personal desire to have a huge and lasting impact on the automotive performance industry.   Practically every minute of Jordan’s time is dedicated to National Speed, but in his off time, he enjoys spirited drives in one of his heavily modified cars (ranging from a tire-slaying Cadillac CTS-V, an apex-attacking Integra Type-R track car, a dirt-slinging Bugeye WRX Wagon, to an R35 GT-R NISMO), attending racing events and meets, photography, hiking, or relaxing with art and music.

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  • Jory Anderson: VP of Sales

    Jory Anderson: VP of Sales

    Jory joins the National Speed team as VP of Sales with a diverse background both professionally and personally with high-performance street & track cars. A lifelong gearhead, Jory belongs to the BMW CCA, participates in the Chump Car series as both crew member and driver, is a certified stunt driver in the motion picture industry, and is a huge Formula 1 fan (and an even bigger Ayrton Senna fan). Over the years, his personal cars include Bugeye WRX, E36, C7 A6, M235i, up to his current weapon-of-choice, his F80 M3 – every single one equipped with various performance modifications, of course. Professionally, Jory’s background includes both service & sales experience with various automotive dealerships, working in the boating & marine industry in yacht sales, SaaS sales for a fast-growing tech startup, up to his most recent experience prior to National Speed, leading a 50+ salesperson team as Director of Sales for an Inc. 500 company. When Jory learned of the opportunity to combine all his passions into one with National Speed, he jumped at the chance, and has been leading our Performance Consultants since. In short, Jory loves working with people and is driven to help solve whatever problems they may have through innovative services – something he is able to do every single day!

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  • Charlie Carmichael: Systems Manager

    Charlie Carmichael: Systems Manager

    A lifelong performance enthusiast with a heavy background in systems administration, computer networking, & technical support, Charlie joins the National Speed Wilmington HQ team as Systems Manager with the perfect combination of skills for the role! 

    In his personal time, Charlie enjoys going off-the-grid in the great outdoors – both off-pavement & on-pavement alike.  An avid outdoors enthusiast, Charlie enjoys spending time with his son Legend, mountain biking, kayaking, and hiking.  But for his on-pavement fun, Charlie has quite a tool at his disposal: his fully built Urban Grey 2007 Subaru WRX with a ripping 503awhp/532lbft on tap. Charlie also sports a VF37 factory twin-scroll swapped, Platinum Silver 2004 Forester XT as his daily driver. As an active member of North Carolina and Virginia automotive communities, Charlie also served as admin for one of the largest/most active Subaru enthusiast groups in the central Virginia area, RVA Subies.

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  • Austen Sadanaga: Video Production Manager

    Austen Sadanaga: Video Production Manager

    An avid filmmaker, Austen pursued his love for film through the Film Studies department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he received his BA in 2018. Upon graduating, he worked as the Assistant Rental Coordinator at Screen Gems Studios Lighting & Grip. While there, Austen gained hands-on experience with professional lighting equipment, met famous actors and actresses, and enjoyed being a part of Wilmington’s thriving film industry. 

    Austen currently drives a fully stock 2016 Subaru WRX, and is eager to get it into the shop. Outside of work, Austen enjoys driving on his racing simulator, rollerblading, and playing ice hockey.

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  • Mike Johnson: Lead Build Designer

    Mike Johnson: Lead Build Designer

    Mike is a Build Designer in our Wilmington, NC shop equipped with a full career of relationship management and speed shop experience!  Mike is a Jacksonville, FL native who jumped headfirst into cars at a young age (with 40+ performance vehicles owned over the years to show it), and while he has a particular affinity for Subarus, he has also owned everything from fully-built 6.0L & 6.7L Powerstroke diesels to a Nissan D21 Hardbody.  His involvement in the Subaru scene aligned him well with Dirty Racing Products – a Subaru specialty shop in Jacksonville – which he worked at in the 3 years preceding his joining up at National Speed.  His current personal projects include his 2002 Subaru WRX which is built for street & road course duty and his drag-focused 2006 Pontiac GTO which he is currently in the process of building, including a single-turbocharged 408cid LS2, 4L80E conversion, and 9.00” rear end, with a goal of 8-second passes full-weight.  In his personal time, Mike enjoys attending racing events across the nation including TX2K, Gridlife, and others, cooking BBQ, off-roading, shooting guns at the range, and spending time with his wife Chelsea.

     

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  • 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS – Headers & Tune

    2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS – Headers & Tune

    Would you expect to gain over 100whp & 70lbft from just long-tube headers and Flex Fuel on a nearly stock naturally aspirated vehicle? Yeah, neither did Jason when he brought his Summit White 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS in from Maryland for that exact scope-of-work, but that’s where we landed!

    Up first, Charlie performed pre-work dyno runs to establish a starting point, and with the only modification being a Chevrolet Performance air-intake system, the baseline came in at 353.87whp & 395.79lbft. Far less than expected, but after inspecting the datalogs, we noticed that the short term fuel trims were alarmingly out of line. The only logical conclusion we could draw is that the intake wasn’t playing nicely with the factory calibration, which is obviously odd given the manufacturer.

    Once we determined the low power wasn’t due to a mechanical issue, she moved to the shop where Jackson installed Stainless Works long-tube headers and Chambered S-Tube exhaust system (NPP compatible), MSD Performance spark-plug wires with Design Engineering, Inc. Protect-a-Boots, Mishimoto Automotive 160° thermostat, and a DSX Tuning Flex Fuel conversion.

    With the mechanical work wrapped in the shop, Charlie strapped her back down to the rollers for Vlad to perform the 93 octane calibration up first via HP Tuners. Our hypothesis proved out, with the LT1’s output jumping to 440.00whp & 445.30lbft — gaining 86.13whp & 49.51lbft on 93 octane alone! Then, with E85 in the tank, Vlad moved on to the Flex Fuel calibration, increasing output to 461.49whp & 469.00lbft –– gaining 107.62whp & 73.21lbft at peak over baseline, and over 130lbft at ~3,700rpm! See overlay graph of all three runs in the picture stack.

    Suffice it to say, Jason left with an entirely different car than he arrived with, and is enjoying the new power output! Check out the dyno video below.

     

    Green plot: baseline
    Blue plot: 93 octane calibration
    Red plot: E85 calibration
     
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  • 2019 Subaru WRX STI – GTX3076R

    2019 Subaru WRX STI – GTX3076R

    Erick brought his brand new 2019 Subaru WRX STI in to have the wick turned up! Up first in the shop, Alex set the EJ257 up with a Garrett – Advancing Motion GTX3076R Gen-II turbocharger packaged for stock-placement by ATP Turbo, IAG Performance Street Series air/oil separator, PERRIN Performance turbocharger inlet tube, COBB Tuning SF intake system, GrimmSpeed top-mount intercooler, GrimmSpeed 3-port electronic boost control solenoid, GFB blow-off valve, TOMEI unequal-length header & up-pipe, Invidia Exhaust down-pipe & Gemini R400 exhaust system, Aeromotive Fuel Systems 340lph in-tank fuel pump, Injector Dynamics ID1050X fuel injectors, Mishimoto Automotive radiator, all transmitting through an Advanced Clutch Technology HDSS clutch kit & Streetlite flywheel, with all the miscellaneous OEM and aftermarket gaskets, seals, and fluids needed to bring it together.

    Once Alex wrapped the mechanical work in the shop, Matt strapped her down to the rollers for Vlad to perform a calibration via COBB Tuning’s Accessport. The result? 390.42awhp & 363.35lbft on 93 octane at ~20psi! Much more power to enjoy, while still keeping it stock-block safe — all around great outcome!

       

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