Crane Cams shuttered, according to report

Legendary camshaft company Crane Cams appears to have gone out of business this week.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal, is reporting the 56-year-old Daytona Beach, Fla., company has been shuttered and its workers laid off.

Crane's parts have become synonymous with performance and have been used by A.J. Foyt, the Wood Brothers, Bill Elliott, Richard Petty and many other well-known drivers.

The company first made a splash at the 1961 NHRA nationals, when a dragster using Crane roller cams was piloted by "Sneaky" Pete Robinson to the Top Eliminator award, breaking records and upsetting more established competitors in the process.

The visibility by Robinson's success and that of other racers using Crane parts helped the company grow in the 1960s as the Detroit automakers and racing thrived.

Crane Cams was founded in 1953 and had grown into a multi-million manufacturing operation, according to its Web site.

In late 2006, it was acquired by Mikronite Technologies Group Inc. of Eatontown, N.J.

No one answered a phone call from AutoWeek Wednesday afternoon to Crane Cam's Florida factory. The closure was apparently a surprise, as local officials were attempting to work a deal to keep the company open, according to the newspaper report.

By Greg Migliore