All images credit: Chuckles Garage

Scott Birdsall, the chief fabricator behind Chuckles Garage in Santa Rose, Calif. set off in 2009 to construct a period-perfect Gasser from the ground-up, beginning with a 1962 Ford Falcon that would adhere as much as possible to the 1965 NHRA rulebook.

Birdsall picked up the “beater” Falcon on Craiglist for a mere $200, and the project, known as “Strange Bird was underway. Plans called for spindle mounts, a 2/3 ladder frame, 9-inch housing, econoline straight-tube front axle, fender exit exhaust pipes, a 4-speed transmission, and a Buick Nailhead powerplant topped with a Littlefield supercharger and 2×4 four-jet carburetors. The hood would go and so would the interior, making this a REAL Gasser.

For the uninitiated, the Buick V8 Nailhead engines were introduced in 1953 as a replacement for the massive straight-eight engines. Hot rodders of the era began calling them Nailheads because the intake and exhaust valves were rather small and installed vertically. With a unique valve orientation and combustion chamber design, the engine had a very distinct upright look in terms of the valve cover angle.

The 401-inch Nailhead in this Falcon was originally a drag boat motor from the 1960′s. Birsdall fabbed up a custom blower manifold, had custom piston and rods made along with a stout cam from COMP Cams, installed custom valve springs, valves, and pushrods, and created the side exit headers in-house. Once complete and ready to fire, the growling mill sported original vintage Weiand valve covers, a  pair of Buick Wildcat Rochester 4-jets modified for use with the blower, a Nicson front engine cover/mount, and other custom goodies, all paired to a Buick ST400 transmission from a ’65 Riviera.The result is a look and a sound that’ll make hot rodders and racers alike salivate.

While we’d love to highlight the entire project here, we’ll just leave that to Birdsall, who took readers along for the journey in a Part 1 and Part 2 buildup of this Gasser over on the Jalopy Journal forum.

The guys over at Calhoun Racing are putting together a new combo for the new season. With the help of GForce Motorsports, this once Outlaw True Ten Association Ultimate Street and Texas True Ten 5 Extreme Street champion machine is being transformed into a hopeful Outlaw Drag Radial contender.

Coming up from a stock suspension car fitted with UPR and QA1 components, it previously turned a best of 5.08 at 139 MPH with a 1.16 sixty-foot. It was powered by a Kuntz built, nitrous-powered, 434-inch small block Ford topped with Glidden Victor heads and a single Dominator. It ran on two kits thanks to Steve Johnson at Induction solutions and put the power down through a JW-cased Powerglide and Moser 9-inch rear end housing.

The 440 cubic inch, twin-turbo powerplant soon to power Calhoun's Drag Radial machine.

After the season was over, the team decided to take 2010 off to start the transformation into the radial car they wanted. Chris Calhoun began by taking the car down to the bare bones to start fresh from the ground-up. Racecraft Inc. was called upon to handle stuffing the new suspension going into the car with in-house and QA1 components. Deciding on power early on, a twin turbo small block Ford was the choice. HK Racing Engines is the shop behind the 440-inch SBF that’s being fed by a pair Garret Pro Mod 88mm turbos with Tial stainless housings. Using the same Glidden Victor heads as before, Calhoun had Greg Good do some extra work on them to prepare for the boosted setup. To do so, a figure eight style O-ring was installed in the head and custom valve guides were made to house the Inconel exhaust vales and titanium intake valves. Then the block was prepped with O-rings to create a double O-ring setup to contain the boost. A custom, billet runner sheet metal intake was fabricated by Beck to house the Moran billet 235lb injectors and Wilson 105mm throttle body.

All that pressurized air is fed through the car thanks to Rick Stevens Race Cars and is cooled by a Precision 3000 air-to-water intercooler with a custom water box. Fuel management is controlled by Big Stuff 3 and an AMS 1000 boost controller paired with a Racepak setup helps keep everything in check. The man behind the tune-up’s and getting this whole setup put together is Don Bailey of DCB Enterprises. Before getting the engine stuffed in the car, Don and Chris got together with the School of Automotive Machinists for some naturally-aspirated dyno pulls. Hopes are to push this car to the front with some 2,500-plus horsepower.

In addition to the new powerplant, the car has received updates front to rear. The Moser rear end was treated to 40-spline axles and a 3.89 gear. Strange dual caliper brakes were then fitted to help stop this beast. The JW-cased Powerglide was updated with a new valve body and a Hughes gear set. For the 2012 season, Chris plans on running in the Outlaw True Ten Association and the ORTC’s Outlaw Drag Radial class.

Chris wants to give big thanks to Calhoun Construction and GForce Motorsports for sponsoring the build, Don Bailey for the tuning, Greg Good and Kuntz for the head work, Rick Stevens Race Cars for fab work, Judson from SAM for the dyno time, and HK Racing Engines and Erik Koeing for the bullet.

Todd Lesenko

It was announced today that California-based Tap It Brewing Co. has joined Jim Dunn Racing as the primary sponsor of the team’s Funny Car for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle season. Tap It Brewing Co. produces fine handcrafted ales in a variety of flavors from bold and intense to cool and refreshing.

“We’re proud to have Tap It Brewing team up with us for the 2012 season,” said Dunn. “We have been in NHRA Drag Racing for a long time, and we know what it takes to make the sponsor experience highly successful. Our car and crew are seasoned veterans, and we’re all looking forward to kicking off the season and showcasing our partnership with Tap It Brewing and all of our sponsors.”

Todd Lesenko will replace Paul Lee behind the wheel of the Jim Dunn-owned machine.

“We’re extremely pleased to have signed Todd on as our driver of the Tap It Brewing Funny Car,” said Team Manager Jon Dunn. “Todd is a great addition to the team. Fans and sponsors alike are going to enjoy watching Todd race this year, and he will do a great job on and off the track representing Jim Dunn Racing as well.”

In addition to Tap It Bewing Co., former primary sponsor Canidea Natural Pet Foods and a number of others will be among the associates sponsors on the team’s Funny Car for the 2012 campaign.

Clay Millican

Popular driver Clay Millican will get his shot a full NHRA Full Throttle campaign in 2012, it was revealed earlier this week. The Automotive Distribution Network, the parent company of the Parts Plus brand, will back Millican beginning with the season opener in Pomona next months, thanks in part to a great fan response during their initial backing of Millican during the latter half of the 2011 season.

“After the positive response to our sponsorship of MPE Motorsports and Clay Millican for 12 races last year, we’re committing to the full 23-event NHRA slate for 2012, providing extensive marketing support and pitside hospitality packages at tracks nationwide,” said Mike Lambert, Automotive Distribution Network president. “Hospitality ensures that our Parts Plus members and jobbers, as well as our manufacturer partners serving as associate sponsors, maximize our promotional efforts on a local basis to effectively reach the end user – the professional who throws away the box.”

“I’m thrilled that Parts Plus is onboard for the whole season,” Millican said. “Their support has generated excitement for our team as we gear up for 2012 with two brand-new cars and all the parts and pieces we need to compete at a championship level.”

Imafe credit: Antron Brown via Twitter

Antron Brown

Fan favorite Antron Brown, who finished third in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel standings, will have a slightly new look on his Matco Tools dragster for the new season.

Image credit: Spencer Massey via Twitter

Spencer Massey

Massey, who finished an oh-so-close second to Del Worsham in his first season driving for Don Schumacher Racing, also revealed a new look for his FRAM Ultra dragster for his pursuit of a championship in 2012.

Image credit: Kalitta Motorsports via Twitter

Doug Kalitta

Although unpainted at present, Doug Kalitta will roll into preseason testing prior to the Winternationals with a brand spankin’ new chassis in hoes of improving upon his eighth place finish in the Top Fuel standings last season.

Less than two months ago, Eric Petersen was being extracted by rescue personnel from his destroyed 1969 Firebird during the final session of qualifying in Extreme Drag Radial for the Street Car Supernationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The throttle on his machine had become lodged just after leaving the starting line, and before the racer known as “The Wildman” could regain control, careened into the left side retaining wall, knocking him unconscious and sending the battered Firebird back across the track into the other wall before enduring a few tense moments in the middle of the racetrack with the throttle hung wide open. Footage of the devastating accident was initially seen by many – including his mother back home – on the live feed broadcast, and later went viral in drag racing circles.

“I launched the car and it hooked good – the best sixty-foot the car had ever recorded in fact – and then it started heading toward the middle of the track, where it spun the tires. When it did that, I tried to peddle it and realized the throttle was hung wide open. I tried pulling up on the pedal three times. It was traveling across the track pretty quick and it was apparent to me that I wasn’t getting it back, so I reached up and swiped the dash to shut off the ignition. I grabbed for the parachute and it was right then that I hit the wall and it knocked me out cold. Looking at it now, I missed the ignition switch, but managed to hit everything else.”

The Racepak data logger registered a forceful 11G impact with the guardrail; an impact that Petersen didn’t awake from until 10 minutes after the crash.

Petersen had traveled 1,200 miles to Las Vegas from his Enumclaw, Washington home with his crew, including previously featured Bonneville salt flat racer Mark Wilcox, in hopes of recording his first seven-second pass with the Firebird in Drag Radial trim. If the stars aligned right, he also had his sights set on becoming the first to crack the 200 mile per hour on the slender 275 radial tires. After an 8.04 during the first session, “The Wildman” reeled off a career best 7.77 at 182.90 MPH and was riding high as he took the tree on what he believes to have been a 7.5-second pace in the final session before all hell broke loose.

Petersen had owned and driven the Firebird for thirteen years, gradually transforming it from a fifteen-second street machine to a swift, seven-second race car in a street cars’ body. He’d even won two championships in the Northwest Pro Street Association with it. And so naturally, as any racer that’s poured his blood and sweat into a race car would, Petersen was livid when he awoke to the sound of the Jaws of Life cutting through the chassis of his prized race car.

“I woke up when they cut the first bar; when it made the loud snapping sound. I was really mad. My father told the rescue worker cutting the car that I wasn’t going to be happy once I came to and the guy said, ‘we’ve got this handled.’ As soon as I woke up, I was screaming and they had to get Chris [Huffman} to calm me down. Then they had me in the ambulance and the paramedic tried to cut my expensive firesuit to strap me down and I broke the restraint on the ambulance to get out of it.”

Despite the horrendous crash that rendered him unconscious, Petersen had no apprehensions of climbing back into a race car as soon as possible.

“We were already looking for a new car on the way home from Vegas. We don’t know why the throttle hung open, things just happen. But I’ve got a great crew and they’ve always given me a good, safe race car.”

After years of being limited by a small tire, Petersen went so far as to seek out a used Top Alcohol Funny Car chassis from area racer Randy Parker in order to let it all hang out, so to speak, on a larger tire. What he found was a virtually brand new, 1952 Chevrolet Pro Modified with an estimate two dozen passes on it. Northwest Pro Modified racer Perry Krinitt was the original owner of the car, but after his tragic death in a helicopter accident in 2010, his estate – including the race operation – was sold, exchanging hands once before Petersen purchased it this winter.

“Randy asked me, ‘I thought you were a door car guy; why don’t you buy a Pro Modified car?’ I said Randy, I can’t afford a Pro Mod. And he said, ‘well come over to my shop, I’ve got something I want to show you.’ I got over there, he opened the door, and there it was. He told me, ‘we’ll make sure you can afford this one.’ And he did; it was really cool.”

Lloyd Culp constructed the chassis that features a removable fiberglass body, Mark Williams gears, Koni adjustable shocks, a torsion bar front end, Weld wheels, a fresh air system, and a host of other high-end parts and pieces.

Petersen, Wilcox, and the rest of the team salvaged what they could from the Firebird before sending it to the scrap yard, including the fully intact 509 cubic inch, big block Chevrolet mill that will be paired with a ProCharger F3-X supercharger on alcohol, creating some 2,200 horsepower. Chris Huffman, another salt flat competitor featured in the past here on DRAGZINE, fabricated the custom intake manifold that sits atop a tunnel ram intake manifold, and all of the tuning aspects are handled by Hyperaktive Performance Solutions. In a change from the Firebird, Petersen has switched to a two-speed Lenco transmission with a clutch, adding an element that he’ll have to learn as he progresses into the new ride.

Petersen earned his Advanced E.T. license driving a “big tire” car, with a best quarter mile lap of 7.17, but never before has he driven a car with the performance capabilities of this ’51 Chevy, delivering a whole new challenge as a driver the first time he dumps the clutch in testing this season.

Pacific Street Car Association head man Mel Roth has hinted at an adjustment in the soon-to-be-released 2012 rules that would permit Petersen’s new car into Outlaw 10.5. If those changes come to pass, the larger meats will be traded in favor of a set of 10.5W’s. Given the finalized weight of the ’52 at 2,650 pounds and the horsepower and torque delivered by the supercharged big block, Petersen is confident he can light the scoreboards in under 6.2-seconds – enough to get him in the qualified field in Pro Street despite being over 200 pounds heavy.

As an NHRA Tech Inspector himself, Petersen is fully educated in the need for adequate safety equipment, and after experiencing a devastating accident first hand, has a better understanding than ever before in how he can keep himself safe in the future.

“Looking back, I’m thankful that I had all the proper safety equipment and then some; I went above and beyond what was required. I had Funny Car boots and a HANS device on, and I carry twenty pounds of fire suppression in the car, but I never hit any of it. They said I was trying to reach for the switch when they got to the car, even though I was knocked out cold.”

“We’re going to do some different things with the new car. The Firebird was based off a street car, and so the dash and switches were kind of tucked away. The new car will have everything in a push-pull setup so they’re easy to turn off. The parachutes and power switch will be on the steering wheel, and we’re going to put a transponder in it to shut the car down and deploy the chutes.”

In 2012, Petersen is going to retain the look of the car as-purchased and display memorial decals for Krinnitt – a man he’d never even met -  to honor his memory.

Courntey Force with Traxxas President Mike Jenkins. Image credit: NHRA.com/National Dragster

Courtney Force, the youngest of 15-time champion John Force’s four daughters and who has spent the last four seasons learning both the on and off-track aspects of professional drag racing, will finally get a chance to show what she can do on the big stage as the driver of an 8,000 horsepower Ford Mustang Funny Car sponsored by Traxxas, the world leader in ready-to-run radio-controlled vehicles.

Courtney, 23, will make her professional driving debut Feb. 9-12 in the 52nd annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. and will compete for NHRA Rookie of the Year honors.

“For Traxxas, Courtney represents more than just a female driver on the track. The family that she comes from has been racing and she’s been a part of racing all of her life. She’s not just another girl at the racetrack, she’s a girl that has real DNA and John Force DNA embedded in her and it shows,” said Mike Jenkins Traxxas president. “Take a couple of minutes and talk with Courtney; you’ll see the competitiveness that comes out in that girl. She’s going to represent our company and our brand. She’s been a top pick for us for a very long time- we’re proud to have her on.”

After winning her first NHRA national event in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2009 and earning “Top Agent” honors in the marketing contest that fueled Ford’s Fiesta Movement introduction in 2010, Courtney spent the better part of last season testing in a Ford Mustang Funny Car following selected Full Throttle tour events.

“Courtney proved she has the same competitive drive that’s made her father successful, working her way through the Super Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster ranks,” said Jamie Allison, Director of Ford Racing.

“We’ve only seen a small portion of what she’s capable of achieving,” Allison continued, “(and) we’re happy to welcome her officially as a member of the One Ford Funny Car team in 2012. It’s something we’ve all anticipated and we are very excited and happy to have her on the Ford team.”

Courtney with newly-named crew chief Ron Douglas. Image credit: NHRA.com/National Dragster

In preparation for her debut in Pomona, Courtney will continue to test her new Traxxas Ford Mustang this month at the Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida. Ron Douglas, who tuned Ashley Force-Hood to second and third place points finishes and a pair of Mac Tools U.S. Nationals crowns, has been named crew chief for Courtney’s rookie run, and will share tuning responsibilities with veteran Scott Wible.

“The preparation of the car is our No. 1 priority,” Douglas said. “We want to make sure the product is right before we ever take it to the starting line. We make sure the car is prepared properly and safely – that’s priority one. Then we’ll decide how we want to attack the racetrack.”

Like older sister Ashley, Courtney developed her career path to the professional ranks much in the same way, taking an auto shop elective in high school, graduating from Cal-State Fullerton in Communications, and honing her skills in Super Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster before spending a full season testing a fuel Funny Car.

In the 1970′s, Horveth owned and sponsored the original “Scorpion” dragster that was campaigned around Southern California, sharing crew and work space with the legendary “Inch Pincher” ’56 Beetle, driven by Dan Gurney in sports car events and Dean Lowry on the quarter mile. The Scorpion was motivated by a 2100cc engine with a supercharger, producing enough power to record 9-second elapsed times. It was during this period that both Revmaster and EMPI, the manufacturer behind the Inch Pincher, were purchased together by Filter Dynamics, and in the midst of the transaction, the original Scorpion was lost and never seen again.

In addition to his drag racing exploits, Horvath has been involved in a number of other racing arenas, including the construction of several cars for the Baja 500 offroad races. At one time, Horvath had as many as nine different cars competing in the Baja event. And the list of drivers he’s been associated with is a who’s-who in racing annals, including Gurney, Lowry, Steve McQueen, Parneli Jones, and a host of others. Along the way, his Revmaster shop has forged ahead in the VW market, producing castings and forgings for  complete flat-four engines and aftermarket parts for Volkswagen and various V8 engines.

Some 40 years after the Scorpion was lost forever, Horvath, Revmaster, and the Scorpion name are set to make a return to the quarter mile with a pair of Californians in two very unique new race cars to compete in NHRA Competition Eliminator – a class that simply reeks of uniqueness.

Los Angeles area natives Chad Blackshire and Mike Ballard are preparing a rear engine dragster and a front-engined Volkswagen Sedan Oval Window Choptop to debut during the 2012 season. Horvath and Revmaster been instrumental in the duo reaching this point, and both cars will carry the Revmaster livery.

“About five years ago I was introduced to Joe by a friend while I was looking for a powerplant for a show car that I was building,” explains Ballard. “This was around the time the first R3000 engines were finishing their testing in the dyno cell and in boats and I really wanted to get my hands on one. Joe was like, forget about it kid, I dont want anything to do with a show car, but if you want to go racing we can talk.”

The 155 cubic inch R2500 Revmaster engine, with a custom engineered, crank-driven ProCharger unit.

Ballard headed back to his shop and began drawing up the plans for the Sedan and quickly began fabricating the body and chassis. A year later, he showed up at Horvath’s shop with a complete car, minus a bellhousing. The car is a typical doorslammer, with a full tube chassis, four-link rear suspension, and a strut front end with components from Strange Engineering.

The Sedan features a Revmaster R2500 engine, measuring 155 cubic inches, that sports a crank-driven ProCharger. Horvath and Ballard engineered a supercharger drive unit to accept D, P, and F series head units and is fully integrated into the Revmaster engine cases. Like its larger cubic inch counterparts, the Sedan, known as Scorpion 2, transfers power through a Jerico DR4 transmission with a DZE dual-disc, six-inch slipper clutch, and utilizes Electromotive’s Tec3R engine management system and fuel injection. Ballard estimates the machine should deliver in the area of 650 horsepower, which will tide the classic Beetle over until a larger R3000 (180 cubic inch) powerplant, capable of some 900 horsepower, can be completed.

The R2500 engine, capable of delivering 650 horsepower to the rear tires, transfers through a Jerico DR4 transmission with a DZE dual-disc, six-inch clutch.

During the same time period that Ballard was turning his drawings into reality with the Sedan, he met and befriended Bruce Dyda of Dyda Race Engineering, who Ballard describes as a truly gifted race car builder. Dyda happened to have a rear engine dragster in the back of his shop that caught Ballard’s interest each time he visited the shop. It had a Toyota 2JZ engine between the framerails and was virtually brand new underneath the dust it had collected.

“One day he finally said, why don’t buy that thing and put a VW motor in it, and so that’s what I did,” explains Ballard. “He’d built it for Toyota or something, perhaps for the NOPI series, but it never debuted. It had an 8 3/4-inch Mopar rear end with 40-spline Mark Williams axles, SPE rack and spindles and all the best stuff; plus, Bruce built it, and I really wanted one of his cars.”

Ballard chose to put a naturally-aspirated mill and a Powerglide in it and go have some fun, but the car ended up sitting around his shop for a year before Ballard met Blackshire, a fellow VW enthusiast. After some time, an agreement was made between the two that if Blackshire committed the time to finishing the dragster project, Ballard would put him behind the wheel.

“Chad’s a professional welder and well, I’m not, so he’s been a crucial part of making that car come alive. And since all the welding has been completed, Chad now helps us in the machine room making spare parts to go out and break,” says Ballard.

The dragster, naturally known as Scorpion 3, is powered by a 3-litre Volkswagen flat-four, with a 90mm crankshaft and 4.03-inch Chevrolet pistons. The 155 cubic inch, alcohol-burning engine is transmitted through the aforementioned Powerglide and Mark Williams Chrysler rear end housing. the naturally-aspirated engine is expected to produce around 350 horsepower.

Blackshire's dragster, known as Scorpion 3, is powered by a 155 cubic inch, Volkswagen flat-four, producing in the neighborhood of 350 horsepower.

Ballard will campaign the Sedan in the BB/A classification within Competition Eliminator on the 7.96 index, which he indicates is likely to be a stretch given the size of the engine. Destroked to the 155-inch limit, Blackshire’s dragster will run in G/D on a 9.64 index.

“It should be exciting to see a couple VW’s in Comp,” Ballard states. “Win or lose, we’re going out to have a good time and be a part of the NHRA, which is where it all started for our mentor and sponsor, Joe Horvath. It’s been one hell of a journey working and learning with a legend.”

Joe Horvath, as seen on the cover of the June 1960 issue of Hot Rod Magazine.

Chris Alston Jr., the second-generation chassis wizard, competes in the PSCA and WCHRA's Outlaw 10.5 and Extreme 10.5 categories with this beautiful 1964 Chevy Nova, which has been as quick as 6.71 seconds at more than 212 miles per hour.

A native of Elk Grove, California near the Chassisworks facility in Sacramento, Alston Jr. competes on the West Coast with the Pacific Street Car Association (PSCA), the West Coast Hot Rod Association (WCHRA), and other special events in the Outlaw 10.5/Extreme 10.5 category with his gorgeous Nova. Utilizing components you can find within the Chassisworks catalog to install on your own Nova/Chevy II, the second generation chassis wiz has been as quick as 6.65-seconds at 212 MPH and change in the quarter mile. But like any race car that was once an actual road going automobile, it had much humbler beginnings.

As one would expect from the test bed for one of the industry's leading racing chassis and component manufacturers, Alston Jr.'s Nova features many of the same components that you can buy for your own Nova/Chevy II, including a Drag Race Front Strut System and Scalloped Avenger 4-Link.

“This started out as nothing more than a street car that we’d mess around with and street race,” said Alston Jr. “We started building a better front suspension system and then built a round tube, back-half setup in the late 1990′s and that’s when this whole process really started. We modified the car with the new components and ran it in a D.O.T. street car type of class originally. Eventually, we got into running True 10.5 with it before we stepped up to Outlaw 10.5. It’s just kind of evolved into what you see over the years.”

In Outlaw 10.5 competition across the country, it’s been both the uniqueness of the cars and the engine combinations – lest we forget the incredible elapsed times and speeds – that have made the category so popular and such a mainstay. And while the single and twin turbochargers and screw-blown Hemi’s have reigned supreme, Alston Jr. opted to go the road less traveled in 2008 with the combination that resides within the engine compartment of his beautiful Nova, and as evidenced by his personal best performance, the results have been nothing short of impressive.

Powering Alston Jr's awesome ride is a 526 cubic inch Chrysler HEMI, built by Miner Brothers Racing, which is very similar to that used in Top Alcohol Dragsters and Funny Cars. Vortech's massive V-28 123-A supercharger provides the boost necessary to propel the Nova to sub six-second elasped times.

“We went with this all-billet, HEMI configuration for the durability,” says Alston. “The standard Chevrolet stuff we were using was just really getting beat up, and we needed something that could hold up.”

Powering the Nova is a 526 cubic inch, Chrysler HEMI-based bullet built by Miner Brothers Racing Engines in Stockton, California, which specializes in engines utilized by supercharged Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car competitors. The powerplant is based around a custom billet aluminum engine block and billet cylinder heads.

At the heart of this thunderous engine combination is Vortech’s V-28 123A-Trim centrifugal supercharger, which at 40-plus pounds of boost and spinning more than 60,000 RPM, delivers the power needed to run well into the six-second zone. The Hemi-headed bullet is topped with a FAST XFI electronic fuel injection system burning methanol and mated with the supercharger. The ignition system is comprised of MSD’s Pro Mag 44 magento and Power Grid system controller. Data acquisition, meanwhile, is all performed through a Racepak unit.

The V-28 supercharger is one of Vortech’s race-intended behemoths, capable of producing 45-plus PSI and some 2,800 horsepower with 83-percent efficiency, and lower discharge temperatures, creating improved trap speed potential. And the extreme durability of the head unit allowed Alston Jr. to press more than twenty passes from his unit at over 40 pounds of boost…without fault.

A Hughes 10.5-inch Powerglide transmission is mated to a Hughes 10.5-inch Pro Mod-style torque converter, and transfers through a lightweight 4130 aluminum driveshaft to a Chassisworks factory-welded FAB9 drag race rear end housing with a Strange Engineering 40-spline Ultra center section and 40-spline Strange drag race axles.

Inside this Nova, you'll find the 10.5-inch Hughes Powerglide transmission, mated to a 10.5-inch Pro Mod-style torque converter also from Hughes, controlled via B&M's slick Bandit shifter. Along with that, all of the electronics, including the Racepak data acquisition system and MSD Power Grid system are all easily accessible in the cockpit. Topping it all of is a classic-looking wood grain-themed steering wheel.

For Alston Jr., the chassis and suspension system under his Nova is a key part of this high-profile race car to not only showcase the Chassisworks components and their potential and capabilities in such a demanding application, but to serve as a testbed for the latest improvements in design for the ’62-67 Nova/Chevy II. Per NHRA and SFI regulations, the car is built around a 25.5-spec round-tube chassis based on Chassisworks own 3/4 kit chassis, with components from Chassisworks comprising the suspension system. The Nova body itself is all original, classic Chevrolet iron mated with fiberglass front end, hood, trunk, and doors.

“All of the first generation Nova suspension components that we designed and manufactured were derived from our experience with the sloppy OEM stuff, so everything on the car and in our catalog has evolved from there,” says Alston.

Alston Jr.'s ride sports Mickey Thompson's sharp Pro 5 drag wheels, wrapped in M/T's 33 x 10.5W tires.

At the front of the car, you’ll find Chassisworks’ bolt-on Chevy II Drag Race Strut System, made of 4130 tubular chromoly which weighs in at just 124 pounds. Among the features of the upgraded unit include scalloped lightweight firewall mounts, ride height-adjustable upper shock mounts, a quick release, extended travel steering rack, engine mounts for small or big block engines, and a host of other elements. Likewise in the rear, the FAB9 housing is mated with Chassisworks’ Scalloped Avenger 4-link system for 1-5/8-inch clips and chassis. The front suspension sports the Alston brand Varishock’s 6-inch travel, double-adjustable shocks and struts, while a pair of seven-inch units reside in the rear.

“The car has been modified a couple of different times, but it’s essentially a modern Outlaw 10.5 car with a custom, round-tube chassis from the firewall on back.”

We caught up with the younger Alston at the recently completed Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas to take a closer look at his ride, and it was there that this wicked Nova carded it’s quickest lap ever at 6.653-seconds at 210.57 MPH to qualify third in Outlaw 10.5 and was right there with NMCA and NMRA champion Mike Murillo in the semifinals before slowing to just a 6.89 at 167 MPH. Anyone who says you can’t go fast n commonly-available chassis components from a catalog needs only to take a look at Chris Alston Jr.’s awesome Nova to reconsider that notion.

When Jon Bowles pulls up to the starting line, it may appear as though he and his black ’92 Mustang are the definition of sneaky and stealthy, but when the 347 cubic-inch, 88 mm-turbocharged engine is spooled and the hammer is dropped, all eyes are on them.

For years, fans of the Aeroquip Performance Products Heads-Up Series and Holbrook Saturday Shootout Series at Milan Dragway in Michigan have watched as Bowles tweaked his combination and ran a series of 8-second passes.

After stopping the clocks at 8.02 at a No ET Nationals event at Milan Dragway last October, he felt he could run even faster, so he turned up the wick for the following pass and let it all hang out, and when he pulled up to the ticket booth afterward and track employee Keith Zieske asked him how fast he wanted to run, Bowles responded with a hopeful “7-anything,” prompting Zieske to shake his hand and flash the timeslip that read 7.95 at 177 miles per hour.

This summer, in the warm Michigan air, he collected more 8-second timeslips for his efforts, but fall’s cooler temperatures once again brought the boost and while driving his car to the semifinal in the VP Racing Fuels Drag Radial class in Milan Dragway’s Aeroquip Performance Products Friday Night Heads-Up Series on October 7, he ran 7.99 in the first round of qualifying and 7.97 in the first round of eliminations, marking his second and third trip to the 7-second zone.

As impressive as that is, what fans will likely remember most is Bowles yanking the wheels, carrying them a long distance and stopping the clocks at an 8.03 in the third round of qualifying. While the nighttime dew found its way to his windshield in the semifinal and forced him to lift, the outing was a successful one for the driver who predicted this week before that he would go faster at this race.

The car has come a long way since the days when Bowles was often forced to pull to the side of the road to feed oil to its tired stock engine. Now, he is confident that mid- to low-7.80s are next, and the head and intake work he had done over winter, coupled with his tuning skills, will make him one to watch this season.

“Jon does a fine job with his car and with his program, and he has a good time with it,” said Trace Meyer, fellow Drag Radial racer. “I was very happy for him when he ran 7.97. It was a big milestone.” Read on for more about Bowles of Adrian, Michigan, a maintenance technician at PPG Industries, who used to get his kicks mud-racing a Jeep CJ7 with a lift-kit and big tires at abandoned gravel pits and on closed roads.

DRAGZINE: The car is a clean machine, inside and out.

Jon Bowles: “When I bought it about ten years ago, it had been used and abused. It had a stock 302 cubic-inch engine and a five-speed transmission, and I raced it like that, with some simple bolt-ons, then I used nitrous for a little while, and it ran 11.70s with nitrous. That was the first year I had it, and then the second year I had it, I put an automatic transmission in it, and a ProCharger D1R and it ran 10.70s and I was street-racing with it.

We had gotten kicked out of the race track for going too fast without a cage. In the third year, I put a cage in it and decided I didn’t like how the car looked, so we started working on the body and did paint and it snowballed from there. We completely disassembled it and restored it and it took us two years. We had repaired the bottom, inside, hood, frame-rails and trunk. Rod Calvin helped me do all of the body work and paint about six years ago.

I bought an engine from Swill Racing, their Renegade engine, about six or seven years ago, and started racing in NMRA Drag Radial. My first race in that class was at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Michigan. The car was running high 9s, and I spun the tires a lot, and basically spun the tires for two years, you might say, until I figured things out, and it’s been going down track ever since. I ran NMRA Drag Radial for three years.”

DZ: What is your current combination?

Bowles: “It’s old-school. It’s a 347 cubic-inch small-block Ford built on an 8.7 deck Dart block with Diamond pistons, Oliver billet rods and I have the old-style Wil-Burt Street Heat High Ports, an 88 mm Work turbocharger that I have had for five years and Big Stuff 3. The car has the original 8.8 rear-end, though it was heavily modified three years ago by Chris “Noodles” Hemmeter at Behind Bars Race Cars. In fact, he built the rear-end, exhaust, intercooler and the rear suspension.

Dave Zimmerman from Team Z Motorsports built the 25.5 Funny Car cage two years ago, and I run his front suspension and I added his wing to the car this year. Dave has helped me out with a lot of stuff.”

Bowles: “Yes, they just did the work in March. When Trace Meyer took his engine to them, he took my heads and intake to them at the same time. They do good work. In fact, they did my heads five or six years ago, back when I first put the car together.  I bought those heads from the original owner, but they’re part of my family now.”

DZ: Many of your friends, including Jason Lee, Trace Meyer and Chad Doyle, run supercharged-combinations in their Mustangs, but you chose a turbo-charged combination.

Bowles: “I just like to be different, and now that I have a handle on it, I wouldn’t change it for anything. It just took a while because I was breaking engines, but two winters ago, I had Chuck Noonan at Performance Machining Racing Engines go through the engine and fix everything, and once the engine stopped breaking, we started making progress and I started getting more aggressive in the tune and I was able to work on figuring things out as far as what the car liked and didn’t like.”

DZ: You mentioned you use Big Stuff 3. Do you do most of your own tuning with it?

Bowles: “Yes, I do, but Jason Lee, Trace Meyer and Chad Doyle help me if I have a struggle.”

DZ: Toward the end of last season, your car was going faster and faster in the Drag Radial class at each of the Milan Dragway heads-up races. We’re two races in this season. How’s it going so far?

Bowles: “I didn’t make the first race, and at the second one, my distributor broke and the car just quit in the burnout box, in the first round of eliminations. Deano and Baldy pushed me back, and it’s always just spectacular when you’re broken and pushed in front of the stands.

Of course, all of this was after I got a flat tire after my first qualifying pass. I missed second round of qualifying because I was looking for a set of front tires to borrow, and then Jim Adams, another racer who lives across the street from the track, loaned me his old Draglite wheels and tires, and we bolted them on and I made the third qualifying pass, when I ran 8.10 at 177 miles per hour. That was with the same tune-up that was in it from last October.”

DZ: You recently took part in the Pritchett Brothers’ Ultimate Outlaw Shootout at Milan Dragway.

Bowles: “Yes, I qualified seventh out of thirteen or fourteen cars. For the first qualifying pass, the car did a hard wheelie and went toward the wall, and for the second qualifying pass, it went 5.31 in the eighth-mile, and in the third round of qualifying, it went 5.29 in the eighth-mile and it went the same thing in the first round, like a bracket car, but I lost to Keith Groves with a fantastically slow light.”

DZ: Which additional races will you take part in this season?

Bowles “I’m going to continue to race in the Drag Radial class at Milan Dragway’s heads-up races and in the Diamond Pistons’ X275 class at Milan Dragway’s Saturday Shootout Series, and we’ll probably go to Georgia for Donald and Amanda Long’s big race, Outlaw Radial Revolution, in October.”

DZ: Any plans to return to NMRA competition?

Bowles: “It’s not out of the question, but the Drag Radial class is really fast right now. Jason Lee has been 7.54. I’ve got a lot of testing to do to go as fast as they’re going.”

DZ: Is it true that you have no qualms about driving your 7-second beast on the street?

Bowles: “It’s happy to be driven! It still has license plates and power windows and power doors and backup lights. It’s got everything and I made sure of that on purpose. People look at you like you’re this side of nuts when you’re driving it on the street with a parachute on the back, and rather than getting any thumbs-up, I just get a bunch of stares.”

DZ: Stickers for your business, TubingJon.com, can be found on many race cars. What does TubingJon.com offer?

Bowles: “I offer any aluminum tubing, including the tubing itself and any accessories, silicone couplers and aluminum down-pipes for turbos. Almost all of the turbo cars have aluminum exhaust. I’ve been doing it for about five years. I’m a plumber and pipe-fitter by trade and I was laid-off and I was putting my car together and I wasn’t going to pay the long dollar, so I started looking and it snowballed from there.”

DZ: We saw a post on yellowbullet.com in which you told Josh Henline you were looking forward to dragging his “roach” down track. No love for your fellow heads-up racer. What’s up with that?

Bowles: “That was nothing! You should see us on Facebook! But really, Josh is a good guy who would do anything to help someone, and it’s all in good fun.”

DZ: Who helps you with your car?

Bowles: “Mark Henry helps me all of the time, but Chad Doyle, Trace Meyer and Jason Lee help me out a ton, too. They’re the best friends a guy could have, really. Chad and I have done a lot of work to the car. He helped me mini-tub it and we mounted the intercooler and did all of the rear suspension in my garage and then in Chad’s garage. I don’t do well dropping the car off just anywhere because I’m too picky. I have also received help from Oliver Connecting Rods, Cometic Gasket, Inc., Mickey Thompson Tires and Fasco Employment Solutions.”

DZ: Where are you when you’re not at the track?

Bowles: “I like to go snowmobiling with my wife, Jolene, who has her own snowmobile, and our sons, Noah, 9, and Parker, 5, who play baseball. Noah made the all-star team for Sand Creek Little League for the third year in a row, and we play tournaments every weekend until August.  I don’t have a whole lot of free time because I coach Noah’s team, but we have a lot of fun, and I’m a pretty lucky guy.”

All images credit: Speedhunters.com/NHRA Museum

The formative years of the sport of drag racing were a truly remarkable time. With the high performance industry and the overall concept of ultimate straight line performance still in its infancy, figuring out what combination would outperform the next invoked the same kind of process as asking out that gorgeous young lass that was completely out of your league: you didn’t know unless you tried.

While one engine was great, the gears running within the minds of the sports’ founding fathers began to spin, and suddenly they were trying two engines, and even four. And perhaps the most famous of all of these multi-engine endeavors belong to one of the most famous men to ever grace the quarter mile.

In 1961, famed actor and drag racing legend “TV” Tommy Ivo rolled out a creation that would become one of, if not the greatest exhibition vehicle of all time and one that would solidify his standing as the sports greatest showman. With four Buick V8 engines strapped to the framerails, Ivo’s all-wheel drive dragster was a true marvel. The engines on the left side drove the front wheels through a Halibrand quick-change center section, while the motors on the right powered the rear wheels through a second Halibrand situated to the right of Ivo in the drivers compartment. All told, this monster packed 1,856 cubic inches and made over 2,000 combined horsepower.

With Ivo unable to drive due to contractual obligations with the television studio he was working for, a young Don Prudhomme handled the initial driving duties of this beast. With all four wheels blazing the hides the entire length of the strip, the four-engine car looked more like a plume of smoke charging down the track then a race car, and it was part of what made this machine such a hit at dragstrips all across the nation. According to Ivo, your hope was that it was pointed straight and still going straight once the smoke cleared, because you couldn’t see anything.

Ivo’s creation, which came to be known as the “Showboat,” was an undeniable crowd pleaser, but the NHRA brass were less than pleased. Concerned that the four-engine concept would take off, Wally Parks and company relegated the car to exhibition-only status. Unwavered, Ivo took his show on the road and all but invented the concept of traveling drag racing acts that we still see today.

In 1963, Ivo opted to return to Top Fuel racing and sold the Showboat to crewman Tom McCourry, who later gave it a second life by adding the famous Buick Station wagon body – crafted by legendary body man Tom Hanna. Hanna hand-formed the entire body, which sported a real roof rack and the first escape hatch in a Funny Car-type body. McCourry campaigned the car as the “Wagon Master” for another 15 years, and thanks to the addition of the Buick Riviera body in an era when Funny Cars were the sports’ biggest draw, the Wagon Master was a hit once again.

We’re told that the first hit off the trailer was a 9.90 at 138 MPH, with several subsequent passes in the 9.70′s. The best run was a 9.69 at 140, with 60 foot times in the low 1.40′s. You can tell from the video that they’re launching soft, just off of idle – appropriate for the first time out in a brand new car.

Tonight, the team is swapping out the 2.9l-blown 327 and replacing it with the naturally aspirated 427 LSX engine, and changing rear gears. We hope to have numbers for that combination tomorrow, and we’ve been promised a professionally produced video with in-car footage by the end of the week, along with interviews of the team members.

Remember, at this point the COPO is still just a concept – to make it a reality, you’ll need to help out by going to GMPerformanceParts.com and getting on the COPO Camaro mailing list to show you’re interested…

If one had to sum up the NHRA’s Competition Eliminator category using just two words, they would likely be “unique,” and “expensive.” With the level of competition in the class necessitating one-off exotic pieces and Pro Stock technology, the costs of entering and being competitive are astronomical and not for the faint at heart of those light in the pocketbook. But don’t tell that to the father and son team of Bob and Tony Niemczyk.

The Niemczyk’s campaign one of the most unique – and certainly one of the hardest-to-miss -  cars in Competition Eliminator, and they do it at a fraction of the cost of the vast majority of their peers.

Hailing from Langhorne, Pennsylvania, Bob, the family patriarch, pilots an I/Dragster powered by a turbocharged, Mitsubishi powerplant in the NHRA’s Division One to elapsed times in the sub-seven second range at nearly 200 MPH. But it was son Tony, who tunes the dragster and will step into the drivers seat next season, that set the entire project into motion.

The Niemczyk's unique I/Dragster is powered by a 2.0L, 125 cubic inch Mitsubishi engine, utilizing an OEM block and cylinder heads per the NHRA regulations, as well as the factory crankshaft.

“Tony raced a Mitsubishi Eclipse in the NOPI Import Series, where he actually did quite well,” Bob explains. “He finished second twice and won the World Finals in 2007. I’ve been a bracket racer since the 80′s and he always went along with me, so I’d go with him to the import events and give him some advice and things. I really got into the NOPI thing and I was very impressed by the power that he was making with this little dinky motor, and I just got hooked on them.”

As Bob explains, while his son was making impressive amounts of horsepower from a factory four-cylinder engine, the car would break driveline parts left and right; from transmissions to differentials, axles, driveshafts, and everything in between. “Obviously, Mitsubishi didn’t make those cars sturdy enough to make 800 to 900 horsepower, which is what he was making.”

At the time, NOPI had a category for dragsters, known as Extreme Dragster, that caught the attention of the Niemczyk’s. Only one car, that of Don Nase Jr., was competing in the class.

“I told my son, we should build one of those,” says Bob. “We knew it would eliminate the driveline issues, because parts are virtually bulletproof these days in a dragster, so it would eliminate that issue. And then we’d have something we could really out some power to and go fast.”

The Niemczyk’s decided to move forward with the dragster project, and after Bob and his brother sold the business that they were partners in, allowing Bob more time to invest in racing, the father and son duo went full steam ahead with their new racing venture.

While the factory-based Mitsubishi engine produced only about 100 horsepower, the the methanol-fueled electronic fuel injection system, which is fed by a 76mm BorgWarner turbocharger help to deliver enarly 1,000 horses courtesy of some 50 pounds of boost.

Per the NHRA guidelines for I/Dragster, both the engine block and the cylinder heads are original factory 2.0L Mitsubishi parts, just like those from a first-generation Eclipse circa 1991-92, as is the crankshaft. Measuring just 125 cubic inches, the little straight-four assembled by Bob and Tony features a short block composed of CP Pistons and custom GRP aluminum connecting rods, along with the aforementioned OEM crank. The combination also sports custom valves, valve springs and retainers, a SparkTech Ignitions coil-on-plug setup, and a dry sump oiling system with a Petersen oil pump. The oil pump drives a mechanical fuel system. Aside from a custom front engine cover that removes the factory oil pump, the engine is largely original.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRNXMXjuz3s

An AEM computer setup controls the methanol-fueled electronic fuel injection system, which is fed by a 76mm BorgWarner turbocharger. DVDT Fab crafted the custom intake manifold. The fuel system involves 14 injectors in all, with four in the factory location, eight more on the intake manifold, and two more upstream near the turbo. By itself, Niemczyk estimates the engine produces around 100 horsepower, which quickly becomes roughly 1,000 courtesy of some 50 pounds of boost.

Says Bob, “the engines are very reasonable to build, because we get the blocks, heads, and crankshaft from junkyards. You can get them really cheap.”

How cheap you ask?

“I wouldn’t think that we have but about $5,000 in the engine. We wouldn’t be able to race if we had to spend $50,000 on one,” Bob says emphatically.

The power from this might Mitsubishi is transferred through a GM two-speed Powerglide transmission to a 9-inch torque converter to a Holeshot wheels wrapped in Goodyear rubber.

The traditional rear engine dragster chassis was put on order at Ken Kissinger’s Ken’s Kustom Chassis in Leesport, Pennsylvania after seeing an I/Dragsrer chassis that Kissinger had already constructed for himself. Kissinger and company developed a Top Dragster-esque chassis with some modifications in mind specific to the small inline four cylinder engine and it’s horsepower and torque capabilities, with input from Niemczyk. The bare chassis was delivered in April of 2009, and a year after first devising their plan to stuff a Mitsubishi four-banger in a dragster, Bob made his debut with the new car.

“The biggest challenge we’ve faced with this car has been trying to get the turbo to spool up, and therefore cut a good reaction time,” Bob explains.

Ken Kisdinger at Ken's Custom Chassis, who had aleready constructed one of these Extreme Sport Compact/Competition Eliminstor Dragsters for himself, butilt the chassis for the Niemczyk's. The car is similar to a Top Dragster, with design cues catered to the inline four-cylinder engine and it's horsepower and torque capabilities, with input from Bob and Tony.

So what is it like, exactly, to drive a car so dependent upon boost?

“The burnout isn’t like a normal burnout,” Bob says. “With 100 horsepower, you can’t spin those large tires, so you have to keep the tires in the water. When I start the burnout, I engage the transbrake and start building boost, and as soon as I get up to about 5,000 RPM, I have enough boost to get the tires spinning to do the burnout. At that point, the boost ramps up incredibly fast and you have to feather the throttle and out it in high gear.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=07z1Oy5QlOU

For the staging process, the car has a three-step system with two different rev limiters: one for staging and one for fully staged. The first is engaged by a switch on the brake pedal, which activates a rev limiter to about 4,500 RPM. The engine is then in a place where it can begin to build boost. While on the torque converter through, it doesn’t always build boost, so a timing retard shoots high pressure exhaust into the turbo to spool it up.

Bob continues, “I basically have the gas pedal on the floor this whole time. As I bump into the bottom bulb, I engage the transbrake button and release the footbrake, which activates the second limiter that holds it at our starting line RPM. Right now we have that at 7,000-7,500. The engine then has enough RPM to build the boost we need to run fast. It’s quite an involved process.”

The estimated 1,000 horsepower is transferred through a GM two-speed Powerglide transmission to a 9-inch torque converter. The chassis was built with a longer rear section to allow for the experimentation of different transmissions.

“This car a lot of work – we put a lot of hours and time and effort into it, but we had a lot of cooperation from a lot of people.”

At the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis in September, Niemczyk, with the tuning assistance of AEM’s Devin Pierce, recorded his best quarter mile pass to date in the opening round of eliminations at 6.955 seconds at 193.57 MPH. Then at the Pennsylvania Dutch Classic at the Maple Grove Raceway in mid October, the Niemczyk’s captured the I/Dragster eighth-mile national record with a lap of 4.56 seconds at 155 MPH.

Who says it’s not possible to race in Competition Eliminator on a working man’s budget?

Bernstein, subbing for his injured son, Brandon, at the 2003 NHRA U.S. Nationals.

“My wife Sheryl and I have come to a place in our lives where we want to pursue other interests,” said Bernstein. “We have poured our hearts and souls in motorsports for over 30 years and that’s a full time job.  It consumes you and there is very little time to relax.”

“We are very proud of our accomplishments through the years and it’s been a great ride, but we’re interested in being able to travel at will, we want to spend some time on the golf course, and we’ve recently taken up fly fishing, which we really enjoy. It’s time to enjoy life while we still have our health.”

“Kenny, Brandon, Sheryl and team are a first-class organization.  We have enjoyed our partnership over the past two seasons,” said Jay Adair, CEO of Copart.  “We wish Kenny and Sheryl the best in retirement.”

“Copart was supportive of our decision and we’re very grateful to CEO Jay Adair and President Vinnie Mitz for giving us their blessing and allowing us to step away from the sport,” continued Bernstein.  “The Auto Club Finals at Pomona this past weekend was our final run.”

As a driver, Bernstein is a six-time NHRA champion, and also holds the distinction of being the only team owner in motorsports with wins in each of the major organizations: NHRA drag racing, NASCAR, and CART. On March 20, 1992 in Gainesville, Fla., Bernstein forever cemented his name into drag racing infamy when he recorded drag racing’s first 300 MPH run. From that moment forth, Bernstein was and will forever be known as the “King of Speed.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8yVh1WhnGo

“There’s certainly a great deal of sadness in coming to terms with the end of an era and some concern about whether or not you can run a life at 300 mph and then come to a sudden stop, but Sheryl and I gave this a tremendous amount of thought before we came to our final decision. Brandon was also a part of the decision-making process and we are going to do everything we can to help him find a position with another team.  Brandon lives and breathes the day-to-day demands and understands the endless hours of effort that we poured into the team. Brandon wanted what was best for Sheryl and me at this stage of our lives. He was totally selfless.”

Bernstein was directly linked to Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser brand maintained the longest-running primary sponsorship association in the history of auto racing – 30 years. Bernstein won 69 national events, four consecutive Funny Car championships from 1985-1989, and two Top Fuel titles (1996, 2001), and was voted in the top 10 on NHRA’s Greatest Drivers List. As a Top Fuel team owner, Bernstein won 18 national events with Brandon at the wheel.

“We salute the late great NHRA founder Wally Parks, who was a dear friend and gave us an arena in which to live out our dreams. We are fortunate to have had a job that we loved and without Wally’s vision, it’s hard to say where our life’s path would have led.”

“For a youngster that grew up in Texas dreaming about cars and reading Hot Rod magazine, we were able to live the dream. Thanks again to all those who have touched our lives.  We are walking away with a treasure chest full of memories.”

The Badillac is my vision of a hot rod pro-street car and what I consider to be my version of “old school.”

In Auto Meter’s 2011 SEMA booth you will find one of the meanest ’56 Cadillac’s you will ever see! The caddy named “Badillac” lives up to its name. The all steel body features a lot of unique aspects, but the first thing you will notice is the huge blower sticking out of the hood.

The blown 468 big block puts out an impressive 850 horsepower

The powerplant consists of a 468 big block Chevy with a massive 8-71 blower topped with two 1050 Holley dominators. “Even though I own a restoration shop (Xcaliber Auto. Restoration), in New Lenox, IL,” says Pettenon. “I chose to do this on my own time due to time constraints with running a business and raising a family. So it has taken me 6 yrs. on and off to build, but I truly love to do what I do, and I love how it turned out.”

“The Badillac is my vision of a hot rod pro-street car and what I consider to be my version of “old school,” says Pettenon. The Deville features a tri-five Chevy front frame section lowered with disc brakes and a power steering rack. The rear frame is a competition engineering back half with a nine inch Ford rear end.

If you think that the color is unique, well you’re right! The “Badillac” features a custom mixed paint scheme mixed by Pettenon himself. “It was a custom mixed color that I did myself. It took a lot of trial and error before we found this color. My children call the color  “obscene green”. Regardless of what it is called, we think it is perfect for the throwback look.

The exhaust makes a unique turn through the trunk and then exits out of the stock bumper exhaust ports

With the blower and big block the Cadillac puts out an impressive 850 horses. “Originally I built the car to help pull some publicity and draw some interest to my business, but make no mistake about it. I meant this car to drive!” The Hoosier street legal drag radials help put all the power to the ground. While the interior features all the original moldings with some custom inserts and gauges.

One of the most unique features actually came stock in '56. Here is the hidden filler cap that is found under the left rear tail light

Contributing to the unique look is the chopped top,  the top has been lowered 3″ in the front and 1.5″ in the back. But what really caught our eye was the two unique features that came stock with the ’56 Deville. The first of which was the fuel cap that is found hidden under the left rear tail light. The next is the exhaust which travels through the trunk and then exits out of the rear bumper. “It was important to me to leave these stock features in the build. These are so unique and I wouldn’t dare of changed them.”

“I feel like a celebrity being here with Auto Meter, they really have treated us right. They flew us out here, and gave us a set of custom gauges. Then yesterday they took us to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a NASCAR driving experience. It’s been an amazing week so far.”

No matter how long it takes, it’s great to see a build come to a conclusion. Pete Pettenon should be a inspiration to all of us that are loosing hope on our build. Regardless of how long it takes, it is always worth it!

What do you think of the “Badillac”? Leave us a comment below with your opinion.

With the “Flathead” V-8, Ford’s place in American high performance history is ensured. For years, while Chevrolet was saddled with the Blue Flame Six, Hot Rodders around the country were dropping Flatheads in everything with four wheels and creating a new cultural phenomenon. However, all that performance equity seemed to disappear with the debut of Chevrolet’s Small-block V-8 in 1955, becoming America’s motor of choice.

The product of an escalating cubic-inch war, the 406 was the final salvo before the venerable 427 took to the scene to take on the 421 Pontiacs and 426 Max Wedge Mopars. Images: Mecum Auctions

A few years later, in 1960, Ford was back on track with a solid-lifter 352, but it didn’t supplant Chevy’s “Mouse Motor” in America’s consciousness. And when Super Stock competition really got fierce in 1962,

Ford’s candidates weren’t competitive enough. Through the efforts of a Ford-sponsored drag racer, the first in a series of lightweight Super Stock Galaxies was introduced.

“Win on Sunday, sell of Monday” became a popular mantra for NASCAR, but manufacturers eventually figured out it also rang true for the burgeoning sport of drag racing. However, it took Ford a little longer to figure it out. It’s not for lack of trying.

When the Flathead was replaced by the Y-block in 1954, it just wasn’t the same love affair. Supercharging came to the 312 in 1957, but with just over 200 Thunderbirds and an unknown number of Ford passenger cars built with the “F-code” motor, they were much less popular than Chevrolet’s fuel-injected 283.

Another perspective of Al Means Ford's lightweight.

A Whole New Plant

Another new engine series introduced in 1958, the FE (“Ford-Edsel”), never inspired the Beach Boys to write a song like “She’s real cool, my 352!”; over at Mercury, the brand-new 430 – part of the MEL series (“Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln”) – produced an advertised 400 horsepower with three two-barrel carburetors. This was the first engine to hit that magic number, even out-powering Chrysler’s hallowed 300-D, but the 430 found more success in NASCAR than on the street.

After Chevy’s second-year 348 and Pontiac’s Tri-Power 389 truly upped the performance ante in 1959, Ford threw in the gauntlet with “R-code” 352/360 Interceptor Special.

With an impressive equipment list including solid lifters, aluminum intake, Holley carburetor, dual-point distributor, and a fast roofline in Galaxie Starliner form, it nonetheless was saddled with a column-shifted three-speed Borg-Warner manual transmission – not the best choice for power-shifting down the 1320.

Nineteen sixty-one brought the same motor bored to 390 cubic inches and available in 375- or 401-horsepower configurations (the latter with three two-barrel carburetion), but that also was the year Chevy brought out the 409. Dave Strickler had a lot of fun with that one.

Yet, for 1962, hope was in the horizon for Ford. The brand-new Thunderbird 406 High Performance V-8 made 385 horsepower at 5800 rpm through a single four-barrel carburetor (“B-code”) or 405 with three two-barrels and a nifty oval air cleaner (“G-code”).

Inside, the Lightweight Galaxies remained exceptionally Spartan in accoutrements. Designed for drag racing duty, these machines were notably limited to civilian purchasers.

For $379.70 you received a motor with 11.4:1 compression and 448 lb-ft of torque, header exhausts leading to duals out back, 3.50 gears, heavy-duty shocks, springs, and driveshaft, face-resistant drum brakes, high-capacity radiator, and 15-inch wheels.

Available with the 406 was a new Borg-Warner four-speed transmission, which was the missing link that had been keeping Ford from being a truly competitive brand.

Most notably, Dodge and Plymouth’s new Max Wedge 413 put out 410 horsepower (with up to 420 with 13.5:1 compression) with cross-ram induction. This motor in a car much lighter than the Galaxie rendered the 406 uncompetitive.

Out of frustration, a racer by the name of Les Ritchey made an appeal to Ford, saying their cars were too heavy to compete nationally. Ritchey had gained some prominence through his engine preparation for Gas Ronda, and his Performance Associates shop in southern California eventually became Ford’s official West Coast headquarters for their factory team.

Ritchey knew that Ford could be competitive in Super Stock racing because racer Dick Brannan had modified his Galaxie with plenty of success over the faster Super Duty Pontiacs and Max Wedge Mopars.

While the C-pillar touts the familiar 'A/FX' designation, the car has neither a modified drivetrain or straight-axle suspension, iconic characteristics of other A/FX'ers. Rather, it's factory-supplied fiberglass components OK'ed for the class.

Weight Loss Made Easy

Ritchey felt that a bit more factory support would give their efforts a place in the winner’s circle more often. So, according to Extreme Muscle Cars by Bill Holder and Phil Kunz, Ford subsequently sent an estimated 11 Galaxie Club Sedans (Ford-speak for two-door sedan with a B-pillar) to Dearborn Steel Tubing to be converted into their first lightweight Super Stockers.

This particular '62 Galaxie lightweight was raced by Phil Bonner (pictured), who received it as a replacement for a previous one destroyed in an accident.

These lightweight Galaxies were equipped with a special lightweight frame, deleted sound deadener and sealing, thinner window glass, a fiberglass hood, front fenders, and trunk lid, an aluminum inner fender panels, front bumper, and bumper brackets, deleted armrest and carpet, lightweight bucket seats, battery relocated to trunk.

All cars were shipped with the G-code 406/405 but, in a subversive nod to the spirit of competition, Ford included a brand-new intake manifold with twin four-barrel Holleys in the trunk. As would be expected for a racer of this caliber, there was no radio or heater. All told, weight savings was estimated to be 400 pounds.

Charging a single dollar so as to absolve themselves of any liability, Ford hand-picked Dick Brannan, Jerry Harvey, Phil Bonner (he received a second one after his first sustained damage), Ed Martin Ford of Indianapolis, Tasca Ford of East Providence, RI, Gas Ronda, Les Ritchey, Bob Ford, Inc. of Dearborn, MI, Jim Price, and Jerry Alderman to campaign these Galaxies.

Just when Ford was ready to rip the competition to shreds, the NHRA didn’t feel the lightweight Galaxie was a proper Super Stocker and factored the lightweight in the new Factory Experimental A/FX class. Subsequently, the Galaxie’s race record was not as stellar as hoped because they were prepared for a different class.

And then, before you knew it, the 1962 model year was over – time for the improved 1963 Galaxies. Gas Ronda has gone on record saying he was pleased with the 1962 lightweight’s performance, but lamented the late delivery stating, “By the time we got the 1962 lightweights it was already time to start working on the 1963 cars. Many of these ‘62 lightweights frames ended up under 1963 bodies.”

Luckily for Ford, things fell into place in 1963. Their Super Stock program was much better developed, and Ford’s “Total Performance” dominance on all things racing eventually brought them victory in the 24 Hours of LeMans. Ford may have been slow to the punch, but the 1962 lightweight Galaxie was the beginning of another glorious chapter in Ford’s history.

CHECK OUT OTHER MUSCLE CARS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• ’64 Mercury Comet 427 A/FX
• ’68 Chevrolet Chevelle 300 327 L79
• ’69 1/2 Plymouth Road Runner 440-6 #1
• ’67 Buick California GS
• Dick Landy’s ’70 HEMI Dodge Challenger R/T
• ’70 AMC AMX/3 Supercar Concept
• ’71 AMC Matador Machine 401
• ’67 Plymouth HEMI GTX “Silver Bullet”
• ’71 Baldwin Motion Phase III GT
• ’63 Chevrolet Z11 Impala 427
• ’64 Chrysler Ghia Turbine Car
• ’63 Pontiac Catalina Lightweight 421
• ’69 Mercury Cougar BOSS 429
• ’69 Royal Bobcat Pontiac GTO Ram Air V
• ’87 Buick Regal GNX
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 302 George Follmer’s #16
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 429
• ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona #88
• ’69 Motion Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 427 ZLX
• ’69 Motion Hurst/Oldsmobile 455

Though the engine has only been on the streets for a year, many shops are already making impressive horsepower numbers. And Blow By Racing now claims it has the most powerful Coyote 5.0-powered Mustang in the world, with a recent dyno run of over 950 horsepower.

Actually they made 953 horsepower…not that they expected to make that much. In fact, the whole thing came together at the last moment. Chris Jones, Sales Manager of BBR, got in touch with Hellion about building a car for 5.0 Mustang’s annual King of the Street competition. Four days before the competition. And they built this car in four days.

Ok, to be honest much of the car was already put together, as BBR had previously equipped this Mustang with a supercharger system that boosted output to around 800 horsepower. What they did was remove the supercharger for a Hellion single-turbo setup using a Precision turbocharger, as well as adding a Nitrous Express 125 shot system to help spool up the oversized 82 mm turbo.

As it turns out, they my have spun the turbo a bit too high. Chris Jones tells us that they were running “around 35 pounds of boost” through the BOSS 302 intake manifold when it exploded, going through the hood of the car. This happened just days away from the competition, which meant repair the intake and the hood and starting over, running a much more managable 17-19 pounds of boost. On the dyno at their shop in Boca Rouge, Florida, the Mustang made approximately 830 horsepower. Good, but not record breaking.

However, the weather was much more agreeable at Holley Performance’s factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky. There Blow By Racing’s turbocharged Mustang laid down a monstrous 953 horsepower at the wheels with the temperature around 55 degrees and with zero humidity…plus the 125 shot of nitrous. That makes this the highest numbers yet recorded by a Coyote 5.0 Mustang, though even Chris Jones admits that there might be other cars out there making more power that never bothered to get it on the dyno. We say that is their loss.

Need more proof? The BBR Mustang shattered it’s drive shaft on it’s first attempt down the drag strip. So no ¼ mile times, and no dyno sheets either, at least for now.

That may raise a few eyebrows, we doubt BBR would be on the Corral.net forums making these claims if they weren’t true, and one need only wait for 5.0 Mustang magazine to release there official numbers to know if it is true. They plan to hit the track soon, and they promised to bring a video camera, so stay tuned.

While getting your hands on a factory-built race car was still a daunting task to anyone (except to those with strong inroads with Detroit or who dallied as weekend racers with factory racing support), walking into just about any car dealership in 1963 could land you a vehicle that had dual quads perched atop a stout big block and backed by a 4-speed transmission.

Ford’s titular “Total Performance” program was an all-out assault on competitive racing. The promotional campaign sought to put the Blue Oval in the winner’s circle of a variety of motorsport venues.

1964 A/FX Comet Caliente was stuffed with the high-riser 427. Images: Mecum Auctions

Doing so meant a new-found emphasis on outright performance in all of Ford’s mainstream vehicles, specifically the Fairlane, Falcon, and Galaxie, which were heavily restyled to reflect this new performance image.

But Ford’s Total Performance program wasn’t all “talk” either. Though in very small quantities, “street legal” race cars were created by Ford, either due to demand or to meet homologation standards.

This usually meant – particularly in the early 1960s – the use of Ford’s venerable 427 side-oiler engine. Equipped with such, special editions of the Galaxie and Fairlane were created, namely the “Thunderbolt,” to rival entries from cross-town rivals Pontiac and Mopar.

And what about Mercury? While not under Ford’s Total Performance umbrella, sister brand Mercury also was active in racing. Their A/FX Comet was one of the hottest factory drag cars of the era, and goes unfairly forgotten in conversations.

A/FX (factory experimental) racing traces its origins back to the glory years of factory-sponsored Super Stock racing. When the Big Three couldn’t increase the power of their engines fast enough, they began to remove weight every which way (or, in the infinite words of Colin Chapman, “add lightness”).

The Comet was redesigned for 1964. Caliente trim level was used for A/FX coupes.

The A/FX Comets had a lot of success from 1964-65. Trim styling has made it a favorite.

Going On a Diet

In 1962, Pontiac began to offer aluminum components to racers, which reduced the weight of the Super Duty Catalina to a svelte 3,600 pounds. By 1963, all other manufacturers were using aluminum – save Ford, who used fiberglass components, most famously its “teardrop” hood.

The 427 was a strong contender in its high-riser form, but struggled shaking off the Mighty Mopars, although the ’64 Fairlane Thunderbolt evened the playing field a bit.

Pontiac upped the ante still by drilling holes in the frame of its light weight A-Bodies creating the now infamous “Swiss Cheese” Catalina. However, the fun at General Motors was short-lived as the big guys at the top floor of GM HQ said no more to factory-sanctioned racing.

The ranks of Super Stock racing was now left to Ford, Chrysler, and a handful of independents racing GM products, but the days of Super Stock were numbered anyway – the mechanical improvements from year to year were becoming marginal after 1962, plus the A/FX class allowed modified bodies, suspension, and wheels to make for wilder, more exciting racing. And, to be honest, Fords were notably heavier than the Mopars, didn’t have an automatic on par with Chrysler’s push-button, neutral-drop-surviving TorqueFlite, and those pesky Max Wedges and HEMIs.

The 427 was a strong contender in its high-riser form, but struggled shaking off the Mighty Mopars, although the ’64 Fairlane Thunderbolt evened the playing field a bit.

The equalizer between FoMoCo's lightweight A/FX entries and Mopar's was the potent high-riser 427. Equipped with set of high-dome pistons upping the compression up to 14:1, the tall intake was a pair of 780cfm Holley four-barrels while a pair of tube steel headers evacuated the spent gases.

Bringing Out The Big Guns

Meanwhile, Mercury was taking notice that sponsoring a popular drag team was a good way to sell cars, so they commissioned Dearborn Steel Tubing to build a Comet Caliente two-door hardtop and a Comet wagon. Aside of the obvious differences in body styles, the wagon also had a wheelbase shorter by over four inches. A high-riser 427 was installed with some fuss, but Dearborn Steel Tubing’s experience modifying the Thunderbolt certainly helped.

With Dyno Don Nicholson freshly minted into the Mercury ranks, he was given the choice of a Caliente coupe or the wagon; Dyno chose the wagon for its shorter wheelbase and heavier rear for better weight transfer. He wreaked havoc in Super Stock until the NHRA told him it was a non-production vehicle that required it to be refactored to the A/FX class.

The 427 for the A/FX Comet was part of FoMoCo’s FE series that had its beginnings in 1958 as a 332 and 352. In mid-year 1963, the 427 replaced the 406 and came in two configurations: The “Q-code” 410-horsepower version with a single four-barrel, and an “R-code” with dual quads and 425 horsepower.

Iconic to the A/FX entries from Ford were the aggressive and fully functional 'teardrop' hoods.

All A/FX Comets were white with red interiors.

However, for racing, FoMoCo created the “high-riser,” so named due to the raised aluminum intake manifold. The high-riser 427 was also distinguished by its redesigned cylinder heads, which featured larger ports with wider 2.19-inch and 1.73-inch intake and exhaust valves, respectively. A set of high-dome pistons and a redesigned combustion chamber upped the compression to a wild 14:1 ratio. Above the aforementioned tall intake was a pair of 780cfm Holley four-barrels while a pair of tube steel headers evacuated the spent gases. The rest of the R-Code package included a heavy-duty four-speed, and a nine-inch rear end.

The above changes didn’t change the factory horsepower rating, but obviously it was putting out well over 500 horsepower. The modifications didn’t stop there for the 427 Comet, which included a pair of fiberglass front fenders, hood, doors, and bumpers, Lexan side and rear glass, a lighter, six-cylinder radiator, radio- and heater-delete plates, and American Racing magnesium wheels up front.

Dyno Don eventually passed along the wagon prototype to Fast Eddie Schartman and received a “production” Comet Caliente, racking up 78 wins and one loss for the season. Fast Eddie updated the wagon with a 1965 nose and won Mr. Stock Eliminator at the ’65 Winternationals. But it wasn’t just big names winning races with one of the 21 white and red A/FX 427 Comets – Laughlin Miles Lincoln-Mercury of Alton, Illinois campaigned “Countdown 3” (so named because of the red-yellow-green lights of the Christmas tree) to numerous wins. It sold at the Mecum Auction in Kissimmee, Florida in January, 2011 for a cool $175.000.

CHECK OUT OTHER MUSCLE CARS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• ’68 Chevrolet Chevelle 300 327 L79
• ’69 1/2 Plymouth Road Runner 440-6 #1
• ’67 Buick California GS
• Dick Landy’s ’70 HEMI Dodge Challenger R/T
• ’70 AMC AMX/3 Supercar Concept
• ’71 AMC Matador Machine 401
• ’67 Plymouth HEMI GTX “Silver Bullet”
• ’71 Baldwin Motion Phase III GT
• ’63 Chevrolet Z11 Impala 427
• ’64 Chrysler Ghia Turbine Car
• ’63 Pontiac Catalina Lightweight 421
• ’69 Mercury Cougar BOSS 429
• ’69 Royal Bobcat Pontiac GTO Ram Air V
• ’87 Buick Regal GNX
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 302 George Follmer’s #16
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 429
• ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona #88
• ’69 Motion Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 427 ZLX
• ’69 Motion Hurst/Oldsmobile 455

What you’re looking at is one of the most controversial cars in the X275 class today, known as ‘Vader.’ It was originally built to run in Outlaw Drag Radial. Pete Harrell was the original owner and purchased this car right off of a used car lot. It was completely stock when it went into the chassis shop and came out a total work of art. The car is slammed on the ground and could win any car show with the immaculate paint and body; even the undercarriage was cleaned and smoothed before it was painted with a bed liner paint. The interior was done in tweed by Ed’s Trim Shop, while the tin work and wing were fabricated by Mike at Tin Man Fabrication. The Mustang maintains the stock floor, intertwined with an SFI 25.2 spec chassis. Originally, it was set up with single 106mm turbo mounted sideways before undergoing changes necessary to become X275 legal with an 88mm turbo in the grille area.

We caught up with the current owner Eric McMillen, who indicated that he feels the car is simply too heavy to be competitive in Outlaw Drag Radial. Unwilling to cut up such a beautiful race car, he opted to go X275 racing with it. It was originally equipped with a torque arm, as many of the fastest cars in the country were running such a setup at the time ‘Vader’ was constructed.

The mounting points on the rear suspension have come under a lot of debate and many say the car shouldn’t be allowed to run in X275. However, some minor changes have been made in recent months and the car has been deemed legal by X275 founder John Sears.

The engine is a 417 cubic inch, Brodix-headed small block Ford, featuring an HRE sheetmetal intake with Moran atomizer fuel injectors. Harrell Engine and Dyno went though the original powerplant and made some changes to the combination for the X275 venture. Pete Harrell is also the driver of ‘Vader’ and handles all the race day tuning.

McMillen also has a very fast nitrous-injected small block 1992 Mustang coupe that he drives; recently finishing runner up to Sam Vincent at Mooresville Dragway’s Small Block Nationals last month and with some stout 4.80′s to its credit. Not far behind, ‘Vader’ has recorded a best of 4.90 at 155 MPH, and McMillen and Harrell feel it has the potential to be much quicker once the car and the combination are lined out.

At the Yellowbullet Nationals over Labor Day weekend, Harrell ran a 5.02 at 152 MPH in the heat, with several low 5.0-second passes turned in during eliminations.  ‘Vader’ made it all the way to semifinals before losing a close race to eventual winner Rich Bruder. If you’re fan of small tire racing, you’ll certainly see this car in the winners circle very soon. Truly a rolling master piece, that really rolls.

If you’re fan of small tire racing, you’ll certainly see this car in the winners circle very soon. Truly a rolling master piece, that really rolls.

Images courtesy: Mike Garland

Cordova Dragway Park played host to one of the most dramatic AA/FC events in recent memory last weekend. The World Series of Drag Racing would determine the world champion in the DRO Funny Car Series, and three teams came into the event with a mathematical shot of taking home the gold. With fifteen cars on the property this wouldn’t be easy for anyone. Points leader Paul Romine and his Man-O- War ’79 Mustang was the odds-on favorite, but had never secured a victory on this track surface with his AA/FC.

Dallas, Texas native John Hale began the weekend 67 points behind Romine, third in the points, while Minnesota-based legend Doc Halladay was in the second spot, just 60 points back. In order for either Halladay or Hale to win the championship, they had to pull off the perfect race. It was going to take a #1 qualifying effort, along with setting both ends of the national record held by Romine and winning the event. Romine, meanwhile, would have to be defeated before the final round, as well.

During the first round of qualifying, Romine laid down what would be the best pass of the day with a very nice 5.84-second lap. Halladay and Hale just couldn’t quite top the Man-O-War in this session, ending up a respectable #2 and #3.

On Saturday, the second and final qualifying session was set to begin and all eyes were on the Mike Burkhart tribute car driven by Hale. Halladay and Romine both elected to sit out this session, content with their qualifying times. The sun was out and the track temperature was a blistering 130 degrees with the corrected altitude around 2,700 feet. Not the best conditions for a nitro Funny Car to run in. Hale brings his car to the line and does very nice, smoky burnout that had the fans on their feet. At the flash of green, the Camaro was off like a rocket, carrying the wheels nearly 100 feet. It was a a nice clean pass, and what came up on the scoreboard stunned everyone in attendance. John Hale had just ripped off an amazing 5.77-second pass. Not one person on the property expected that.

In doing so, he kept his chance at a title alive, becoming the #1 qualifier for the event. That pass was also the quickest and fastest run ever in the DRO Funny Car Series. Hale had accomplished three things on one single pass: he achieved the number one qualifying spot, eclipsed the national speed record with a blast of 249.44 MPH, and also became the quickest Funny Car driver in the series with a 5.777. All he needed to do now was back up both for an official record.

In the first round, Hale barely escaped with a win, taking the victory on a holeshot over Brian Stewart in the Showtime tribute car. He didn’t back up either of his previous marks in doing so, but advanced to the semifinals, where he was pitted up against Romine. This was going to be a epic battle for the title. If Hale did not defeat Romine in this round, his dreams of a championship would be over. All Paul had to do was win the round to claim his third straight title.

The cars were staged and at the flash of green, Romine in his Man-O-War Mustang was out on the Camaro. Paul was .052 on the tree to Hales’ .082. But the scoreboards lit up and Hale had stolen one from Romine. Not only did he advance, but he had run the third quickest time ever recorded by a Nostalgia Funny Car, with a jaw-dropping 5.673, with a MPH of 251.72 that backed up his earlier speed for a new record. Unfortunately, the 5.673 was too quick to back up the 5.777 within 1-percent.

Hale had a competition single in the final round, in which he needed to only make it down the track but also had to establish a new elapsed time record in order to win the championship. The run was anti-climatic, however, as he shook and was forced to lift, effectively costing him the championship.

Now here is where things get tricky. Two astute fans did a little digging in the NHRA rule book and found a little-known rule pertaining to national records. They were convinced that you didn’t need to back up the record within 1-percent if both of your elapsed times eclipsed the national record. What they found confirmed it. In section 2, page 8 of the 2011 NHRA Rule Book, it states:

In a sport where records play such a vital role, every effort is made to maintain their accuracy and validity. In order to ensure the validity of all new records, a backup performance of within 1 percent of the new mark is required at the same event. In the event that two runs exceed the existing record but are not within 1 percent of each other, the quicker time or faster speed will be acceptable as the backup for the slower time, which will stand as the new record.

This information was passed on to the DRO Series Director on Tuesday, who acknowledged that an error had been made per the NHRA guidelines. And so in a major turn events, John Hale has been awarded the championship based on the establishment of a new national elapsed time record and the points that go along with, and the DRO Series should be applauded for making the correction. Hale’s semifinal run against Romine turned out to be the Nostalgia Funny Car version of “The Run.” John did everything right this weekend and pulled off an incredible come-from-behind run to the championship that will long be remembered.

It’s not every day someone tosses you the keys to a $60,000 Mustang and tells you to have fun with it for a week.  The vehicle we are testing?  Well, we will give you a hint.  First we covered the teaser shots, then there was the video covering the details, next was a video covering its photo shoot,  then onto the first videos of the Mustang at Laguna Seca, after that was the official release, but you can’t forget the One Lap of America announcement that was closely followed by additional photos, again with more track footage at Carolina Motorsports Park plus Daytona, and all capped off with a nice burnout video.  In case you still can’t figure it out, we are talking about ROUSH’s 540 HP RS3 Mustang.  Sit back as we take you for a day-by-day ride along with the RS3.

Day 1 – Thursday

The first hour in the RS3 was spent sitting in So Cal rush hour traffic

With everything set, ROUSH instructed me to drive to Galpin Auto Sports to pick up the RS3.  It made the most sense to pick the Mustang up on a Thursday so I could take it to the nearby eighth-mile track, Irwindale Speedway.  Galpin is on the other side of the So Cal world from us, so I set out at 1PM in hopes of getting there by 3:30 – a short 100 mile drive though the middle of the biggest cities in the area.  The traffic I didn’t want to encounter was there on the way back, taking the same time to drive 30 miles to the track as it did to Galpin.

In traffic the RS3 is as docile as a factory-fresh GT… except for the exhaust that has an off-acceleration tone that mimics an approaching thunderstorm, ready to strike.  Even at idle when the RS3 is whisper quiet, it gets more looks than any other car I have ever driven; thumbs up, finger points, and heads turning around backwards to catch a final glimpse – in short – in the looks department -  the RS3 is a superstar.

Top Gear USA had the ROUSH the week before I did and Ford-sponsored drifting extraordinaire Tanner Foust removed 80% of the tread off the Cooper RS3 tires.

Finally, I made it to Irwindale and helmet in hand, flew through tech with a “stock” vehicle. Straight from tech into the staging lanes, I wanted to see how the 20-inch Cooper RS3 tires performed with street tire pressures. I made a small three second burnout and rolled to the line.  Slipping the clutch at 2500 RPM resulted in a little wheel spin in first and a whole lot more wheel spin as I hit second gear.  Through the traps, the RS3 went 8.219 @ 88.74 MPH with a 1.961 60 foot; not bad on the factory 20s, but I knew I could improve. I made a few more back-to-back passes in an attempt to find the optimum launching RPM – 2,000 was too low and 3,000 was too high, sticking with 2500 RPM was going to be key to a good launch.

Check out our on car track videos below!

(left) All the stars aligned for my next-to-final run as I raced into the sunset, breaking into the seven second zone with a 7.955 @ 88.82 MPH. (Right) As the crowd grew for the test and tune session, the RS3 Mustang became a popular vehicle for staging lane onlookers.

Before the next run I let the car cool off a bit and iced the supercharger to speed up the process.  While waiting for the intercooler coolant to stop boiling, I aired the tires down from 36 to 25 PSI in hopes that they would hook a little better, but I had to be careful since these are short-sidewall tires. Another short burn out, stage, rev up to 2,500 RPM, lights green and the Coopers dead hook with zero wheel spin, netting a 1.807 60-foot time. Second and third gear were followed by slightest of tire chirps as the run ended with a short shift into 4th. The time slip displayed my first seven second pass of the day, a 7.955 @ 88.82 MPH.  For those of you that are curious, that is around a 12.17 second quarter mile pass.  It was going to be hard to better that time without putting on a set of drag radials. I did make one final pass after this that netted a little wheel spin and an 8.101 @ 89.24 MPH, which was still the second best run of the day.

Day Two – Friday

With track testing out of the way, I spent Friday analyzing the RS3 from top to bottom.  I have a relaxing 40 mile commute to the office each day so I could get a better understanding of the ROUSH’s road manners.  As I mentioned before, there is no deterioration on the RS3 tune when compared to a stock Mustang.  When driving it easy, it gets 22 MPG, plus cold start and operating temperature driveability is spot on.  Even at cruise, the DBs coming from the exhaust are marginally louder than stock and produces no drone.

The suspension consists of ROUSH’s non-adjustable shocks, lowering springs, and sway bars.  The ride is a bit stiff over bumps and having the option for adjustable shocks would allow the driver to soften up for daily driving and dial in for the track.  Don’t get me wrong though; the suspension and tire package is extremely responsive and would perform wonderfully on light track and autocross duties.

This fully decked out RS3 package features custom-stitched factory seats with a new suede inserts that are available in a wide range of colors.  From there, the new gauge cluster layout gives the tachometer and speedometer more definition.  For your hands and feet there are ROUSH pedal covers, floor mats, and shift knob.  The only other additions I would have liked to have seen to the interior would have been a custom shift boot that matched the stitching of the seats, a Roush RS3 graphic similar to the one on the faux gas cap for the steering wheel, and possibly different dash inserts outside the typical premium package silver; if you are a passenger with bad hearing, the interior could be misconstrued as a stock GT.

Day Three and Four – Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was a fairly uneventful day spent trying to convince the Mrs. to purchase a 2011 V6 Mustang to mod the hell out of. Sunday, we drove to Los Angeles to take advantage of a few photo spots I had found some time ago and never used.  The first shot location was a small train depot near the 4th street bridge that sat directly behind downtown L.A. It is not a gated-in area and has an open lot that is easy to move around in.  The second location is under a section of the 101 freeway in which the long pillars give a nice addition to the shot.

The first shoot location was at a mini train depot overlooking downtown L.A.

The second location was under a tall freeway overpass.

Day Five – Monday

It was time for the ROUSH’s final test by strapping down the Mustang on our DynoJet to see how much power it would make to the rear wheels.  This was the first time I got to hear what the Mustang sounded like from the outside, and boy does this thing sound mean! When it came to the numbers, most of us were guessing between the 440-450 RWHP range and we were right.  The RS3 averaged 442 HP and 382 lb/ft. If you factor a drivetrain loss of 18%, the RS3 is making its advertised 540 HP.  ROUSH also rates this supercharger at 10 PSI of boost, and my experience from the track and on the dyno is while it may flash to 10 PSI between shifts, most of a run the needle sits at the 7 PSI mark.

We have to mention that the tune on the RS3 is extremely conservative.  ROUSH does this so people that plan to buy an RS3 and leave it like it is can take advantage of its 3 year/36,000 mile powertrain warrantee, the same length you get on a stock 2011 Mustang.  Now, if you want to turn the power up, you will loose your warrantee, but could easily run low 11 second passes, as we have seen with Rebecca Starkey’s nearly stone stock automatic Mustang with a ROUSHCharger and a set of 18-inch drag radials.

Disregard the torque curve on the first run, the tach wire wasn't clipped completely onto the coil. The RS3 averaged 442 HP and 382 lb/ft. If you factor a drivetrain loss of 18%, the RS3 is making its advertised 540 HP.

Check out the RS3 dyno pulls below!

Final Day – Tuesday

I was a bit sad driving the RS3 back to GAS on Tuesday.  I enjoyed its tame 21 MPG tune while noticing a pile of onlookers checking out the ‘Stang one last time. Now, with a 50 state legal CARB certification under its belt, you can enjoy owning a custom Mustang without being (legally) hassled by the cops.  The RS3 is a gentleman’s car; it boasts just the right amount of modifications, both aesthetic and performance-oriented, in all the key areas making it a Mustang you don’t have to modify to enjoy.

Specs

Core Components
ROUSHcharged 5.0L Powertrain System (540 hp / 465 ft-lb)
ROUSH Square Tip Performance Exhaust – Dealer Installed (Post Title)
ROUSH Front Fascia with Driving Lamps
ROUSH Front Fascia Blackout Graphic
ROUSH Front Chin Splitter
ROUSH Billet Upper Grille with Stage 3 R Badge
Square Stage 3 R Fender Badges
ROUSH Side Rocker Splitters
ROUSH Rear Valance
ROUSH Rear Decklid Spoiler
ROUSH Rear Blackout Panel with Jack Roush Signature
ROUSH Stage 3 R Faux Gas Cap Badge
ROUSH Stage 3 Decklid Badge
ROUSH Stage 3 Graphics Package
ROUSH Front Windshield Banner
ROUSH Suspension System
ROUSH 18-Inch Chrome Wheels with High Performance Cooper 2XS Tires
ROUSH Embroidered Floor Mats
ROUSH White Face Gauges
ROUSH Center Console Badge/Button
ROUSH Stage 3 Interior Medallion
ROUSH Stage 3 Serialized Engine Bay Plaque
ROUSH Engine Bay Plaque with Chassis Builder
ROUSH Supplement Owners Guide

Optional Components
ROUSH Vent Gauge Pod with Boost Gauge – $435
ROUSH Illuminated Door Sill Plates – $220
ROUSH Billet Performance Pedals – $200
ROUSH Stage 3 Leather Seating – $1,725
ROUSH 6-Speed Shifter Ball (White or Black) – $95
ROUSH Billet Aluminum 6-Speed Shifter Knob with Grips – $110
ROUSH Convertible Light Bar – $910
ROUSH Trunk Mounted Tool Kit – $395
ROUSH Rear Quarter Window Louvers – $370
ROUSH Rear Quarter Window Louver Graphics (Matte Black) – $70
ROUSH Lower Billet Grille – $250
ROUSH Engine Coil Covers (Red) – $285
ROUSH 18-Inch Chrome Wheels with Ultra High Performance Cooper RS3 Tires (tire upgrade ONLY) – $304
ROUSH 20-Inch Wheels (Chrome or Hyper Black) with Ultra High Performance Cooper RS3 Tires – $1,115
ROUSH Locking Lug Nuts – $60
ROUSH Sport Brake Package (Red) – $1,450
ROUSH Performance Brake Package – $2,877
ROUSH Competition Brake Package – $3,687

]]> http://www.dragzine.com/features/car-features/roush-for-a-week-road-drag-strip-and-dyno-testing-an-rs3/feed/ 0 http://www.dragzine.com/features/car-features/rising-above-sandi-wolds-xtreeme-drag-radial-00-mustang/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rising-above-sandi-wolds-xtreeme-drag-radial-00-mustang http://www.dragzine.com/features/car-features/rising-above-sandi-wolds-xtreeme-drag-radial-00-mustang/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:39:22 +0000 Andrew Wolf http://www.dragzine.com/?p=84317 In life, there is often no greater motivator than being told that we can’t do something. It creates a fire in our souls to defy the odds and to seek victory over the doubters. And for Sandi Wold, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1991 and told that she would never walk again, those words became the driving force that ignited her passion for life and for racing.

“At that time in my life I was in a horrible place, to say the least, and it was devastating,” Sandi explains. “Back in 2000, I’d fought with the disease to get my physical, mental and emotional strength back and had decided from the day the doctor told me that the M.S. was going to take away my ability to walk, that I wasn’t giving in to the disease – that I would conquer it.  To date I’ve done exceptionally well keeping my health in check, so to speak. I do walk, and one would never know that I have M.S. if they saw me and didn’t know it. So for now I cherish every day that I have the ability to do the things I want to do.”

Husband, John Wold, echoed that sentiment, “When she was diagnosed, the doctors didn’t give her much chance of being normal, and so for her, this is just an ‘I’ll show you’ message that she can do this.”

Sandi and John became interested in drag racing after their proverbial nest of five children emptied. With their children off to college and creating families of their own, and a shared craving for adrenaline evidenced by their snowmobile and quad riding, drag racing was a natural fit. “My husband and I felt the need to find a sport that both of us could enjoy together so we had things to look forward to. Hence the birth of my drag racing career,” says Sandi.

Now, twenty years after her diagnosis, Sandi and her husband John have embarked on their loftiest racing venture yet, entering the wild world of Xtreeme Drag Radial in the Pacific Street Car Association with their turbocharged Mustang that’s already run well into the seven-second zone. The Wolds’ 2000 Ford Mustang GT is a highly-engineered, purpose-built racing machine today, but like many race cars terrorizing the quarter mile, it’s beginnings are traced right back to the showroom floor.

“She bought this car brand new and did a little street racing, but I said ‘come on honey, let’s go to the track,’ John explains. So we went down to the local track and went a couple of rounds and she tells me the car isn’t fast enough. So we decided it was time for a supercharger.”

The Wold’s bolted on a ProCharger and got it dialed in with a FAST EFI and ignition system and proceeded to put the five-speed Mustang into the nines. But in short order, Sandi admitted it still wasn’t quick enough. At that point, John took the next logical step by outfitting the car with a turbocharger and double overhead cam combination that put the car well into the eights. Naturally, however, longevity issues creeped in as the cylinder walls cracked and valve seats began pushing out, leading them to propose a more purpose-built powerplant.

“A good friend of mine called John Mihovetz and asked him if he’d build us a motor. John said ‘let me talk to her’ and called my wife and told her ‘we’re having a race in Bakersfield, come on down.’ Well, Bakersfield is about 850 miles from here, so we hopped in the truck to go down there and meet him. We didn’t even know what he looked like, but we got there and tracked him down and he came out of the motorhome, introduced himself, and told us ‘sure, I’ll build you a motor.’ It was pretty funny, but that was his test to see if we were serious – to see if we’d take the time to drive down and see them run and discuss motors. And he knew at that point we were in because he’s pretty particular about who he builds motors for.”

After receiving the engine from Mihovetz and spending some six weeks getting everything wired and plumbed, John and Sandi decided the car they had simply wasn’t up to par for the kind of horsepower they were about to throw at it, and per an earlier agreed upon stipulation from Mihovetz, it was decided that it was time to put the once daily driver under the knife. That’s when Mihovetz referred them to Robbie Miller, who spent about 18 months beginning in November of 2009 bringing the car up to seven-second standards with a complete certified cage and chassis, suspension, wheel tubs, and other race-minded elements. Once complete, the chassis, interior, and engine bay were all powdercoated, finishing off what was an immaculate new piece.

“Robbie does spectacular work, and when we got it back, it was beyond our expectations,” John said. “And with it done right, I was more comfortable with my wife driving this car with a nuclear weapon under the hood. I felt like she was a lot safer.”

Built at Miller’s shop in Upland, Calif., the backhalved car sports an ’03 Cobra front clip and a custom cowl hood to give it the racey look, with an AJE K-member, Lamb suspension components on all four corners, a Mark Williams 9″ housing and four-link, along with a funny car cage and all the bells and whistles commonly found in an Outlaw 10.5 car. Black anodized Weld Racing Wheels and Mickey Thompson 29.5×10.5′s complete the rolling package.

Mihovetz and the modular experts at his Accufab Racing facility in Ontario, Calif. constructed the stock bore, 4.6L Ford Modular powerplant that features a dry sump oiling system, massaged Ford factory cylinder heads, and what Wold describes as fairly close to stock camshafts. “Because we’re running a turbo, we don’t need a lot of lift or duration.” The fresh new bullet is fed by a 91mm Precision Pro Mod turbocharger, while all of the engines functions are handled through a MoTec engine management system. The power is transferred through a Reid Racing-built two-speed Powerglide transmission and a PTC Racing torque converter.

While Sandi handles the duties of driving the Mustang, John performs all the maintenance on the car and even gets in a little racing of his own with his ’03 Ford Lightning pickup.

“It runs in the mid-12′s, and that’s fun for me,” John explains. “I don’t have a fast car like hers because we can’t really afford two of them. So I’ve got my truck that I bracket race and she’s got the fast car, and one of these days I might license in her car, but this is our first year out and we’re turning heads and we need to concentrate on what we’re doing now.”

Continued John, “she’s a heck of driver. She can handle this monster, and it really is a monster. It’s funny, because at the track, I’ll have other racers come up to me asking which lane I want and tell me ‘nice run last pass,’ and I have to tell them ‘you need to be talking to the driver.’ They ask ‘she drives that?’ It’s fun to surprise people.”

With the racing season already more than midway through, the Wold’s and Mihovetz are dialing in the combination for a run at the PSCA title next season, and even an East Coast tour to the hotbed of street legal drag racing is a possibility.

The weekend of July 1-3, in the first competitive outing with the transformed race car at the PSCA Summer Nationals in Fontana, Calif., Sandi was the #1 qualifier in Xtreeme Drag Radial with a stellar 7.79 at 187.83 MPH and reached the final round, where she came up just short in a bid for her first win to opponent Brant Campbell. But less than a month later, at the PSCA’s Showdown After Sundown at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sandi emerged victorious, qualifying third and running low ET of eliminations at 7.79-seconds in the final round on her way to victory over Jeff Longden and a much-cherished trip to the winners circle. And for John and Sandi, it’s their hope that the Las Vegas is triumph is but the first of many.

“Despite what the doctors told her, she walks really well, and we’re going to keep doing this until she can’t do it anymore,” John explains. “And that’s really the name of the game. That’s why we ride snowmobiles and quads: so we can make memories while we can, because M.S. is terminal – you always have it. So, as long as she can physically do it, we’re going to do everything we can.”

Says Sandi, “Drag racing is more than simply driving a fast car – it’s my way of rising above.”

“Last winter Bill Bader contacted me with the idea of not just bringing together these nostalgic, or historic as he refers to them, nitro funny cars, but to also have many of the actual drivers behind the wheel,” said Hawley, Founder of Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School. “Bader was hoping that Troy Martin, who currently drives the Chi-Town Hustler, wouldn’t mind relinquishing the driving duties for one special night and get me to come back and match race all these other historic funny cars.”

Troy Martin's recreated Chi-Town Hustler flopper, which Hawley will pilot at the "Night Under Fire" in Norwalk. Photos courtesy: Mike Garland/Magic Photos

“Troy has been doing a very good job match racing the Chi-Town Hustler across the country for the last several years,” Hawley continued. “The car that Troy has is the 1973 Chi-Town Hustler and I actually didn’t start driving the car until the 1980 season. I met with Troy last week and since he is taller than I am, we made several modifications to the car. We are really looking forward to competing for the fans during the Night Under Fire.”

“It’s just going to be an incredible opportunity,” Hawley added. “It’s going to be a chance for me to see some guys I haven’t seen in many years. It’s one thing to just see these guys in the pits after all these years, but to be able to jump back in the car and compete against them again is something that I never really imagined I would get to do.”

Adding to the nostalgia of the evening will be Dale Pulde’s War Eagle, Raymond Beadle’s Blue Max, Mike Savage’s Candies & Hughes Plymouth, Jon Capps in the “Jungle Jim,” the “Mr. Chevrolet” Dick Harrell Camaro Tribute Car, and Doc Halladay in his iconic “Telstar” flopper.

“You don’t have to be a drag race fan. You don’t even necessarily need to be a John Force Fan. The “Night Under Fire” is about pure entertainment,” explained Bill Bader III, President and Co-Owner of Summit Motorsports Park. “From the pre-race ceremony and all of the pageantry, presentation and emotion that goes into that where it is scripted right down to the end. It is a very special event.” “One of the things I think our sport has lost is it’s rivalries. Everyone wears a ‘white hat’ and there are no ‘black hats’ any longer,” he stated. “In the old days, we had many more colorful drivers and rivalries that you could really sink your teeth into. These cars of today have become rolling billboards, and I understand that. But to reach back in time and grab the Blue Max, the War Eagle, the Chi-Town and so on is going to be great. Because when you think about it, back then it was about the personalities and the rivalries. It was about the good guy and the bad guy. It was back when our sport was getting its legs, so to speak, but I can tell you it was a pretty cool time for our sport of Drag Racing.”

“For the 34th Annual Night Under Fire, we have reached back and grabbed eight historic funny cars, which were all part of the foundation of the modern day fuel funny car class,” he continued. “They have been assembled from all over the US. I didn’t stay just in the Midwest. I personally am very excited to see all of these cars.”

Hawley, who didn’t begin driving the Chi-Town Hustler until the 1980 season, recalls competing in an eight-car Funny Car show at the Ohio racetrack that season, where he defeated Pulde’s War Eagle for the title.

“Now I heard, through Bill Bader, that Dale told him that he beat me in the final,” Hawley pointed out with a smile. “I’m pretty sure I won that race, I know we were both in the final. Guess someone needs to pull up some documentation from somewhere, but wow, how neat would that be to think that some thirty-one years later we have the opportunity to possibly repeat all that. Dale and I have always had a friendly rivalry. Well I always thought it was friendly. I think that Dale Pulde is one of the best funny cars drivers ever and to get a chance to get out there and race against Dale again is going to be amazing.”

Images credit: Russ Griffith Dragfoto/NitroGeezers.com

This weekend, longtime Northwest drag racing hitter Jerry “The King” Ruth will be honored as one of the “Legends” as part of the NHRA’s 60th anniversary celebration during the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals at the Pacific Raceways in Seattle, the final stop of the NHRA’s Western Swing. And on this Flashback Friday, we take a look back at the career of the region’s most famed racer.

Ruth, like so many others of the era, began his racing career at a young age, racing various gas coupes and sedans along with his late brother, John, in the late 1950′s and early 1960′s in their native Washington state. In 1963, with the bug to go faster, Jerry purchased a Chevy gas dragster from the Bier brothers of southern California and campaigned it in the A/GD ranks before experimenting with nitro later that season. In early 1964, Ruth teamed up with Danny and David Higgins and purchased a Woody Gilmore-built Top Fueler that present day NHRA chief starter Rick Stewart had piloted to a number of race victories. The wins soon came, as did a series of Gilmore-built cars and later several constructed by Don Long.

The Higgins brothers went their own way after just a season, but Ruth continued to rack up the wins, and his legend was quickly growing in the Northwest. Soon, with several Division 6 titles to hit credit, Jerry was referring to himself as “The King,” and eventually the name stuck. During the 1960′s, Ruth would foray down to the nitro hotbed of southern California, and while he certainly made his mark there and elsewhere in the country, his legend was most appreciated in his home territory.

Ruth survived his share of violent incidents in his career, including a pair of incidents beginning at his hometown Pacific Raceways in which a shredded slick sent his machine barrel-rolling for more than a quarter of a mile, followed by another at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Like so many others, his efforts also included a fuel Funny Car for a period, with a Mustang sponsored by Pay ‘N Pak Hardware that ran in the 6.60′s and went five-for-five in NHRA Divisional competition in 1971. That season, it wasn’t uncommon to see Ruth in victory lane with both of his race cars. Considered his best flopper effort was a 1973 Mustang Mach 1 that met an unfortunate demise in Portand when his opponent rear-ended and destroyed the car. After a short hospital stay, Ruth returned and joined the Cragar Five-Second club, capping the season with the 1973 NHRA Top Fuel World Championship.

At the NHRA Summernationals in 1977, Ruth piloted the Don Garlits’ “Swamp Rat” in his absence due to other commitments and recorded the fastest speed in drag racing history at 255.63 MPH. Tales of Ruth copying “Big’s” tuneup book at that event only to find that none of the information worked on his own car swirled, but those of course are all unfounded rumors.

In September of 1979 at Indianapolis, Ruth was knocked unconscious by a rather new phenomenon known as tire shake, sending his dragster off the end of the racetrack and causing injury to his arm and hand requiring surgery. Like Garlits’ had years earlier with the rear engine design, Ruth returned with a completely new dragster design with a much larger roll cage to help driver safety in tire shake conditions. This car is the one that Ruth is most remembered for, as it forever changed the face of Top Fuel and dragster design.

Soon, the entire field was running the new Swindahl chassis based on Ruth’s design. Jerry raced that same car for five years and captured victories in all three major sanctions. He retired from driving in 1985 and sold the car to Richard Holcombe, who actually drove that very same chassis to the third four-second pass in history

In all, Ruth scored eight divisional Top Fuel titles – including seven in a row from ’68-’74 – and three divisional Funny Car titles (two as a driver, one as an owner), along with the Top Fuel world title.

To this day, Ruth considers Pacific Raceways his favorite all-time track – and decidedly so with his winning record there – and thus, it’s only fitting he be honored this weekend before the hometown crowd.

Lingenfelter Performance Engineering is well-known to readers of our publication – we’ve followed the progress of their black 5th Gen Camaro drag development mule as it went from mid-tens to high nines, then finally down into the eight second zone. Now, Lingenfelter’s Graham Behan tells us that there’s a new addition to the stable, set to debut at the Holley LS Fest in September, and it’s going to be a purpose-built competition car.

“Basically what we are doing is making a 2010 Camaro for the [LSX Challenge Series] Real Street class,” Behan reveals. “It’s going to be a small displacement, large bore 358 with a single 76mm turbo. It’s essentially a solid rear axle with a torque arm like a Gen 4, Powerglide, probably with a lockup torque converter, and we’re going to try some different strategies in that too.”

With a clear goal in mind (namely, competing in next year’s LSX Challenge for the full season) the new white Camaro is a radical departure from the current car. “If you think about it, the black car was kind of brute force and ignorance,” Behan admits. “We developed the suspension, and that car’s gone a 1.30 60 foot, but when we first took it out to the Camaro Fest, it ran a 10.30. In testing, it ran a 10.20, and we were at the end of the supercharger, basically. We said, ‘we’d like to get a nine, so how much nitrous do you think that will take?’ We put 75 on it and ran a 9. Then LMR was out there claiming a 9.59, so we said, ‘we might as well go out and chase that,’ and we did it with a manual 6 speed instead of their automatic. We beat them at the LSX shootout – their best was, I think, a 9.52 and ours was a 9.46 out there. So then we decided that since we had a 9.5, why not go for an 8? So we got our 8.9 with a 6-speed and the LS9 short block in it, and we were really quite pleased with ourselves.”

Even though the existing car is a heavy hitter, it has shown clear signs that it’s reaching the end of its potential as it currently stands. Per Behan, “Now we’re looking at how we went out in Arizona and absolutely destroyed second gear when we did a WOT no-clutch shift, even using the torque cut module and a faceplated Liberty transmission that was put together by RPM Transmissions. So now, the car is still equipped with a 6060 case, but I’ve got straight-cut spurs in there specificaly designed to be the strongest gear I can get. We’ve done some work with Liberty on changing the angles on the dog rings and the faceplates to make it easier to get it out of gear because one of the problems we had in Arizona was that with a seven and a half degree back-cut angle we couldn’t physically get it out of first gear under the nitrous load.”

To make further progress and to enhance reliability, a fresh start (and an automatic transmission) was called for. “The Real Street car is going to be a far more elegant racecar that goes out for a purpose,” says Behan. “[With the black car] we wanted to be quick, and we wanted to do it with a manual 6-speed just because we could. That car evolved, rather than being planned. Along the way it developed some great stuff for us, and it gave the guys in the shop a kick, to be working on a race car again.”

Per Behan, 'Lingenfelter's recommended modifications for V6 Camaros - take that engine out and put a V8 in it!' Sharp-eyed readers will notice the LS Fest poster taped to the side of the car - Eyes on the Prize, boys!

Starting with a V6 chassis, Lingenfelter began a blank-slate project to build the ultimate 5th Gen Camaro drag car. “We took it to Advanced Chassis and they put a 25.2 cage in it for us, and did the rest of the chassis mods,” Behan explains. One of the more interesting aspects of the project is that the company will be pursuing two different engine programs with one radical difference: “One of the engines is going to be a 90 degree cruciform crank, and the other is going to be flat-plane,” reveals Behan.

For those not steeped in crankshaft theory, most 90-degree V8 engines have a crank with rod throws arranged at 90 degree angles (forming a cross-shaped arrangement) to provide an even firing order and smoother balance. A flat, or single-plane crankshaft has all the throws at 180 degrees to each other, like a pair of inline 4′s joined at the crank. While a cross-plane crank forging must be “twisted” in order to put the throws at the proper angle, a flat crank can be forged in a single operation, making it potentially stronger. Cross-plane cranks also require more counterweight for primary balance.

On the left, a conventional cross-plane crankshaft. On the right, a 180-degree "flat" crank. Note the difference in counterweight mass.

“The thinking behind that is that we tested a flat-plane V8 in Pro Stock Truck back in 1998 – we never raced it, but we tested it on the dyno and at the track, and we had a significantly lighter crank,” says Behan. “We feel that to optimize an engine to run with a 76mm turbo, we have to peak power way late – something like 8500 RPM is what we’re going to try for peak power. The flat plane gives us some advantages, in my mind. Plus, can you imagine what people will think when it shows up at the Holley LS Fest sounding like a real busy 4 cylinder?”

We love carbed LS engines, but this was just a little practical joke. The car will actually run a BigStuff3 engine management system.

Only time will tell which layout proves more successful in actual competition, but it’s that sort of out of the box thinking that advances the sport, and we’re delighted to see a company with Lingenfelter’s engineering chops going out on a limb to try something so different. Of course, they’re not above joking around a bit too – Behan related how they had posted pictures to their Facebook page showing the new chassis with a carbureted mockup engine between the fenders just to stir things up. “People were telling us we shouldn’t go that way,” Behan recalls in his dry, English accent. “Apparently fuel injection’s better…”

We can’t wait to see what the car does when we’re at the LS Fest this September, and to be honest we’re a little envious of Behan’s job. “It’s a great time to work at Lingenfelter,” he admits. “We don’t necessarily want to go out and spoil anybody’s fun – there are a lot of guys who have been out to the two races this season that we haven’t, but our main thrust is to develop the car and then run it in next year’s full series, because that is the 10th anniversary of John’s accident. We want to be in the series all the way through next year, and that’s what we’re preparing for.”

Part of the fun in watching drag racing is the variety of cars, trucks, motorcycles and even snowmobiles that can show up at an event. That kind of variety, while fun for the spectator, makes some headaches for the competitors and the sanctioning body… in this case, the NHRA. The widest variety of cars competing against each other is found in the Competition Eliminator class, where almost anything is allowed except for nitro-powered race cars.

Cars are classified into a number of groups, and then divided into classes according to the power to weight ratio. Cars or trucks with automatic transmissions have their own class, which is different from those with manual transmissions. These classes then allow for cars of widely varying configuration to compete against each other, on a level playing field. In general, faster cars are handicapped by letting the slower car start first, then whoever makes it over the finish line first wins.

So in Comp Eliminator, you could easily see a front wheel drive sedan take on an alcohol burning, supercharged dragster, and either could win the race depending on reaction time and driving skill. Making that happen, though, can get a little complicated along the way. In this article, we’re going to run through the different classes and competition rules, as well as a couple of examples, to try and help you understand what’s going on. When you see some of the more improbable pairings on the track, you’ll know that it’s Comp Eliminator time!

You won't find a more diverse group of racers than in NHRA's Comp Eliminator class. Adam White's rail dragster might end up racing against the Pontiac coupe beside it. Photos: Alex Owens

Have Some Class!

There are nine sub-classes of Comp, with 96 individual classes overall. Some classes allow engines of a different manufacturer than the car (example, a Dodge Hemi in a Chevy or Ford, etc) They are:

• Gas Dragster: 13 classes, from A/D, using Pro Stock-type motors and even bigger, down to H/D and I/D which are turbocharged. Four, 6 and 8 cylinder cars are all permitted in different classes. Some are for V-6 or inline 6 cylinder engines only, while some permit or are limited to 2 and 4-valves per cylinder. A, B, C and D/D also have separate classes for manual and automatic transmissions.
• Econo Dragster: 7 classes. Created in the 1980′s, the term econo is really a misnomer, as there is very little economical about them. Econo classes are limited to a single four barrel carburetor and automatic transmission only. A/ED through G/ED are the classes, again each with their own engine rules and requirements.

• Nostalgia Dragster: 2 classes. Created a few years ago for front engine dragsters with mechanical fuel injection, on methanol and using a Powerglide transmission, these dragsters resemble dragsters from the 1960′s, yet can run in the high 6′s with a relatively small V8 (380-410 cid for most cars).
• Altered: 37 classes. With door cars and front engine, open wheel altereds, these classes have it all. A/A to L/A, A/AA to L/AA for automatics, A/AP and B/AP (for cars using a planetary transmission), AA/A and BB/A for blown gas cars, AA/AM and BB/AM for blown methanol-burning cars, AA/AT to DD/AT for turbocharged cars, AA/AF and BB/AF for turbocharged front wheel drive cars. You see it all here from six-second big V8′s, low seven-second turbocharged four cylinders, screaming small blocks to loud blown cars.

Rick Brown's D/TA automatic transmission truck is in the D segment because of horsepower to weight calculations.

• Street Roadster: 3 classes. A/SR to C/SR for pre-1937 style topless, full bodied street roadsters
• Truck, 6 classes: P/ST, B/T and C/T, one class each for stick and automatics. P/ST uses the same formula as the now defunct Pro Stock Truck class that was run in NHRA from 1997 to 2001. Extended cab, mid size (Ranger, S-10 and Dakota), 1997 and newer trucks are permitted.
• Econo Altered: 8 classes. A/EA to G/EA. Same rules as Econo Dragster. Door cars and open wheel altereds permitted.
• Super Modified: 18 classes. For stock-appearing, 1967 and newer door cars. A/SM to I/SM, with a stick and auto class for each. V6 required in I, V8′s in A to H. Corporately correct engines (Chevy engine permitted in any GM car, etc). Some classes allow two 4 barrels, some a single 4 barrel.
• Pro Mod: 2 classes. AA/PM for blown cars, A/PM for nitrous oxide-assisted big engine cars. The same types of cars you’ve seen for years in NHRA and IHRA, this allows Pro Mod cars to compete at Lucas Oil Divisional races and National Events as a sportsman too.

How Comp is Run

Small cars can bring just as much racing action as the bigger ones do. Here, Mike Iacono lifts the front end to get more traction at the back.

Comp is a unique class that combines handicap racing with all-out, first to the finish line wins. You’ll remember in my article about Stock Eliminator that each individual class has an index, which they qualify against. The quicker (further under) you run against the index, the higher you qualify in the order. In Comp, 32 cars qualify, maximum.

Unlike Stock and S/S, where you can dial-in under the index, in Comp, the index is your handicap. For example, the A/D index is 7.03, while the H/SM index is 9.54. So, in eliminations, the H/SM gets a 2.51 second head start. First one to the finish line wins. Unlike Stock, Super Stock and bracket racing, there is no going too fast, and there are no breakouts–sort of.

In order to maintain a level, competitive playing field, the Competition Index Control (CIC) was developed in the 1980′s, to prevent runaway indexes. During eliminations, a competitor who runs more than a half-second (.50) under their index will have their index temporarily reduced by one hundredth (.01) for each hundredth under that they ran.

Meaning, if I am in an A/D and run a 6.510 in winning the first round, that is -.520 under the original index of 7.03, so for second round, my index will now be 7.01. These hits are temporary, and affect only me. Only my A/D  is penalized. If another A/D wins first round and does not run more than .50 under the 7.03, their index will stay at 7.03 for the second round.

If I continue to win, and continue to run more than .50 under my new index, it will continue to be reduced.  Eventually, those temporary “hits” can turn into a permanent one. Once a racer, in eliminations, runs more than an accumulated -.610 under the original index, it becomes a permanent “hit”, that affects all A/D racers in the country. If I win a race and run no more than a cumulative -.609 under my original 7.03 index, my index will return to 7.03 at the next event.

David Eaton's altered roadster uses a planetary transmission, so he runs in the A/AP class.

If I win that race, however, and in the final I run a 6.380, that is -.650 under the original 7.03 index, after this event, every A/D in the country will now run off a 6.98 index (a .05 penalty).  Permanent index hits are as follows:

• .610 to -.619 under the original index = .01 permanent index adjustment
• .620 to -.629 under the original index = .02 permanent adjustment
• .630 = .03 adjustment
• .640 = .04 adjustment
• .650 to -.709 = .05 adjustment
• .710 = .06 adjustment
• .720 = .07 adjustment
• .730 = .08 adjustment
• .740 = .09 adjustment
• .750 and more = .10 adjustment

The most a racer can be hit at any one race is a tenth of a second (.10). This can be quite a setback for some. A car that runs really fast in the spring and fall, on the 7.03 index, now in hot summer weather when the cars don’t run as fast, would be running on a 6.93. So you want to be careful how fast you go. Ideally, you want to get to the stripe first, by as little a margin as possible, to limit potentially damaging index hits. So in a way, it is sort of like bracket racing in that sense, but unlike bracket racing, you have to get to the finish line first to win in Comp.

Here are two scenarios, to better explain.

Scenario #1
A/D, index 7.03
Round 1, index 7.03, I run 6.510, -.520, so second round index is now 7.01
Round 2, index 7.01, I run 6.480, -.530, so third round index is now 6.98
Round 3, index 6.98, I run 6.480, -.500, no penalty
Round 4, index 6.98, I run 6.450, -.530, so for the final my index is 6.95
Round 5, index 6.95, I run 6.440, -.510 under.

Since it is the final, no more rounds, so no penalty for the next round. My total, accumulated CIC hits add up to .09, so no permanent hit is received and my index will go back to 7.03 at the next race, as well as all A/D racers’ index (unless another A/D at that same race made a run of more than -.610 under the 7.03 during the event).

A small engine in Dave Yediny's altered coupe puts it in the L/A class. If it was running an automatic transmission, it would be classed as L/AA.

In the case that I race someone in my Class during eliminations (another A/D racer), it is heads-up, going back to the old index. So, using the above example, if I race an A/D in round three, and my temporarily adjusted index is 6.98, and another A/D racers index was adjusted to 7.01, we would both run off the original 7.03 index. The winner would go into round 4, going back to his/her adjusted index, plus any “penalty” incurred on that run.

Scenario #2
A/D, index 7.03
Round 1, index 7.03, I run 6.510, -.520, so second round index is now 7.01
Round 2, index 7.01, I run 6.480, -.530, so third round index is now 6.98
Round 3, index 6.98, I run 6.480, -.500, no penalty
Round 4, index 6.98, I run 6.450, -.530, so for the final my index is 6.95
Round 5, index 6.95, I run 6.380, – 570.

I have accumulated a total of .15 in penalties (-.650 under the original index), so effective Monday morning, myself and all other A/D racers will be running against a 6.98 index instead of 7.03. This prevents a particular car, or class as a whole, from dominating the entire class of Comp Eliminator.

To the uninitiated, NHRA’s Competition Eliminator rules can seem overly elaborate, but it takes these considerations to maintain a level playing field when dealing with the extensive range of cars and trucks that show up. We hope this helps you understand the sometimes complicated, but always exciting Competition Eliminator classes. Until next time…

Additional Resources

If you want to dig a little deeper into this class of racing, here are a few more places to check out:

InsideCompRacing.com

Southern California Competition Eliminator Club

The evolution of motorsports is one that sometimes requires wholesale changes. This was the state of Super Stock drag racing by 1969. Super Stock was the top class for factory-bodied late model specials; it had been part of the Stock Eliminator class from 1960 until 1966, and it was where the Detroit manufacturers spent their time and money.

This old postcard shows Dick Landy and his 1970 Challenger; the legendary driver has his unlit cigar.

During that time, as the more-radical FX classes evolved into the realistically-named ‘funny cars,’ the factory money followed, but the radical changes in the pursuit of speed caused those cars to look little like what ended up on sale in the showrooms.

At the same time, NHRA’s larger base of weekend sportsman racers found it was very difficult to win against those factory-assisted drivers who remained in the Stock category. NHRA decided to create a class between Stock and the more modified categories by moving all specially-built factory cars into their own division.

As a result, Super Stock was formalized as a class for the 1967 season, and many veteran drivers who had spearheaded the funny car revolution found themselves back in more mundane race-oriented doorslammer, either factory package race cars or tuned-up versions from the exploding muscle car marketplace.

Dick Landy, a long time factory race driver for Dodge who heralded from Southern California, was one such person.

Landy had been one of the most visible of the FX evolution, beginning with Ford but coming into the Pentastar ranks with a Dodge in 1962. His “Automotive Research” ’64 HEMI sedan had an adjustable wheelbase, and his 1965 altered-wheelbase “Landy’s Dodge” was perhaps the most visible in the nation that summer.

His trademark as a racing personality was an unlit cigar he keep in his pocket and clenched in his teeth. In 1966, while testing a nitro-burning supercharged Dart, Landy had a fiery transmission explosion at speed in front of an audience of “factory race bosses,” who almost immediately decided maybe the money would better focused on the new S/S class, especially with the exciting new muscle cars then being offered for the street.

Dodge, as a brand, had fully embraced its segment in the new-car performance market, releasing cars like Charger and Coronet R/T; Landy would get a new Coronet for 1967. Conversely, Dodge’s smaller sports model was the Dart GTS, which exuded the basic styling cues the company was using across the board, but frankly lacked the curb appeal of the new “pony cars” that had come from Ford and Chevy in the form of Mustang and Camaro, respectively. The division would soon spend a goodly sum of money creating a model they aptly named Challenger as Dodge’s “pony car.”

Dick and noted journeymen drivers Ken Dondero and Bob Lambeck wheeled the Pro Stock Challengers in those early seasons. The 1970 car was converted to a 1971 model; this is Dick at the 1970 Springnationals in Dallas, Texas.

While styling and development got busy with what would be Chrysler’s E-Body platform, the guy they called Dandy Dick was making waves in sanctioned competition.

The factory had focused the Plymouth efforts spearheaded by Sox & Martin on Stock and Super Stock, while Dodge and Landy positioned themselves more in the Modified and Street classes, which were a bit more radical.

Landy’s Charger won Street at the 1968 Winternationals, and Modified at the same event the following season. However, Super Stock was where the publicity action was, and the two factory pilots (Ronnie Sox and Dick) occasionally went heads-up for class crowns before they had to carefully find the proper strategy on race day.

Why? Because NHRA used a complicated set of rules maintain parity between HEMI Mopars, 400cui Oldsmobiles, 350 low-compression Camaros, and 428 Fairlanes. These were based on things like the current record (which could be reset if you drove too fast), delivery weight, production tolerances, and NHRA adjusted horsepower ratings.

Guys who could stir the shifter with the best of them were on the brakes and sideways at 130 mph at the finish lines to prevent the dreaded break-out or re-indexing issues.

Corporate intrigue was a large part of it; the factory race directors fought for any advantage, real or perceived, from NHRA, resulting in a non-stop argument of “Foul!” by the wronged party. Frankly, it was a big mess, and it came to a head at the 1969 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, when all the Chrysler racers left the property for a factory-mandated drive to a small track in Ohio to determine who could best represent each competed-in class during the following day’s program! That next Monday, NHRA met with all the factory reps to determine a solution, with the results being Pro Stock.

In fairness, it should be stated that the now-defunct AHRA had already initiated a head-ups, no breakout division they had named Super Stock for 1969, and the east coast’s NHRA Division 1 had a large following for a heads-up / no-breakout door-slammer group named the Super Circuit.

The new NHRA Pro Stock class would debut in 1970, and, fortuitously, so would Dodge’s new Challenger. Pro Stock meant pushing the edge of technology – a minimum weight with a maximum displacement on gas settled it, maintaining as close to an original exterior appearance other than hood scoop and wheel changes.

The Challenger in its realized configuration was larger than most of the other competitors; in fact, Chrysler spent a huge amount money creating the all-new ’70 E-Body Barracuda as well, whose platform has an inch-shorter wheelbase resulting in issues with parts interchange.

Regardless, with the gen-two Camaro delayed by union strikes and the excitement of such a revolutionary model, Challenger showed up on most major industry magazine title covers in one form or another. Mr. Landy, who would be leaving his Super Stock and Modified efforts behind to show how prowess in Pro Stock, became the Challenger’s most visible supporter in the quarter-mile ranks.

At the time, NHRA hosted eight events, calling 1970 the Super Season. AHRA hosted 10 more, and there were also NHRA points races for qualifying to run at the World Finals, match races, and dealership displays.

Landy would spend the entire summer racing, flying home on occasion between events but busy enough he would be gone for large blocks of time. After Bill Jenkins’ Camaro won the first two Pro Stock races in 1970, it became the Sox & Martin show, with Ronnie and co-driver Herb McCandless dominating the class.

Dick Landy became one of only four drivers to win an NHRA crown between the 1970-1971 season; in 1970, NHRA hosted a new event deemed the Summernationals at York US30 Dragway in Pennsylvania.

Landy came in and beat McCandless and the S&M Duster for the event win. Only Jenkins as mentioned and “Dyno Don” Nicholson (at the same Summernationals event in 1971, held in Englishtown, NJ for the first time) won outside of the Sox & Martin juggernaut until Mike Fons’ achievement at Amarillo in the fall of 1971, winning the World Finals crown and overall NHRS season championship.

So even the single win put Dick and the 1970-71 Landy Challengers in top company. Dick would go on to win the 1973 AHRA Pro Stock crown as politics invaded NHRA Pro Stock, with a focus on making sure the Mopar HEMI could no longer be dominant.

But that will have to be a story for another day…

CHECK OUT OTHER MUSCLE CARS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• ’70 AMC AMX/3 Supercar Concept
• ’71 AMC Matador Machine 401
• ’67 Plymouth HEMI GTX “Silver Bullet”
• ’71 Baldwin Motion Phase III GT
• ’63 Chevrolet Z11 Impala 427
• ’64 Chrysler Ghia Turbine Car
• ’63 Pontiac Catalina Lightweight 421
• ’69 Mercury Cougar BOSS 429
• ’69 Royal Bobcat Pontiac GTO Ram Air V
• ’87 Buick Regal GNX
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 302 George Follmer’s #16
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 429
• ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona #88
• ’69 Motion Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 427 ZLX
• ’69 Motion Hurst/Oldsmobile 455

Last September, we featured Gray’s new project, already well under way at the time, here on the digital pages at DRAGZINE, and now some eight months later, his immaculate new ride is ready to wage battle on the racetrack.

“We got the car done in the middle of March and finally got it out to test a couple weeks ago down in Huntsville [AL]. We made three test hits on it and went 5.24 at 138.50. We’ve got some things to work on, but we’re pretty sure it’ll go 5.0′s in decent air and maybe some 4.90′s. That’ll be good enough to get us in the top half of the show at a lot of races, so we’re pretty happy with that.”

The new car is motivated by a 347-inch small block Ford “R” block-based powerplant, sporting a Scat billet crankshaft, Oliver rods, Diamond pistons, a turbo-minded camshaft from COMP Cams, and a set of high-port Trick Flow cylinder heads. The blue oval bullet utilizes a FAST XFI fuel injection setup with 90mm throttle bodies fed by a 91mm Turbonetics Y2K turbocharger through a PT1800 water-to-air intercooler. Other components include a complete Weldon fuel system, an MSD 7531 ignition setup mated with an AMS1000 boost controller, and wiring from Spaghetti Menders. The bullet is backed with a JW Powerglide transmission transferring to a 9″ Moser housing with 3.90 gears and 35-spline axles.

The 25.2 spec, stock suspension chassis sports AFCO coilovers out back, with custom fabricated upper and lower control arms, while the nose rides on Strange front struts and a UPR K-member. A set of Strange dual disc rear brakes and Aerospace brakes up front. A set of Mickey Thompson 28×10.5 slicks wrapped in Champion 15×12″ beadlocks put the power to the ground.

Gray acquired the Mustang in virtually stock form, and the laps in Huntsville were the culmination of several months of work to get the car in racing trim at the S&G Motorsports shop in Goodlettsville, TN, a full fabrication and engine shop that he and his cousins operate. Rodney’s Fabrication in Portland, TN and Chris Averitt in Hendersonville also played a role in the project, performing the roll cage and the paint work, respectively.

Although his schedule is wide open, Cory tentatively plans to make the competition debut for the Mustang at next months Ohio Valley Outlaw Series event in Louisville, Kentucky. Along with the OVOS schedule, look for this trick piece to run with the ORTC and virtually anywhere else in the South where True 10.5 cars roam.

Cory would like to thank Dusty Bradford, Bob Lapp and company at Spaghetti Menders, and the folks at PTC Converters for all their contributions on the project.

We’ve got a complete gallery of images of this real looker of a race car below, so be sure to check them out.

Now, just a few months later, already with his first win under his belt in the HEMI Shootout at the JEGS Cajun SPORTSNationals this spring, Wofford is ready to unveil the second of his brand new racing machines; a 2010 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak built once again by B&B Race Cars that will stray from the norm and compete in Super Stock trim.

In the earlier part of 2010, with the new car under construction and three decades worth of cobwebs to shake, Wofford connected with veterans Sonny Stancil and James Caro to get some seat time in a SS/JA Plymouth Volare that they had. After becoming good friends with the pair through their dealings, Wofford agreed to purchase the car and in turn the trio formed a multi-car effort to attack the class racing ranks. “The Challenger was actually my wifes idea” Wofford explained. “Last year at the points meet at No Problem, we had trouble with our Volare and realized that the injected cars – the Camaros Firebirds, and even some of the Mustangs – were starting to drift down into the lower classes and it was clear that the Volare was going to become outdated, so we built this car as a real Super Stocker.”

Like the Barracuda, the Challenger sports another eye-catching paint scheme designed by Scott Brown and carrying the namesake of Wofford’s business, Engines Inc., on the door. “The car is absolutely gorgeous,” says Wofford. My wife and younger son helped designed the paint scheme and it’s a little atypical of a Scott Brown design, but it’s just beautiful and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wins a best appearing award.” Power for the new sharp new Challenger will come from a 360 cubic inch, fuel injected HEMI.

“There are five different Chrysler engine combination that we could’ve gone with, and Sonny and James have been running the 360 for over 15 years now and they’ve pretty well got that combination down. It’s got aluminum heads, 2.02″ intake valves, and a 1,000 cfm throttle body. It’s really a pretty potent engine.” In addition to the Barracuda, Wofford will also handle the driving chores this year in Competition Eliminator in a B/SMA Dodge Stratus, while Caro, who serves as the crew chief on all of the cars the team campaigns, will pilot either the Volare or the new Challenger.

The stunning new piece is already on it’s way to Texas Motorplex just outside Dallas, where it will make it’s debut in Super Stock at the NHRA South Central division points meet. There, it will either start out in the GT classification as a GT/FA or GT/GA, or in Super Stock as a SS/IA or SS/JA, giving the team four options of classes to run in.

Interestingly, without even turning so much as a wheel on the racetrack yet, Wofford and Caro’s new piece is already drawing plenty of ire in Super Stock circles, particularly among racers in SS/JA, where they believe the horsepower factoring of the 360 engine gives the car in the neighborhood of a three tenths advantage out of the gate. The current national record in the class is held by Don O’Malley at 9.87. “I think there may be another one being built or was already built and hasn’t raced yet, but as far as we know, this car will the first Super Stock Drag Pak on the racetrack.”

Richie Balcom is well known in the Buick turbo racing scene and has been racing competitively in the TSM class with a best of 9.41 @ 143, back in 2007 before switching things up and trying out a twin turbo small block Chevy combo. He reached mid eights with that power plant but realized that most other guys were well into the sevens, and stepping up meant another ten grand was needed to achieve these goals. The self financed racer was at a cross roads and decided to sell and go back to the little Buick V6.

The stock block 231 ci. V-6 spins a forged stock stroke crank from Eagle, connecting rods from K1 Technologies and pistons from JE Racing. The cylinder head and intake are from Champion Racing in Palm Coast, Florida and have been worked over by Richie. A 70 MM Precision turbo provides boost. Fuel management is through a F.A.S.T. XFI tuned by Cal Hartline owner of Hartline Performance based out of Melbourne, Florida. 96 lb. Precision injectors atomize the fuel.

I met up with Richie at the track recently shaking down the new engine. He made cam and converter changes to the same basic setup he had before and is looking to run 9.20’s now once things are sorted out. This session he was on low boost and pump gas for some easy runs. He does his own engine prep and assembly while a shop in Venice handles the machine work.

The TSM class is fairly restrictive and requires a stock block, factory style three bolt turbo with a 71.5 MM max on the compressor wheel, stock suspension, factory stock appearing interior with racing seats allowed and any GM transmission. A full list of class rules can be found over at Turbobuick.com.

The first race of this year is the North vs. South Southern Buick Shootout next weekend at Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds Georgia, it’s sponsored by Hartline Performance. This event will feature several Buick specific classes as well as all run bracket racing.  Next up is the TurboBuick.com Nationals at Piedmont Dragway in Greensborough, North Carolina.

Mickey Thompson tires and wheels adorn all four corners with a pair of 275 ET Street Radial on the back. Aerospace disc brakes get the 3500 pound Regal stopped. A TH400 transmission is adapted to the block with torque multiplication provided by a PTC converter while power is sent back to a Ford 9 inch rear with 3.50 gears.

You have to love the small touches like this custom name plate. Behind the grill is a class required stock location air to air inter cooler, you can use any cooler you want, but it may not extend below the bottom of the stock radiator support.

The trunk area houses a custom aluminum fuel cell and Optima battery mounted above the rear for even weight distribution.

During the mid to late 1960′s Jeb’s father, Guy Allen, and brothers Ed and Les competed in a series of injected gas and injected-fuel dragsters, providing the young Jeb plenty of opportunity to learn his way around every inch of a race car. During the summer of 1971, he toured with the famed Steve Carbone, but all the while, carried the itch to drive around with him. He would eventually license in a front engine car at Lions Drag Strip and earned his Top Fuel license at the age of 17; the youngest driver ever to do so.

His professional debut occurred at the 1971 Supernationals at Ontario Motor Speedway in California, where he advanced to the semifinals behind the wheel of a newly-built rear engine dragster. Looking to put that early success to the test, the Allen’s toured the country in 1972 and it was during the Summernationals that year that Jeb became the youngest professional winner in NHRA history at 18 years, two months of age when he defeated future Hall of Famer Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. This record still stands to this day. Other late round showings that year caught the attention of sponsors Revell and English Leather, who would become familiar names on the sides of his racing machines.

Image: Dragracealberta.com

The turning point in Allen’s career came in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1973 while competing alongside good friend Jon Wiebe, his car was struck from the side by a tire-shaking Wiebe, destroying both cars in a spectacular crash. Allen received third-degree burns to his hands in the crash.

Image credit: nhra.com

His return to the winners circle came at Seattle in 1976 after s runner-up finish at the Summernationals, and followed that up the next season with a final round showing at the very same race. It was ’77 that he won his first championship with the AHRA, and also garnered wins at the Summers in ’78 and ’79.

Jeb won one race and had three final round appearances in 1980 and 1981, carried a career-high four wins into the NHRA Finals, where he

was locked in a tight battle for the Top Fuel championship with Gary Beck. In a scene reminiscent of Tony Schumacher’s last-second 2006 triumph in Pomona, Allen was forced to watch as Beck won the race but came up just two miles per hour short of the speed record that he needed to overtake Allen for the title. At the age of 27, he was the youngest Top Fuel world champ in history.

After years spent on the road, nickel and diming his way to the next race, Jeb walked away from the sport for good following the 1982 season.

In a recent interview with National Dragster’s Phil Burgess, Allen discussed his struggles prior to and after his retirement from racing, in which alcohol use began to take a grip in his life. As any champion does, Jeb found a way to prosper, becoming sober in the late 80′s and along with his wife, Sue, founding Palomar Buildings in 1990. Today, his business is one of the largest home building businesses in the city of Redding, California.

During the ADRL Gateway Drags in St. Louis in August of the following year, Widener’s good friend and engine builder Tony Bischoff of BES Racing Engines was completing a qualifying pass in his familiar Xtreme 10.5 Mercury Cougar when he suddenly found himself upside down in the shutdown area and his Jerry Haas-built machine heavily damaged and his racing future uncertain. Following a couple of previous crashes and rebuilds in the Cougar, the veteran Bischoff made the tough decision to hang up his helmet and focus on engine building. Enter Jim Widener.

Rather than write the wrecked Cougar off, Widener and Bischoff agreed to team up and go racing, and Widener purchased the car in virtually the same condition that it left St. Louis. “I bought it as a wreck and took it back to Haas and them repair it. They had to clip the front end off and we had to replace the roof section of the body. Other than replacing the clip, it was mostly cosmetic damage, though,” Widener told us. “I was looking to do something bigger, and Tony and I had been friends for a long time. I actually worked for him for a short stint about 20 years ago. He was at the point that he still wanted to race, but he wanted out of the driver’s seat. So we struck a deal and I bought the car from him and get it repaired and he was going to supply the motor and transmission for it.”

DRAGZINE recently shared a first look at the massive 866 cubic inch, nitrous-fed HEMI powerplant courtesy of BES as it took its first steps on the engine dyno, cranking out a stout 1,783 horsepower – sans any nitrous oxide – with some left on the table. “We actually didn’t pull it as high as we could have. If you look at the dyno sheet, it was still making power when we quit pulling it,” said Widener. Last week, the repaired Cougar was picked up from Jerry Haas’ shop in Missouri and the engine was promptly dropped between the frame rails and hauled off to the body shop to have the nose and other odds and ends finished in order to complete the resurrection.

While Widener and Bischoff have their sights on the ADRL’s incredibly tough Xtreme 10.5 class, they certainly don’t plan to abandon their muscle car roots in the NMCA. “We’re going to run some Extreme 10.5 and NMCA Pro Street and probably some local stuff around the midwest, as well. We missed the first NMCA race of the season, so we won’t run the full schedule this year. Between the ADRL and the NMCA we’re probably just going to hit the races that are a little closer to home, since we’re really out of the points race in both series.”

Last season, Outlaw 10.5 veteran Dan Millen blasted onto the ADRL scene with his screw-blown Mustang and changed the face of the class overnight with dominating performances including a crushing 3.78 that left many current and would-be racers, including Widener, scratching their collective heads.  “We know we’ve got to be able to run in the 3.80′s to even have a chance to keep up with Millen. I mean we’re pretty sure we can run some 3.90′s fairly easily, but it’s going to be hard to run much faster than that with a nitrous car. On the NMCA side, I don’t think we’ll have any problem being competitive with [Chris] Rini and some of those other guys.”

With the feasibility of the nitrous combination in Extreme 10.5 in dire straights against the supercharged and turbocharged cars, Widener and Bischoff, like many others, contemplated trying their hand at the Pro Nitrous division, but ultimately opted to remain where they were most familiar, partly due to class guidelines.

“We definitely gave it thought, but the problem at the time was that the car doesn’t have a floater in it, and according to the Pro Nitrous rules, you’ve got to have a floater rear end housing. We would’ve had to redo the brakes and all kinds of other things in the rear and it just wasn’t really in the budget right now. That’s definitely something that might happen in the future, though, just because we’d be on a more level playing field. We’re not going to keep going to races just to get our butts handed to us; Tony and I are just to competitive for that. Everything that Tony has ever built has run at the top of the pack.”

Although the re-dubt of the Cougar is presently penciled in as “whenever it’s done,” testing is expected to begin sometime in mid to late April and while the competition debut is still to be determined, the pair hope to be out prior to but certainly by the time the ADRL returns to the Memphis International Raceway in late May. With an angine from his shop resting under the hood of a car he knows quite well, Bischoff will serve as crew chief on the effort. “My biggest goal has always been to run Pro Stock in the NHRA, just because I’m one of those guys that likes to win it on the tree and run bumper-to-bumper at the finish line. And the ADRL has that factor, too.”

And now Brenspeed, based in Pierceton, Indiana and the largest Saleen SpeedLab in the country, is starting a new program to build Saleen serialized, driver-tailored drag racers. Based on the S302, these track-ready drag racers are for anybody wanting an authentic Saleen without tearing it apart and building it themselves.

“We are going to build a drag racer around the racer’s needs, whatever that may be, and they will still be Saleen cars,” says Brenspeed’s Brent White. Called the S302 DR, these purpose-built drag racers will come straight from the Saleen factory and into Brenspeed’s hands, where they will offering full-weight, street legal drag racers bearing the Saleen stamp of approval. “We’re working on a supercharger application that should be done in the next six weeks, but we’ve already got one of these new 5.0’s running 11.6’s with just bolt-ons.”

This is welcomed news to Saleen purists and fans, many of whom have modified this traditionally slick-handling Mustangs to put a bit more power to the ground. When you start modifying any limited edition vehicle, you are detracting from its worth both as a collectors item, and as a time capsule of a famed product like a Saleen Mustang. “We are targeting the drag racers who want to burn rubber down the drag strip in a Saleen,” says Brent White.

While they are exploring the idea of offering purpose-built “packages,” right now you can order a Saleen S302 DR to your specific needs and desires. Want a roll cage? You can have it. Fuel cell, racing seats, and a harness? You betcha.  Built rear suspension? You can have those too. And a supercharger package is in the works that should have the S302 DR deep into the 10-second range. All with the blessing of Saleen, with a documented serial number and all of its collector’s value completely intact. This is a car that you can drive from your home, to the track, and then the local Saleen club’s car show, all in the same day. Pretty cool, right?

So what about the word that Saleen is stopping production on cars? Brent wasn’t worried, and while he couldn’t say why, we’ve got a feeling that he knows more about what is going on than we do as he has a 2012 vehicle program in development. All he could say is that a “branding” change is in the works, and that it shouldn’t stop anybody from getting on the phone and ordering one of these 2011 drag race-ready packages. The cost will depend, on exactly what you’re ordering, but with the base cost of a 2011 S302 starting at $54,995, expect options and additions to only go north from there. But can you really put a price for a serialized Saleen drag racer that you can truly call unique and your own? We don’t think so.

You can contact Brenspeed via their website or by calling  574-594-9559.

For some Plymouth enthusiasts, the introduction of the 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX was a step down in the performance food chain. Still, in the continuing evolution of the marque’s muscle cars, the GTX held its own and led to an even greater competitor in the performance wars of the 1960′s.

Images: SilverBulletGTX.com

As was the case for most intermediate-sized muscle cars, the cars they were based on were variations on products of modest pretension. First introduced in 1951, the Belvedere was a response to Chevrolet’s successful 1950 Bel Air two-door hardtop. The car enjoyed a great run through the fifties as a full size, full line model, including the 1956 introduction of the Fury as a special, hi-po model.

When downsized in 1962, general sales of the nameplate suffered, but the same year saw introduction of the big block 426cui V8 engine. The combination of lighter weight and more power made the Belvedere a highly sought-after model for drag racing. The evolution continued in 1964, when the 426 HEMI engine became available, leading to a 1-2-3 finish of the newly-restyled car at the Daytona 500 that year.

Other than discreet “HEMI” badges, 426-equipped Belvederes were the ultimate stealth car on the streets. A decision was made to build a performance image and so, for the 1967 model year, the Belvedere GTX was introduced. Available as either a two-door hardtop or convertible, the car came standard with a Super Commando 440cui V8 engine and TorqueFlite 3-speed automatic transmission. To help manage the additional power, the GTX was built with heavy-duty torsion bars, upgraded 6-leaf rear springs, over-sized anti-sway bars, heavy duty shock absorbers and uprated ball joints.

Bigger than the standard 426, Addison's HEMI was punched out to 487 cubes with a 4.25-inch stroker crankshaft, oversized TRW pistons, a Racer Brown cam, a 10-quart oil pan and aluminum heads. Topped with twin Holleys, and fed by a Stewart Warner electric fuel pump, Hooker headers plumbed exhaust to the four '68 Cadillac mufflers through 3-inch pipes.

Promoted as The Gentleman’s Muscle Car, the GTX also received a special grille and tail panel, simulated hood scoops, a racing-style chrome gas cap, bucket seats, front and rear seat belts, and energy-absorbing steering column. Front disc brakes, and a four-speed manual transmission were optional.

Image: Moparts.com

The 440cui motor first appeared in 1966 for full-sized cars with 365 gross horsepower. Chrysler engineers prepared the engine for its debut in a mid-sized car by adding bigger valves in redesigned heads, along with extra-large throttle bores, a dual snorkel air cleaner, hot cam, over-sized ports and valves and cast headers. This jumped the output to 375hp.

Option for the 1967 GTX, the 426 “Street HEMI,” produced 425hp at 5000rpm and 490 ft-lb of torque at 4000rpm and was offered for a premium of $546 over the base cost of $3,178. Previously, the 426 HEMI was – in theory – optional across the line, and many 1966 buyers went for the HEMI in stripped-down bodies. To get the same engine in 1967, the buyer had to pay extra for the GTX trim.

Despite conceding 14cui to the standard engine, the HEMI left it behind, with its 50 additional hp – due to the special HEMI heads, higher compression ratio and dual 4-barrel carburetors. In performance comparisons, the HEMI would win a quarter mile fight. Typical performance for the 440 was 0-60 in 6.6 seconds and 1/4 mile in 15.2 sec at 97mph. For the 426 HEMI, the story was 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, 1/4 mile in 13.5 seconds at 105mph. However, since the 440′s torque peaked earlier and the HEMI had to wait until 4000rpm, and was harder to tune, races were often closely fought and a well-driven, well-tuned 440 car could beat a HEMI consistently.

Found and restored back to its as-raced condition by current-owner Harold Sullivan, the Silver Bullet is raced today and regularly dips deep into the 10-seconds.

Paying the premium for the GTX package ultimately resulted in a significant decline in HEMI car sales. In 1966, there were 1,510 HEMI-powered Belvederes built but, in 1967, that number fell. The easier-to-manage and much cheaper 440 V8 took away a lot of HEMI sales and in doing so made the 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX HEMI quite a rare example of the breed.

The performance story did not end there, however. Plymouth had quietly offered in the past, and continued in 1967, an R023 option, that was generally know of by professional racers only. Often called the “Super Stock” or lightweight version, this HEMI GTX was better known by what it didn’t have than what it did. A weight saving of several hundred pounds was achieved by eliminating the radio, heater, body insulation and sealers, carpet, underpad and even the hubcaps.

A large, functional hood scoop was about the only hint that this wasn’t anyone’s plain Belvedere. That hood scoop fed a cold air intake to the hand built HEMI engine, that came with a dual-point distributor, transistorized ignition, high performance ignition wires and dual Carter 4-barrel carburetors. Plymouth built only 55 R023 GTX’s, making them quite rare today.

The existence of the R023 package owes itself – at least in part – to an unassuming mechanic working at Ted Spehar’s Sunoco gas station on Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, Michigan. Jimmy Addison was known for his talent with Chrysler products, which was honed into an art as Addison had complete access to a vast array of exotic racing parts thanks to Spehar who made a decent business of building racing engines at his station. Spehar worked with Chrysler at the same time and saw an opportunity with Addison who was actively street racing a 426 Max Wedge ’62 Dodge.

Image: Moparts.com

Originally a Chrysler Engineering test mule, the HEMI Belvedere that would become the “Silver Bullet” wasn’t a silver HEMI car at all; rather, it was painted blue and equipped with a 375hp 440. Throughout the year, the Plymouth went through several cam, carb, intake, and header combinations for Chrysler’s factory racing department in Highland Park, Michigan. This “think tank” was helmed by veteran Bob Cahill, and staffed by Tom Hoover (who was instrumental in creating the 426 HEMI) and Dick Maxwell (who was a key member of the legendary Ramchargers racing team).

While street racing was not part of the “official” testing curriculum, stories began to swirl around the Auburn Hills central offices of a pair of older gentlemen campaigning a warmed-over Plymouth around the streets of Detroit. Of course, Chrysler wasn’t the only one using public roads and America’s youth as a marketing/test bed for their street performers. Pontiac, Ford and Chevrolet were all guilty of the same subterfuge, resulting in a swarm of factory-built GTOs, big block Mustangs and unmarked Chevelles cruising for a little action.

Through Spehar, the Plymouth was sold to Addison for $1, and under Chrysler’s guidance, the GTX was put on an extreme diet. Supplied with lightweight doors, a hood, window glass, front crossmember and bucket seats, Addison shaved off 500 pounds whittling the B-Body down to sub-3600 lbs. In addition to the drastic refitting, the 440 Wedge motor was swapped for a monster 487 cubic-inch HEMI with a 4.25-inch stroker crankshaft, oversize TRW pistons, a steep Racer Brown camshaft, a 10-quart oil pan and aluminum cylinder heads.

According to SilverBulletGTX.com, “Fuel was delivered to the twin Holley four-barrel carburetors via a Stewart Warner electric fuel pump, while Hooker headers directed exhaust to the four ’68 Cadillac mufflers through 3-inch pipes. Transfer of power to the M&H drag slicks at the rear was achieved with a modified Torqueflite automatic transmission, while compliant front shock absorbers teamed with super stock rear springs to achieve the desired rearward weight transfer.”

Repainted in bright silver paint, the “Silver Bullet” GTX was born. Even in full trim, the GTX ate up the quarter mile in 10.50 seconds at 132mph, and quickly became one of the most well-known and feared Mopars prowling Woodward Avenue.

This is believed to be the last time Jimmy Addison was reunited with his famous stroked-HEMI GTX before his passing. In addition to being on display at Mopar events throughout the year, the Silver Bullet is still raced by its current owner Harold Sullivan.

Today, the “Silver Bullet” is owned by Harold Sullivan, a loyal Mopar collector who tracked the ‘Bullet down and restored it from a long life of hard knocks. Returned back from the brink of destruction, the original Silver Bullet runs and drives and can still light up the slicks. Yet, since Sullivan wanted to flog the ‘Bullet a little harder than he felt comfortable, Sullivan built another GTX in the “Silver Bullet II” which he races.

Plymouth muscle car history would continue to be written long after the Silver Bullet, but nearly no other street car played so part of that progression.

CHECK OUT OTHER MUSCLE CARS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• ’71 Baldwin Motion Phase III GT
• ’63 Chevrolet Z11 Impala 427
• ’64 Chrysler Ghia Turbine Car
• ’63 Pontiac Catalina Lightweight 421
• ’69 Mercury Cougar BOSS 429
• ’69 Royal Bobcat Pontiac GTO Ram Air V
• ’87 Buick Regal GNX
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 302 George Follmer’s #16
• ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 429
• ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona #88
• ’69 Motion Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 427 ZLX
• ’69 Motion Hurst/Oldsmobile 455

Images: Mecum Auctions

The five day Mecum Auction that completed its run in Florida, this past weekend, was an interesting indicator for the current health of the economy, as well as the collector car market. Several major auctions were run just the week before in Scottsdale, AZ, so it begs the question, “Is the collector car market saturated with auctions?”

While we can’t speak to what went on in Arizona, there was no shortage of buyers and the needed cash to back up their whims or decisions. With about 1,750 cars to cycle through the auction process, the Kissimee, FL, auction is one of the largest in North America. With that many cars, there is truly something for everyone.

At one end of the scale, there was a 1984 Ford LTD 4-door that sold for $1,300 and at the other end, a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 Berlinetta that didn’t sell with a high bid of $1,075,000. Interestingly enough, the highest ticket item to go last weekend wasn’t a car at all, but a boat. A hand built Riva Aquarama Special, sold for $975,000. The top selling car was the Shelby Dragonsnake Cobra, CSX2093, that we featured back in November.

In the first release of the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gecko (played by Michael Douglas) quipped at one point, “If you want to run with the big dogs, you have to learn to piss in the tall weeds.” We can take this to mean that things don’t always go your way, and when they don’t, the numbers can be big. One of the conventional auction rites that the Mecum organization still retains is the reserve bid. With this, the seller of the vehicle can specify a minimum bid that must be obtained before the car will actually be sold. During the bidding process, the seller can withdraw the reserve at their discretion.

So it was for the owner of this Shelby. In the video below, you’ll see what happened during the auction of CSX2093. Bidding stalled at the $875K level and the owner removed the reserve, presumably to try and kick start the process to higher levels. It didn’t work. You’ll also hear the auctioneer mention that the last time they sold this very car, it went for $1.4 million.

Somewhere along the line, somebody left a half million dollars on the table. Ouch.

Image credit: Scott McCabe

On the evening of July 7th, the spirits of Massachusetts-based Outlaw 10.5 runner Jason Enos were about as low as could be. During his semifinal round matchup with Scotty Guadagno at the Ultimate Outlaw Shootout Series event at Milan Dragway, Jason lost control of his jaw droppingly immaculate 1967 Mustang at the finish line, slamming into the guardrail at a high rate of speed. The incident caused extensive damage to the car, leaving what was once a show quality machine a pile of parts and pieces for he and his crew to survey.

The Mustang had been more than three long years in the making, and just weeks earlier had rolled out of the chassis shop for the first time and made it’s initial shakedown laps with impressive results. Jason admits following the crash that he could’ve easily walked away and gone fishing, but crew chief Jamie Miller simply wouldn’t allow it. And now, after a six-month and rather costly setback, Jason and his Mustang are back on the track and better than ever.

Image courtesy: DMCRacing.com

“Everything on the driver’s side of the car had to replaced: the quarters, the tail panels, the door, the lexan,” stated chassis builder Dennis MacPherson of DMC Racing. “We had to remake the wing and the wing sides and we also went with a different style tail light to try to lighten stuff up. The car had factory tail lights, reverse lights, and stuff like that, and so we eliminated a lot of that stuff and lightened it up. We also got a nose from SunCoast [Race Cars] and ended up cutting that in half and grafting one of our Fox body hoods into it for the bubble. We took the factory headlights and grille out and airbrushed that all in to lighten it up.”

Said Enos, “There were a lot of people that were involved in this thing, that’s for sure. A lot of the bodywork and custom fiberglass work was actually done by my uncle, Dennis Plogger. He and I both actually did a lot of it. And the whole thing is really a crazy story. When I crashed the car, my uncle was actually diagnosed with cancer, so he had a couple of months out of work and it was kind of therapy for him to get his mind off things. So he went down and actually repaired most of the bodywork on the car.”

Aside from the repairs to the body and chassis, many of the damaged components were upgraded or changed based on what was learned the first time around. Among those changes included enlarging of the exhaust from 4″ to 4-1/2″, the addition of a smaller 9″ Mark Williams housing to achieve a desired gear ratio, along with a new wishbone, new lexan, newer Santhuff rear shocks, a 2″ Jerry Bickel anti-roll bar, new four-link bars, and brakes. The very same Proline Race Engines-prepared, 600-inch, twin turbocharged mill remains the motivating source behind Enos’ incredible machine.

The nose of the has seen a slight decrease in ride height, while the rear has been raised minutely for tuning purposes.

“Jamie Miller doing all the setups on the car and we actually found something that really worked with the setup on the car and kind of changed it around, and I thought it actually made the car look better too. Before, it seemed like it always sat higher in the front and kind of sagged in the back,” Jason stated. “There were actually a lot of things on the car that I didn’t like, so when i crashed, I thought, well, I guess I can fix all the other crap I didn’t like. We did a lot of refining on it.”

Image credit: Scott McCabe

Enos and company wasted little time in putting the car in the beams once it rolled out of MacPherson’s shop in Halifax, MA, heading straight for the warmer climate of Florida for some eighth mile shakedown laps at Bradenton Motorsports Park. And in it’s second coming, Enos narrowly avoided another disastrous incident.

“On the very first hit down the racetrack, I thought we were going to crash it again. It had such a bad transmission explosion that it blew fluid everywhere. Four seconds into the runs I lifted to make sure it’d stop because everything was fresh and it was like a grenade going off in the car. Parts blew up so bad it actually dented the roof of the car. It was bad. And the car was sliding all around and I’m going, you’ve got to be kidding me. First pass after crashing the car and I feel like I’m going to crash it again. The entire windshield was covered in red transmission fluid; it was like a horror movie inside the car,” exclaimed Jason.

Image credit: Scott McCabe

A local shop was able to assists Enos and crew in replacing the damaged driveline components, including the construction of a brand new driveshaft in just a days time. On the very next pass, the car ripped off it’s best eighth mile effort to date with a 4.32. “The car was really soft and it was just kind of a  toned-down pass to get me behind the wheel again – to get the bugs worked out of me. To have the guys tell me it went a .32, I was just like ‘really?’ I never thought it was going to go that fast right off the bat.”

“Our goal is to get the thing into the 20′s. That’s been our personal goal was to get back and get it there and then go from there.” Look for Jason and crew and their stunning ’67 Mustang this season as they campaign throughout the Northeast at venues including Cecil County and Atco, along with all of the major Outlaw 10.5 shows across the country as time allows in their schedules.

Starliner… Thunderbolt… Galaxie… Sunliner… Crown Victoria… 500 – all of these revered Ford model nameplates share a common ancestor, the Ford Fairlane which was introduced in 1955 as a full-size model. The rapid restyling cycles of that period would see the Fairlane shrink and grow through the years.

More information is available from the event web site.

As a mid-sized car in 1964, Ford dropped a modified 427 cid engine under the hood and, along with weight saving steps like fiberglass fenders, Plexiglas windows and light weight bucket seats, the company went drag racing with a 3200 pound package called the Thunderbolt.

In 1965, Ford moved the Fairlane back into the large car segment and introduced new performance packages the following year. The GT series featured a 390 cubic-inch V8 as standard equipment, adding suspension modifications, disc brakes, fiberglass lift-off hood, paint and body striping, unique badges and a special steering wheel. Most importantly, though, the Fairlane had been redesigned to house big block engines.

Performance marketing at Ford was in high gear. Since the Falcon was being shown well in economy events and the Mustang was sweeping through production sports car competition, it was decided to campaign the Fairlane (and Mercury Comet) set up with a side oiler version of the 427 V8 engine.

NHRA has specifically set up the B and C/Super Stock Classes for this Fairlane, as well as 426 HEMI Plymouths and Dodges. Chrysler drove the competition in these classes with the Sox & Martin and Dick Landy teams. Ford pushed Holman and Moody to prep four cars (two 4-bbl automatics, plus two 8-bbl standard transmission cars) in time for the NHRA Spring Nationals.

Ed Terry was chosen to drive one of the prototype 1966 Fairlanes in B/SS class. Serial number 6H43Z-105168, the car shown here, was campaigned by Terry, who enjoyed receive full parts support, plus travel expenses to major events and the car once the season concluded. Terry won the U.S. Nationals in this car, but was disqualified in post-race inspection. Someone at Ford had not registered the latest go-fast parts for the car with NHRA.

In standard trim, the 427 Fairlane could turn the quarter-mile in less than 13 seconds and reach 60 mph in six seconds flat. Race prepared versions consistently ran low 11 ETs.

Terry continued to race successfully with this car and, in 1969, was picked as one-half of the West Coast Ford Drag Racing team. A second prototype car went to Bill Ireland, a successful northwest racer, who later converted it to a 1967 model by changing a number of exterior parts.

This particular car will be presented for auction at the upcoming Mecum event in Kissimmee, FL, January 26-30, 2011. With its well established pedigree and extensive documentation, it will be interesting to see what level of bidder interest it can generate. Previous 427 Fairlane sales at auction have mostly been uninspiring, but then, none were piloted by Terry – arguably, Ford’s most successful drag racer on the West Coast. An ultra-rare 1967 R-Code Fairlane 500 did sell in 2008 for $106,000.

With LS1 F-cars more affordable now than ever, gear-heads are buying them up and not hesitating to customize them to their taste in performance and style.  In this two-part article we are going to share with you ten of the hottest boosted LS-powered F-bodies we could get our hands on. Though there may be faster and more extreme cars than these out there, these rides represent what the average guy can build in his garage, over time, as budgets allow.

Ray Litz – 2002 Trans Am

We caught up with Ray at this year’s inaugural Holley LS Fest, and he was more than happy to share his story with us. Ray’s story begins in October, 2002, after he purchased his silver Trans Am brand new from a local dealership. Though the car came from the factory as a standard, non-WS6 Trans Am with an automatic transmission, it only took a few weeks for Ray to let the modifications begin. Like most people, he started out with a clear air lid and a catback exhaust system.

• Displacement: 427 CI
• Power Adder: 91mm Turbo
• ET: 8.26 @ 167
• 60-foot: 1.28

Living in the Midwest comes with the inconvenience of having snow on the ground almost 6 months out of the year, and after having it parked for the winter, it became apparent to Ray that his car was not as fast as he wanted it to be. Once spring hit, he added a NOS dry kit and then modified the kit into a two-stage system himself. After this was complete, this began what Ray refers to as “a slippery slope” to its current configuration.

Ray Litz started out running nitrous but switched to turbocharging for the current incarnation of his Trans Am.

Ray’s Trans Am would inevitably go through numerous different engine and nitrous combinations over the course of the next several years, eventually ending up as the monster it is today. Ray even lays claim to being the first with a trans-braked 4L60E. His T/A is currently packing a Kurt Urban-assembled ERL 427 cubic inch LS1, treated with Weisco pistons, TEA heads, and a custom hydraulic roller camshaft of undisclosed specifications.

However, Ray wasn’t interested in a naturally-aspirated build. Instead, he decided to add a cherry to his cake by fitting Shearer Fabrication’s 91mm tubular turbo kit to his 427, backed with a Rossler-built Powerglide transmission. The boost in this ferocious monster is rated at 20psi and is controlled by an AMS 1000 boost controller. Ray is basically a one-man tuner, builder and race team, as he proudly does everything on his own. Ray is also laying claim to be the quickest and the fastest F-body using the factory PCM.

An AMS 1000 boost controller rides herd on 20psi.

In July of this year, Ray had his car back up and running after several months of tweaking and tuning and started index racing his Trans Am. He has made five index events; four of them being 8.90, while the fifth being a 9.0. Ray was the number one qualifier four out of the five and was only .004 from being first at the fifth. He has managed to win two of the events, one being Norwalk Raceway’s “Friday Night Chaos Street Assassin,” and the other being the “Motor City Rumble” at Milan, while landing in the semi-finals of the others.

Ray’s silver bullet is super consistent too, as he constantly lays down quarter mile times in the 8.28-8.30 range with trap speeds of 166-167 MPH and short times in the 1.28-1.33 bracket. Keep an out for Ray and his silver Trans Am in the future, as I’m sure he has more in store for everyone!

There's something undeniably awesome about a car that looks this stock but runs deep in the eights...

Jonathan Roberts – 2002 Camaro SS

This next car comes to you straight out of Houston, Texas. It’s owned by Jonathan Roberts, and though its mod list is quite extensive, this car is another example of what this article is all about. Originally an automatic-equipped 2002 Camaro SS, Jonathan was fortunate enough to pick this car up brand new, before GM pulled the plug on the F-bodies. You see, Jonathan was still a full-time college student at Sam Houston State when he purchased his Camaro. It was his daily driver and only mode of transportation for many years, racking up a ton of miles as he drove from Houston to Huntsville every day.

• Displacement: 402CI
• Power Adder: APS Twin Turbo Kit with Snow Performance Methanol/Water Injection
• Horsepower: 666 (Stock LS1 with nitrous), 1004 (402 with turbos)
• Top Speed: 203.2 MPH (Texas Mile, Spring 2010)

Jonathan couldn’t be bothered by his car’s current mileage though, and for good reason.  Once he graduated from school with a degree in Construction Management, Jonathan was able to purchase himself a new truck, thus retiring his treasured Camaro from daily driver duties. Once he had done this, he made a vow to never sell the car, and took it upon himself to personalize his Camaro to meet his taste in speed and style.

Jonathan Roberts started off with a little nitrous, and ended up wanting more. Twin turbos and a built 402 soon followed.

About a year after retiring his Camaro from the daily grind, Jonathan decided to swap out the 4L60E  and convert to a T56. Shortly after the manual transmission installation was complete, he took it upon himself to upgrade the Camaro with a heads/cam package and a NOS 125hp nitrous kit. This resulted in 666 (nice number, huh?) rear wheel horsepower.

Jonathan had fun with his newfound power for awhile, as he put it on display at sanctioned and unsanctioned drag events, laying waste to imports and other muscle cars alike. The only downer was that the factory 10 bolt wasn’t having as much fun as Jonathan, and after the third one broke, he decided to get serious. A call to Houston’s Late Model Racecraft was made, and the Camaro was in store for rejuvenation.

Starting with the obvious, the broken 10-bolt rear end was replaced with a Moser 12-bolt with 3.42 gears, and the T-56 was fortified with G-Force internal gear set and an RPS twin disc, carbon-on-carbon clutch. Connecting the tranny to the rear axle is a chromoly driveshaft, courtesy of The Driveshaft Shop. After what was in store for this Camaro, the drivetrain was going to need all of the reinforcements it could get.

The Camaro was converted from automatic to stick, making it better suited for all-around motorsports use.

No longer satisfied with his head/cam/nitrous combo, Jonathan decided to pull the built LS1 in favor of a stroked 402, with a couple of turbos thrown on. Starting with an 8.5:1 compression ratio and a forged bottom end, the guys at LMR installed a set of CNC-ported Trick Flow 245 cylinder heads along with a custom grind camshaft of their own specifications. A FAST 92mm LSX intake was placed on top of the fresh 402, along with an APS twin-turbo kit and intercooler, and a Snow Performance methanol/water injection kit. A Meziere electric water pump and a Ron Davis custom radiator are called upon for cooling duties.

Also on the modification list is a complete APS fuel system, along with two Kenne-Bell Boost-A-Pump harnesses to help fuel the twin-turbocharged mill. Exhaust duties are handled by way of a set of custom turbo manifolds, 3-inch Y-pipe and a Borla tunable exhaust. All exhaust components, including the turbo housings, have been ceramic-coated to help keep temps down.

Yet another clean F-Body that gives no clue to 1000 horsepower under the hood and 200 MPH top speed.

Jonathan relies on a complete Baer C5 brake upgrade kit with Eradispeed rotors to stop the 4100 pound beast, and suspension components from QA1, Eibach, BMR, and Hotchkis to help keep his car planted to the ground on the drag strip, as well as in the corners.

Jonathan loves entering his car in Texas Mile events, and he also enjoys participating in the annual Houston vs. Dallas shootout street meet and race event held in Dallas and hosted by 701hp.com. This is definitely a multi-purpose car with the great looks to match!

Andy Essary – 2002 WS6 Trans Am

Up next is Andy Essary, who also happens to be the owner of one of the fastest recorded LS cars in existence! Though his car sort of pushes the envelope of a “real world boosted F-body,” we had a hard time ignoring this car when we first saw it at the LS Fest, not to mention the fact that he occasionally drives it on the street!

• Displacement: 427CI
• Power Adder: Twin 76mm Precision Turbo T4
• Horsepower: 2,000 (Estimated)
• ET: 7.97 @ 185.6 MPH

Andy’s story begins not with this Trans Am, but with the five he had owned previously as a young man, including a 1979 10^th Anniversary Edition, and two GTA’s.  After having sold that last GTA, the responsibilities of life had taken over. But they say that lost loves always stick in the back of your mind. Some 15 years later, Andy found himself mesmerized by the hood of the 4th gen WS6 Trans Am. Trying to avoid the dealerships like the plague for over a year, curiosity got the best of Andy, and after taking a closer look, found himself driving a brand new 6-speed version off of the showroom floor in in the fall of 2001.

Andy Essary is yet another LS junky who started off with a little bit of spray, but turned to turbos to slake his thirst for power.

Initially, Andy enjoyed his car in the stock format, with the only addition being a K&N filter and an air lid a little later on. After which, Andy swore that those would be the only mods ever going to be done to the car. Right. Soon after, Andy was installing headers, exhaust, and an aftermarket clutch. Eventually Andy added nitrous; first a dry kit, then a fogger system. Then it became a “heads and cam” car.

After he burned up the third clutch, he went with a Rossler-built Turbo 350, then a Rossler Turbo 400 with a Pro Mod and a 2.10 first gear. Then he sleeved the LS1 to make it a 427 stroker, with the fogger system of course. Twin turbos eventually replaced the nitrous with a set of 66mm’s, which was good for 8.20’s in the quarter. Then two 76mm’s replaced the 66’s in the form of Precision T4’s.

With trap speeds in the mid-180's, this is one Trans Am that definitely needs a parachute...

While the car still retains its factory body, paint, and glass, just about everything on the car has been modified in one form or another. The T/A now sports a solid roller 427ci LSX block that was built by AES of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. It features a Jesel valve train, 16 stage 96lb/hr injectors, ET LS7 heads, a Beck Mechanical sheet metal intake, a MagnaFuel EFI 750 pump, and an air-to-water intercooler. It was tuned by Jim Moran of Speed Inc.

Though it might look street-stock on the outside, a peek into the cockpit reveals a 25.5-cert cage.

The car has gone through a total of three 10-bolt rear ends, not including the original that was pulled at 1200 miles – a Moser 12-bolt, a Currie 9-inch, and it  now has a Moser M9 that has been narrowed and the rear wheel wells have been mini-tubbed. The stock-location BMR suspension was tuned by “MADMAN” and he also installed one of his steering racks as well, along with supplying the valving for the rear AFCO shocks. QA1 shocks were called upon to handle front strut duty. The car is also sporting a 25.5-certification roll cage, and oh yeah, approximately 2,000 horsepower.

The Holley LS Fest wasthe first big event the car has been to, and when we caught up with Andy and his Trans Am there, he was running 8.20’s all day. He qualified third but went out early in eliminations as he red lit the staging lights in the first round. He’s enjoyed taking it to a few grudge races in the past and since we have last spoke with him, managed to set a new personal best time of 7.97 @ 185.6 MPH. The car now remains a 7,800-mile Trans Am that I don’t think Mr. Essary will ever part with. Whether you want to argue that this as a “real world” F-body or not, there’s no arguing the brutal power this thing makes!

Tim Habel – 2000 Camaro SS / 2002 Formula Firehawk

This next car comes from an owner of not one, but two F-bodies, Tim Habel. Tim, a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, is an automotive instructor for a large automotive company, a  licensed NHRA driver, and has been an “avid gearhead” for over 20 years. Being no stranger to high performance, Tim has previously owned many street and race cars. Among the list is a 1966 Chevy II that started out as a stock daily driver that took him through high school, which later became a 1,600 hp Outlaw 10.5 car that would eventually run 8.0’s @ 174mph in the quarter mile back in 1999.

• Displacement (Camaro): 403CI
• Power Adder (Camaro): None
• Displacement (Firehawk): 347CI
• Power Adder (Firehawk): D-1SC ProCharger @ 17 PSI

Tim temporarily hung up his racing jacket, sold the Nova, got married, and decided to raise a family. Tim now owns two LS-powered 4th-gens. The first is a 2000 Camaro SS sprayed in the original factory Pewter Metallic, the second, a rare 2002 Formula Firehawk, painted in the highly desirable Navy Blue Metallic.

Tim Habel's Firehawk is a low-9-second car that pulls consistent 1.33 60-foot times.

Starting with the Camaro, it has been through a total of three different engine combinations in the past, while only showing a scant 6,000 miles on the clock. While being 100% stock in its outward appearance, a look under the hood tells a completely different story. Formerly a 9-second, blown LS2 403 car, Tim has since removed the blower and had the car re-tuned to run in the high 10′s naturally aspirated. Tim did this so that he wouldn’t have to install a cage and cut up such a precious, low-mileage car.

Enter the Firehawk. Sticking with the stock outside appearance theme like he had on the Camaro, Tim decided to pull the LS1 in favor of a built 347-inch LS6. The new engine sports AFR 225 heads, 9.2:1 compression, an LS6 intake, a 224/227 114 LSA Comp cam, and last but certainly not least, a D-1SC ProCharger with a front-mounted intercooler. The aforementioned ProCharger pumps 17 pounds per square inch of boost into the 347, with the aid of C16 race gas to prevent “the heads from lifting”, as Tim puts it.

Though the dyno numbers are undisclosed, this thing definitely rips, as Tim consistently lays down low 9-second passes in the 1320. Of course, Tim doesn’t rely on a factory running gear to get this 3400-pound car down the track, so the appropriate measures had to be taken. Starting with one of the weakest links in the entire F-body structure, the factory rear axle had to go. In its place lives a Moser M9, complimented by one of Moser’s heavy duty torque arms, an aluminum center section, 35-spline gun-drilled and star-flanged axles, and a set of 3.70 gears spin the rear wheels.

Rolling stock consists of Billet Specialties wheels; skinnies on the front, with wider, Hoosier 275/60R15 stickies on the rear, aiding Tim’s ‘Hawk to 1.33 short times. Helping the Hoosiers plant that power are a set of stock rear springs, Chassis Engineering adjustable shocks, and BMR rear lower control arms, while a Strange Engineering front coil springs and shocks, and a UMI cross member and lower control arms help shed a few pounds off of the front. Tim relies on bringing all of this to a halt with Aerospace front brakes and Strange stoppers in the rear.

The built LS6 runs 9.2:1 compression and is topped by AFR 225 heads.

Tim, though short on time these days, still manages to make it out to his local track, Gateway, as often as possible. He enjoys index and bracket racing the most, and has full support of his wife and children – if not for them, Tim says none of this would be possible!

Tim Akers – 1999 Trans Am

Our second Tim on the list is a happily married father of one and an avid drag racer. He’s been racing his ’99 Trans Am since 2000, and has been heavily involved with the “LS Scene” ever since. Tim has also owned a 2000 Camaro SS in the past and currently owns a ’98 Z/28 hardtop for a daily driver, and his wife currently drives a 2006 CTS-V every day. Tim likes to consider his family an “LS family” and has no plans to change that anytime soon! But what started this sick addiction for Ray and his family was the purchase of the aforementioned ’99 T/A.

• Displacement: 408CI
• Power Adder: 80mm T6 turbo
• Horsepower: 640 (at the wheels)
• Boost: 7 PSI

It started out as a completely bone-stock, slightly used car that Tim bought from a local dealer, and it served him well with the basic bolt-ons as it took him through college and to his day-to-day grind. Once the car was paid off however, it was transformed from a college-kid-mobile into the weekend warrior that Tim always wanted.

But his bolt-on experience was short lived, as a hydro-locked motor resulted in Tim pulling the original LS1 and having it rebuilt with a .010 overbore, LS6 heads, a T-Rex cam and a 200-shot of the giggle gas. With aid of a TH350 tranny, this resulted in short times in the 1.35 range, but the TH350 wasn’t having any of it, as it went caput at the Second Annual LSX Shootout. On the way home from the event, Tim turned to his best friend, Josh “Tater” Angley, and muttered, “If they could do it, WE could do it!”

With the wild graphics on Tim Akers' Trans Am, you're not going to mistake him for anyone else at the track.

This began the transformation into what the car is today. In October of 2008, Tim and Josh began tearing the car apart in Josh’s shop in his backyard. Out went the LS1, and in went an iron-blocked, truck-sourced 408 with stock “317” heads with ARP head studs and LS9 gaskets, a 224/224 .565/.565 114 LSA camshaft,  a custom exhaust that includes a set of truck-sourced 6.0 manifolds, and a massive 80mm T6 turbo. Running the car with only 7 psi of boost, Tim’s Trans Am is putting down 640 to the rear wheels, and that’s on a conservative E85 tune.

That is enough to produce a collection of 9-second time slips in his pocket. Tim hopes to push it to 15-16 psi in the very near future and to hopefully attain 25 psi eventually. Tim’s car currently utilizes an RMVB TH400 transmission, a spooled Moser 9-inch with 3.90 gears and 31 spline-axles, along with a full aftermarket, stock-location suspension.

The car is currently running at a conservative 7 PSI boost level on E85, but there's plenty of room for improvement and Akers anticipates turning up the wick to 15-16 PSI and beyond.

The car also features a killer, custom paint job along with a Formula bumper, just to further differentiate his T/A from all of the others. Though we can’t do a car like this justice in just a few hundred words, Tim was more than anxious to thank the people that helped him get his car to where it is today, then share every detail on every nut and bolt! In this game, isn’t that what it’s all about; giving credit where it’s due?

Though it's currently running in the nines, Akers' Trans Am is headed for bigger things in the future.

Tim has done 99% of the work himself with the help of his buddies, Josh “Tater” Angley, Dave “Blue” Willover, Quint Dullworth, and Brian “No Show” Liles, all of whom he thanks for their dedication and willingness to help fabricate and lend a hand whenever needed.  Tim also wants to thank his sponsors, who provided the only outsourcing on the car: Brad Mayo of Carma Performance for his fantastic tuning abilities, as well as Bob Ette, of AEIcnc.com, for his fabrication of the motor plate/mid plate that he has made for Tim’s car.

And last, but definitely not ever least, is Tim’s wife, Amanda, for putting up with Tim’s late nights at the shop and all of the money that she let him spend on his passion. Who wouldn’t be happy with a home-built, 9-second Trans Am that was built with the help and support of family and friends?

Stay tuned for next month’s installment of our “Ten Real World Boosted F-body’s” story, as we’ll have five more great cars coming your way!

Photos: Mecum Auctions

Ford was looking to take over Mopar’s dominating role in stock class racing when they showed up at the 1968 NHRA Winternationals. The “Ford Drag Team” arrived with a fleet of 428 Cobra Jet-equipped Mustangs and five sponsored drivers – Gas Ronda, Jerry Harvey, Hubert Platt, Don Nicholson and Al Joniec.

Based on the 428 FE engine, the Cobra Jet used different cylinder heads with enlarged intake ports. Heavier connecting rods and an uprated crankshaft also distinguished the engine. Officially rated at 335 hp, reports suggest that the actual output exceeded 400 hp. Ford executives had been worried about high HP ratings affecting insurance rates, but their understating output had a secondary consequence.

The Cobra Jet Mustangs raced in C/SA, SS/E, SS/EA classes, all of which used lbs per advertised horsepower as a class criteria. Mustangs made it to the finals in all classes entered, of course. Al Joniec won both his class – defeating Hubert Platt in an all-CJ final – and the overall Super Stock Eliminator title. Platt, who became head of the East Coast Ford Drag Team, would go on to win Super Stock Eliminator at the NHRA Winter Championships (Miami-Hollywood Dragway) in February, 1969.

Building on those kinds of very public successes, Ford introduced the Super Cobra Jet engine during the 1969 model year. Updates included tougher-yet connecting rods, modified crankshaft, flywheel and crankshaft damper. An external engine oil cooler was also added.

To get the SCJ engine in a 1969 Mustang, you had to order the optional, $147.60 ‘Drag Pack’. Ford described the option’s content as, “Includes traction-lok differential, 3.91 or 4.30 high ratio axle, and the following 428 CID engine modifications: engine oil cooler, cap screw connecting rods and modified crankshaft, flywheel and damper. Available only with 428 CID 4V Non-Ram or Ram air engines. Not available with other optional ratio axles or air conditioning.”

When ordered in the Ram Air version, the engine was assigned the famous “R” engine code. Non-Ram Air engines were Q-code. The CJ’s cylinder head improvements came alive when fed from a Ram Air system. On street or strip, this model appeared to be the pinnacle of Ford Performance through the muscle car era. Ford Drag Team’s western Captain, Ed Terry, would campaign one during the 1970 season, continuing to dominate the competition. Terry’s R-code 428-CJ Super Stock Mustang sold at auction in 2003, for $29,160 – certainly not a generous amount, even for five years ago.

Significantly restyled from the previous year’s model, the 1969 Mustang was lowered by a half inch, the body was longer and wider, with particularly aggressive front end sculpting. It was the only year that the Mustang would use four headlights. As well, the windshield angle was flattened by 2.2 degrees yielding an even sleeker look that worked to perfection on the fastback body style. Both radial tires and intermittent windshield wipers became available as optional equipment for the first time.

With Ford’s emphasis on that year’s Mach 1 Mustang, as well as the BOSS variants, production of the SCJ Mustang was relatively limited, with just 52 R-code coupes built in 1969. On delivery, they were somewhat plain to look at. Painted wheels with ‘dog dish’ hub caps were standard. Owners often upgraded to the styled steel wheels for that year, or went aftermarket – usually to Torque Thrust models.

The particular car shown here is one of just eleven built with the 4.30 axle and C6 automatic transmission. The numbers-matching car is completely original, save for cylinder head replacements in 1970 and a more recent concours-quality paint job. The car is slated to go to auction in January at the Mecum Auctions’ Kissimmee, FL, event. The five-day auction runs January 26 – 30. Additional information is available on the company’s web site.

The all-new 5.0-liter engine that Ford released to a flurry of anticipation and fanfare earlier this year on the 2011 Mustang has been a hot ticket item among performance shops and blue-blooded enthusiasts everywhere. And understandably so – the original 5.0-liter, 302 cubic inch engine that debuted in the Mustang for the 1982 model year and offered through 1995 in the SN-95 Mustang GT, made it one of the most revered enthusiast automobiles of all time, continuing that distinction to this day.

The new V8 “Coyote” 5.0 engine produces 412 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque right from the factory with it’s 32 valves and Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing technology, making it an excellent starting point for those looking to produce some serious power.  Already, several speed warehouses have produced some bad-to-the-bone 2011 5.0-liter Mustangs that have made waves around the high performance community. Here, StangTV takes a closer look at some of the quickest and most awe-inspiring Five-Oh’s to hit the quarter mile thus far in 2010.

FastLane Turbo

Specs:
Power Adder: 72mm Custom Turbo Kit
Engine Modifications: Forged Pistons and Rods, stock bore and stroke
Power: 700 horsepower at 14 PSI
Suspension/Drivetrain: Powerglide transmission, Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials
Quarter Mile: 10.40 @ 137 MPH

The guys at FastLane Turbo in Houston have quickly made a name for themselves in the Mustang performance market.  They quickly put their mark on the 2011 GT map with an Ebony Black model that a customer delivered for them to put their handiwork into to become a 10-second player.

This GT went in bone stock, straight from the showroom floor with less than 100 miles on the odometer, and a myriad of bolt on components including headers, exhaust, cold air intakes and such were installed to test for horsepower gains on the dyno. Then, the custom 72mm turbocharger system was fabricated to create the necessary horsepower for a bad ass street-driven ride.

The engine is a standard, factory 5.0L with the factory bore and stroke, with a set of forged pistons and rods installed to handle the 14-pounds of boost. The camshafts were also reground to a profile that would match the new turbo combination, but later replaced with the stock camshafts. At 14 pounds of boost, this killer GT produces nearly 700 horsepower. In essence, this a stock 2011 Mustang GT 5.0L with a turbo kit running in the 10′s – a real testament to the performance capability of this new-age Mustang.

The Mustang’s suspension is completely stock, and the only change in the drivetrain is the swap to a Powerglide transmission in place of the automatic as-purchased. In addition, it was outfitted with a set of Mickey Thompson ET Street Drag Radials, though was showing off the bling in the SCT booth at SEMA.

Intended as a 10-second capable street terror, this Mustang has made a few passes down the quarter mile, with a current best of a low 10.40 at 137 MPH.

Strictly Performance

Specs:
Power Adder: NOS 250 Direct Port Nitrous Oxide
Engine Modifications: Custom nitrous tune, MMR cold air intake, Custom 3-inch exhaust with Magnaflow MagnaPacks
Power: 670 RWHP
Suspension/Drivetrain: BMR rear suspension, replaced front seats
Quarter Mile: 9.84 @ 139 MPH

Earlier this summer, Strictly Performance in Houston, Texas became the first 5.0L to break into the nine-second zone, as shop founder and owner Richard Lelsz drove a Performance white 2011 GT to a 9.968 at 137.19 miles per hour at Houston Raceway Park.

Unlike some of the other lightning quick 5.0L combinations, Strictly Performance chose to go the route of nitrous-assistance rather than boost, utilizing an NOS direct-port nitrous system pumping out in the neighborhood of 250 additional horses. At the time of the nine-second pass, the engine was completely bone stock from the factory with a mere 500 road and track miles on the odometer.

Some of the minor modifications performed on the car included Strictly Performances’ own custom nitrous tune, and bolt-on’s such as an MMR cold air intake, a custom three-inch exhaust system, and Magnaflow MagnaPack mufflers fed from the stock exhaust manifolds, producing an impressive 670 horses to the tire. The Strictly Performance GT rides on Bogart wheels and features BMR rear suspension underneath and the only weight reduction the car has seen is the removal of the comfortable factory drive and passenger seats for a pair of Corbeau racing seats.

Following the 9.96 pass, Lelsz indicated that the crew was unable to get the factory rev limiter out of the car, forcing him to short shift at 6,000 RPM, thus leaving some valuable elapsed time on the table. With a 9.84 best at 139 miles per hour, Lelsz and the Strictly Performance team are one to look out for in the battle for 2011 GT supremacy.

JPC Racing

Specs:
Power Adder: 100 shot fogger then a Paxton NOVI-2200 kit with air-to-air intercooler
Engine Modifications: Kooks headers, Bassani 3-inch X-pipe and 2.5-inch race mufflers
Power: 802 RWHP at 12 PSI
Suspension/Drivetrain: 4.56:1 rear gear