The $10K Drag Shootout Final 10: Eric Yost And Team Bigun

The Horsepower Wars $10K Shootout is a competition where teams square off to see who can build the fastest drag car in 10 days with only $3,000 in cash and $7,000 in Summit Racing credit. We’ve had applicants from ALL over the country vying to see who would make it into the final list. And that has now happened.

This interesting and innovative competition has been made possible by some of the leading companies in our industry: Royal Purple, Comp Cams, TCI Transmissions, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels, E3 Spark Plugs, Fragola, Diablosport, Mahle Motorsports, DynaBatt, ProCharger, Weld Racing, ARP, BMR Suspension, QA1, PRW, Covercraft, and of course, Summit Racing.

We’ve already revealed five of the 10 finalists for the Horsepower Wars $10K Shootout, and today we present team number six!

Team Name: Team Bigun

Driver: Lyle Barnett
Hometown: Mooresville, NC
Crew: Eric Yost, Pete Harrell, Jason Smith

The Bigun team truly needs no introduction. North Carolina native Eric Yost heads up this squad that includes some of the most well-known names in small-tire racing. Yost, who owns and operates Customs by Bigun, with a host of top-flight builds to his credit, has quite the resume of his own on the track, having won Drag Week and Rocky Mountain Race Week in his famous patina Camaro. The team’s driver, Lyle Barnett, is one of the most well-liked and respected drivers in all of radial tire racing, having competed in Radial vs The World and, more recently, in Jason Digby’s world-beating, 4.1-second Leaf Spring Dodge Dart. The team also includes Jason Smith, along with Pete Harrell, a renowned tuner who guides Barnett’s Dart and many other elite drag racing machines. This is a group that has it all: starpower, talent, excitement, and a win-at-all-costs attitude. Will it be enough to make the final cut and, ultimately, to earn the $10,000 winners prize from Horsepower Wars?

To learn more about Yost and his team, check out their Q&A!

HW: Tell us a little about yourself

I’m 38 years old. I own a custom fabrication shop in Mooresville, NC called Customs by Bigun. I’ve won several races won, two national championships, and local championships.

HW: Why should your team be chosen for the Drag Shootout?

You should choose my team and I because we are the best and would stomp their ass. We work hard but play hard too!

HW: What makes you qualified to win the Horsepower Wars $10K Drag Shootout?

Because drag racing is what we do.

HW: Tell us about a car you and your team have built

My ’68 Camaro was built from the ground up. One of the fastest small-tire street cars around. The Digby Dart “Toothjerker” we built complete and set records immediately in the Leaf Spring class. My shop has built everything from the Nitro Circus school bus (it jumped 168 feet in the Nitro Circus Movie) to land speed cars that have set Bonnevile records. We have built both the 315 and 275 radial tire cars that were the first to go three-seconds in the eighth-mile.

Lyle set the Leaf Spring record at South Georgia (4.18 at 185 mph), and my Camaro has won Drag Week and Rocky Mountain Race Week. It also holds the record for the fastest leaf spring car at a half mile event. Mark Rogers Ultimate/Ultra street Mustang that we built holds the record.

Stay tuned as we release the next finalist and work our way through the entire lineup of teams that will vie for a shot at this rough-and-tumble build-off!

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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