Drag racing is a sport with all kinds of highs and lows — one weekend you’re standing in the winners circle thanking your sponsors, the next weekend you could be staring at a window in the block, or worse. 

Bill “Big Boost” Lutz has been drag racing since the age of 15, transitioning from wheeling a 10-second 1970 Corvette to his five-second, 250 MPH Pro Modified down the quarter mile, and he’s had some big highs along with some tough lows.

Being a longtime racer, Lutz has had the opportunity to progress from different power adders, cars, and speeds over the years. Many people remember Bill’s 1967 Outlaw 10.5 Camaro which was a terror on the track, winning the 2003 OSCA Pro Street crown as a nitrous car and nearly won an NMCA title sporting a pair of turbos. 

These days Bill is campaigns his Scott Brasket-built Camaro in Pro Modified in the NHRA and elsewhere. A bad fire at the Shakedown at E-Town requiring extensive repairs was one of those tough lows for Lutz, but the car was repaired and back on the track better than ever.

Powering the Camaro is a BAE-8 Hemi that is filled with Diamond pistons and Fowler aluminum rods that’s undergone some top end changes in the off season.  

“We’ve upgraded our cylinder heads to a new NRE design and made some other changes to the car,” said Lutz.  The new combo will still be getting the boost from Lutzs’ long time sponsor, Garrett Turbos. New for this year will be a carbon fiber drive shaft from The Driveshaft shop.

The BAE-8 Hemi with a pair of Garrett Turbos strapped on it for boost.

Besides making some cylinder head and drive shaft changes, Lutz and his team are making a big change to the engine management system. In a Dragzine exclusive, Lutz revealed he will be using Haltech Engine Management Systems for engine management.

“We’ve teamed up with Haltech to be the first Pro Mod to ever run their system. While they’re a huge player in the Pro Import world, this challenge is something completely new to them and they’ve tackled the project head on. I can’t wait to try their system out on a 4,000 horsepower Pro Mod car and put it through the paces. Later in the year we’ll be running their new ELITE box as a production unit in our car too.”

Bill is following his 2013 freshman debut in NHRA Pro Mod with races this season at Norwalk, St. Louis, and Indy. Besides the NHRA tour, Lutz will run some NMCA and NEOPM races along with local action at Kil-Kare Dragway during the Xtreme Outlaw Series. 

After being at the top of the drag racing mountain and having some setbacks, Lutz and his team are always a threat any given Sunday.  Look for “Big Boost” to play the role of spoiler in the Pro Mod ranks in 2014.