Keith Berry Builds A Z06 Show-Quality Car Designed To Win

Over the last two years, we’ve been following along with Keith Berry’s Corvette build photos on Yellowbullet.com, and it’s safe to say that he’s assembling what is one of the sickest cars on the planet. His C5 Corvette is being final-assembled by Joey Bell and the wizards at Bell Chassisworks in Georgia and will be completed within the next two weeks. It is scheduled for a debut at the No Mercy III race at South Georgia Motorsports Park in the Radial vs. The World category.

Berry Motorsports is responsible for building this work of art - a billet-bodied intercooler with Keith's signature "BMF" on its face.

We had the chance to speak with Keith on the phone this morning, and he was bursting at the seams with excitement to get the car out and start making passes.

“It’s a long time coming. The last race I was at was the LSX Shootout two years ago, when it was running nitrous. I popped a couple of pistons and figured that was as good a time as any to start on a new build. The independent rear suspension was the weakest link in the chain. We had the power to compete at that time, but I couldn’t keep it together. Once we stripped it down and decided to get rid of that, I decided I would just build the nicest, baddest, LS car ever.  We used the best of the best and haven’t cut any corners anywhere – the pictures don’t do it justice,” Berry explained.

A tall-deck RHS block and Mozez heads are the foundation for the Pro Line Racing Engines horsepower. Twin 88mm turbochargers will be used for additional motivation.

The LSX powerplant was built by the team at Pro Line Race Engines and consists of a 468 cubic inch RHS tall deck block topped off by a set of Mozez heads that flow somewhere around 460 CFM. It’s pumped up by twin 88mm turbochargers, and Pro Line thinks it will be somewhere around 3,200 horsepower. But that’s not all – he was able to build a number of custom parts on the car thanks to the family business, Berry Motorsports, which specializes in custom billet intake manifolds and intercoolers.

Left, the BMF theme carries over to the Berry Motorsports billet valve covers. Right, no expense was spared on the body panels and paintwork. Berry employed carbon fiber whenever possible, and a Riddler Award winner to shoot the hue.

The powerplant isn’t even the trickest part of the car, however.  Berry wanted to be able to campaign the car in a number of different sanctioning bodies, so the time and effort was invested to ensure that he would have the most versatile car he could for his money. He raved about the gang at Bell Chassisworks and how much time and effort they have invested in the car. Keith explained, “The torque arm and 4-link brackets are both built into the car so we can change suspension depending on venue and class. The rear framerails are removable – they unbolt right behind the rocker. In the LS Shootout Drag Radial class they require a rear framerail, and we can actually bolt them right back in there. The number of custom touches on this car is staggering – it’s even got Ric Flair’s signature on the dash. Wooooooo!”

 

About the author

Jason Reiss

Jason draws on over 15 years of experience in the automotive publishing industry, and collaborates with many of the industry's movers and shakers to create compelling technical articles and high-quality race coverage.
Read My Articles

Drag Racing in your Inbox.

Build your own custom newsletter with the content you love from Dragzine, directly to your inbox, absolutely FREE!

Free WordPress Themes
Dragzine NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

We'll send you the most interesting Dragzine articles, news, car features, and videos every week.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Dragzine NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...


Street Muscle Magazine
Hot Rods & Muscle Cars
Diesel Army
Diesel Army
Engine Labs
Engine Tech

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...

  • Streetmuscle Hot Rods & Muscle Cars
  • Diesel Army Diesel Army
  • Engine Labs Engine Tech

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Dragzine

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Loading