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We’re not entirely sure what to make of this one, but as the story goes, former NHRA Funny Car team owner Dale Creasy Sr., who is known to be somewhat of a rebel and certainly marches to the beat of his own drum, has unveiled his plan to campaign a nostalgia-like flopper in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
After parting ways with his son, Dale Creasy Jr., with whom he campaigned the family-owned flopper for more than a decade, the family patriarch is branching out with a new driver, a new crew chief, and a way-outside-the-box Cadillac CTS body that resembles the classic Funny Cars of the 1970’s, with a flat, low-slung hood and roofline, a more pronounced nose, and the small flip-up spoiler at the rear. Renowned artist John Bell designed the gorgeous paint scheme seen on the conceptual drawing of the car, which has been affectionately named “Cadillaction”.
According to Creasy Sr., he believes that the Cadillac CTS’s aerodynamic design can compete with the sleek bodies on today’s modern Funny Cars, and he wants to prove that to the world. While the nose of the car does indeed look like a Cadillac CTS, from there back, it’s straight-up nostalgia.
As unappealing as today’s bubble-top Funny Car bodies are, they look they way they do for a reason — those large surface area noses and hoods and the giant spoilers and spill plates are all integral to keeping the 8,000+ horses planted firmly and safely to the pavement at over 300 mph. We don’t make claims to be aerodynamicists, but we’d find it hard to believe that the old school bodies could handle the power and the speed today’s cars are capable of. With that said, as diehard nostalgia drag racing fans, this is one of the coolest concepts anyone has had in recent memory, and it’ll be interesting to see if Creasy’s idea sinks, floats, or ever leaves the dock.
The Chicago-area native hopes to have the car complete in time for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, June 27-30.