For reigning NMCA Pro Street champion Chris Rini, the mot difficult challenge to face in 2011 may just be providing a proper encore to an incredible championship season. But rest assured, the venerable racer from Carmel, New York will give it his all, and he’ll tackle it behind the wheel of a brand new race car.
When the new season begins March 18-20 at Bradenton Motorsports Park, gone will be the familiar ATI-backed Dodge Stratus, as the #1 will adorn a brand new 1969 Camaro built by Jerry Bickel Race Cars and sporting an updated 825-cubic inch Charlie Buck nitrous-huffing monster between the framerails. ATI Performance Products, which has been working to bring their Superglide-4 Powerglide transmission and converter packages to the forefront of the industry, will remain as the primary backer for the new year. Last year, Rini utilized a Superglide-4 paired with ATI’s lock-up torque converter to propel his machine to a national record-setting lap of 6.15 and 234 MPH and ultimately, to the series crown.
The lightweight and state-of-the-art Camaro is expected to arrive from Bickel’s shop in three weeks, where it will then head off to Kook’s for a complete set of custom headers. From there, Rini and company will head to Jackson, South Carolina to complete initial testing while competing in Mike Hill’s Automatic Pro Modified race a week prior to the NMCA opener in Bradenton. Like he has in year’s past, look for Rini and his ATI-backed Camaro to be a regular part of Automatic Pro Mod events across the South when not competing with the NMCA.