The famed black notchback will soon look better than ever courtesy of paint from Fisher Auto Body.

Well it seems that a little birdie dropped a note off at Big Daddy Performance in Lakewood, New Jersey. You see Dwayne Gutridge has been out of commission since February at the ORTC race in Georgia and the people have started to wonder what he is up to. A thread has even popped up on YellowBullet asking the very question, “Big Daddy how is the car coming along?” Well much to our delight the phone rang this evening and it was the legend himself with a evil little laugh as he said, ” I hear people are asking about the car”? So as we spoke we have received the low down on exactly what is going in and a bunch of exciting new details that are sure to spur the excitement of the lovers and the haters.

Dwayne was fast to say that they have made a lot of changes in their program for 2010 and he wants to thank all those that have helped him get where he is at today. But this is business, as he said, and sometimes there is need for change. As for progress on the car, it has come out of the frame shop and is all squared back up and the repairs that were needed have been made. From this point, a hectic schedule will start at Hell Bent Race Cars where he will work his magic in the chassis with a new Skinny Kid Race Cars front end. Keith and the crew came on board for 2010 as well as Mickey Thompson returning with a new set of wheels and tires for this season. The front end will use a Mickey Thompson spindle mount wheel which should be good for some weight savings and stronger at the same time.

From the chassis shop, the famed black notchback will receive a fresh coat of black paint and a new Schoneck Composites front nose that will be sprayed at Fisher Auto Body. The turnaround is slated for three days so Dwayne can deliver the car to Kooks Custom Headers where they will make an all new set of headers for the twin turbo application. It will be the last stop that will gather the most attention as Dwayne is sending the car to Texas for a visit with David Wolfe of Wolfe Racecraft. David will be doing a multitude of things and some that are just going to have to be on a “needs to know basis.”  Some big things are in the works but in a few short weeks the car should be ready for action once again.

Aside from all the painstaking labor of rebuilding the car, a lot of other great things have happened. He is very fortunate to have some returning sponsors and some new ones.  One of the major upgrades to the car for Dwayne is the addition of a Big Stuff 3 management system courtesy of John Meaney. Rick Roberts of Edelbrock has provided us with a new set of cylinder heads, which should help us step up our engine program substantially. Also for this season Dwayne will be running a set of Precision 88mm turbos from Patrick at Precision Turbo. Scott Merkel of Merkel Racing Engines will be going back through the small block to make sure everything is just right for Dwayne’s return. Dwayne also said that it would not be possible without the following people and their support of his racing program, Manley, Jesel and Chris Franks at Frankenstein Racing.

Big Daddy seems very enthusiastic about the progress that is being made and with the help of all these people this should be a record setting year. Yes he is staying small block powered with out if the box 88’s but as they are finishing up a few top secret projects David ( Wolfe ) and Dwayne are very confident that they will have a potent package that will be a consistent 4.40 player. So keep your eyes peeled for more updates and photos to be rolling in very soon.