The build of Project BlownZ06’s Hemi powerplant is our most ambitious to date: it’s not a typical street-car engine build destined to make 1,000 horsepower. No, as an engine which is destined for regular competition in the Radial Vs. The World arena, it’s necessary to make far more than that in order to not only be competitive but run at the front of the pack. 3,000-plus horsepower, to be frank.
In order to achieve this ambitious goal, we enlisted the engine wizards at Pro Line Racing to build us an Alan Johnson Performance Engineering-based Hemi engine that could suck down more than fifty pounds of boost from a ProCharger F-3R-136 supercharger and perform in our all-new PMR Race Cars 2017 Corvette Z06 chassis.
Pulling out all the stops to put together a program like this required the support of countless companies over the last couple of years, but the end result—both on the dyno and at the track—has been well worth the blood, sweat, and tears from the entire Power Automedia/Dragzine/EngineLabs crews and all of the supporting companies and sponsors involved with the project.
Behind The Scenes With BlownZ06
Build Details
The engine build itself has been broken down into two parts (Part 1, Part 2) to make it more easy to digest, as there is a massive amount of information covering nearly every component included in the build. For more on the major hard parts inside along with expert commentary from Pro Line Racing’s Chris Jones, check out the video below.
Competing at the highest level of radial tire racing for which BlownZ06 is designed requires a team of dedicated people working with the car and engine to ensure each component is performing as required. In the case of BlownZ06, Pro Line Racing, master tuner Steve Petty, the fuel injection wizards at FuelTech, who set up one of their state-of-the-art FT600 packages for BlownZ06, and longtime partners ProCharger, who supplied one of their F-3R-136 superchargers to complete the package, all came together to help car owner/driver James Lawrence and the BlownZ06 team make an assault on the most challenging class in drag racing today.
On the dyno at Pro Line Racing shortly after the engine’s completion, the ProCharger boosted the Hemi engine to 3,010 horsepower on the Pro Line Racing dyno, but that was just the first part of the story—especially when you consider that this was done with the 136mm ProCharger, and we still have the option to add the F-3X-143 big-dog supercharger moving forward, which will add an expected 300-400 more horsepower to the equation.
Sergio Shifman Of ProCharger Talks Boost
The car was completed, then made its way to the NMCA’s season-opening race in Bradenton, Florida, to compete in the Radial Wars class. Just a few days prior to the event, the team tested the car with Steve Petty to complete shakedown runs and ensure each of the systems were working as planned.
The masterful tuning ability of Steve Petty, combined with the chassis-building skills of Phil Mandella Race Cars, the engine-building talents of the Pro Line Racing team, the engineering capabilities of the rest of our team partners—and the driving prowess of car owner James Lawrence—all came together to put us into the winner’s circle on the very first weekend out with the car
But they quickly turned the car into the quickest radial-tire-equipped ProCharger-boosted car on the planet—and they weren’t done there: the NMCA event was a stomping ground for the car to not only be consistent, but win the whole freaking race on its maiden voyage weekend. This quickly validated all of the hard work for so many people involved in the program, and made the car a force to be reckoned with in the Radial Vs. The World/Radial Wars class as intended. Even more importantly, by the end of that very first weekend out with the car, Lawrence drove the Petty-tuned rocket to an insane 3.86 eighth-mile time at over 194 mph to solidify that record for quickest ProCharger radial car anywhere, beating well-known, record-setting racers like DeWayne Mills and Marty Stinnett in the process.
The FuelTech FT600 System In Action
In Conclusion
There are few racers willing to take on the challenge of competing against the sport’s best, and even fewer willing to battle the turbo-powered rocketships of today’s Radial Vs. The World racers and do it with a centrifugal supercharger. This project was demanding, challenging, and at times frustrating and discouraging, but that very first round win, subsequent record-setting passes, and eventual event win makes all of the formidable difficulties worth the effort; we’re just getting started with this massive effort to win a championship—or many championships! Stay tuned!
This is how we do it!
