Tewksbury, Massachusetts’ Jack Dykeman made a big splash at the “Street Outlaws No Prep Kings”(NPK) stop at New England Dragway last weekend by fighting through the eight-car field to claim the the Locals Only class win in front of a packed house with his brand-spanking-new Z28 Camaro build.
“Me and my dad have been working on it for about three years, and it’s not entirely done, but we couldn’t wait so we had to get it out on the track,” Dykeman said about the rush to get the Camaro race-ready.
The second-gen Camaro’s track debut occurred at a test session the week prior to the NPK event.
“It was mostly to see if it was going to go straight and everything was going to work. David DeMarco did the shakedown passes,” Dykeman explained. “He has more experience on slick tires, and I worked on the tune. We realized that the converter was too tight for slicks, so we switched it out and loosened it up before the event. That’s all we had to change.” The Camaro, which was actually built with radial racing in mind, was shod with Mickey Thompson 28×10.5 slicks for the debut event.
Dykeman, who is usually in the background helping his dad, Mark, with his X275 Camaro, hadn’t turned a lap of his own since 2018, and was expectedly nervous once he jumped in the driver’s seat at the event.
“I remember how my dad’s ‘72 sounded with stock floors and carpet,” Dykeman recalled of driving his father’s Camaro. “All of the sound comes through the sheet-metal floor in this car and you wonder what every noise is. Once I did the burnout, I felt like I was back in my natural environment. David helped me a bunch this weekend with the computer work, knowing I had nerves about driving.”
Three years ago, Dykeman began building his own 1980 Camaro, but decided it would be smarter to start with his father’s ’80 Z28, which had been raced for quite some time.
“It’s been in our family since the ’90s, before I was born,” Jack told us of the Camaro that his father turned over to the next generation. “It’s always been my dad’s car. We decided to use his since he wasn’t using it. He raced it back in the day at New England Dragway and it ran eights back then.”
The Camaro was a roller when Dykeman and his father got to work cutting the roof off and updating the roll cage. The factory front subframe made way for a Smith Racecraft tubular subframe, and Dykeman noted that everything from the firewall forward is new.
Mark had initially suggested that his son start in the Ultra Street category, but the DiSomma Racing Engines-built, 427 cubic inch small-block Chevy engine that they decided to use required them to step up to X275.
Feeding the small-block is a ProCharger F1-X blower pressurizing the atmosphere, which is later combined with VP Racing’s M1 methanol. Dykeman opted for an M&M Transmission two-speed Turbo 400 and bolt-together torque converter for the drivetrain, and Holley’s Dominator organizes the engine management.
“Pete Harrell originally helped us out with The Blue Goose (Mark’s former Camaro),” Jack told us. “Pete taught me everything I know, and it’s a lot trying to keep up with him.”
Dykeman’s Camaro uses Menscer Motorsports shocks at all four corners and Macfab beadlocks to hold the slicks and the radial tires in place on the Mickey Thompson wheels. Originally teal in color, Dykeman’s Z28 now wears Audi’s Nardo Grey hue thanks to Marcus Signorelli of Resto Rods and Customs.
“We named it The Grey Area because of the rules with the stock rear frame rails,” Dykeman said.
Currently, Dykeman estimates that The Grey Area is clocking elapsed times in the 4.80 range on slicks, and will be working to get the Camaro in the mid 20s or 30s with the 275 radials.
“It will take time and testing,” Dykeman said. He and his father are planning to attend the Yellow Bullet Nationals next, followed by Duck X’s No Mercy in October. Dyeman also said there’s talk of all of the NPK Locals class winners having a big race at the end of the NPK season, so the Z28’s time on slicks might not be over yet.
“It was a lot of fun and pretty exhilarating,” Dykeman said of his first race with his new ride. “It’s a lot of fun as a tuner. Doing radials, it’s one big math problem—the radials will either work or spin. With the slicks, you can peddle it and it feels like you’re driving it more.”
Dykeman also wanted to thank his sponsors, Mac Fab Performances, Motion Raceworks, TBM Brakes, Rife Sensors, ProCharger, Westgate Performance, Mad Racing Parts, Dykeman Welding and Fabrication, and Jeff Brandenburg of Dykes and Strippers Wiring. He also noted that Tommy Kirk has played a pivotal role in he and his father’s racing exploits.
“If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be racing and have the friends we have today.”
You might also like
Accuracy Matters: Why Digital Tire Pressure Gauges Are a Drag Racer’s Best Friend
Accuracy is very important when it comes to tire pressure in drag racing. Here's why a digital tire pressure gauge provides the best reading.
