For many of us, the idea of ditching our four-wheeled vehicles and straddling a two-wheeled rocket ship and riding off into the sunset is the perfect display of freedom…an almost euphoric release from the daily grind. If, however, you make your living aboard an NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle, this may be somewhat opposite the case. For Eddie Krawiec, team rider for the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance and Hines juggernaut and the 2008 NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock Motorcycle World Champion, a hobby comes with a roll cage and fenders. Quite the departure from his V-Twin powered, six-second, 190 MPH Harley Davidson V-Rod.
Krawiec, who formerly served as track manager of Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, has kept a keen eye on the Drag Radial class that has taken street car racing by storm of late, and recently set the wheels in motion toward filling that desire to compete with a car all his own.
After much time spent looking for a car and entertaining offers from chassis shops to build it, a recent visit to DMC Racing squared away the decision. There, Eddie found what he described as “the perfect car for what I wanted” in a low-mile, 2000 Camaro SS in which DMC had previously installed a cage for a customer that was looking to sell it. The crew at DMC – which have the record-setting radial tire terrors of Paul Major and Alex Vrettos (among others) to their credit – are currently hard at work transforming the Camaro into what will certainly be another aesthetically and technologically stunning stock-suspension racecar.
Under the hood, power will come from a fuel-injected 454 cubic inch, LS-based engine, sporting a tall deck block, 4.25” stroke crank, and fed by a single 106mm turbocharger. The car will also utilize a Powerglide transmission. An engine builder has yet to be decided upon, and many offers from parts manufacturers looking to get onboard with the project are still being entertained. As such, many of the details and specifications for the engine and drivetrain are still being hashed out.
Eddie’s intent is to build the car as such that it fits within the rulebook of the myriad of series and tracks offering radial tire classes, along with the ability to seamlessly switch between a single-turbo 275 radial combination and, in the future, a larger single or twin turbo setup with a 315 radial tire for outlaw events. Calling Avon, Indiana home, he plans to compete in events in and around the Midwest as his schedule permits, including the Outlaw Street Madness series and at Milan Dragway, Great Lakes Dragaway, and Norwalk Raceway Park.
The current timetable for completion of the car is late summer or early fall.