Bad And Blown: Randy Lee

Bad And Blown: Randy Lee’s Supercharged 1970 Camaro

Teamwork makes things happen in drag racing — it has been proven many times that when motivated individuals get together, there’s a good chance they’ll win a lot of races. Randy Lee and Brian Kelly formed a partnership almost a decade ago that was based around Lee’s sharp 1970 Camaro. Kelly has wheeled the Camaro to numerous wins and championships, thanks to Lee’s support.

Kelly’s racing roots actually began growing in the dirt track racing world. Racing on the dirt was a Kelly family tradition that lasted until Brian’s father passed away; that’s when he decided to start drag racing. The first car that Kelly built for the ‘strip was a simple 1969 Chevelle that was powered by a small-block Chevy that he raced in local no-box events. Eventually, Kelly moved on to a 1989 Camaro that he raced in Super Pro, but that car was retired when he started to raise his family.

Kelly met Lee through his shop, Kelly Performance & Fabrication, where he worked on the Camaro. Eventually, it went just beyond working on the car, and Lee tapped Kelly to drive.

“I totally rebuilt the car for Randy from front to back. I redid the chassis, built the engine, and did all of the tuning work. He wanted to see the car do well, so he put me in the driver’s seat and we started running at some local bracket racing with the car. Later, we moved to a 5.50 index class when the car started going faster. I was able to win a 5.50 Index championship at Twin City Raceway with this car…that was a big accomplishment for our team,” Kelly says.

When COVID-19 hit, Lee and Kelly had some free time, so they decided to make some changes to the Camaro. Kelly had always wanted to run a blower car, so the decision was made to add some boost to the 555 cubic-inch Chevy mill via an 8-71 supercharger. The Camaro was soon running in the 4.60s with the new combination, but the duo wanted to go faster, so a 14-71 TBS roots-style supercharger was bolted to the top of the rat motor, and that netted a new personal best of 4.58 at 171 MPH for Kelly.

The engine that Kelly built is based around a Dart short deck block. Inside the engine, you’ll find a Callies crankshaft, Callies connecting rods, and a set of Arias pistons. The AFR cylinder heads proudly wear the TBS blower that’s mechanically fed a healthy dose of alcohol for fuel. Kelly controls the engine with an MSD Grid unit and monitors all the engine’s vitals through a Racepak dash. A Powerglide transmission that uses an ATI Supercase and South Transmission torque converter is in charge of handling the engine’s power.

Kelly built the chassis of the Camaro at his shop and added the four-link suspension that works with a pair of Strange Engineering shocks. The wheels and tired are bolted to a set of Wilwood brakes that live on a Fab 9 rearend that Kelly also built. The strut front suspension was fabricated by Kelly to work with a set of Strange struts.

“We’ve had a lot of fun with this car over the years. Since we can’t slow it down enough to run any local index races anymore, we’ve made the switch to the Outlaw Big Tire class. That’s been great and we’ve been able to win some events with the car in that class. I really enjoy racing with Randy and this car is a blast to drive,” Kelly says.

Randy Lee and Brian Kelly have found a way to parlay their mutual love of drag racing into a very successful partnership. These two share the same goal: to go to the track and have fun. For them, the wins are just the icing on the cake after a great weekend of racing.

About the author

Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. Brian enjoys anything loud, fast, and fun.
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