“Disco Dean” Karns Debuts 1969 Chevelle “Chump Change”

One of drag racing’s most infectious personalities, Dean Karns has made his living in the sport by going against the grain. This weekend, the flashy Ohioan will debut his first true Pro Modified-style racecar at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series season opener at Darana Motorsports Park in North Carolina, and while not as wild as his bright-pink 1979 Pontiac Trans Am or Cadillac CTS-V, it does buck the first-and last-gen Camaro trend in the class.

With the season fast approaching, Karns acquired the new-to-him 1969 Chevelle he’s coined “Chump Change” just 10 days ago. It’s a former Adam Flamholc-driven machine built by Chris Duncan Race Cars. Karns struck a deal with Flamholc to trade his familiar 1966 Chevelle, one of his longest-tenured cars that appeared in numerous Street Outlaws” tapings, and he and his trusted family and crew got to work.

Karns has traditionally turned to real paint, not vinyl wraps, for his cars, and while this one may have a limited run in his stable, it was no exception. That the body separates entirely from the chassis made the IHRA opener possible at all, as the crew sent the body off to Mike’s Resto Rods and Stevie Ward to apply the signature pink color and airbrush the bumpers, headlights, and trim, as well as the faux vinyl roof. Meanwhile, work continued back at Stinky Pinky HQ on the chassis, getting the screw-blown Brad Anderson Hemi between the framerails and the entire package wired, plumbed, and ready to go. The car was finally reassembled and loaded up on Monday evening for an unexpectedly snowy trip to the former GALOT Motorsports Park 1/8-mile.

Karns has a new Pro Modified car under construction, the details of which he is keeping close to the vest, but is excited to put this one through its paces.

“The Cadillac is just a little too heavy to run Pro Mod. It was semi-fast, but not fast enough, and it was holding me back. I think we went a 3.70, and it was close to going a .68 or .69. So I needed to get a real Pro Mod. The new car isn’t done yet and it was going to be a couple more months, and there’s a lot of money out there in IHRA, and I wanted to chase the championship and be competitive, and the Cadillac couldn’t do it, so I had to come up with something. This car is supposed to be really, really light, and I’ve never owned a light car, so I’m pretty excited.”

With no time to test or even scale the car, Karns and company have yet to decide if their focus will be on the IHRA’s Pro Mod or Outlaw Pro Mod category. Should it perform as he and tuner Jeff Pierce anticipate, though, Karns says he’s likely to campaign the Chevelle for the full pull in 2026, so as to avoid the pitfalls of breaking in a new car mid-season, and then debut the new pipe in 2027.