Some families pass down traditions, but the Sinicropi family passed down horsepower. Long before Pietro Sinicropi ever pulled his own car into the beams, drag racing was part of his everyday life. Now, he’s preserving a tradition that’s been built over three generations with a 1973 Dodge Charger SE that’s been built over four decades.
In the late 1960s, Sinicropi’s father, Armando, raced a 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T with a 426 Hemi under the hood. “It had 4.56 gears and 10-inch slicks, and my mother, Nancy, drove us to school in it,” recalled Sinicropi, now a 59-year-old HVAC salesman, of the car that solidified his love for the Dodge brand. His parents even drove the family, including his four young brothers, to church on Sundays in the Mopar muscle machine. “My first car was a 1969 Coronet, but an unfortunate rear-end collision ended its life.”
In September of 1985, when Sinicropi was 18, he purchased the 1973 Charger SE that he still owns today, but it took a little perseverance and persuasion on his side to make the transaction happen.
“The car was sitting in front of the Lake Lodge Bar & Grille in Richmond, Ohio,” recalled the Hilliard, Ohio, resident. He went in and asked who owned it, and Jerry Carter spun around in his chair and bluntly stated that it wasn’t for sale. Two weeks later, Sinicropi stopped by again. This time, he received another ‘no’ answer, but it was somewhat nicer in tone. “Another two weeks after that, I stopped by the bar again. Jerry laughed and told me to follow him to his home, where I purchased the car for $1,800.”
Sinicropi kept his Charger in storage throughout his four years in college, and when he graduated in 1988, he used it as a daily driver. In 1989, though, he purchased a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba with a big block to use for transportation instead, and the Charger was sidelined once again.
“I married Kristine Bennett in 1991, and, with her support, I finally started to build the Charger,” he said of his beloved bride. The Dodge originally had a 318 ci engine, three-speed, automatic TorqueFlite A904 transmission, and an 8-1/4-inch rear end with 2.73 gears intended for highway use, but Sinicropi focused on cosmetic changes first.
Frank Rogers Auto Body in Richmond, Ohio, sprayed the Charger in its striking electric current Red finish around 1994. At Sinicropi’s request, the shop also installed the crisp white vinyl roof and restored the original chrome bumpers to preserve the factory appearance while still giving the car a fresh identity.
“My father Armando and my brothers Pasquale, Armando Jr., Mario, and Renato all helped put the car back together,” stated the man of what became a true family affair. “That’s one of the things that makes this car special to me, we built it together.”
By 1995, the family had swapped in a stock 340 cubic inch powerplant, bolted on a set of headers, and changed to an 8-3/4-inch rear end with 3.55 gears. Sinicropi started racing it and ran a respectable quarter-mile elapsed time of 14.75 seconds. “I needed an upgrade,” he laughed.
Sinicropi wasted no time in making that upgrade happen, and it came through a relationship that’s remained in place for decades; every engine since the original small-block has been assembled by the late Nick Wilson Sr., his son Nick Wilson Jr., and their longtime friend Jeff, at Compu-Flow Performance in Medina, Ohio.
A mildly modified 440 ci big block with a hydraulic camshaft and factory Chrysler 452 cylinder heads immediately put the Charger into the 11.70-second zone. “After seven years of fun and mayhem at the track and on the street, Compu-Flow came to the rescue and freshened it up,” Sinicropi shared, noting that the COMP solid roller cam, Harland Sharp valvetrain, and Edelbrock aluminum heads helped trim his elapsed time to an impressive 11.23 seconds.
As the old adage states, there’s no replacement for displacement, so the next logical step was to bring more cubic inches to the party.
“The next motor was a 440 stroked out to 496 ci with a .600-inch-lift COMP roller cam and Indy Cylinder Heads’ 440 EZ-1 aluminum heads,” explained Sinicropi. “We installed a Dana 60 rear end with 4.10 gears for this combination, and it ran a best quarter-mile time of 10.52.”
Every version of Sinicropi’s setup taught him something, and every upgrade made the Charger better. However, as is usually the case, he still craved more.
Currently bolted between the Charger’s shock towers is a fresh, naturally aspirated 557 cubic inch Chrysler RB built around a heavy-duty Mopar Mega Block foundation with a Callies crankshaft, Oliver connecting rods, and Ross pistons for a 13:1 compression ratio. Indy 345-1 cylinder heads, a .750-inch-lift COMP solid roller cam, Harland Sharp valvetrain components, BAM Racing solid roller lifters, and an iconic Holley 4500 Series 1050 CFM Dominator carburetor complete the package.
The engine also features many top-tier parts, including custom, ceramic-coated headers made by Pat Martin’s Martin Motorsports, featuring 2-1/4-inch primary tubes feeding into 4-inch collectors, and a high-flow Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump with a 15-gallon fuel cell.
Power flows through a 727 TorqueFlite transmission built by Karl Mireiter, founder of RedLine Transmissions, a QuickDraw torque converter from Jason Brock at Multi Performance Specialties, and a custom 4-inch driveshaft before reaching the Moser Dana 60, which now carries 4.30 gears.
Over the years, the chassis received a bit of attention, too. Martin Motorsports also added the mini tubs to accommodate the big Hoosier slick tires, which are wrapped around Weld wheels that shroud a set of Moser brakes, and even added the 8.50 certified roll cage in 2025.
Although the Dodge’s true horsepower and torque numbers are still unknown, the all-motor combination has produced a best E.T. of 6.31 seconds at 109 mph in the eighth mile, roughly the equivalent of a high-9-second quarter-mile. That’s a pretty impressive timeslip to brag about, especially with a car that’s still running a stock front suspension and has only minor upgrades from Calvert Racing to its leaf springs in the rear.
Running at NHRA-sanctioned events in the Pro class, Sinicropi isn’t bothered by the fact he doesn’t have any wins under his belt, yet. To him, racing is more about family than anything else.
“My wife, Kristine, and our daughters Kaleigh, Karli, and Kimberly, have all driven or ridden in this car. Their husbands, Zack, Dave, and Tyler, have, too,” said the proud family man. “My father, Armando, and my brothers, Pasquale, Armando Jr., Mario, and Renato, were all instrumental in making this happen.”
Together, the Sinicropi family has a great time racing four of the five cars they own: two 1973 Charger SEs, a 1965 Plymouth Satellite, a 1972 Plymouth Duster, and a 1970 Dodge Super Bee. What began with one Hemi-powered Coronet carrying five young boys and their parents to church has grown into an entire, multi-generational family that’s deeply immersed in Mopar performance. Today, Sinicropi’s 1973 Dodge Charger SE stands as the culmination of decades of steady evolution, having transformed from factory stock to a mild street car and ultimately into a naturally aspirated 9-second machine. Most importantly, though, it serves as a tangible reminder of a family tradition that’s rooted in racing.
CAR: 1973 Dodge Charger SE
CHASSIS: Pat Martin Motorsports 8.50 cert
ENGINE: Compu-Flow Performance 557 ci Chrysler RB
BLOCK: Mopar Mega Block
HEADS: Indy 345-1 aluminum
CRANK: Callies
RODS: Oliver
PISTONS: Ross
CAM: COMP
VALVETRAIN: Harland Sharp, BAM Racing
POWER ADDER: none, naturally aspirated
CARBURETOR: Holley 4500 Series 1,050 CFM Dominator
FUEL SYSTEM: Aeromotive A1000 pump, 15-gallon fuel cell
TRANSMISSION: RedLine Transmissions Chrysler 727 TorqueFlite
CONVERTER: Multi Performance Specialties QuickDraw
DRIVESHAFT: Custom 4-inch
REAR END: Moser Dana 60 with 4.30 gears
SUSPENSION: Stock (front), Calvert Racing (rear)
BRAKES: Moser
WHEELS: Weld
TIRES: Hoosier
HORSEPOWER: untested
TORQUE: untested
BEST 60’: 1.41 seconds
QUICKEST ET: 6.31 seconds (1/8 mile)
FASTEST MPH: 109 mph (1/8 mile)
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