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Chad Opaleski has been a hard core nitrous racer for a long time with his 66 Chevelle Super Sport running in various Drag Radial events for several years. Just last October he set a new personal best, breaking into the 4.70’s with a 4.79. Over the winter the car was repainted, and then at its 2011 race debut he had some unfortunate luck with a broken connecting rod this past February at the Night the Lights Went Out – Redemption at SGMP. No one likes parts failure, but this time was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back and the long talked about power adder change was a go.
At least years Snowbird's in Bradenton Chad made it to the finals against Carlton Thompson for a nitrous vs. turbo matchup.
The Opaleski’s had discussed a move to a Procharged combination for a while and when the engine was torn down cracks were discovered in the main journals of the crankshaft. Chad had a Sonny Bryant 4 ¾ stroke crank on the shelf already so the decision was made to take the summer off from racing and make the switch now.
They will reuse the 5 inch bore space engine and symmetrical port heads along with the aforementioned crank, making it 648 cubic inches. A single F3-R Procharger will provide the boost. The update is already underway at Nelson Competition.
Denny Savage is coming on board to assist in tuning the Big Stuff 3 fuel injection/engine management system. He has gathered quite a bit of blower experience over his career, most recently with Will Stevenson’s Procharged Drag Radial Camaro. Both Chad’s and Will Stevenson’s rides were built by Dan Neumann Race Cars in Ocala, from left to right, Will Stevenson, Dan Neumann and Denny Savage.
