NASCAR star Kurt Busch may make his living driving around in circles for hours — quite successfully we should add, earning a Cup Series championship and 42 victories in all across NASCAR’s three top-tier series — but he’s also one of us. Back in 2011, he qualified in Pro Stock at the NHRA Gatornationals in a Dodge Avenger prepared by Allen Johnson, but even before that, he had displayed an interest in drag racing.
In 2008, Busch purchased a 1970 Dodge Challenger — reportedly via eBay, ironically, but unconfirmed — and, with the assistance of Jesse Walker, Project Manager at the Mooresville, N.C..-based Kurt Busch Inc., transformed it into a thoroughbred drag racing machine equally capable of cruising North Carolina boulevards.
The pair put a stroked 6.1-liter Hemi in the car, built upon a Mopar aluminum with a Bryant Racing custom ground crankshaft, Carrillo H-beam rods, and Mahle pistons. Thitek billet cylinder heads contain a Jesel valvetrain controlled by a Comp custom-ground turbo camshaft, and it’s all topped with a Wilson Manifolds throttle body, Injector dynamics ID1000 Injectors, and managed by a FAST fuel injection fuel management system. A Precision 110mm turbocharger delivered added oomph, paired with Precision dual wastegates and a KBI custom water-to-air intercooler.
All told, the combination was said to have produced 1,300 peak horsepower, and 1,000-horses on 12 psi of boost while burning E85. A Powerglide transmission built by Bernard Weaver was paired with a Greg Slack torque converter and SFI-approved ATI bellhousing to back up the power, sending it through a Driveshaft Shop driveshaft on its way to a Speedway Engineering custom Ford 9-inch rearend.
A full custom chromoly chassis was built with a tubular front crossmember, custom control arms, a four-link rear with a wishbone, and a four-wheel disc brake system.
Busch campaigned the car in Super Gas at the 2010 edition of the Gatornationals, and also appeared in a race on PINKS: All Out that same year. But not much has been seen or heard of the car, until now.
Concord-area auto consignment firm Streetside Classics has listed the car on eBay for an asking sum of $93,995, which isn’t out line for a show-quality car with presumably low miles that will undoubtedly run in the eights. And in fact, those comfy front seats look prime for some drag-and-drive mileage, if you ask us.
There are many more photos of the car in the ad, which you can browse here.
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