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Outlaw-style drag racing events such as DuckX Productions’ Lights Out at South Georgia Motorsports Park traditionally draw a younger crowd of participants and spectators. This younger group of enthusiasts typically gravitate to modern technologies employed in today’s hottest racing machines; and so it goes without saying that Charlotte, North Carolina native, Kenny Floyd, has owned his 1958 Chevrolet Corvette longer than the majority of the people on hand at the event last week have been alive.
“I got the car back in 1968…I drove it on the street and to high school,” Floyd begins. “I used to take it down to Shuffletown, and Concord, and Mooresville, and race it. Then I went and put it on the track full-time because I kept tearing up stuff and couldn’t get around anymore and had to buy another car. I used to run E and F/Gas and Modified with it and it’s progressed to what it is now.”
The ‘Vette retains the original body — from nose to tail — save for a lighter-weight hood Floyd has made in recent years so he can lift it on and off easier. The firewall and floor pan are likewise original. Floyd had the car repainted its candy red hue in 1986. He also hand-made the seats from foam and upholstered the interior in a classic suede-like red trim to match. Power is compliments of a 400 cubic-inch small block with a Dart block, Trick-Flow 18-degree aluminum heads, and a roller camshaft. It feeds on alcohol, transferring power to a Powerglide transmission and Dana 60 rearend with 5.13 gears.
“I’ve done all the work on the car myself. The only thing I haven’t done with this car is the roll cage…I had some friends of mine do that, and another guy built the front snout. The paint, the interior, everything I’ve done myself.”
Floyd races in and around North Carolina, exclusively in 6.0 index events; he’s been attending DuckX events at SGMP for five years, scoring a runner-up best finish.
