Jackie Knox pulled a classic all-nighter to get the Sanoma to Thunder Valley so he could compete in the invitational class. “We had to thrash all night on Thursday to put an 540 cubic-inch all-steel block with conventional heads for their ProCharger setup. When we were filming last week we totally destroyed the other block beating BoostedGT and that’s what led to this. We changed to a Dart block and heads for this engine since we had everything apart. There have been no test hits on this but we’re not worried because this is pretty much the same except for a change in the ProCharger gear drive.”

Robin Roberts knew exactly what he wanted to build, a 1968 Firebird that would be used in no prep racing. After trying calling around to have a car built from scratch and finding out it would take over a year, he called a friend and purchased a Firebird he had that was nearly ready to go. Originally starting out as a nitrous car, Roberts became frustrated with the giggle-juice and wanted to make a change. Roberts gave Proline Racing a call and decided to use one of their 572 cubic-inch engines and mated it with a pair of 98mm turbos. HPP racing went through the entire car to get it ready for tubos and make some other changes. The final product is a stunning car that still has a VIN take, drip railings around the windows, and plenty of steel body panels. Roberts plans on getting the car dialed in no prep racing before he starts making hits on the street.

The Saturday Real Steel Invitational was packed with all the big names from the 405 along with many great no prep racers. The weather was perfect so racers were able to test the limits of the slippery Thunder Valley Surface. Every round win in this class on Saturday wasn't given, it was earned through perfect tuning and top-notch driving.

Ryan Martin and the Fireball Camaro battled through a tough field and difficult conditions to pull off the win during the racing action on Saturday. The team had to overcome several issues to keep the Camaro in contention but they're hard work paid off with a nice $50,000 payday and another big win for Martin.

Joey V and his team came all the way from Chicago to show the Midwest knows how to no prep race. In the finals Joey had to take on no prep veteran Brent Self and was able to drive around him at the top end to pick up the close win that set off a huge starting line celebration.