The Mopar brand is forever linked to drag racing thanks in part to its successes during the muscle car era. Those wins helped drive sales and created legions of lifelong Mopar fans. Bruce Lang grew up in a Mopar family, and his friends drove Mopars, so it should be no surprise that his ride is a pristine 1968 Nostalgia Super Stock Plymouth Barracuda.
Lang stopped racing over 35 years ago so he could build a business and start a family. The Barracuda that Lang currently races was originally purchased during his hiatus away from drag racing as a future project; the car sat in a trailer for many years before Lang was able to start working on it with the goal of turning it into a nice street car.
Why did Lang even buy the Barracuda? The purchase stems from the influences of his family and friends.
“I got into Mopars because it’s what I grew up around and had access to. My father drove a Fury when I was growing up and I just liked the styling of the car. My good friend Russ Berens was part of a family that owned a Dodge dealership down the road from my childhood home. When you’re around a certain type of car enough it just becomes all you know and want,” Lang says.
Lang’s Barracuda is powered by a 470 cubic-inch engine that he and Berens built themselves. Berens started racing Nostalgia Super Stock many years ago and that was how Lang found the class. The duo started racing with the Victory Nostalgia Super Stock group and then moved to the NMCA and its Nostalgia Super Stock class. Now Lang and Berens race with each group as much as they can.
“I never thought this car would be built to this level. It sat in the trailer for so many years since we really weren’t sure what to do with it. I didn’t have the time or money for the longest time to do anything with it, but thankfully business has been good and my children help run things so I can get out and race whenever I have time these days,” Lang explains.
