Story: George Pich
Photos: Stephen Taylor
I can’t remember a time that I didn’t love cars
SHARON THOMAS
Shorsepower and racing. She would often watch her brother run his dragster when she decided to drive her new 2010 Synergy Camaro to the track to meet him one weekend.
vinced me to just make a pass to see what the little V6 Camaro would run. I did… and I was hooked. it was slow but fun!” From that point on she was back every weekend racing in the trophy and footbrake class and by sea-
a “real” race car, so she found her first 1978 Malibu. With a 355 and a few mods, Sharon was hitting the track once again, but found that she was fixing the car after most outings and when a broken axle off the line end-
ed with a guardrail tap, she made the decision to sell it in favor of building her barn-find Malibu that had been sitting in the garage since 2003. It needed a complete restoration and build, but it would end up being exactly what she wanted. The car was actually started by Sharon’s brother Larry Wadeking and her uncle Frank Sorgea in his garage, and after her uncle passed away they wanted to finish it as a way of keeping
his love of cars alive. By 2012 the Malibur was complete, running a naturally aspirated 540 and Sharon was anxious to test it out. She entered a local event hosted by SCSN promoters Mel and Heather Roth and with a little convincing entered the car in Radial vs. World. “That is when it all really started!” Sharon exclaimed. “We were greatly out powered by all the other cars, but I didn’t care. I was racing against some of the baddest race cars on the planet. At that point I knew exactly want I wanted to do and that the bank account was going to be crying.” Every winter meant upgrades and little gains each racing season for Thomas.
The latest iteration of Sharon Thomas’ Malibu is the handy work of Matheis Race Cars. A trick tube chassis was integrated into the factory front frame section and a 4-link coilover setup was fabricated out back. The result is a low slung G-Body ready to handle any track Sharon can throw at it.
The Malibu was an original piece bought for just $150. The original body tub remains intact with various composite panels installed to shave the big bodied Bowtie down to a reasonable fighting weight.
This was the barn find on the trailer to its new home. For 150-bucks and a set of mud tires, Sharon Thomas bought herself a wild racecar, sort of…at least it would be one day.
“There was just no giving up now, so in 2017 the 540 grew into a 555 nitrous combination that lead to an 8th place finish in Midwest Pro Mod series Radial vs. World class.” The nitrous combination would net a best of 4.95 at 141.34 in the 1/8th at 3000lbs.
A mishap in 2019 meant that the Malibu would undergo a total rebuild once again, this time with the aim of making the car lighter and safer with work being completed under the skillful hands at Matheis Race Cars. And since the car
was under the knife, why not make a bit more horsepower to complement the new, safer, lighter chassis, right? After sitting out 2019 and 2020 for the rebuild, Sharon would return to action in the Malibu now sitting lower and leaner and equipped with that 555 big block sporting a shiny new ProCharger F3 centrifugal supercharger!
The trick Matheis chassis was created around the factory front frame sections – if you look close enough you can see them cut and extended with tubing – but from there back the chassis is pretty much completely custom with dual rails and extensive bars inside and rearward a custom 4-link with Afco coilovers suspends a fabricated 9-inch rearend.
The original Malibu body
[Top] Sharon with her 555 nitrous big block Mailbu when it was first completed and more recently after a complete overhaul in 2019 and 2020 covering everything from chassis to that bold big new power adder hangin’ around up front.
A 555cu.in. big block resides between the rails of the Malibu. That monster ProCharger F3 139 pumps air into an Accufab throttle body and a Holley EFI Dominator system is in control the package.
Sharon Thomas’ 1978 Big Block Malibu
Chassis & suspension:
Matheis tube chassis using stock type front frame section with tubular upper and lower control arms, Afco shocks and rack and pinion steering. Custom 4-link rear with Afco coilovers.
Body & Paint:
Factory body tub with composite parts. Body/Paint by Eric Luig and Kullin Schoeffel at Cruncheez Collision Center.
Engine:
555 Big Block Chevy with Brodix BB3 cylinder heads by Slick Rick Racing Heads. Molnar 4.25 crank & 6.385 rods, CP-Carrillo custom pistons, T&D rockers, Cam Motion custom camshaft, King bearings.
Induction:
Accufab throttle body.
Power Adder:
F3 139 ProCharger supercharger.
Electronics:
Holley EFI Dominator system. Transmission & Converter:
Transmission Specialties Powerglide with PTC converter.
Rear differential:
Strange Fabricated 9-inch.
Tires & Wheels:
29.5 x 10.5 Mickey Thompsons on Champion dual beadlocks.
Interior:
Holley Dash, Precision Performance Shifter, Stroud fire suppression system, dual chutes and launchers, belts and net, RE Racing electronics.
Best ET & MPH:
It’s a big tire no time grudge car which means we can’t divulge that information! We’ve been testing the blower combination to date. It did run 4.95 @ 141.34 when car was at 3000# with the 555 nitrous combination.
Thanks To:
I have so many wonderful people to thank:
My Mother Irene and Father Oren Wadeking, my brother Larry Wadeking, Uncle Frank Sorgea, my husband Perry Thomas, Eric Luig Crew Chief for the countless hours of hard work over the years, Haylee Bardol for always cheering me on, Matt Polewski, Steve “Eye Candy” Woods for comic relief, Mark Ziers, South County Dave Reich my mentor, Rob, Tina, Nick and Trent Matheis at Matheis Race Cars, Reid Sanders, Scott Lowery, Matt Bell and Redline Motorsports, Kullin Schoeffel and Cruncheez Collision Center, Jr and Shawn Smith and Jr’s Auto Repair and Tire Center, Greg Cullin at Transmissions To Go, Stroud Safety, TRZ Motorsports, Mel and Heather Roth with PSCA and SCSN, Slick Rick Racing Heads, Jeannette DesJardnis and Car Chixs, Procharger, Holley EFI, PTC, Afco Shocks, Strange Engineering, Mickey Thompson, Precision Performance Products, Brodix, Accufab, Atomizer Racing Injectors, Good Vibrations Motorsports, Molnar, CP-Carillo, Cam Motion, King Bearings and I am sure there are others I cannot think of at the moment.
MAGNAFLOW
tub and quarters remain, however, composite parts have been added including the removable front clip, doors, hood and trunk lid. Bodywork, along with the eye-catching purple paint work is credited to Eric Luig and Kullin Schoeffel at Cruncheez Collision Center. “My favorite thing about my car is the color,” Sharon added. “Purple was my mother’s favorite color and although she never saw me race the
car, I know she is with me each and every pass now.”
A Molnar 4.25 crank with 6.385 rods and CP-Carrillo custom boostspec pistons swing inside the 555 big block. A Cam Motion custom camshaft of top secret specs was used and Slick Rick Racing Heads re-worked a set of Brodix BB3 oval port heads with T&D rockers for the now boosted mill.
That monster ProCharger pumps air into an Accufab throttle body and a Holley EFI Dominator system is in control of the situation. A Transmission Specialties Glide with Dedenbear case and PTC converter send power rearward.
It’s all race inside the Malibu and the Holley EFI dash is the only “gauge” needed to relay vital signs to Sharon and her team before, during and after a run. The maze of bars inside the car is like a carefully fit puzzle and custom tinwork is mixed with carbon fiber panels and rear wheeltubs.
A Matheis Race Cars chassis keeps Sharon safe while strapped into the Malibu. Wiring is laid out on the right side firewall and along the top of the dash which is hidden under the composite dash panel when installed. A Racepak display relays her the car’s vitals, and the fire suppression system and parachute handles are within easy reach to her right.
Wiring is meticulously laid out behind the composite dash panel.
While the Malibu has come a very long way over the past 10 years or so, Sharon’s favorite story is still of the day they found it. “It was in a barn covered with an inch of dirt, no front clip, no doors, just the factory frame roof, quarters and trunk lid, but I had to have it. So $150, a set of old mud tires
and a handshake later it was loaded up and headed home with us. But the greatest experience with the car itself has to be that I have raced alongside some of my mentors and idols in the sport; people like Scott Lowery, Mark “Woody” Woodruff, Tim Slavens, Big Daddy Dewayne Mills, and Mark Mickie who has probably the most recognized Malibu in racing.”
