RPM MAGAZINE MAY 2021

smackdown-full

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RPM Magazine is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK of Revolution Publishing & Media Inc. RPM Magazine is a worldwide motorsports publication distributed online.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.............................................................. CHRIS BIRO editor@rpmmag.com V.P. MARKETING/CUSTOMER RELATIONS.................. TRISH BIRO trish@rpmmag.com EVENT MEDIA.................................................. events@rpmmag.com EVENT SUBSCRIPTIONS COORDINATOR........... SHERRIE WEBER sherrie@rpmmag.com ART DIRECTOR............................................................

JIM McHARG

Photographic Contributions: MARK goDragRacing.org, GEORGE PICH, MATT WOODS, MATT TROMBLEY, LOUIS FRONKIER, BART CEPEK, BLAKE FARNAN, JERRY GARRISON, NEIL ZIMBALDI, STEVEN TAYLOR, EDDIE MALONEY, WES TAYLOR, STEVEN TAYLOR, DAVID GATES, and ANDREW RADIOTIS Editorial Contributions: CHUCK SCOTT, MARK goDragRacing.org, TOBY BROOKS, TIM BIRO, STAN SMITH, JT, GEORGE PICH, JAY MISENER, EDDIE MALONEY, WES TAYLOR, and SCOTT FORBES Technical Writing Contribution: CHUCK SCOTT, SHANE TECKLENBURG, TIM BIRO and JAY MISENER

For advertising information contact TRISH BIRO...........................519.752.3705....... trish@rpmmag.com

Special Events Manager: Chris Biro events@rpmmag.com Special Events Sales: Trish Biro: 519-752-3705 trish@rpmmag.com Subscriptions/Address Changes: Circulation circulation@rpmmag.com

To subscribe to RPM go to www.rpmmag.com or email Trish Biro at trish@rpmmag.com, or call 519752-3705.

The focus of RPM is to bring a diverse mix of high performance street and race automobiles to life within its pages including race cars, muscle cars, hot rods and street legal machines with an emphasis on the “EXTREME,” including fast doorslammer and outlaw forms of drag racing. Not familiar with these types of cars? They are considered to be the top-shelf of the industry and are on the edge with regard to design, performance, and power!

RPM Magazine does not sell its mailing list or share any of the confidential information regarding its subscribers.

RPM Magazine has been a world leader in motorsports publishing for 22 years and has support locations in Ontario, Canada, Alabama, Texas, and Virginia, along with contributing writers and photojournalists worldwide.

If you have a story that may fit within the focus and scope of RPM Magazine’s coverage, please email our Editor In Chief at editor@rpmmag.com.

Submission of an article does not guarantee that it will be published.

Revolution Publishing & Media Inc. (RPM) / RPM Magazine IS NOT responsible for errors or omissions in ANY advertisement or article.

Advertisements may be rearranged or altered at the sole discretion of RPM to allow the ad to fit in the space purchased by the advertiser.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ANY ADVERTISING WHICH WE CONSIDER TO CONTAIN MISLEADING, OFFENSIVE OR FALSE INFORMATION. REPRODUCTION OF ANY INFORMATION HEREIN IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT.

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Chris Biro

editor’spix

Videos that are too hot to keep hidden

Nick Agostino’s Cannoli Express (See feature: this issue)

Corrado Lentinello: Fastest and quickest 1/8th mile on a 235 Small Tire in Canada

AED Competition ................. 36

Manton Pushrods ............. 102

AFR: Air Flow

Mark Williams ..................... 89

Research ...................5,56,57

Maxima Racing Oils ............. 24

AJE Racing........................... 83

Metal Products .................... 65

American Racing Headers ... 56

Meziere Enterprises ............. 79

Aurora Bearing .................... 81

Misener Motorsports ........... 32

AVAK/Ridgegate Tools ......... 50

Moroso Performance ........... 61

Baer Brakes ................31,103

Moser Engineering .............. 62

BES Racing Engines ............. 66

Neal Chance Converters....... 23

Billet Specialties .................. 66

Northern Radiator ............... 99

Bill Mitchell Products ....12,73

Parts Pro/Total

BoulandMotorsUSA.com ..... 94

Truck Centers ....................... 59

Bullseye Turbo ..................... 35

PBM Products...................... 13

Burns Stainless .................... 14

Piston Racing Engines ...... 102

C & S Specialties .................. 14

Profiler ................................ 62

Callies Performance Prod..... 25

PRW-USA ......................... 101

Calvert Racing Suspensions . 48

Race Part Solutions .......39,72

Canton Racing Products ...... 26

Racequip ............................. 63

CFE Racing Products ............ 62

Racetronix ........................... 49

Clearshot Customs............... 82

Rage Wraps ......................... 63

Deez Performance ............... 89

RAM Clutches ...................... 64

Delta Performance

RCD ..................................... 65

Auto Grp. ............................. 21

RM Racing Lubricants ....46,71

Design Engineering ............. 39 ECAM .................................. 94 Energy Suspension/NPW ..... 53 Erson Cams....................... 103 GoDragRacing.org ............ 102 Granatelli Motorsports ........ 51

Ed Thornton kicks butt at 3.83 @ 193.96 mph!

GRP Connecting Rods .......... 46 Harland Sharp ..................... 36 Hitman Hotrods................... 57 Hughes Performance.............. 7 Ian Hill Racing Productions ...................11,78 Icon Forged Pistons ............. 83 Induction Solutions ............. 22 Jesel .................................... 53 Joe Van O............................. 57

Watch Javier Chavez’ blazing nightime pass

JW Racing Transmissions ........ 5 Karbelt ................................ 25 Kinsler Fuel Injection.....13,63 LenTech Automatics ......47,70 Liberty’s Gears..................... 70 Lokar Performance .............. 66 Lutz Race Cars ..................... 16

Submit your video for the Editor’s Pix: videos@rpmmag.com 4

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Magnaflow.......................... 95 MagnaFuel .......................... 16

Ross Racing Pistons ......... 7,30 RPM Magazine ..............41,27 RPM ZONE ........................ 101 RPM Magazine Subscribe! .....................41,63 SM Racecars ........................ 82 Smackdown Event .................. 2 Summit Racing Equip. ......89,95,109 Taylor Cable Products .......... 98 T & D Machine ..................... 71 The Supercharger Store ....... 71 Thermo-Tec ......................... 16 Ti64 ..................................... 60 Tom’s Upholstery ................. 21 Total Seal Rings ................... 11 Trailer Alarms.com .............. 83 Trick Flow ......................15,82 Tuned By Shane T ................ 67 Ultimate Headers ................ 25 VFN Fiberglass Inc. .............. 18 Vortech ............................... 18 Weinle Motorsports ............ 17 World Domination – RPM ... 97 World Products.................... 69

ENFORCER-HALF

JW-PERFORMANCE

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May

2021

Often Imitated, Never Duplicated—For 22 STRAIGHT YEARS RPM Magazine has been the ORIGINAL Voice Of Wild Street Machines and Extreme Drag Cars WORLDWIDE! Don’t Settle For Less! We DELIVER Insane Fast Cars and Bring You NO POLITICS... JUST ACTION! Your ONLY “Real Time” “Real World” Car Mag...PERIOD!

The Cannoli Express .................................... 54 Nick Agostino serves up mega power, some damn good eats and a whole

bunch of whoop-ass with his 1969 twin turbo Camaro!

7 Second Dream ............................................................ 8 This wild big tire nitroused big block Chevelle is a dream come true!

Haulin’ ..................................................................

44 With a turbo’d LSX this Chevy pickup hauls something other than hay!

Air Support.................................................................. 28

Maverick Mechanic.....................................

76 This compact Ford is an attention grabber!

The P51 Drag Radial Mustang

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CUSTOM IN STOCK PISTONS ROSS RACING PISTONS HALF

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HUGHES PERFORMANCE HALF

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F

or Shawn Calkins, all this horsepower madness started at the tender age of 16 with his first car, a 1963 Chevy Nova. “All I wanted to do was street race it!” Calkins said with a smile.

Not long afterwards, Shawn would meet Bob Dye who became instrumental in helping him with the Nova, and also getting his feet wet in organized drag racing. Dye took Calkins to Carlsbad Raceway and put him in a Camaro for his first run down the dragstrip, where he clocked an 11.76 at 118mph. “I was hooked from then on and I started racing the legal drags at Pomona, Terminal Island, Carlsbad,

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An extremely well thought out and detailed The slammed to the weeds Chevelle retains most of tribute to a family rich in military history, its original steel and has a Chris Alston tube chassis. both sides of Bryan’s family have served in the military for generations.

Shawn Calkins

TOTAL SEAL

CANADA HEADS UP

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Irwindale and Fontana.”

Years passed, but Shawn’s love of fast cars did not. He had always been a fan of the 1968 Chevelle and dreamed of having a fast street car. “I wanted a 7-second street car, but also something that I could take to a car show,” he added. After 3 years of searching for just the right candidate, Shawn finally found this 1968 Chevelle in January 2020, and built the car he had always wanted around it.

“I was looking for something really clean that could handle a lot of power and found this particular Chevelle in Henderson, Nevada. It had only recently been completed and had just 8 passes on it”. Knowing that he had a 605-inch big block Chevy that he pulled out of his drag boat sitting in his garage, Calkins convinced the seller to let the car go less the motor.

Once the car was in Shawn’s hands back home in California, he got right to work and a year later it was ready to go. It was a solid piece and just needed to be tweaked and changed in a few areas to meet its new owner’s vision.

The body of the car is OEM southern Chevy steel including the doors and

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Willie Wells installed an anti-roll bar and wheelie bars to work with the existing rear 4-link/coilover setup. Including the parachute, these are all necessary to help the Chevelle run fast and safe down the dragstrip.

PBM PERFORMANCE

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The Chevelle has all street legal equipment...

BURNS STAINLESS

fenders, with the exception of the ‘glass hood and trunk lid.

Super Stripes Customs did the slick two-tone paint scheme that just “works” with the Chevelle body lines. The factory glass remains except for the door windows which were re-

placed with poly units.

Inside is as clean and clutter-free as it gets. The well executed 7-second certified cage work is a Chris Alston’s creation and is complemented by satin gray paint with a matching matt finish on most of the other fabricated interior panels. A single warning light is dash mounted while a Racepak digital dash relays all other pertinent info to the driver, and a Precision Performance Products shifter controls gear changes of the Mike’s Powerglide transmis-

C&S SPECIALTIES

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TRICKFLOW

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A seriously badass Mike Miller 605-inch big block Chevy takes up the real estate between the chassis rails up front and is equipped with an Edelbrock direct port nitrous system for good measure. sion with PTC converter.

Two seats are required when a passenger wishes to strap in for cruise as Shawn was sure to point out the Chevelle has all street legal equipment and is tagged with current plates. While we all have our own interpretation of what is or is not a street car, the bottom line is that this Chevelle can be driven to get ice cream or thrashed on

the dragstrip.

Aside from completely re-plumbing the car and wiring it for the nitrous oxide system, Calkins also changed the ignition to MSD and a Grid system and had Willie Wells install an anti-roll bar and wheelie bars to work with the existing rear 4-link/coilover setup. That rear suspension supports a fabricated 9-inch Ford diff. with

ADHESIVE-BACKED

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HEAT BARRIER 16

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Half the fun of owning your dream car is the driving and tuning on it.

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Inside, the car is free from unnecessary equipment, but make no mistake the passenger seat is there for a reason.

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Strange center section and axles, while a coilover strut front end is equipped with rack and pinion steering.

Shawn makes his power old school – a big inch big block with lots of nitrous!

The sizeable 605-inch big block Chevy is the creation of Mike Miller Racing Engines and started with a tall deck Dart

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block. 13:1 compression CP Pistons are pinned to Oliver rods rotated by a Callies Magnum crank. 937 Isky lifters are activated by a 55mm Comp roller cam and a Jesel belt drive keeps everything in time. 12-degree Pro-Filer heads are equipped with Jesel shaft-mount rocker arms commanded by Manton pushrods.

The quality of chassis work and build components is evident up front where everything is tubular!

Monster wheel tubs house the big meats out back and a fabricated 9-inch rearend is filled with all the necessary offerings from Strange Engineering and suspended by a 4-link coilover setup.

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Found ed in 1979 and head quartered in Southern California, Maxima is recog nized as one of the most coveted brand s in the racing ind ustry. Decad es of active involvement in professional racing has led to powerful technolog y and a full array of market lead ing prod ucts.

Mad e in the USA 24

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MaximaUSA.com

Shawn Calkins’ Street/Strip 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle Chassis Type & Mods:

Power Adder:

Suspension:

Electronics:

Chris Alston tube chassis.

4-link coilover rear with anti-roll bar and wheelie bars

by Willie Wells Racecars. Strut front end with rack & pinion.

Body & Paint:

Steel body, doors and fenders. Paint by Super Stripes Customs.

Engine:

Edelbrock direct port nitrous system.

MSD Grid ignition system.

Transmission & Converter:

Mike’s Powerglide with PTC converter.

Rear Differential:

Fabricated 9-inch with Strange 3rd member and axles.

Other Important Vehicle Information: Street legal, weighs 3200 lbs.

Mike Miller Racing 605 BBC. Dart tall deck block, 13:1 Thanks to: CP Pistons, Oliver rods, Callies Magnum crankshaft, Mike Miller who built the 605 engine, Ed Allen who 937 Isky lifters, 55mm Comp roller cam, Jesel belt helped install the motor and trans, Willie Wells for the drive, 12 degree Pro-Filer heads, Manton pushrods, chassis work and Talyn Calkins who also helped with Jesel shaft mount rocker arms, Pro-Filer tunnel ram inplumbing, wiring and fabricating. And thanks to my take with two Gary Williams 1050 Dominators, Moroso crew consisting of: Mike Phelps, Mike Miller, Steve external oil pump and Mickey Williams 14 qt. oil pan.

Newton, Ed Allen and Talyn Calkins.

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From left to right: Mike Phelps, Mike Miller, Talyn Calkins, Steve Newton, Shawn Calkins, Ed Allen.

A polished Pro-Filer tunnel ram is topped by twin tricked-out Gary Williams 1050 Dominator style carbs. The addition of an Edelbrock direct port nitrous system pushes horsepower beyond imagination, and oiling is controlled by a Moroso external oil pump feeding a Mickey Williams 14-quart pan.

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While the fresh Chevelle has seen some street miles and track laps, due to the competitive nature within certain circles of heads-up drag racing these days, we can’t divulge the exact performance numbers. We can say, however, that the most memorable experience in the few months that the car has been completed has

to be the first time Shawn’s 11 year old son started it; “the smile he gave me was unforgettable,” Calkins said of the experience. It’s safe to say that Shawn’s dream of a 7-second street car has been realized and that it will continue to provide memorable moments, both on and off the track, for years to come.

RPM

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T

hey say that passion comes from within, but often times it’s not without inspiration from others. Growing up in Southern California, Bryan Cobbett was truly ingrained in the mecca of car culture, great weather, and of course, lots of racing! “I got my first exposure to racing when my parents would take me to the local tracks throughout Southern California. My father used to race the Jr. Fuel category and it didn’t take me long to get hooked on drag

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racing.” Bryan would watch and attend dozens of races throughout his childhood years and when it came time to get his driver’s license, he was more than ready.

Along the way, he took a liking to Ford Mustangs, so naturally a Mustang was top of the list for his first car.

“The first car that I drove in high school was a 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback. There wasn’t much too it, just a 289 V8 with 2 barrel carburetor on top, but it was a Mustang,”

An extremely well thought out and detailed tribute to a family rich in military history, both sides of Bryan’s family have served in the military for generations.

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The “CF” in the slick fighter plane scheme stands for “Cobbett Family”. said Cobbett. This was about the time that the Street Legal Drags at Pomona started up, so Bryan took the car out and ran it down the track, and that was all he needed. “That was it for me, and it wasn’t long before we pulled the stock motor out and dropped in a stroked 408ci cubic inch 351 Windsor based engine.” From there, they would add an NOS 125 shot plate nitrous system

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and a set of Hoosier DOT tires, and soon Cobbett was running consistent 12-second elapsed times.

By 1995 the Mustang would see bracket racing duty at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale California where Bryan had a lot of fun cutting his teeth in organized racing, but soon, heads-up drags would pull him in. The first bona fide streetcar organiza-

A 440-inch small block Ford with sizeable gear driven centrifugal supercharger sits between the factory front rails of the Mustang.

The monster F3X crank driven ProCharger is capable of running 45 pounds of boost, Bryan has slowly leaned on the power, but it will hopefully see max output for 2021. www.rpmmag.com

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The fighter aircraft theme was carried through the engine bay including both the factory frame rails and added chassis bars.

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Another tribute to the P51 Mustang is the Rolls-Royce inscription on the SBF valve covers. Rolls-Royce Merlin originally designed a V-12 liquid cooled piston engine that was used in many World War II aircraft.

tion on the West Coast; the “Pacific Street Car Association” (PSCA), was born in the early 2000’s and it drew a lot of attention from both bracket and street race groups and Cobbett was one of them. For the next eight years, he ran the True Street category with the PSCA. “While we had our struggles competing in that class, especially running the nitrous oxide, we were still fairly competitive. We typically finished in the top 5 at season’s end but we never quite got that championship.”

After the 8th season running True Street, Bryan decided to park the 1st. Gen. Stang and head in a different direction, with a purpose built drag car. He found a 2004 Ford Mustang body in white from Skinny Kid Race Cars and the body/ chassis combo was shipped to him as a roller with the suspension in-

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Unlike their previous race car, this 2005 Ford Mustang was a production car and still retains the factory dash and power windows!

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An iconic symbol of the American auto industry... tact. RacerX finished the cage and strapped in a fresh naturally aspirated 420 cubic inch small block Ford power plant and that combination would see lap after lap in pretty much any class they could fit it into. “We ran the new car in the Hot Street and Naturally Aspirated 10.5 at all the PSCA events as well as West Coast Hot Rod Association (WCHRA) and National Muscle Car Association West (NMCA) series, including all the Street Car Super National (SCSN) events in www.rpmmag.com

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A Racepak dash accompanies stock gauges and a faux fighter plane cockpit cluster to the right of the driver.

The supercharger cooler and tank rides shotgun.

Las Vegas we could make,” added Cobbett.

From 2005-2016, the new Mustang always finished in the top 5 with several #2 finishes, but just wasn’t ever able to grab that championship. The journey with that car, however, came to an abrupt end in fall of 2016 after hitting the 38

wall just past the finish line at the Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Luckily for Bryan and his crew, not all was lost as a result of the accident as they had insurance on the car which ultimately led to the purchase of their current 2005

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Bryan’s “kills” are a fitting tribute to the classic fighter aircraft design.

The first outing with the P51 Mustang was at the famed Auto Club Famoso Raceway during “The Shootout” held by the West Coast Hot Rod Association.

Bryan seen here on a 4.51 1/8 mile pass at the 16th annual Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Mustang pulled a 1.10 short time on the back tires on its way to a clean pass on the soft “break in” tune up.

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Bryan Cobbett’s 2005 Drag Radial P51 Ford Mustang

Chassis Type & Mods: 25.3 cert chassis.

Suspension:

Complete Strange front and rear suspension. JRI shocks on all four corners.

Body & Paint:

All steel body except for fiberglass hood. Also still has functioning roll-up glass windows. Star Side Designs in Riverside, California, car was painted after the famed P-51 Mustang from WW2.

Engine:

440ci small block Ford, 10:1 compression ratio. D3 heads with Jesel rockers & lifters prepared by Bennett Racing. Engine was assembled by Mountain View Performance in Rancho Cucamonga California.

Rotating Assembly:

Callies crank, Oliver steel rods, Comp cam and JE pistons.

Power Adder:

F-3X 135 ProCharger, crank driven. Supercharger Store gear drive. No Corners Cut intercooler.

Electronics:

Big Stuff3 Gen 4. Racepak V300 SD & IQ3 dash

Transmission & Converter:

Mike’s Transmission Monster 400.

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Rear Differential:

Strange rear full floater assembly with 4.11 gears and gun-drilled 40 spline axles.

Division/Class Run: Small Tire & X275

Best Performance To Date:

4.51 ET at 160mph in the 1/8th-mile. The car has not had a full power pass yet, just soft tune passes so far.

Thanks to:

Ben Davidow from Bigstuff3 along with Jason Lee are helping us out with the tuneup. We also have some sponsorship help from Hangar 24 Brewery in Redlands, CA. The CF in CF Racing Motorsports stands for Cobbett Family. My wife Shyla and both daughters Kayla (23yo) and Hayli (18yo) come to support as well and help out whenever possible. Without my parents (Linda and Geoff Cobbett) involvement with this car none of it would be possible.

Wheel/tire choice and the fitment for the Mustang was spot on; Weld V-series wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial tires.

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Drag Radial car. And that’s where the story of this P51 Mustang starts.

“We saw the car for sale and since my dad is a Vietnam Veteran and also knows a lot of the P51 Mustang’s history, he was intrigued by the paint scheme. My grandfather served in 42

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was designed in 1940 and had been successfully battle tested for over 4 decades in numerous conflicts, striking fear into all those who faced it, and the Mustang car, well it has been an iconic symbol of the American automobile industry, muscle car era and performance and racing movements since the very first model the British Air Force and my other rolled off the assembly line. grandpa served in the United States With the ’05 home it wasn’t long Navy during WWII, so a military before Bryan realized that the prethemed car seemed like a pretty cool vious owner of the car wasn’t comidea. Plus, it was a Ford!”. pletely honest with him at the time Both Mustangs are rich in history of purchase. In short, there was a lot of course; the flying P-51 Mustang

more work that needed to be done than anticipated. “The engine was pretty much junk and then, while charging the battery, the car caught fire.” This wasn’t a good start for the new build, but Bryan had no choice but to press on. For the next 2.5 years the Mustang would reside much of the time at Mountain View Performance in Rancho Cucamonga, California before being finished up in the summer of 2020. Mountain View assembled a stout 440-inch small block Ford with an F-3X 135 crank driven ProCharger and Supercharger Store

gear drive backed by a Mike’s Transmission Monster 400. For this build, there would be no cutting corners and the P51 would come to the show with all guns loaded.

During their first outing in 2020, Bryan and his team gathered some good data, however, they were not able to log any complete passes. Then, with many events canceled due to the pandemic, Bryan’s next event was nearly 5 months later at the Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas. Xtreme Drag Radial would be the class of choice and Bryan made consider-

able steps towards the car’s potential, eventually running a best of 4.51 to the 1/8 mile at 160 mph, at about 70% of the car’s power potential.

Ready for the 2021 season, Bryan says it’s as simple as “just change the pulley and go fast!” Confident that he’ll be piloting a low 4-second ride gives Cobbett incentive to get out and run the car hard at as many events as possible in search of that winner circle finish, and you can bet that the air support of this P51 Mustang will be instrumental in getting him there.

RPM

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P

ickup trucks have become a staple of the American family, and we’d wager that 90% of the people reading this right now have one in their driveway.

Today, many of those would be extended or “crew” cabs that hold extra passengers as well as cargo, but regular cab trucks are all around us, too; we see them on construction sites, making deliveries, hauling tools, or maybe with grandpa behind the wheel going to get coffee in the morning. They rarely find themselves on a drag strip, though, but when they do, a regular cab is the way to go. Not just for the weight, but there’s just something about the look of a low slung single cab pickup with a wing and sticky tires out back.

Tyler Piercey spent his first five birthdays at a track and raced on the dirt until age 26, but drag racing had always intrigued him, so in 2016 his straight line racing journey began. Wanting to be different in a sea of Camaros and Mustangs, Tyler decided on a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado to feed his need for speed.

Although his find came with over 200k miles, it also had the extremely popu-

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Following an engine fire that left everything from the firewall forward destroyed, Tyler Piercey made the tough decision to rebuild. The blinding Victory Red factory color was laid down by Southern Autowerks and most of the remaining work on the build was completed by Tyler with guidance form some great companies and help from good friends.

lar LS powerplant, which is perfect for boost.

The bright red truck came lowered on a set of 22s, typical for a street truck, but not for what Tyler’s street/strip intentions were. The Silverado has been through a few different variations over the last four years, but the most recent one has hit a home run. Unfortunately, though, before becoming what it is today, an engine fire totaled everything from the firewall forward; thankfully, he wasn’t hurt but he did contemplate selling it afterwards. When the decision was made to keep the truck, Tyler decided to build it right; faster and safer, and he did much of the work himself.

Before the rebuild, the complete interior, bodywork, and engine remained stock and even the little 4.8 liter LS ended up surviving at 900whp for quite some time, but after the fire, most of the truck changed for the better.

The body is factory and the slick Victory Red paint was applied by Southern Autowerks. The low stance is intentional and serves a purpose as do all of the mods. The LSX badges and covered bed with wing hanging off the back are a hint, but the sound from the dumped exhaust is a dead giveaway that this is more than just your everyday pickup.

Let’s talk more about that killer stance.

Tyler put a lot of research into getting it

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An owner-built 365-cube 10.8:1 compression LS is packed with a Lunati crankshaft, Molnar Power Adder connecting rods and Wiseco pistons. LPC 11degree 6 bolt LS3 square port heads were used along with a Holley Hi Ram intake with 1700cc Injectors on Holley EFI rails.

SPLIT MONO LEAF

Bryan Marrow’s 1979 Chevrolet Nova CalTracs, Calvert Split Mono Leafsprings, Perches

SPRINGS PERFORMANCE

Direct replacement, most applications Stress-relieved and arch verified Parabolic design distributes stress along length of each spring half Ride height options available Heavy duty alignment clamps, centering pins Aluminum bushings in front spring eyes Polyurethane bushings in rear eyes

Grade 8 Centering Pins

MADE IN THE USA

Ask a Tech:

661-728-9600 Hours: M-F 8am-4:30pm PST 2021

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Poly Bushings Rear

Heavy Duty Alignment Clamps Aluminum Bushings Front

Taking it to the Limit

just right. The complete front suspension is swapped from an S10, converting it to five lug. Adjustable Viking shocks and custom spindles complete the front half. Considering the weight distribution of a pickup, Tyler spent extra time on the rear suspension to ensure traction would be optimum.

He fabbed up some custom leaf spring shackles and sliders and added a set

of Caltracs and a Rhodes anti-roll bar to control twist. The factory ten bolt GM rear axle is notorious for failure, so it needed attention. Hanging from the leaf springs is a Moser Fab 9-inch with 35 spline axles and a 4.10 gear set; Tyler re-drilled the axles himself.

Setting off the low street truck stance are the S77 wheels on all four corners, 20x5s in front and 15x10s in the

rear, all wrapped in Mickey Thompson rubber. For stopping power, Tyler used S10 brakes in the front and a set of Wilwoods out back.

The fun part is under the hood, though, as out went the factory 4.8 in favor of something more robust, a 6.0 iron block. Gibbins Motorsports machined the block, but only to clean it up for Tyler to install the rotating

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Piercey also fabbed up the turbo setup which is based around a Forced Inductions Billet 80MM turbo.

Tyler went a different route with the exhaust, dumping it down right after the front tire.

Beneath the bed cover sits a 20-gallon fuel cell along with the CO2 tank for the air shifter.

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Inside is pretty basic, with a factory dash assembly, after market seats, Holley EFI dash and Precision shifter. Cage work was done by Tyler with the help of Chris Frampton.

assembly; a Lunati forged crank with Molar Power Adder rods and Wiseco 10.8:1 compression pistons. For cylinder heads, Piercey chose something perfect for boost, a set of LPC six-bolt LS3 square port heads with their complete valvetrain package.

Topping off the long block is a Holley Performance Hi-ram intake manifold. Tyler also built the entire turbo kit around an 80mm billet turbo, a perfect match for street/strip duties.

A 20-gallon fuel cell with Magnafuel 750 pump supply Fuel Inject Connection 1700cc injectors on Holley fuel rails, while E85 feeds the turbocharged LS. Holley also controls the combination with their HP EFI system. Backing the built LS in an FTI stage 4.5 TH400 with trans brake and STX torque converter controlled by a Precision air shifter. One of the challenging hurdles for Tyler was tuning, but he pushed through and learned how to tune it himself.

Interior-wise, the factory dash remains and the 7 inch Holley dash sits in place of the factory radio. Tyler still has tunes via a Bluetooth dial next to a custom set of carbon fiber cup holders. He also fabbed up a mount for the Holley ECU and electronics on the passenger kick panel for easy access and installed two lightweight bucket seats with harnesses to keep occupants in the seats where they belong. Chris Frampton and Tyler did a spectacular job welding in a cage, integrating some custom seat brackets

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A TRUCK WITH A WING?

Yes, and it’s also carbon fiber.

Tyler Piercey’s 2006 Turbocharged Chevrolet Silverado LSX Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:

Custom 5 lug swap S10 spindles with manual steering. Custom rear leaf spring hangers and leaf spring sliders. Caltrac Bars, Rhodes anti roll bar and double adjustable Viking Shocks.

Body & Paint:

Factory Victory Red

Engine:

4.005” 6.0 LS cast block 365ci 10.8:1 compression.

Rotating Assembly: Lunati Crankshaft, Molnar Power Adder connecting rods, Wiseco pistons.

Cylinder Heads:

LPC 11-degree 6 bolt LS3 square port.

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

Holley HP EFI Holley Hi Ram, Fuel Injector Connection 1700cc Injectors.

Power Adder:

Forced Inductions Billet 80MM turbo.

Transmission:

FTI stage 4.5 TH400 with transbrake, custom FTI STX torque converter

Rear:

Fab 9 Moser, 35 spline axles with spool, 4.10 gear.

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Brakes:

S10 factory calipers in the front, Wilwood in the rear.

Tires & wheels:

20x5 Weld wheel in the front, 15x10 Weld wheel in the rear.

Interior:

Roll cage with custom shifter and seat brackets. Grant steering wheel, Precision air shifter, Holley EFI 7” Dash, Full Bluetooth radio using factory speakers, carbon fiber cup holders.

Thanks To: and roll cage. help/advice I ever needed. converter-related. injectors. they do. machining.

A fabricated 9” Moser with 35 spline axles, spool and 4.10 gear is sure to take anything the boosted LS can throw at it.

and building the air shifter mount, as well.

With all of the ups and downs he experienced since 2016 with the truck, everything becomes a distant memory when Tyler and his son head out for a cruise around town,

or to a car show or race event. The best moment of all to date, however, was at a Streetcar Takeover event in Charlotte, NC. It was just 12 hours after he got the new motor up and running and he took runner-up in the truck class.

Now, with more run time on the new build, Piercey is confident the Silverado is ready to take on any track, prep or no-prep, and he’d be happy to make the drive to do battle, and back home after his win.

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he name Nick Agostino has long been synonymous with big power engine builds and fast street car drag racing in Canada, but a number of years back the news of his adventures in horsepower grew well beyond his northern borders.

Nick’s name is also no stranger to the pages of RPM Mag. Twenty two years ago he was one of the first to support RPM with advertising, and since then we have followed and featured a number of his cars along the way.

“Street racing is where it all started for me when I was 16, with my 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger,” explains Agostino. We would have never pegged Nick for a Mopar man, but to be fair, he’s had

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The Crew, from left to right: Brian Sannino, Nick Agostino, Mike Ski, Rafael Maio.

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The Camaro boasts GM steel quarter panels and door jambs along with exquisite carbon panels from Joe Van O.

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a try at each of the Big 3 over the years, eventually ending up with his current 1969 Camaro.

Those street match-ups were for money, so it’s no surprise that Nick learned the game early on and ran the Dart under a cloak of secrecy – the car had the 340 stripe package on it but a 383 big block with nitrous under the hood.

The Dart power soon grew to a 440 based nitrous motor, and from there, in the late eighties, he would hit the streets with a 598-inch

Harnessing the Competitive Edge

full chassis car on nitrous that could run low 8-second ETs. Like most everyone, in the nineties Agostino tried his luck with a Fox Body Mustang, running a small block Ford on nitrous for a short time.

“We did well in the famous J&P Shootouts until I decided to get out of the driver seat for about 10 years while the business and family grew.”

With personal matters in check, Agostino reappeared on the local organized street car

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Agostino was involved in the initial development of the small block Chevy 4.600 bore space twin turbo engine package. This engine is built by Nick (Agostino Motorsports) and started with a 486inch 4.600 bore space all-billet Visner spread lifter design block with 10.00inch deck height and cross bolted 6-bolt main cap setup. Since there are just too many details to list here, be sure to check out the Tech Sheet on page 74 for much more info.

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The interior is mostly carbon with the chromoly cage snaking its way through. Nick relies on a Racepack display for vital signs and an M&M shifter for gear changes.

moserengineering.com

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drag race scene in 2012 with a small block single turbo 2000 Camaro. “We did very well in OSCA EZ Street with that Camaro and then converted it to run Outlaw 10.5,” Nick said. The car would see an upgrade to a small block with twins and was campaigned in that configuration for a number of years; “We were slowly flirting into the radial tire world until a bad crash at the Yellow Bullet Nationals where we ended up on the roof, after which we retired that car for good.” Nick continued to build his businesses; Facility Maintenance & Construction and DART Petroleum which are operated from his home in Stouffville, Ontario and his endeavors would eventually help pave the way for him to once again return to the dragstrip.

The big question now, what would that return look like? “My favorite body style was always the 1969 Camaro,” Agostino continued. “While we were campaigning the 2000 Camaro, one of my crew members, Ricky Carlos, was starting to build a rolling chassis for the new 4.600 bore space small block Chevy powerplant to run in the same The carbon hood meets the carbon turbo inlet almost seamlessly.

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class. When we crashed the 2000 and saw what an amazing job Ricky and Joe Van O were doing on the ’69, we made a deal to buy it unfinished from Ricky to run Outlaw 10.5 and RVW.” After 2 years of painstaking work and attention to every single detail (when you see the car you will understand), the Cannoli Express 1969 Camaro was debuted in 2019. Although it is arguably one of the most popular body styles to ever be produced, it can be tough to call a first gen Camaro “unique”, but rest assured this one stands out from the crowd.

Ok, for starters, it runs well into the 3-second zone in the 1/8th-mile while retaining steel rear ¼ panels and door jambs and factory dimensions, with the exception of the front nose overhang.

It’s slammed to the weeds, cleaner than clean was ever meant to be and detailed to the nines. “I love that the car has factory steel and sits so low, but it’s also the little finishing touches like door and wheel well trim that make it appealing to me,” Nick said. As for power, the fact this car helped in the development of the small block Chevy 4.600 bore space twin turbo engine package is unique in

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Indestructible!

For the kind of power being produced here, this Mark Williams sheet metal full floater rear with Strange 9.5-inch center section with 3.70 gears and 40 spline axles is more than up to the task of handling it.

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itself. Also, because Agostino purchased the Camaro in the early stages of the build, he was able to make a number of changes and design enhancements so it would fit into multiple classes.

We know the car has some factory GM steel, but it was the carbon floors and body parts by Joe Van O, who also mounted those parts (and the OEM steel), that push the Camaro over the top. They are near flawless, and the car is painted black! And that paint, along with remaining

bodywork, was completed by 27 Auto Body in base clear.

The car also boasts all working lights, including factory marker lights.

Chassis wise, credit goes to Rick Jones for the firewall back round tube chromoly work and to The Chassis Stop for work from the firewall forward along with the turbo mounting and tubing. Incidentally, a factory GM firewall sits in the stock location and the wheelbase is plus just 1.5-inches, making it legal for Pro 275, as well. Out www.rpmmag.com

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The Cannoli Express ’69 Camaro is incredibly well designed with top-shelf parts and attention to detail in all areas. All lights are fully functional and factory trim has been used throughout to really bring an OEM look to life.

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back, a coilover four-link with wishbone suspends a Mark Williams sheet metal full floater rear housing with Strange 9.5inch center section with 3.70 gears and 40 spline axles.

If you’re fairly attentive, you noticed we mentioned earlier that Nick was one the first advertisers in RPM Mag back over 20 years ago. If you’re real sharp, you would have found out by now that Agostino ran his own very successful engine building business for several years. So naturally, this mill is built by, you guessed it, Nick Agostino. It started with a 486-inch 4.600 bore space all-billet Visner spread lifter design block with 10.00-inch deck height and cross bolted 6-bolt main cap setup.

A Bryant 4.250 stroke billet crank swings GRP billet rods pinned to Ross pistons with Trend tapered wrist pins, and gapless Total Seal rings keep compression in check. Agostino Motorsports also saw personally to spec’ing the custom turbo cam which is exotic to say the least.

An RCD gear drive was used and a trick RCD Tri-drive operates the fuel and oil pumps.

Cylinder heads are 9-degree billet canted 4.600 bore space Visner heads. Tita-

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Nick Agostino’s Twin Turbo Pro 275/Outlaw 10.5 1969 Camaro Chassis Type & Mods:

Rick Jones firewall back round tube chromoly with The Chassis Stop firewall forward/turbo mounting and tubing. Front struts are Strange (valved by Menscer), rear 4-link with 4-way Menscer 21” coilover shocks, Strange front Carbon brakes. Titanium Wheelie bars

Body:

Car is factory dimensions except front nose is 44.5”overhang.

Stock wheelbase + 1.5” and firewall is factory GM in stock location. All carbon floors and body parts by Joe Van O who also mounted the body parts including the factory GM rear quarters. All working lights including factory marker lights, Body/ paint by 27 Auto Body in base clear.

Engine:

Built by Nick Agostino. 486” 4.600 bore space all billet Visner SB, spread lifter design. 10.00 deck height, cross bolted 6 bolt main cap setup. Bryant 4.250 stroke billet crank, GRP billet rods, Ross pistons, gapless Total Seal rings, CL race bearings and Trend tapered wrist pins. Jesel .937 key way lifters. 6.25” Fluidamper with MSD crank trigger. 5 stage Barns oil pump, billet oil pan/dry sump pickups on pan.

Custom turbo cam Agostino Motorsports design. Cam is BBC + .400 cam height. BBC + .400 RCD gear drive. RCD Tri drive (fuel pump & oil pump drive).

Cylinder Heads:

9 degree billet canted 4.600 BS Visner heads. Titanium intake & exhaust valves; 2.380 & 1.670. Pac valve springs, Titanium bead lock retainers/locks 11/32. Visner steel rockers Int/exh 1.80 ratio and Trend ½” pushrods. Copper gaskets and O-rings.

Rear Differential:

Mark Williams sheet metal Fab rear housing, full floater, Strange 9.5” center section 3.70 gear 40 spline axels, Mark Williams rear carbon brakes.

Miscellaneous:

RC rear rims 15X14 with Pro 275 tire, Weld fronts. Custom 5 gallon Aluminum fuel cell/breather tank, Titanium removable trans tunnel, Dual chutes with air launchers, 4” PST Carbon drive shaft, Titanium steering wheel extension, Carbon bucket pour in seat.

We made and gave away a record 105 cannoli’s at a local St. Thomas Smackdown4 race over a weekend in 2020…normally 50-75 on an average per weekend.

Crew:

Rafel Maio, Mike Ski, Brian Sannino.

Best ET & MPH:

1/8 Mile - 3.80 @ 211mph in Pro 275 trim (98mm), and 3.83 @ 206 mph (88mm) 10.5 trim.

How Many Years Racing: Racing since 1985 Division/Class Run: Pro 275 and Outlaw 10.5 Thanks also to:

People/companies that have helped our race program along the way:

Fuel Delivery & Induction:

Waterman 30 GPM fuel pump…all XRP fuel lines and fittings.

Twin 550 Precision injectors per cylinder. Custom oval Visner throttle body.

boost controllers Shock Nerd

Power Adder:

Twin XPR 88mm Precision turbos.

Electronics:

Haltech 2500 with REM module. AMS 2000 boost controller, V300 Racepack, Haltech dash, Speedwire main hub and switch panel, Speedwire electronic main disconnect (push button).

Car wired by Mike Jaman. Lightweight battery/charger.

Transmission & Converter:

M&M 2 speed 400 with internal/external spool valves controlled by Haltech. M&M Lock-up converter, Titanium bell housing, M&M shifter, Boninfante flexplate.

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good guy (lol)

Nick Agostino and the Cannoli Express.

nium intake & exhaust valves were used along with Pac valve springs and Titanium retainers and locks. Visner steel 1.80 ratio rockers and Trend ½ inch pushrods round out the package.

The twins that assist in the production of ponies are a pair of XPR Precision turbochargers, and the choice of size depends on the class being run.

Suffice it to say, that personal bests are only 3 hundredths apart between the bigs and littles.

With great power comes great responsibility and the great responsibility for handling the Cannoli Express’ great power falls on an M&M 2-speed 400 transmission with inter-

nal/external spool valves controlled

by Haltech. An M&M lock-up converter, Titanium bell housing, M&M shifter and Boninfante flexplate were also used.

“Our most memorable experience to date had to be winning the 2020 US Street Nationals in Bradenton in Pro 275 just before Covid hit,” added Agostino. “It was the first time on 275’s and we ran 3.87 at 210mph and won the race, which was a milestone for our team and huge achievement for the crew.”

Just visit the Agostino pits and it’s immediately clear that they take their racing seriously, and that’s why they

win races and set records, but make no mistake, racing is also all about having fun, too. After the racing, crowds can usually be found gathering for the evening festivities with Nick and his team in their pits where they serve homemade (and delicious) Cannolis. And, while Agostino and his team can say they have served up thousands of Cannolis to their fellow racers and fans (over 100 at the 2020 Smackdown 4 alone!) so far, it’s hard to say just how many losses he’s served to his opponents, but hey, who’s counting?

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T

he wildly popular Mustang seems to overshadow many other performance oriented models Ford produced, but they did build others, and nearing the end of the classic muscle car era, they built the Maverick. The offering was a compact, similar in size and room to the Mustang, but different. The model ran from 1970 to 1977, and in its first year, 1970, with nearly 580,000 produced the Maverick almost tripled the sales of the 1970 Mustang! The car was offered in a number of different configurations, but none as popular as the Grabber.

James Hutchens’ 1972 model praises that era and just so happens to be a “Grabber’ variant, Ford’s performance-oriented version consisting mostly of an exterior and interior trim package including larger tires, graphics package and cool double bump hood. In the early seventies, with high gas prices and emissions coming down the pipes quick, there were no real factory performance upgrades to the car. But Hutchens’ wheelstanding Grabber is a completely different story.

James is a lifelong car fanatic, and by day is a mechanic, but enjoys welding and bodywork on the side as a hobby. Almost immediately after he got his driver’s license, he became addicted to drag racing, on and off the street, and by the time he got out of school had moved onto racing gokarts and then circle track.

Interestingly, this car was built more for cruis-

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Rain doesn’t stop a real street car!

Despite the forecast, we were treated to a light rain while shooting which only made the experience more fun!

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The side graphics, blacked out front and rear panels were all part of the Grabber pkg in 1972.

This car is super straight and clean thanks to owner James Hutchens who is a Mechanic by day but enjoys bodywork as a hobby. ing and shows, but then Hutchens’ need for speed took over and he just couldn’t help himself – the Maverick would have to hit the strip, too! It was a junkyard find, housing a family of raccoons, and James traded painting his buddies Harley for the shell. Over the course of six years, James and his good friend Zach Clontz completed the build all on their own.

The Maverick needed a lot of bodywork and

Hutchens straightened everything himself, rolled and enlarged the wheel wells, installed a Feather Carbon fiberglass hood and found some fiberglass bumpers at a local swap meet. The rest of the factory metal James beat and shaped back to perfection. He welded in some sub-frame connectors and a 10-point roll cage himself as well, in fact, the only thing he didn’t do was repaint it, only because he doesn’t have a www.rpmmag.com

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The engine bay is as clean as the body, as is the install of the nitroused small block Ford mill.

The Mickey Thompson Street Radial Pro 215/60s just fit inside the wheelwells, after a bit of massaging

by Hutchens, of course.

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No secrets here!

James Hutchens with his Maverick. There’s nothing better than that “I did this” feeling after completing a 6 year build at this level.

A super-clean organized trunk matches the rest of the build. booth. A local body shop laid the paint, and they chose to stay with the factory red Grabber theme, black side stripping, and yellow lettering.

The engine’s foundation starts with a Ford Racing Boss block that Durham’s Engine Service machined in preparation for a stroker setup. The rotating assembly boasts a forged Scat stroker crank, Molnar stroker rods and a set of Mahle nitrous pistons. Finishing off the 347cube mill bottom end is a custom spec Ed Curtis profile cam, also suited for nitrous applications. AFR 205 heads are equipped with T&D rockers activated

by Comp Cam pushrods and, for now,

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James has decided to keep things old school, staying carbureted, but not just any carb; a 780 nitrous carb from Pro Systems mounted on an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake handles the inhaled fuel and air. Exhaust fumes exit through JET Hot coated Hooker Super Comp 1-3/4 long tube headers then routed through Magnaflow mufflers and dumped just shy of the rear axle. Induction Solutions handles additional power with their Real Street nitrous plate system.

Initially, a Jerico stick-shifted transmission found its way into the tunnel, but James wanted calmer launches and street cruising manners, so he swapped out to the automatic. Radial tire racing has become all the craze at many events so Hutchens went with a beefed-up ATI Powerglide, complete with a Wicked Quick trans brake and an Ultimate Converter Concepts 3500 stalled torque converter. Precision Performance Products handles the shifting and power transfers back to a braced Strange Engineering Ford 9-inch rear end with an aluminum heavy-duty Pro case. Internally, a Strange spool, 3.91 gears, and their 35 spline axles solidify the stout assembly.

Many classic cars have one thing in common; they run leaf-sprung rear suspension setups. James stuck with the Maverick’s stock design, but made it better. He completed some updates using an Opentracker roller bearing spring perch to go along with split mono springs from Calvert Racing, Caltracs bars, and Caltrac adjustable shocks to keep the rear end planted.

And plant it does, in fact, James has to find a way to keep the front end down now, as he’s finding himself looking to the sky far too often.

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Much of the factory interior remains. Hutchens added the Racepak dash, cage, racing buckets, quick release wheel and other necessary electronics.

There’s nothing like looking at your car and saying, “I did this”.

This is true stock suspension, no coilover conversions here folks! A factory style leaf spring setup assisted by a host of Calvert Racing offerings out back hangs a complete Strange 9-inch. Up front, 6 cylinder springs are matched with double adjustable shocks.

the trunk gives a killer style, but add in Mickey Thompson drag wheels wrapped in sticky Mickey radial rubber and a raised cowl hood and now you have some serious intimidation factor. Aerospace Components discs with four-piston calipers are found on all corners to slow the Mav down after a 130mph 1/8-mile pass.

Much of the factory interior remains; after all, the car is a piece of history, so keeping as much of the cool factory interior possible seemed like the right thing to do. Racing seats and a Grant quick-release steering wheel were added. A Racepak UDX LCD dash displays the engine vitals, while an Auto Rod Controls switch/relay board sits beside the shifter. Placed on the board are all the Induction Solutions controls along with the fail-safes to keep the system in check. Above it, the Leash nitrous controller is also within reach. An MSD Power Grid along with the complete electrical system is hidden below the dash for easy access.

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James Hutchens’ Street/Strip 1972 Ford Maverick Chassis & Suspension:

Owner-installed frame connectors and 10-point roll cage. Opentracker roller bearing spring perch along with modified control arms for smooth non-binding action. Rear is Calvert suspension with their split mono leaf springs, Caltrac bars and single adjustable shocks. Up front are 6cyl coil springs with Viking double adjustable shocks.

Body & Paint:

All body mods and straightening was done by owner. Local body shop Isom’s Collision sprayed the car.

Engine:

347ci small block Ford. Ford Racing block with Scat 3.4 stroke forged crank, Molnar power adder 5.4 rods and Mahle pistons.

Cylinder Heads:

Ed Curtis was tapped for the engine top end and spec’d the cam profile along with the AFR 205 heads with T&D rockers and COMP Cams push rods.

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake and Pro Systems 780 nitrous carb.

Power Adder:

Induction Solutions Real Street plate nitrous system.

Transmission:

ATI Powerglide with the Wicked Quick trans brake along with an Ultimate Converter Concepts 3500 rpm converter.

Rear:

All Strange brand parts, 35 spline axles, spool, housing with back brace and aluminum boltthru Pro case with 3.91 gears.

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Brakes:

Aerospace Components four piston calipers with drilled and slotted rotors front and rear.

Tires & wheels:

Mickey Thompson wheels with ET Street Pro tires.

Interior:

Aluminum race seats and upholstery, rear seat delete, full carpeting and headliner installed by owner and Zach Clontz. Grant steering wheel with Mark Williams quick release. Racepak UDX display. Precision Performance Products shifter with internal transbrake and neutral safety switch. Auto Rod Controls switch panel with relay board beside the shifter. Induction solutions nitrous pressure gauge and shut off valve to protect the solenoids from sitting under pressure for prolonged periods. Leash nitrous controller and MSD Power Grid system

ET & MPH:

Personal best set to date was 5.51 at 126 mph in the 1/8th in fall of 2020. Not nearly fast enough to be a contender but we are still learning the suspension tune which has been plagued by bumper dragging wheelies as evidenced by three oil pans, front end alignments and one trip to the frame shop!

Thanks To:

First of all, my wife Lisa for putting up with the insanity, Zach Clontz for helping get it finished and crewing along with my little brother Chris Hutchens.

Most Memorable Experience To Date:

I decided to go to the 2019 Street Car Takeover at Bristol Dragway and had a great time. After getting put out first round, we decided to go to Charlotte Zmax Dragway for their Street Car event and I was lucky enough to runner-up in their Extreme Street Race.

What started as a weekend cruiser made it to a wheelie happy street/strip car and James just can’t seem to get enough of it. For 2021, he plans to continue to enjoy the streetcar-style races and, through tuning and keeping the front end in check, work on improving his best 1/8th-mile time to date of 5.51 at 126 mph.

Hutchens completed all of the work on the Maverick with his right-hand man Zach Clontzs’ help and couldn’t be happier with how far the car has come in the past six years. There’s just nothing like looking at your car and saying, “I did this”.

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Swamp Thing and White Zombie came all the way from Mississippi to represent NYSO at the King Of The Mountain. Ken Clark and Joey Baroni were great ambassadors of the sport and took the time to meet and greet everyone that visited their pit.

he old saying, “build it and they will come” proved true at the RPM sponsored King Of The Mountain no-prep drag race on April 10th. Drag Racer and promoter Tommy Reeks of NYSO had a vision for hosting a $10k purse for both big and small tire racers from around the country.

The important part for Tommy was that it was going to be held on his turf in the northeast. Planning an event like this in the strict and over populated northeast was no easy task. Every racetrack he shared his vision with turned him down. Racetracks pride themselves in being safe for both the drivers and spectators and racing high horsepower cars on a no-prep surface can be considered unsafe. Besides being shot down by numerous racetracks, Tommy approached a few local airstrips with the same proposal and was once again sharply declined for insurance issues.

Not being one to give up on anything, Tommy approached an old friend, Mike Natali, and asked if he would be interested in opening up his 1/8 th mile dragstrip to host this event. Mike believed in the vision and agreed. South Mountain Raceway is nestled in the beautiful and vast countryside of Boiling Springs, PA. Being family owned and operated, South Mountain exhumes a very personal, friendly, and accommodating feel. A name hadn’t been given to the event until Mike agreed to join forces and host it at his track, and

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“The King Of The Mountain” fit perfectly.

As with any business venture, you need to surround yourself with experts in areas that you have little experience in. As a true leader, Tommy reached out to quality people in his network and asked for help. I was able to reach out to RPM Magazine for event sponsorship and they were eager to help promote an extreme, high-horsepower, action-packed day. They immediately went to work creating the event flyer and placed it in their magazine for three months prior to the event.

Within two weeks of people sharing the flyer, 32 small tire and 32 big tire cars sent in a deposit to lock in their spots. Besides adver-

Ken Clark reaches in the bag and pulls his chip for his race order and pairing.

He had the misfortune of drawing 2nd pair on a wet track.

World class photographer Rick Belden did a favor for me and made the trip from North Carolina to capture images like this. Here is White Zombie seconds after hitting the guard rail where Rick was standing. It broke my heart to see this beautiful car get damaged.

Thank God he wasn’t hurt and didn’t hurt Rick in the process.

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True sportsmen are both humble in victory and defeat...

Joey Baroni and Swamp Thing managed to get 762 cubic inches down that no prepped surface. Joey went on to win the big tire division and become the first King Of The Mountain.

White Zombie at the starting line purging some nitrous.

tising the event, RPM also agreed to sponsor the awards I designed for this special day. The entire team of people that Tommy enlisted is simply too big to list without the fear of leaving someone out, but I am an eyewitness to the true spirit of racers helping other racers. These gracious people, volunteered their time and resources to make the event a huge success. It wasn’t just the amazing team that Tommy was able to gather, it was also the countless people that every racer depended on that day to help them make pass after pass.

There were no corporate-sponsored teams at South Mountain Raceway that day. What there was, was a lone racer in need of good friends. Friends who were willing to travel afar, sacrifice time away from family, and spend hard-earned money just to help a buddy out. This gesture of friendship is what I believe separates our gearhead community from others. It motivates me almost as much as the heart thumping high-horsepower beasts that are the very reason for this magazine.

With every event I attend I learn something new about people and the groups or “cliques” they are a part of.

Whether it’s an NHRA national event, a local bracket race, a PDRA race, an airstrip outlaw race, or a midnight street race, every one of us has both similar and vastly different ways of acting and expressing our passion. True sportsmen are both humble in victory and defeat. Poor sportsmen are the Lex Luther’s of our sport and amplify all of the horrible qualities we are all capable of. Violence and profanity have no place in trying to settle a dispute. Rewww.rpmmag.com

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There was no shortage of beautiful old American Muscle at King Of The Mountain

The owners of this beautiful Camaro, Kenny and Kathy Beaverson, helped out a lot at the event and were a huge blessing to us.

The grassy hill at South Mountain Raceway was filled with eager spectators.

There were campers, motorhomes, tents, BBQ grills, and race lovers all enjoying extreme horsepower.

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Black Chyna suffered an early round crash on Saturday. I couldn’t help but imagine what the driver was going through before, during, and after the wreck. It is so sad to see someone’s hard work and money hit the guard rail.

sorting to that type of behavior not only shows a lot about the person, but even more about the case or point they are trying to defend. If your case is strong, approach it in a professional and courteous fashion along with solid evidence. I have witnessed both extremes of this and am happy to say that the vast majority of racers I’ve had the pleasure of helping and watching over the decades are both professional and accept defeat with the honor of a Samurai. It’s a shame that a rare minority of us are leaving a bad impression with track owners, promoters, and potential future sponsors.

With last month’s Shop Talk article still fresh in my head, witnessing father and son

White Zombie was representing Team NYSO at the King Of The Mountain.

It was no doubt a crowd favorite.

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Winner, Winner!

Joey Baroni with all of his awards.

Master engine builder Dave Kogan better known as “Hemi Dave”, was hard at work prepping this new beast he made for Tommy and White Lightning.

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Armando Guzman better known as “Poppy” represented Team NYSO in decisive fashion. That Toyota was a force to reckon with all day. Poppy and his son Pito were class acts who showed the good side of gearheads. teams that day was extremely powerful. Two standouts were both in the small tire class. Terris Hicks Sr. and his son Kyle impressed me through the entire event. Kyle helped dad in the bigtire class, and dad helped Kyle in the small-tire class. They exemplified the true meaning of remaining humble in both victory and defeat. It was indeed inspiring and an honor to witness them in action. The other father/ son team of Armando Guzman Sr. (Poppy) and his son Armando Guzman III (Pito) inspired me with their extremely impressive Toyota Corolla. The young 13 year

old Pito, was 100% in charge of pulling his dad up to the line and giving the starter a thumbs up when their car was fully spooled up. Poppy was a true gentleman throughout the event and represented NYSO and everything good about gearheads.

In the true spirit of grassroots racing, The King Of The Mountain No-Prep Race gave South Mountain Raceway their largest spectator turnout in the history of Mike Natali owning it.

Track owners please take note of this. Both sides of the track were filled with people spending the entire day and evening en-

Even a rare Ford Falcon made the trip to spread its wings in the small tire class.

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Blake Kirschbaum and his beautiful Trans Am “The Punisher” took the runner up spot to Swamp Thing.

The Punisher made super solid and consistent passes all day. I was extremely impressed with Blake and his car. I look forward to possibly doing a feature on his team in the future.

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Even the family station wagon made its way into the small tire class.

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I love it when gearheads convert the old pickup trucks to a full blown race rig.

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There was plenty of wheels-up action at King Of The Mountain

Pulling wheelie on a no prep track is a true testament to the crew chiefs and how they set the car up.

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Toyota on Ford action. That Toyota wheeled by NYSO’s “Poppy” was on point.

Watching a 3000 horsepower car try to get down a slick, noprepped surface while fighting to keep it in their lane and off the wall is exhilarating and fun to say the least... joying a day of fast cars. Friends, if you’ve never witnessed a no-prep event in person, I highly recommend adding it to your schedule. Watching a 3000 horsepower car try to get down a slick, no-prepped surface while fighting to keep it in their lane and off the wall is exhilarating and fun to say the least.

Congratulations to the Big Tire King Of The Mountain Joey Baroni driving the legendary Swamp Thing Nova wagon.

Joey proved he can wheel that 762 cubic inch beast down a slick surface round after round. Both he and Ken Clark, driving White Zombie, came all the way from Mis-

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In my opinion this was the nicest Mustang on the property at the King Of The Mountain race.

Tommy Reeks and White Lightning showed the meaning of true sportsmanship at the race.

White Lightning is a crowd favorite and commands attention.

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sissippi to represent NYSO and participate in the event.

Ken had the unfortunate “no luck” of the draw and got paired into the 2nd round.

May I add this was not just any 2nd round. The morning was overcast and a heavy dew or mist was falling on the track. Ken and White Zombie launched extremely hard to the right and headed toward the guard rail and event photographer Rick Belden. In an amazing display of wheeling, Ken was somehow able to side clip the rail, saving both him, Rick and the car from total devastation.

Event Promoter Tommy Reeks and his famous White Lightning ’57 Chevy installed

a brand-new powerplant built by master builder Dave Kogan just for this event. The new big block proved itself to be a major upgrade. But with no testing, Tommy had to pedal it, or contact with a cement barrier was eminent. When he successfully avoided the wall, in typical White Lightning fashion he mashed his foot to the floor and held on tight. That Kogan Motorsports engine kept pulling hard all the way down the track. In true Samurai spirit he ran over to the car that beat him and congratulated him on his victory. Like I mentioned earlier, a true sportsman is gracious in both victory and in defeat. Tommy continues to set an example

Some Mustang vs.

Mustang small tire action

everyone should respect and follow.

With a town curfew threatening to end the event, the final four of the small tire class decided to split the 10k purse, sponsorship money, and honor the track rules. I would like to give major props to the runner up in the Big-Tire class. Blake Kirschbaum, driving the wicked fast Punisher, was on top of his game all day. It was impressive to witness so many truly fast cars successfully get down that track.

Special thanks have to out to the following sponsors: White Lightning, Iron Man, Two Lane Mafia, Werts Performance, Stony Point Beef Jerky, and Area 51 Racing. These generous

sponsors all donated money to the winner and runner up of each class on top of the agreed 10k winner’s purse making this an extra special big money event.

Every once in a while I believe we all need a “booster shot” of passion or excitement in our life. On my two and a half hour drive home that night, I couldn’t help but think about how my car would have reacted to that surface. I thought about a few upgrades that I need to put in motion and thought of the ways I was going to fund it. I also tried to imagine who would have made the long drive to help me that day. As I’ve written

about before, TV makes everything look easy. The fact is, it’s extremely expensive to build a competitive car.

I mean a car that is a real contender no matter where it goes. It’s more than the car, it’s the hauler, the spare parts, the team, and something most people overlook, the time and sacrifices that are necessary to pursue this wild and crazy life. We all wanted to win King Of The Mountain when we were kids. Well I think I found a new way to make that title happen. We are already looking forward to next year.

Until Next Time Keep Wrenching,

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hings are getting pretty serious with The Red Bull 1964 Corvette.

To recap; after being involved in a horrible wreck last year, the original chassis was trash and its owner, Shannon Poole (from the TV series The Call Out), had to make some tough decisions as he recovered from injuries suffered in the accident.

Once the choice was made to rebuild, The Chassis Doctor was called on for a complete new skeleton for the Vette and has hit a home run with this completely updated state of the art piece. It’s been on the chassis table for about 8 months and is just hitting the concrete on its new rubber for the first time. Now, as we publish this article, the race is on

The 98 inch factory wheel base makes these cars super dangerous at 180 MPH. It doesn’t seem like much, but this 4 inches extra should make this Vette a totally different animal.

As you can see, there’s a long way to go when it comes to bodywork and paint. There will be an estimated 1000 hrs of bodywork done on this car before December. www.rpmmag.com

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Red Bull Restoration After the wreck, only 1 wheel was left unharmed. Holeshot wheels provided Shannon with three wheels to get this Bull going again!

“It’s a life’s work down the drain”, said Shannon Poole following the 2019 accident.

From September 2020 issue of RPM Magazine

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to transport it back to Mississippi and get some paint on the bare chromoly tubing before the rust sets in. There is definitely a lot of work to be done, but we are sure the outcome will be a show stopper.

“The feeling of picking up a new car is definitely one of the most satisfying events in a racer’s life, especially when it’s done right!”

Shannon exclaimed.

At the paint shop. We gotta get this chassis stripped and get some paint on it before the Mississippi humidity rusts this thing out! It’s amazing how much difference the humidity changes from Indiana to Mississippi. This chassis would be completely rusted in three days in Mississippi.

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Most professional builders weld a plate on the chassis with their company name to signify who built the chassis. This one was built by The Chassis Doctor.

We are sure that the outcome will be a show stopper...

This new piece from The Chassis Doctor will end up one fine package when it gets some red and black fiberglass wrapped around it, so stay tuned to RPM Mag to see The Red Bull ride again! RPM

One arm lift. There is no body or motor in the car, but wow!

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