It wasn’t that long ago that 6-second quarter-mile hits at the dragstrip were reserved for Pro Mods and the likes, but these days a variety of class, grudge and no-time racers pilot rides capable of reaching that mark at over 200mph, and Jeff Gabel’s slick Mopar is one of them.
For a whopping 32 years, Gabel has been campaigning the same car and over that time it has progressed through ranks of timed drag racing from running tens in Super Pro into a consistent 6-second 200-plus mph performer in the upper echelon of Top Sportsman. Most Top Sportsman cars today are pro from top to bottom and front to back, and the fact is that you better come to the show with some serious power and skill if you want to take the win light, and Gabel has more than a few of them under his belt.
Although the car still has the OEM styling, long gone are any hints of the original Duster body, all swapped out for weight and aerodynamically superior composites, including the removable front end. Gabel jokes that the rocker panels are probably the only original body panel left on the car.
The car started off as a real deal 1972 Plymouth Duster that rolled off the assembly line as slant 6 powered Mopar that eventually had been neglected by its previous owner, despite being just 19 years old when Jeff found it. As opposed to being a “barn find”, it’s rumored that
the original Duster was a “behind the barn find” and was minus the leaning tower of power motor, but it had disk brakes, something that the diehard Mopar fan in Gabel appreciated. Now, the body is amazing compared to its former self, but maybe that’s because Jeff spe-
From left to right: Alexis Grasby (Jeff’s step daughter who drives a Jr. Dragster), Karley Faubert and Dustin Gabel (they share the driving duties of the top dragster), Jeff Gabel and wife Mandy Gabel.
Best
built the Keith Black block based 645-inch wedge. The 5-inch stroke/4.5 inch bore raised cam block was topped by Predator heads from Indy Cylinder Heads, a cast intake with twin 1050 cfm Dale Cubic tricked out Holley Dominators and two stages of direct port nitrous oxide.
Machine Racing Engines
cializes in body and paint and admittedly there’s little if any of the original panels left in the mix, including the composite body, doors and hood replacing the originals. Jeff says that the rocker panels are probably the only original body part left. Along with the body, every part of the car has been swapped out and upgraded along the road to making it what it is today.
Originally built by ES Automotive, the chassis was upgraded by Tom VanDerGeld of Lowdown Hot Rods and is now a 6-second ET certified double rail chromoly skeleton. Strange struts ride up front while the 4-link rear with Penske shocks suspends a fabricated Bear’s Performance 9-inch sheet metal housing with Strange Ultra Case, 4.11 gears and Strange 40 spline gun-drilled axles.
Quick elapsed times don’t come easy, so Gabel decided to undertake a massive overhaul in the power department a few years ago and hasn’t looked back since. Sporting a monster 645 cubic inches, the mill, built by Best Machine Racing Engines in Farmington Hills, Michigan started off with a 5-inch stroke/4.5 inch bore Keith Black raised cam “Wedge Race Block”. A Callies forged crank spins forged rods and pistons while a Best Machine custom 55mm roller cam-
Gabel has been racing the car for 32 years and the chassis was originally built by ES Automotive with Lowdown Hot Rods completing numerous upgrades to bring it to a 6-second capable (and legal) ride.
InsIde the duster, It’s all busIness!
shaft was used to actuate the valve train. Predator heads from Indy Cylinder Heads were studded in place and when all was said and done, the package provides a whopping 14.5:1 compression. Up top, twin 1050 cfm Dale Cubic tricked out Holley Dominators control the mix of fuel and air, and if that’s not enough,
how about two stages of direct port nitrous oxide for good measure.
Power transfers through a Ken Langlois (Lang Transmissions) built 2-speed Powerglide trans with JW case and 10.5 inch Abruzzi torque converter.
Inside the sleek bodied Mopar you will find an interior made for the
business of winning races, that is, only necessary stuff need find its way into this space. That 6-second spec chassis is evidenced by bars snaking their way through the interior to keep the driver’s compartment, and the driver himself, intact. Carbon fiber was used for the massive rear wheeltubs, dash and door panels and also overlaying the door bars. A Hurst billet pistol grip shifter controls the gear change, while a column-mounted Racepak digital dash is the only “gauge” to interface between car and driver. As for pas-
sengers, Jeff’s best friend on the track, his nitrous bottle, rides shotgun.
Gabel has nothing but praise for his engine builders as they have helped him realize his dream and ultimate goal with his behindthe-barn find Mopar, and that dream is to compete alongside the baddest of the bad in Top Sportsman. So, after the race, when you’re hooking up to tow back in the return lanes and the driver next to you extends his hand to say “good race”, it’s a good bet that you’ve just been dusted by Jeff Gabel and his killer ’71 Duster!
