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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............................................................
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Chris Biro
editor’spix
Videos that are too hot to keep hidden
AED Competition ................ 36
Metal Products ................... 75
AFR: Air Flow
Meziere Enterprises ............ 95
Research ..................5,73,81
Misener Motorsports .......... 54
AJE Racing.......................... 94
Moroso Performance .......... 53
American Racing Headers .. 66 Aurora Bearing ................... 98 AVAK/Ridgegate Tools ........ 52 Baer Brakes ................. 33,96 BES Racing Engines ............ 12
Watch Coleman Heath’s No Time 1971 Chevy Vega
Billet Specialties ................. 36
Bullseye Turbo .................... 85
Piston Racing Engines ........ 37
Burns Stainless ................... 18
Profiler ............................... 72
C & S Specialties ................. 17
PRW-USA ........................... 18
Callies Performance Prod.... 23
Race Part Solutions ..... 28,86
Calvert Racing Suspensions 29
Racetronix .......................... 25
Canton Racing Products ..... 24
Rage Wraps ........................ 70
Deez Performance .............. 75 Delta Performance Auto Grp. ............................ 28
RCD .................................... 75 RM Racing Lubricants ......... 32 Ross Racing Pistons ........ 7,31 RPM Magazine ......19,31,67
Energy Suspension ............. 78
RPM Magazine
Erson Cams......................... 31
Subscribe! ................... 60,80
GoDragRacing.org .............. 37
RPM Zone ........................ 105
Granatelli Motorsports ....... 50
SM Racecars ....................... 94
GRP Connecting Rods ......... 54
Summit Racing
Harland Sharp .................... 53
Equip. ..............10,101,109
Hitman Hotrods.................. 72
Taylor Cable Products ...... 104
Hughes Performance.............7
T & D Machine .................... 66
Joe Van O............................ 72 JW Racing Transmissions .......5
october 2021 | RPM Magazine
RAM Clutches ..................... 43
ECAM ................................. 76
Jesel ................................... 71
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Truck Centers ...................... 69 Pinks All Out/All Out Live ... 20
Induction Solutions ............ 21
Submit your video for the Editor’s Pix: videos@rpmmag.com
Parts Pro/Total
BoulandMotorsUSA.com ... 101
Icon Forged Pistons ......... 106
Total Overview of Ed Brown’s 2016 Ford Super Cobra Jet Mustang
Northern Radiator .............. 99
PBM Products..................... 76
Design Engineering ............ 56
Watch Ned Dunphy’s Orange Viper make a wild pass!
Neal Chance Converters...... 74
Bill Mitchell Products .. 12,87
Clearshot Customs........... 100
Watch Rob Meisch’s Turbo LX Mustang
Moser Engineering ...... 38,70
The Supercharger Store ...... 81 Thermo-Tec ........................ 16 Ti64 .................................... 71 Tom’s Upholstery ................ 56
Kinsler Fuel Injection... 13,73
Total Seal Rings ............... 102
LenTech Automatics .... 16,80
Trailer Alarms.com .......... 101
Liberty’s Gears.................... 80
Trick Flow ..................15,100
Lokar Performance ............. 76
Tuned By Shane T ............... 79
Lutz Race Cars .................... 16
Ultimate Headers ............... 23
Magnaflow...................... 100
VFN Fiberglass Inc. ............. 18
MagnaFuel ......................... 16
Vortech .............................. 37
Manton Pushrods ............ 103
Weinle Motorsports ........... 36
Mark Williams .................... 94 Maxima Racing Oils ...............2
World Domination – RPM .. 35 World Products................... 58
ENFORCER-HALF
JW-PERFORMANCE
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October
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!
This wild twin turbo Viper does! ................................................
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For Life ...................................................................................... 8 Rob Meisch will take his 7-second Mustang to the grave with him!
Moore Power! .......................................................... 26
Chris Moore shifts his boosted Camaro to 7-second ETs, then goes out for ice cream!
Velvet Revolver .............................................. 46 This LS boosted Vega is cocked, locked and ready to rock!
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Fans of the Yellow Bullet Nationals were treated to another hard hitting, straight shooting competition, with the much anticipated “Fall Edition” on Labour Day Weekend.
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Story: George Pich Photos: Randy Pugh
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That’s right, we said “7-second Mustang”! And yes, it still packs a Ford small block between the frame rails, and one more thing, it is still street driven! Sounds like the perfect Fox Body build. Rob Meisch decided in the fall of 1993 that he wanted to buy a new car. Of course the impact of Ford’s 1979 to 1993 Mustang platform, in particular the addition of the roller 5.0L for ’85 and up, had a solid grip on performance enthusiasts everywhere. What else could you buy for under 20 grand that was so much fun to drive and would The slick chameleon paint work with flames was done way back in 1996, yet still looks fresh. A cowl hood is the only non-Ford panel on the car, and headlight covers (very big in the 1990s) are painted to match, too.
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The interior also retains its stock look with the factory dash and trim panels. A custom fabricated cage, race seats with RJS harnesses, analogue gauges, including the big-face Monster Tach, along with a TCI shifter and electronics mounted on the custom topped console have been installed to help Rob reach those 7-second ETs, and do so safely.
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See the LX in action!
pound out 14-second ETs at will on any given Friday night, not to mention dust most anything else light to light. Meisch opted for the 1993 over the newly released 1994 body style and wanted something fairly specific, “I wanted a black with black interior combination, but with the 1979 to 93 body style production ending, at that time of year there was only a white notchback and a red GT available. Not being crazy about either color I was giving up and was going 14
to buy an F150 instead.” So that’s it, Rob had thrown in the towel and was opting out of the Fox Body craze, that is until he got a call from his sales rep. “My sales guy called me that weekend and said that someone ordered a black LX and canceled the order. I told him I’d take it! Then he called again and said it had a black interior, I told him again that I definitely wanted it.” After a little digging, Rob came to find out that it was actually the last black with black interior 5-speed ’93 sold in Ohio. The next
october 2021 | RPM Magazine
It was actually the last black with black interior 5-speed ’93 sold in Ohio... weekend Meisch was in the driver seat and we don’t have to tell you what happened from there. Just like so many others, he loved it! Unfortunately by that time the Ohio winter was coming and the car went into storage, but not before Rob could bang some gears and wear some meat off those
Gatorback tires. When spring hit, Rob hit the dragstrip for the first time, entering the Stock class at Norwalk Raceway Park. He showed up at 7AM as the cars piled in and, of course, there were more Fox Body Mustangs than you could count, but by 6AM the next day Meisch
TRICKFLOW
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had won the class! “The car was bone stock and ran 15 flat at 111mph,” he said with smile “The funny part was that I left a note on the fridge for my wife saying ‘going to Norwalk to race and coming home with first place’. Who would have thought? She even still has the note today!” Rob was seriously
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hooked now, so obviously the mods started to happen. A supercharger, cam and set of heads found their way onto the original 5.0L, but by 2014 Rob wanted more. “I jumped into the deep end,” he said. That “deep end” would start with a new Bennett Racing Engines 445-inch small block
Rob believes in keeping his Ford all Ford and had Bennett Racing Engines create a mystery-inch (he just wouldn’t tell us) small block Ford based on a Dart Iron Eagle block.
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MUSCLE INMOTION RPM MAG
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Ford equipped with a GT4788 turbo. Rob enlisted the help of a close friend for the build and they added a TH400 transmission and Big Stuff 3 EFI, and the very first pass on that setup with a safe tune netted a 9.05 at 164mph. “I was beyond pumped! The following year I took my com-
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petition license and raced in some local heads-up series and started racing no-prep style events.” Not only was Rob now completely under the spell of boosted power and heads-up drags, but after 3 years of flogging that combo to a best of 8.33 and 165mph in the 1/4,
he still wanted more. So once the motor agreed with Rob (it kicked a rod), he discussed his new plans with Bennett Racing. A new custom small block Ford (of undisclosed dimensions) was built and the turbo upgraded to a Garrett GTX5533r 94mm. To date, that new combina-
A Garrett GTX5533r 94mm turbo with a 140 hot side adds boost the SBF.
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Chassis:
Rob Meisch’s 1993 Ford Mustang LX Street/Strip
Factory frame, connected and mini tubbed. Certified cage.
Body:
The car was purchased new and has 28,000 original miles on it. All original body with fiberglass cowl hood. Custom color change and tribal flames painted in 1996.
Suspension:
Front suspension is Team Z K-member with 1 inch shorter control arms. Strange Engineering brakes and shocks. Rear suspension is Team Z upper control arms with custom made lower arms, Team Z anti-roll bar, Afco custom valved Big Gun shocks.
Engine:
Bennett Racing 4xx SBF. Dart Iron Eagle block, Callies crank, Diamond pistons, custom cam, Trick Flow heads, Jesel rockers, titanium valves. Intake is an Edelbrock lower with a Wilson Manifolds upper elbow and throttle body. Fuel system is an Aeromotive brushless pump with their filters and a Magnafuel regulator. Edelbrock fuel rails hold Holley fuel injectors.
Power Adder:
Garrett GTX5533r 94mm turbo with a 140 hot side.
Transmission:
TH400 with Rossler internals built by Janis Transmissions, converter is custom built by PTC.
Rearend:
8.8 custom built with Moser 35 spline axles and spool with 3.55 gears. It has been shortened and braced by Daren Kravec at Tank Fab.
Wheels & Tires:
RC Comp wheels front and back with Mickey Thompson tires.
Interior:
Kirkey seats with RJS 5pt harnesses, stock dash with Autometer gauges, MSD Digital 6, Big Stuff3 EFI tuned by Patrick Barnhill, ams1000 boost controller, Davis Technologies bump box, TCI Outlaw shifter, custom made parachute handle and center console.
Best Performance:
“The car has been 7’s at over 184mph so far in the ¼-mile but I mainly do 1/8-mile no prep/no-time so I’m not gonna tell you what it does there.”
Thanks to:
“DEI, Afco Racing, Bennett Racing Engines, PTC, RC Comp wheels, Janis Transmissions, Tank Fab, Stripper Glitter Traction Compound. Thanks also to the people who have helped; Mike Martyn, Paul Nadeau, Vince Janis (Janis Transmission), Daren Kravec (Tank Fab), Jon Bennett (Bennett Racing Engines), Tony Bumpus (RC Comp Wheels), Patrick Barnhill (Tuning), Eric Saffell (Afco Racing Shocks), Will Farkas (DEI Engineering), James, Mike, Chris (Guys at Stripper Glitter Traction Compound), Kyle Dobbins, Josh Willams, and others that have helped me, but mainly to my mom and my dad for all the support they have given me.”
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tion has netted 7.84 at 178mph on a medium tune with the clocks on, so you can bet there’s a lot more in it. These days Meisch runs mostly notime no-prep style races so we can’t blame him for not giving more details on what “a lot more” actually means as you never know who will be reading this. Since the car is completely street legal (and driven) you might also see the cool tribal flamed Stang at most any type of “King Of The Street or “True Street” event where Rob can prove it’s street worthiness; “the car is completely street legal and I do drive it to work and car shows frequently,” he added. Bodywise, the Mustang is all Ford except for the ’glass cowl hood, and the color change with cool flames was painted way back in 1996. Meisch also kept as much original stuff inside as well, retaining the OEM dash, interior panels, a modified factory console and even the factory steering wheel. A certified cage, painted to match the body, snakes through the
interior and a TCI billet shifter now sits where the 5-speed stick once was. The requisite 1990s Monster Tach was installed years back along with additional analogue gauges and even the factory fold-down back seat is still intact should anyone opt for a ride. So, as you can see, this is definitely no lightweight stripped to the bones Mustang, instead it comes by its 7-second ETs honestly. That Bennett mill started with a
Dart with Iron Eagle block and was filled with a Callies crank, Diamond pistons and custom cam. Trick Flow heads are equipped with titanium valves and Jesel rockers and an Edelbrock lower intake is topped with a Wilson Manifolds upper elbow and throttle body. Backing the turbo’d small block is a TH400 built by Janis Transmissions with Rossler internals and a custom built PTC converter. The heavily fortified factory 8.8 rear diff was shortened and braced by Daren Kravec at Tank Fab (who also did the mini tub) and is packed with Moser 35 spline axles and spool with 3.55 gears. “I call the car Baba Yaga as it has a serious attitude, but also huge sentimental value to me,” Meisch continued. “I lost my grandmother before buying this car and she would have loved to have seen me in it. This car has her attitude and I will never sell it. It will go to the grave with me, but I would give it back just to get her back.” RPM
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There are still people who enjoy taking the road less travelled.
L
et’s face it, it’s no secret that going really quick in your street car at the drags (we’re talking 7-second quarter mile hits) is tough enough that most people go with the much easier choice, an automatic transmission. There are a bunch of big power stick shifted cars out there, but turning that power into quick elapsed times is often a different story. Stick cars are just that much harder to figure out and to get consistent, but Chris Moore wouldn’t trade bangin’ gears for anything. Over the years Chris and his father Chuck always toyed with anything that had wheels, trying to make it go faster. Naturally, that carried over into his teens once he started driving and he learned a hard lesson early on, “I got my license at 16 and I’m sure you can guess what happened. Yep, a speeding ticket for 90 in a 60. I won the race, but I also got the ticket, too. The guy I was racing didn’t get stopped,
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the slow ones never do I guess,” Chris said with a grin. Not too long after, Moore met his girlfriend (now wife) Hannah, whose family happened to be huge into drag racing, how cool is that? “Her brother raced a junior dragster, her dad raced a pro bracket car, and her grandfather raced a footbrake bracket car. They invited me to the drag strip with them, and after making my first pass in my 2002 Silverado, I was hooked and needed to go faster.” Moore cut his teeth bracket racing a ’94 Camaro that he swapped an LS1/TH350 into and then added nitrous to get into heads-up action. That’s all it took for two things to happen; he wanted to go faster and wanted to do it shifting a manual trans, and that’s when he found his 2000 Chevy Camaro SS. Chris’s goal was to build an H-pattern stick shifted car capable of running seven-second
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The body of the Camaro SS is all GM except for the VFN fiberglass Sunoco style bolt-on hood. A single parachute works with Strange brakes on all 4 corners to slow the heavyweight (3,300 pounds) down after a full pass nearing 200mph!
The Camaro needed attention, especially when it came to safety...
quarter-mile passes, something only a hand full of people in the world can say they’ve accomplished. However, to complete this daunting task, every area of the Camaro needed attention, especially when it came to safety.
Initially, the car debuted with a twin turbo’d LS3 with the standard trans. Chris logged some wins but tossed a rod out of the block, and, being a small budget racer he sat out the next few years. Determined to compete at the highest level of
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Moore kept the factory Camaro dash and trim panels but axed the backseat. An owner built cage protects the driver and a Holley digital dash relays vitals, but the most interesting item inside is the stick shift that actuates the gears of a standard transmission. You don’t see many of those in legit mid 7-second real street cars!
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stick drags, Chris knew he’d need all the power he could make but also be able to control it with precision, so he started collecting parts during the downtime. The big boy LS NEXT block by Dart is the foundation of the build. A Dart 4 inch billet CCW crank spins Molnar 6.125 Power Adder Plus rods pinned to 10.5 compression forged
pistons. A Cam Motions custom ground solid roller cam completes the short block, and since big cubes require big air; Chris chose a set of Dart Pro 1 LS3 heads with CNC port work done by Borowski. The heads sport Victory titanium intake and Inconel exhaust valves, PAC Racing springs and T&D rocker arms with Cam Motion solid roller lifters and
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The 427 inch LS started with a Dart LS Next block and is capped with Dart Pro1 LS3 heads and a custom billet intake. Twin turbos provide the boost and the package is backed by a tricked out T56 transmission and built 9-inch rearend.
Trend pushrods rounding out the valvetrain. Topping off the Dart 427ci is a Tick Performance custom billet intake, while air is forced through the big mill via twin VS Racing 7875 turbochargers. Chris and his brother-
in-law Steve built the supporting equipment along with an air to air intercooler. Immense power requires lots of fuel, and the 15 gallon fuel cell (enough for a nice Sunday drive) is filled with E-85 pumped through a 7-GPM
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Video of Chris Moore as he shifts his way to a 7 second pass... only to be followed by a trip into town for ice cream!
fuel pump and Bosch 210lb injectors. Holley’s Dominator standalone ECU controls the entire system. The bread and butter of this build are in the suspension and drivetrain. Without the proper setup, the 1700whp twin-turbo 427 is power wasted. Stuck between the 427 and a Tick P erformance face plated T-56 transmission is a Black Magic Nexgen clutch; Chris can fine-tune how he leaves and shifts with complete adjustability. A Ford 9-inch rear end stuffed with a Strange Engineering third member, 35 spline axles and a 3.40 gear replaces the factory limp 10bolt. Suspension upgrades consists of a K-member, up-
per and lower control arms from Burkart suspended by Afco coilovers up front. The rear had a custom touch by Chris himself, coming up with a torque arm setup of his own. Afco coilovers and an Enemies Everywhere anti-roll bar keep the rear end under control. The Super Sport rolls on RC Component Fusion-S wheels; 17-inch skinnies in the front, and bead locked 15x10s out back, while stopping power comes from Strange drag brakes and a single parachute. Not much changed esthetically, aside from a VFN Sunoco bolton hood and Chris had his friend Ryan Thompson repaint the car its factory silver
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Chris Moore’s Street/Strip 2000 Chevrolet Camaro SS Body & Paint:
Ryan Thompson of Waynesville painted the entire car this past April after my wreck at TX2K in March.
Chassis & Suspension:
Burkhart front k-member, along with upper and lower control arms. Afco coilovers on all 4 corners. Owner built custom torque arm, Enemies Everywhere anti-roll bar.
Engine:
Dart LS Next block 427CI, 10.5:1 compression ratio. Dart Billet CCW 4in crank, Molnar Power Adder Plus rods 6.125 length, Diamond pistons. Cam Motion custom grind solid roller camshaft.
Cylinder Heads:
Dart Pro1 LS3 heads, CNC work was done by Borowski. Victory Titanium intake valves, Inconel exhaust valves, PAC springs, Trend Pushrods, T&D rocker arms, Cam Motion solid roller lifters.
Induction & Fuel Delivery:
Tick Performance custom billet intake. Custom air to air intercooler (built by owner and his brother in law). Runs on pump E85 (Spinx gas station). 15 gallon fuel cell with a 7gpm brushless fuel pump, Bosch 210 injectors, Motion Raceworks C02 system.
Electronics:
Holley Dominator
Power Adder: Twin turbo, VS racing 7875s. Transmission:
Tick Performance Faceplated T56, Black Magic Nexgen clutch, MGW shifter.
Rear Differential:
Ford 9-inch, Strange 3rd member, 3.40 US Gear, Strange 35 spline axles.
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Brakes:
Strange brakes on all 4 corners.
Tires & Wheels:
RC Components Fusion S front and rear wheels, 17x4 front, 15x10 beadlocked rears. Mickey Thompson 28x10.5 Pro Bracket Radial rear tires.
Interior:
Factory dash and center console. Holley 7in digital dash and power windows! Kirkey seats, RJS 5 point harness, Ozite black carpet.
ET & MPH:
The car has been a best ET of 7.48 @ 191mph during round 1 of qualifying at TX2K this past March. The car has been 194mph at FL2K last fall.
Miscellaneous:
The car is still tagged and insured. In the field of cars that I race in, very few of them are driven to and from the staging lanes, most of them have a fuel cell that will hold just enough fuel to make a pass, and have to be pushed back to the trailer. My car may not be the fastest car in the field, but for a 3300lb street car to be competitive in a field of big name shop cars, is a win in my book! I drive this car to church on Sundays! (when the weather is nice)
Thanks To:
Big thanks to my brother in law (Stephen Plemmons) for helping me build the car from scratch. I might have been able to do it without him, but the welds would not have looked nearly as pretty! Haha Also a big thank you to Ryan Thompson for the paint work!
color. Safety is always the most critical part of any build, and with a goal of going seven’s, no stone was left unturned. Chris and Steven built the certified cage themselves, and installed an aluminum race seat along with an RJS 5-point safety harness to keep Chris secured in place during those hard stick car launches. The factory dash and center console remain intact, and vitals are monitored via a Holley 7-inch LCD screen. Even the Camaro’s factory power windows are still functional!
Although the fourth-gen makes a staggering 1700whp, it is still very much a street car. Once making it to this level of speed with any setup, let alone a stick-shifted car, the majority are cut-up race cars that need to be pushed to the starting line and back from the end of the track. They run cells large enough to make a few passes to save weight, and of course, any part of the factory interior is long gone. In contrast, this Camaro still weighs 3300lbs and gets driven to and from church on Sundays. Chris Moore took his 30-hour
road trip to pick up a slipping clutch LS1 2000 Camaro and built it into this monster with the help of Steven Plemmons, and they did it over the span of about two years. They did all the work themselves, from building the motor to fabrication work and making more miscellaneous pieces than they can count. They are troopers, to say the least; unfortunately though, right after a record-breaking pass during a large event, a crosswind took hold of the parachute, picking the rear end up off the ground and sending the car into the wall. Chris was the
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It’s tough enough to get a full weight street car to hit seven seconds in the quarter mile, let alone a legit manually shifted one, but Chris Moore has reached his goal; 7.48 @ 191mph!
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“I Beat Cleetus??” Comeback Story of the Year!
number one qualifier on a Friday night, which allowed him a pass through Saturday before Sunday’s eliminations. The racing community is often the best family one can have and a local race shop, Late Model Racecraft, was eager to help get Moore back in the ring. Steve explains; “The owner of Late Model Racecraft said that I could take whatever parts I needed off of their shop car. So we loaded up and headed to their shop at midnight to get what parts we needed. We got back to the race track around 2am Sunday morning, and by about 3am I had the car back on the ground moving under its own power again. We obviously had no time to take it somewhere to get a proper alignment, so we pulled out the string and tape measure and did the best we could on getting the front wheels straight. Long story short, I made it all the way to the finals of the stick shift class when broken parts from the accident finally caught up with me. The car was beat up and wore out, and we just could not manage to get it down the track straight, so I lifted and coasted to the finish line.” That record breaking run was an insane 7.48 at 191 mph, though, crowning him with the LS/ Stick Shift record! How many people can say their tagged and insured street car can do that? Now how many of those can say they manual shift gears on a standard trans to get them there? RPM
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he streets and strips of the country are filled with countless numbers of hardcore builds, with a few body styles that obviously dominate the mix and yet others that are rarely seen, such as the Chevrolet Vega. Once a very popular candidate for street and strip builds, mostly due to size and weight, the Vega has now all but vanished, aside from a few resourceful diehard enthusiasts like Coleman Heath. The Vega is a subcompact car from General Motors built from 1970 to 1977, and it had a short production run for many reasons. The Vega became widely known as Chevy’s most poorly designed vehicle on the road; issues ranged from drivetrain failures to premature rust and significant safety problems, but that didn’t stop horsepower junkies from taking advantage of what the Vega did have going for it. Like many gearheads, Coleman grew up following in his father’s footsteps with an early introduction into the racing commu-
An early magazine ad touting the features and benefits of the 1971 Chevrolet Vega 48
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nity. His dad restored cars and then set them up for road racing; Coleman started racing on his own at the tender age of 12. After much success, heading into his late teens and twenties, he began restoring some of his own cars and started getting the itch to drive straight. He fell in love with small tire racing at Kinston Drag Strip, which is his hometown track. After building a Chevelle and Cama-
ro, he sought out to do something different for his all-out small tire radial car build and found this 1971 Vega. It had already been retired from racing once, but not the level Coleman wanted to push the car towards. A complete build from top to bottom needed to happen. “This car was originally built to race somewhere around 1989. I’m assuming this by time tickets found from Englishtown
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Coleman Heath’s Velvet Revolver build is anything but that rather boring original compact Vega. TNT Customs laid down a miles deep skin of SIMS Candy Apply Red that pops in any light!
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A touch of class is added to the mix via a black vinyl roof
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NJ,” Heath explained. “It looks like it ran NHRA Super Gas or a class comparable. I bought the car from a great friend of mine (Todd Jackson) as a rolling chassis and completely disassembled it to build it as a small tire radial car.” Like we said, the Vega is small; meaning that some serious chassis and suspension work is needed to become competitive. Small means light and nimble but also short and narrow which can cause handling issues with the type of power Heath was looking at, so he had Chris Herring of HRT complete all of the chassis work. First, considering how 52
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This Vega just looks badass from any angle. Up front a Glasstek front end was mated flawlessly to the surrounding factory panels and a right side bullhorn exhaust dumps spent gases, while a single ’chute out back helps with stopping duties at over 170 MPH in the 1/8th!
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the short wheelbase car will react going down the track at the speeds Coleman wanted to push it too, they completed a 25.5 certified cage. Next, Chris cut the front end off and fabricated a new structure around a motor plate system. The front Suspension consists of Applied Racing Technology a-arms and Strange Engineering struts. Finally, Coleman put a Tin Soldiers Racecars four-link rear suspension setup to good use and coupled it with Menscer Motorsports shocks. The LSX power Coleman would be using is not new to the racing world by any means, and Andrew Arnette of P&M Performance used a Dart LS NEXT block as the base to prepare a race-winning engine for him. Boost-specific JE pistons are pinned to Callies rods, and the combo rotates around a Callies Ultra Billet crank. Dart Pro1 LS3 heads provide copious amounts of flow and are fitted with Manley severe-duty valves, springs, and PRC rockers. Additional air induction is forced through a Garrett 102mm turbo. A Holley Performance Hi-Ram intake ingests compressed air and directs it into the LSX, and Coleman built the supporting turbo piping with the help of his best friend, Quintin. For fueling, oversized is the way to go in this arena. The turbocharged bullet uses an Enderle belt drive
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The wicked wheel combo includes a killer set of 13-inch wide beadlocked Sanders slots out back with a stretched-to-the-max set of Mickey 275/60/15 Pro Radials.
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Inside is clean and simple with zero factory equipment left in the mix. Instead, a 25.5 SFI Certified cage protects Heath and a fair share of carbon adds cool factor while he’s laying the smack down on the guy in the other lane!
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A Holley digital dash relays vitals to the driver and the 2-speed TH400 is air-shifted by a Hurst pistol grip shifter. All electronics are fully accessible on the passenger side kick panel. pump that supplies M1 racing fuel to Billet Atomizer 700pph injectors. Coleman tunes the Vega himself using a Holley Dominator stand-alone ECU, and he estimates it puts down in the neighborhood of 2000whp on a clean A to B pass. The rest of the drivetrain is just as stout as the motor package and includes a Camerons Torque Convertor Service two-speed TH400 and converter. Coleman continued his “tough as nails” theme and went with a near indestructible 9-inch from Moser
Engineering, complete with their 40 spline gun-drilled axles, spool, and 3.90 gear set. Strange Engineering front and rear brakes bring the Vega to a halt and the compact Chevy rides on Weld Racing V-series front runners with M&H tires. The rears are a little different than the typical combination, using a 15x13 bead-locked Sanders wheel with a stretched 275/60/15 Mickey Thompson radial to allow a larger contact patch of rubber on the track surface. The interior is strictly business, but
with some added style in the form of carbon tubs, dash panel, and race seat. The Holley EFI dash display allows all vitals to be kept in check and a Hurst pistol grip shifter is ready for that high gear shift. Electronics are easily accessible on the passenger side kick panel, and fire suppression activation is located directly to the driver’s right. If you’ve seen a Vega in person, then you understand they need some “sprucing up” in the exterior department – they were, after all, meant to be an early, somewhat dull compact/
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This ain’t your grandaddy’s Vega! A DART LS Next block has goodies from Callies and JE rotating inside and is topped by Dart Pro 1 heads and a Holley Hi-Ram intake.
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Coleman Heath’s 1971 Chevrolet Vega No-Time Drag Car Body & Paint:
Transmission:
Chassis & Suspension Modifications:
Rear:
SIMS Candy Apple Red Paint. Painted By Mike Taylor TNT Customs. Rear Four link kit from Tin Soldiers Racecars. Shocks are Menscer Motorsports. Brakes are from Strange Engineering. All Chassis Work was done by owner and Chris Herring at HRT in Kinston NC.
Engine:
Engine is based on a DART LS NEXT block and was built by Andrew Arnette at P&M Performance in Jacksonville NC. Rotating assembly consists of a Callies Ultra Billet crank, Callies rods and JE pistons.
Cylinder Heads:
Dart Pro 1 LS3 heads PRC rockers, Manley Severe Duty valves.
Induction & Fuel Delivery:
Holley Hi-Ram intake, Enderle pump, M1 fuel
Electronics:
Holley Dominator system tuned by owner.
2 speed TH400 and convertor built by Camerons Torque Convertor Services in SC. Moser Fab 9 with 3.90 gear set and a Moser spool. 40 spline gun-drilled Moser axles.
Tires & Wheels:
Front wheels are Weld V series with M&H front runners. Rear wheels are Sanders 15x13 and Mickey Thompson 275 60 15 Radial Pros.
Interior:
Holley digital dash, TRZ steering wheel, Hurst shifter and seat custom carbon seat.
ET & MP:
Low 4 sec range at 170+ MPH (No time Car)
Thanks To:
Jesse Heath, Jordan Alphin and Quintin Perry for helping build the car along the way. Josh Deaver for talking me into building it, and my closest supporters Nicky (my wife) and daughter Annleigh.
Power Adder:
Single Garret 102mm Billet wheel turbo.
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Coleman Heath’s No Time 1971 Chevy Vega...don’t blink!
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A massive 102mm turbocharger forces air into the package and the associated maze of hot and cold side tubing was fabricated by the owner with help from friends.
economy car, and anything but a race car. Mike Taylor of TNT Customs was brought onboard to turn this mundane ride into the “Velvet Revolver”. Before laying any paint, Mike fit a new fiberglass front clip from Glasstek onto the car and worked with the remaining factory original panels then added a Carls Aluminum Works wing to give the Vega a finishing touch. The paint color is what sets this Vega apart from most others, that is, if you happen to see another one. TNT used SIMS Candy Apply Red to create that slick skin, and it looks sharp, especially in the sunlight. Coleman and his friends Quintin, Jesse, and Jordan spent less than six months on this project, very impressive considering the complexity and uniqueness of the parts. His main motivation behind choosing the Vega was the fact that chances are you won’t see another one like it on race day, and so far that has been the case; “Its light, and it ain’t no Fox Body. I like to be different,” Heath added with a smile. Even with the short wheelbase, Coleman has enough seat time in drag racing to make clean 8th-mile passes at 170+mph, and, like all racers, he loves winning! But since this is a no-time grudge car we can only tell you that it runs in the low 4-second 1/8-mile range, and that it has definitely hurt some feelings! So the next time you line up beside the Velvet Revolver, rest assured it will be cocked, locked and ready to rock! RPM
A full Moser fabricated 9-inch packed with Moser 40 spline gundrilled axles, their spool and 3.90 gear set is hung via a 4-link coilover setup. www.rpmmag.com
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Over the past 15 years the world of fast cars and racing has changed significantly.
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echnology has taken over and, along with drag racing, there are more options than ever with ½ mile and mile racing available, but there is also a noticeable difference in the people and cars hitting the strip. Males, females and folks from many different backgrounds are coming together to do one simple thing; beat the car in the other lane! With such a diverse crowd, you’re bound to see the dynamic of the race vehicle change along with it and there are definitely more cars and trucks that you wouldn’t typical-
ly see going straight frequenting the dragstrip these days. And Ned Dunphy with his wild Viper are a part of that changing landscape. Ned has had your typical late-model Chevys, but his 2014 Dodge Viper sticks out among the crowd wherever he goes. When Dodge released the Viper, its intentions were never to compete with today’s “muscle cars.” Instead, they geared it towards supercar territory and competing on a road course. The last years of the Viper ended with the fifth generation that Ned has, and it’s also the most impressive from the factory, sporting a naturally aspirated 640hp 8.4 liter V10 backed by a six-speed transmission. Growing up, Ned’s father taught him and his brother the basics of maintaining things by getting them involved in go-carts. “Dad governed them down to 15mph and trained us on their required maintenance schedule including chain tension,
tire wear indicator, oil, spark plug, air filter, etc.” Dunphy said. “We drove these all over the streets of our quiet neighborhood until he let us take off the governors and run them at the full 35mph!” Adding to his fast developing love for horsepower, Ned’s grandfather owned some land across the street from a local circle track where they spent many Saturday nights dreaming about going faster. Through college, he’d tinker with different cars, making them quicker, and after college he bought a brand new 2002 Camaro SS SLP and began going to test and tunes on Friday nights. This was the start of his attraction to drag racing. It was after the Camaro that Ned bought the Orange 2014 Dodge Viper with only 4,000 miles on it, complete with the factory Trans Am package. He raced it stock for a good while, attending the local quarter-mile drag strip and would soon start going to
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half-mile races where he met Ron Mowen, owner of Vengeance Racing. He was eager to start going faster in his Viper and approached Ron about a build – Vengeance specializes in late model GM performance and didn’t have experience with the Viper platform – but once Ron and Ned became close, Ned talked him into starting with a “small” build of 1000whp. Dodge certainly likes to “go big or go home,” as the saying goes. With 8.4 liters and 10 cylinders, the poten-
tial is sky high for the Viper, and that was the goal; to reach the sky. The block was sent out to Late Model Engines for machine and assembly work, starting with some Darton sleeves for strength. Next, a Callies Ultra Billet custom-made crankshaft would start the rotating assembly, followed by BME billet connecting rods and boost-ready custom Diamond Racing forged pistons to spin inside the 513-inch short block. The big V10 heads were reused, but not before having
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moserengineering.com
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Boasting a 100% factory exterior with Trans Am package and the original Viper TA Orange, this 2014 Viper is sure to grab your attention. If not, the dual chutes hanging off the back will!
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some port and machine work to accept custom Jesel rockers, lifters, and Manley pushrods. Completing the long block is the factory dual runner intake paint matched with the Veneange logo. Twin Precision Pro Mod 94mm Gen 2 CEA compressor wheel turbos force air into two Nick Willaims 102mm throttle bodies, while all plumbing for the kit was completed in-house. Fuel and oiling systems are pretty impressive and should be for a build of this caliber. Lubrication is handled by a Dailey dry-sump system, while fuel comes from a 10-gallon fuel cell through an Aeromotive 10 GPM pump and not ten, but twenty, LS1 Denso fuel injectors! Another unique aspect about this build is that
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The interior is mostly factory aside from the cage, a single race seat with harness, a Motec display, race steering wheel, turbo cooler sitting where the passenger once was and a host of controls to deal with the business of racing.
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Here’s where the fun is…3000 horses of adrenaline! A Late Model Engines-built 513 V10 is joined by twin Precision 94mm Pro Mod turbos!
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Although nearly invisible, aftermarket coilover shocks reside on all 4 corners and the rear end is a 9-inch conversion with aftermarket shafts.
they don’t use anti-lag for halfmile roll racing like most of the field does. Instead, they use a Nitrous Outlet dry shot system to get the 94mm turbochargers lit. A Pro-EFI ECU controls the complete system. So what does all this equate to? How about 3000whp of streetable power, yes, Ned can
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still drive his Viper on the street.“My initial goal was 1000 wheel horsepower and fire out of my exhaust…that was almost 7 years ago and now we have almost tripled that target!” he exclaimed. “When not at the shop getting ready for a race, the car lives in my garage at home and takes me to work
Ned Dunphy with his 3000 horsepower street driven track raced Viper. His foot is resting on one of his favorite parts of the car; the 5-inch bullhorn exhaust outlet.
on Friday’s and out for some cruising fun on the weekends.” Dodge used a Tremec TR-60620 six-speed transmission from the factory in the Viper, and for a while, Ned kept it and actually holds the Gen 5 Viper stick record to this day, going an impressive 8.66 at 176mph. But, for Ned’s goals, a swap needed to happen, and they turned to the tried and true TH400, but it wasn’t an easy swap by any means. Vengeance had to go in and widen the transmission tunnel for fitment and have a bell
housing made to get the combination to work. The guys over at RPM Transmissions built the TH400 set up for Ned’s Viper using billet internals and input shaft and a custom Pro Torque lock-up torque convertor with trans brake. The Driveshaft Shop set them up with their 9-inch center section conversion along with a trick set of half-shaft axles and driveshaft. Gearing comes in threes for Ned; depending on the track conditions, he’ll use a 2.75 or 3.0 gear for half-mile and a 3.55 for quarter-mile events.
Much of the chassis remains as it came off the dealership floor; Dodge did build the Viper for speed, after all. A certified cage was added for safety and additional bracing was installed for the dual chute deployment to slow the car from over 200mph. All factory body panels remain; and if the car doesn’t already do so, the color certainly gets your attention! The Dodge T/A orange is a rare color and only came on a handful of Vipers; Ned’s is number 46 of 93. The suspension also stays remarkably untouched; the
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• Made from Hyper-Flex™ performance polyurethane. • For cars, trucks, hot rods, and competition vehicles. • Patented safety interlock design is safer and more durable than O.E.M. mounts. • Resistant to oils, coolants, and road contaminants. • Elastic enough to absorb vibrations for street yet strong enough to handle extreme racing conditions.
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This Viper is as much art as it is American automotive styling and history What’s not to love about the factory nuances mixed with hardcore race parts?
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addition of some MCS coilovers on all four corners helps with fine tuning for both half and quarter-mile racing. If looks could kill a stock Viper would do it, but one with the addition of a “Drag Pack” is just insane. For the front, Ned had Forgeline make him a set of 17inch front runners and the choice for the rear is based on the event. He runs two sets of Belak 15x10 wheels, one with a set of 275 radials for quarter-mile racing, and the other has a pair of taller 315s on them. Wilwood disc brakes front and rear aid the dual parachutes in stopping power, but Ned’s favorite addition to the car goes right along with the drag car feel, and it’s those five-inch bull horns on each side that shoot flames out when staged and ready
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Watch Ned Dunphy catch some air in this wild pass!
The Viper can be found at ¼-mile, ½-mile and full mile race events and holds multiple records to date, with the goal of being the world’s fastest Viper, “at everything”!
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Ned Dunphy’s Street/Race 2014 SRT Viper TA Body & Paint: OEM Viper TA Orange. 100% stock exterior and body panels.
Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:
OEM original chassis/frame. MCS coilover shocks custom calibrated for desired travel/ rebound and dampering based on track conditions. Only significant modifications are addition of structural support to allow safe stopping from the dual parachutes, widened and reinforced transmission tunnel to fit the 400 automatic transmission.
Engine:
Stock cast aluminum 513 CI V10 built by Late Model Engines (LME). Darton sleeves, Dailey Dry Sump Oil system, Braile 12V Lithium Battery, and VP Import fuel for Track use and E85 for Street use.
Rotating Assembly:
Callies Ultra Billet custom crankshaft. BME aluminium connecting rods, Diamond custom forged pistons, custom ring and receiver with copper head gaskets.
Cylinder Heads:
Stock cast aluminium heads that have been ported and polished, and machined to take advantage of the custom made Jesel rockers. Manley pushrods.
Induction & Fuel Delivery:
20 X 2000cc LS1 Denso Fuel Injectors. Aeromotive 10GPM brushless fuel pump. Nick Williams Boosted 102mm DBW dual throttle bodies.
Electronics:
Pro-EFI Engine Management
Power Adder:
Twin Precision Pro Mod 94mm Gen II CEA turbochargers. Nitrous Outlet dry shot nitrous used for roll racing instead of anti-lag.
Transmission:
RPM Transmissions Turbo 400 with lock-up, transbrake and double dumps, mated a custom Pro Torque converter.
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Rear:
Drive Shaft Shop 9-inch differential with custom made driveshaft and significantly upgraded halfshafts. We use 2.75 or 3.0 ratio gears for ½ mile format depending on track conditions and 3.55 for ¼ mile.
Tires & Wheels:
Fronts are custom made skinny front runners from Forgeline. Rears are 15” Belak Industries and we run both a 315 Radial and 275 depending of the classes we are competing in.
Interior:
Motec display used inside stock dash cluster. Ultra Quick trans brake buttons installed on MPI removable steering wheel. C02 air-shifter. Integral fire suppression system, 12 point cage, Kirkey racing seat with 6 point Schroth Racing harness.
ET & MPH – Race Only:
½ Mile MPH best of 230.1 Current World Record for Gen V Viper. ¼ mile 7.064 at 200mph = Current World Record for Gen V Viper with automatic transmission.
Thanks To:
Stacey Dunphy - my wife and biggest supporter. Jillian and Claire Dunphy - my daughters and biggest fans. Ron Mowen - owner / founder of Vengeance Racing Jey Clegg - master fabricator, tuner, and shop foreman of Vengeance Racing The entire crew of Vengeance Racing who pour their heart and soul into my experience as a Vengeance customer.
Additional Major contributors:
Jason Seibels – Owner of Pro-EFI Bryan Neelan - Owner of Late Model Engines Rodney Massengale and his team Jeremy, Todd and Shane of RPM Transmissions Jose Gonzalez of Pro Torque John Lamont - owner of Fastlane Import Chuck & Alan Greer - Driven Collision for all my paint and body work including matching helmet.
It takes a village to build a dependable winning car at this level, and Ned Dunphy has a strong support team with him every step of the way.
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for action. Ned is housed in a 12 point cage, sits in a Kirkey race seat, and is strapped in by a sixpoint Schroth racing harness. He has trans brake and staging buttons on his MPI steering wheel and shifts via a co2 pressurized shifter. A Motec digital display monitors all engine vitals, and the intercooler and fire suppression system rides right beside him. To date, along with his stick shift record, Ned now has the fastest Gen 5 half-mile record
of 230.1mph and the record for a 5th Gen with an auto at 7.064 at 200mph. “I can bark flames 6 feet high out of the bull-horns at the track while still be able to drive it on the street safely,” said Dunphy. “But we are not done with upgrades and modifications to this car yet and our goal is to be the fasted and quickest Viper ever, at everything!” So, yes, we think most everyone will agree… this Viper has bite! RPM
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WATCH THE VIDEO
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W
hen it comes to Ford Windsor V8 smallblocks, the near-ubiquitous five-liter has hogged most of the limelight over the years. But what about the folks who’re looking for big displacement and big power from Ford’s venerable pushrod power plant? While it might be slightly less prevalent throughout enthusiast and racing circles, the 351W is undoubtedly a stout piece in its own right, making it an attractive option for folks who’re looking to build motorsport-caliber combinations while retaining much of the old-school vibe offered by the legendary platform.
circumstances helped guide the overall approach to this manifold’s design. “It’s generally the hardcore racers. There is some street stuff, but I think when you look at classes like NMRA Hot Street from back in the day, there’s a lot of 400+ cubic-inch Windsors out there that live at the strip.” And those racers tend to choose combinations like these out of preference rather than necessity, so Holley sought to compliment these potent, high-winding mills with a manifold that could keep up. Development Similarities between the LS cylinder head and the popular high performance Ford Windsor heads on the market allowed Holley to hit the ground running when prototyping this new intake manifold, but there were also a number of Windsor-specific considerations that needed to be sussed out along the way. “The biggest challenge with the 351W EFI Hi-Ram development was dealing with all the stuff that isn’t on an LS engine,” Dralle explains. “Having to deal with a distributor, a water outlet – addressing packaging concerns became a priority early on.” Fortunately, modern engineering technologies make this aspect of the development process much less of a trial-and-error proposition than was in decades past. “Everything we do is fully solid modeled in software like “The Hi-Ram’s design puts a modern twist Creo or Solidworks,” he tells us. “That provides us with on the old school tunnel ram design.” very tight control on the part design. And with that we can With that in mind, a few years ago Holley set to work on not only create models of things like this intake manifold, an effort to bring fuel injected 351W-based engines into but also associated parts – like the distributor it needs to its Hi-Ram intake manifold lineup. “This manifold actual- work with – so we can ensure the packaging works the ly grew out of the program for LS Hi-Ram series,” says Jim way we want it to.” Dralle, senior design engineer for Holley Performance. “We’d finished the work on the LS3, cathedral port, and LS7, and we felt that the 351W builders could use some more options here, so it seemed like a natural progression.” Dralle notes that the folks building potent 351W-based engines tend to gravitate toward a more specific niche of the market than the LS stuff does, though, and those
Steve Baur Photo
Ford’s Modular V8 platform gets the lion’s share of attention these days, but big-cube Windsor smallblocks are incredibly popular with racers looking to make serious pushrod power.
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It also allowed engineers to deliberate on which features it made sense to include. “We talked about whether or not to do a water neck, for instance. In the end, we decided that the way to make it as useful and user-friendly as possible to the most people was to put a water neck in, rather than opting for more of a race-only kind of setup. It makes the casting more complex, but the benefit is that the guys running a more standard radiator hose setup will be able to hook up to it easily.” Design Dralle points out that, unlike Ford’s factory 351W EFI intake manifold, the Hi-Ram is designed for a performance application from the ground up. “The factory manifold was intended for trucks and sport-utilities, and some of the aftermarket stuff is based on that design. It’s a long runner manifold built to provide lots of low-end torque, and it’s going to limit engine speed where you’re going to make power. Those manifolds rarely make power above 5500 RPM, and that’s because of the engine applications that it was originally designed for – you’re tuning to a given torque curve that you want at a certain engine speed range. And of course, as performance goes up, those limitations become more obvious.”
that we’re not creating problems with things like recirculation – with an EFI lid, that’s much more an issue that it would be with something like a traditional two-carb setup.” With the Hi-Ram, Holley is also not limited by some of the packaging constraints that an OE-style manifold must adhere to. “The factory is trying to make peak torque at, say, 3000 RPM, and then you’re trying to figure out how to package eighteen inches of runner and make it fit under the hood. The Hi-Ram is the opposite – we are using a shorter runner, and we’re trying to make it as direct as possible. The engines that this manifold is going to be used on are likely to make peak torque at 5000 to 6000 RPM, and they’re going to make peak power above 7000 RPM. Those considerations helped us to flesh out the rest of the design. There comes a point with a race manifold where you’ve kind of got to say,‘let’s focus on the performance, and worry a little less about the packaging.’ There’s also just that fun factor of seeing something as racy looking as a Hi-Ram on top of an engine, too.”
Steve Baur Photo
These straight, beefy runners provide an unobstructed path into the heads, just as the horsepower gods intended. The Hi-Ram intake, by contrast, employs a very different design approach. “In many ways, it’s very much like your traditional tunnel-ram type drag racing manifold that would have had a pair of carburetors on top of it,” Dralle says. “You’re going to a central plenum, runners that are fairly straight, and as few flow restrictions into the runner itself as possible. The plenum designs also have to be such 90
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In any application, along with the performance on offer, the Hi-Ram makes the kind of visual statement that’s rare to see on fuel-injected power plants.
rally aspirated engines, Dralle points out that they haven’t Applications Another cool aspect of the Hi-Ram design is the modu- forgotten about the power adder crowd here, either. larity it provides – builders have several choices in plenum tops, and Holley now also offers side-entry lids that allow for plumbing similar to a typical five-liter.
The Hi-Ram is ready for spray, right out of the box.
The Hi-Ram’s modular design allows for different plenum tops to be used to tailor the intake to your specific needs. “There are also a lot of guys who plumb from the firewall side who’re running the big ‘ice chest’ intercoolers that are mounted in the car,” Dralle notes. “It all just depends on what you want to do – we have plenum tops that’ll take two 4150s or two 4500s, as a carburetor or as a throttle body. A friend of mine runs two throttle-by-wire LS throttle bodies on top of a blank top in his Cougar – you can configure whatever you want, really.” In terms of ideal combinations for this manifold design, he’s quick to cite legitimately potent builds. “Something along the lines of a 400 cubic-inches or more that makes peak power above 7000 RPM.” But while that might lead you to believe that this manifold is purpose-built for natu-
“We definitely envisioned folks would use power adders with this manifold, whether that’s a centrifugal blower, turbos, or nitrous. A modular design like this really lends itself to a ‘sandwich’ type of setup. We’ve also got a nitrous boss down by the injector if you want to run it right at the port.” Designed to work with any 9.5” deck Windsor motor, Holley’s Hi-Ram 351W EFI manifold is mainly intended to be paired up with an aftermarket performance cylinder head, but it can be made to play nice with the factory heads, too. “You may need to do a little trimming along the top of the manifold flange if you’re using a stock iron head,” Dralle says. “It’s designed to not preclude a factory iron cylinder head, but at the same time the material there and the flange configuration here are geared toward an aftermarket performance cylinder head.” Along with the 9.5 deck Ford Windsor Hi-Ram EFI intake manifold, Holley Performance also introduced an 8.2” deck Ford Windsor Hi-Ram EFI intake manifold at SEMA 2019, bringing the same modularity and motorsport-bred design benefits to the 289/302ci small-block Ford crowd. Both versions of the manifold are available now. RPM
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arlier this year, due to the cancellation of last year’s fall event, fans of the Yellow Bullet Nationals were treated to a very successful first ever “Spring Edition”. Definitely a highlight for outlaw racing fans, but it would be followed up with the traditional Labor Day Weekend event with more hard hitting, straight shooting competition on the newly massaged track surface of Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun Maryland. Race promoter Monty Mikho, wife Maria and his brother David have made this their home for the annual extravaganza of
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horsepower. Competitive and colorful web chatter had started right after the Spring event, as those champions now had the target on their back and would either repeat or fall. The forecast for the weekend was nearly identical as the spring race, however, Sunday rains pushed eliminations into Monday where fans still packed the stands. Once again, the track was taken care of by the staff at Cecil County Dragway led by Pro Nitrous driver / track manager Jim Halsey and his outstanding crew of Chad Porter,
Anthony Frassetto, and Mark Wancowicz who were able to keep this track record worthy all weekend along with Jimmy Bradshaw of his “Sticky Mafia” company. Friday morning opened with testing for all classes and a nighttime session of qualifying rolling into Saturday for three more rounds. Our thanks to Monty for putting RPM Mag in the best seats in the house on the wall and in the burnout box – inches away from screaming burnouts, the whine of massive superchargers and flaming nitrous passes.
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Jim Hasley put up the top qualifying numbers; 3.619 @ 208MPH in his now very famous PDRA Pro Nitrous Championship Camaro with a Fulton 959 on nitrous with Eric Davis as Crew Chief.
Young gun Matt Dietsch Jr. led by his father took a strong number two spot in the 959ci Musi Racing Engines powered Camaro with 3.626 @ 205mph.
ixteen cars were on hand looking for that important number one spot. Two time PDRA Pro Nitrous Champion Jim Halsey led the pace in his nitrous powered Camaro blazing to a strong 3.619 @ 208mph. Young gun Matt Dietsch Jr. led by his father took a strong number two spot in the massive 959-inch Musi powered Camaro with 3.626 @ 205. In the number three spot, 2021 YB Nats Spring champion Jason Lee in Eric Gustafson’s Coast Packing Company Hemi-ProCharged ’69 Camaro proved himself again with a screaming pass of 3.633 @ 208. It’s definitely important to note that 12 of the 17 cars were again from the prominent East coast group “NEOPMA” (Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association) led by John Mazzorana…great work John! The final round of Pro Modified featured two supercharged teammates; Mike Decker Jr. in the Decker’s Salvage 2017 Camaro with a screw blown Hemi and Tommy Gray’s “The Undertaker” 2018 Corvette also a screw blown entry. Both racers have a stake in the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Associations points chase with Mike Decker leading at this time. In the earlier spring YB Nats, Decker came up just short of the championship and would see a much different outcome this time, and by such a small margin. Mike Decker Jr. would throw down a solid .030 reaction time to the Undertakers (piloted by Todd
2021 YB Nats Spring champion Jason Lee in Eric Gustafson’s Coast Packing Company Noonan Hemi-ProCharger equipped 69 Camaro was a hands down favorite to be the first to “Double Up” a YB Nats championship title qualifying with a 3.633 @ 208mph. www.rpmmag.com
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PRO MODIFIED
Tommy Gray’s The Undertaker 2018 Corvette with Todd Tutterow handling driving duties easily waded through his side of the ladder until he met up with Mike Decker Jr. in the final where Tutterow would have to settle for a runner-up finish. Tutterow) equally stout .034, both cars ran the 660ft so close that a mere .002 of a second separated them at the finish line! Decker would win on a holeshot 3.682 @ 208mph to Tutterow’s quicker 3.680. “To get the win up here at Cecil County Dragway where we’ve competed in many classes was dramatic for sure. Our hometown track and a Yellow Bullet champion title evaded us for years, it meant a lot to fill that hole in our racing program,” said Mike Decker Jr. Incredible racing by these two and another notch in Monty Mikho’s belt for exciting big tire Pro Mod finishes. Also in Pro Mod, it was interesting to see the the mysterious black supercharged 2020 Camaro of standout Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Tackle Fletcher Cox sitting on big tires and with Joe Albrecht of West Babylon, NY. in the driver seat. Albrecht was called in last minute to pilot this untested brute and handled it with great skill putting it on the ladder at 3.655 @ 208!
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Mike Decker Jr. and the Deckers Salvage team proved themselves all weekend as the tight knit family took the championship in a nail biter final win over The Undertaker Pro Mod of Tommy Gray by .002 at the stripe!!
PRO MOD SIDEBAR: BIG TIRES AND A NEW SHOE!
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ans witnessed the mysterious black supercharged 2020 Camaro of standout Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Tackle Fletcher Cox sitting on big tires over his usual drag radial preference! It was also a great opportunity for long time racer Joe Albrecht of West Babylon, NY. to get a seat in this prominent athlete’s car. Joe was called in last minute to pilot this untested brute and handled it with great skill putting it on the ladder at number 6 spot with a 3.655 @ 208! After a few aborted passes with the wheels in the air for 400 feet, standout tuner Jon Salemi got this car dialed in. Joe brought his New York team of Aimee Rose, Jo Jo Marfino, John Murphy and Aria Connelly for this memorable occasion.
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PRO275
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ro 275 would see a much different outcome than the spring edition as fan favorite Jeff Miller in the well-known “Bumble Bee” 2010 screwcharged Camaro, after breaking during the first race, dropped an incredible 3.681 @ 207mph on the boards right off the trailer Friday night and never looked back! This is a stunning number on the small 275 tire. Manny Buginga’s 3.70 @ 198 put the brilliant red 2003 Mustang in spot number two hoping to once again fly with the late Blake Copson into the winners circle. Cecil County hometown hero
Mo Hall put the nitrous huffing Corvette back into the top three with flaming passes netting him a 3.710 @ 198 mph. This could have been a dream come true for Joe Copson and his family as Team Buginga would face Miller in the final round. The starting line was packed each time the cars pulled into the burnout box. The Bumble Bee Camaro left with a .057 reaction time to Manny Buginga’s .071 as both lit the boards with nearly identical ET’s; Miller taking the win on a holeshot 3.883 @ 203 run to a quicker 3.882 by Buginga. Outstanding!!
The popularity of the Bumble Bee Camaro is undeniable, the car is a fa of small tire fans surround this bright yellow beast on 275s, and Jeff wanted with a number one qualifying effort right off the tra
Hometown hero of Cecil County Dragway, Mo Hall has been in the forefront of the changing small tire racing from Outlaw 10.5 to this wicked nitrous combination lighting the pipes and qualifying strongly with 3.710 @ 198mph.
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avorite everywhere it races. Hordes ff Miller gave the fans what they ailer, a 3.681 @ 207mph!
Spring YB Nats $27,500 PRO275 Champion Mark Benston Jr. would find himself sorting out a new car and placing sixth on the ladder, all while just a week prior to marrying his best friend Erica Coleman on 9/11/2021…RPM Magazine wishes them all the best in their new life together! There’s no doubt that veteran racer Manny Buginga has his program down to a science, and was once again riding with the late Blake Copson as his co-pilot. Manny’s 3.70 @ 198 placed second on the board in his brilliant red Mustang.
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ULTRA275
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ith so many different combinations posting such amazing ETs, it’s hard to describe this class. Eric Bardekoff ’s 4.496 @ 157mph would lead the field of 34 entrants by way of his Whipple supercharged S550 EB Custom Works Mustang tuned and tricked by good friend Nicky Notch. Spring Edition YB Nats Ultra 275 Champion, Dylan Wile, took the number two spot in qualifying posting a 4.552 @ 155 and was a favorite to back up his previous championship. Dave Fiscus’ 4.554 @ 144 wheeled the turbo V6 1993 Mustang notch into third place
Dave Fiscus wheeled the turbo V6 1993 Mustang notch into third place with a 4.554 @ 144mph after a transmission repair prior to the race. It’s hard to believe this car is powered by a Buick Grand National V6!
Ronny Rhodes has had just about as much seat time in Ultra Street as most veterans twice his age. Following in his father Ron Rhodes’ (of X275 fame) footsteps, he’s another competitor switching over to Holley EFI fuel injection.
Eric Bardekoff would lead the field of 34 entrants with a 4.496 @ 157mph hit by way of his supercharged Mustang.
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Don Barnett, a veteran of Cecil Coun Ultra Street for many years. The siniste supercharged Firebird is certainly one at the YB Nat
Spring edition YB Nats Ultra 275 Champion Dylan Wile was again a favorite to back up his previous championship taking the number two spot in qualifying with a 4.552 @ 155.
nty Dragway, has been competing in er looking Holley EFI, Vortech V-30 94B e of the most competitive fan favorites ts each year.
after a hectic transmission repair prior to the race. This little beast is actually powered by a Buick Grand National V6, pretty cool huh! Eric Bardekoff would line up in this exciting final between two of the top three with Dave Fiscus piloting the Buzzin Half Dozen. Bardekoff ’s .032 start and 4.538 @ 156mph run would fall to a slower but winning package of Fiscus; .017 start and 4.542 @ 155mph to give him the holeshot win. The Margin Of Victory on this final was a miniscule .011, what an exciting finish!
Dwayne James built the high winding 5.0 liter with a Work 76mm turbocharger blowing through it that Haley James drives in the ranks of NMRA Renegade, NMCA Xtreme Street and Ultra Street.
Becki Lynn Cram (from NMRA Renegade/Ultra Street/Extreme Street) piloting the screaming 2010 Ford Mustang 5.0-liter supercharged Coyote will be a force to be reckon with as the team progresses.
WATCH IT RUN...CLICK HERE NOW!
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WARRIORS OUTLAW
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lways ready to wow the crowds, the Warriors Outlaw Racing Team brought thirty-four cars which led to two separate races, with an “A” and “B” group based on qualifying. Qualifying was stellar with Mike Gross leading the pack in his 1981 Malibu with a 4.235 @ 176. New York’s Tim Burton followed close with a 4.245 @ 171 in his slammed brilliant yellow Chevy Nova, the crowd loved this car! Cecil County hometown hitter Ralph Hardesty in his pristine ProCharged ’67 Chevy Nova pulled in third with a 4.282 @ 168mph. As it turns out, two cars from the middle of the pack staged for the final round in the “A” race. Devin Yankey in his stellar twin-turbo, Holley Dominator-equipped ’67 Nova built by JSC Racing Fabrication in Pennsylvania would pair up with veteran racer Mitch George, who’s probably driven something in every class of drag racing, in his gorgeous 1995 Camaro on nitrous. Yankey would bump through the beams and red-light with -.134 as Mitch ran a clean 4.349 @ 163 for the title of Champion. Had Yankey gone green, chances are his 4.263 @ 179mph would have taken the win, but we’ll never know for sure. The finals in the Warriors “B” class would see standout Bill Cole in his wild (and incredibly loud) blown 2002 Firebird up against newcomer Curt Coucill in his Buick Regal. Cole would have this race albeit with a very late reaction time, taking the win with 4.288 @ 171 to Coucill’s 4.758 @ 153mph.
Devin Yankey in his wicked twin-turbo ’67 Nova built by JSC Raci business may sound familiar as James Smith, the owner of JSC, h Magazine cover, twice! Once in his wheel-standing Camaro and stunning flamed Mustang.
Mitch George, known for his many years of being a fierce comp is behind the wheel of, drive’s his stunning Camaro out of 1320 4.349 @ 163mph win over Devon Yankey to become the YB Nats
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A tough field to qualify at the top of, Mike Gross is his ’81 Malibu lit the clocks with 4.235 @ 176 to take the number one position.
ing Fabrication. The has graced the RPM d more recently in his
Once an RPM feature car, many have come to know the true quality of Ralph Hardesty’s immaculate Chevy II, pictures do this car no justice as Ralph planted the ProCharger huffed beauty into the third spot with 4.282 @ 168
petitor in anything he 0 F abrications to a s Fall 2021 Champion.
Chevy Nova qualifying in second place with 4.245 @ 171mph, this potential so look out fellow Warriors Outlaws! www.rpmmag.com
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X275
Long time Cecil County racer and spring YB Nats Champion Mike Cerminaro placed teammate Bruce Maichle’s supercharged show worthy 2002 Pontiac Firebird in the number one qualifier spot with a 4.142 @ 172mph.
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hese “somewhat stock suspension” cars on basically street sized tires are extremely competitive and for this outing Mike Cerminaro would take top spot in Bruce Maichle’s supercharged show-worthy 2002 Pontiac Firebird with a stunning 4.142 @ 172mph. Rob Goss’ 4.154 @ 173 would be right behind in second place in the BES Racing Engines ProCharged Hemi Challenger, while Dom DiDonato torched the track with an amazing 4.196 @ 173 in his L&M Race Engines powered turbo GT500 Mustang. Rob Goss would have this race to himself, though, as opponent Tony Hobson was late on the tree and Goss would take the win with an A to B pass of 4.309 @ 168mph.
Rob Goss sure has this Hemi Challenger on point dropping in the second spot with 4.154 @ 173 and driving it into the winners circle after a runner-up spot at the spring YB Nats show.
Dom DiDonato torched the track with an amazing 4.196 @ 173 in his L&M Race Engines powered turbo GT500 Mustang.
Tony Hobson well known for his competition efforts in NMCA/ NMRA Street Outlaw/ X275 in his ProCharged DiSomma Racing Engines powered ’93 Fox Body Mustang would runner up with a valiant effort. 104
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X275
These small tire “somewhat stock suspension” cars on basically street sized tires are extremely competitive and for this outing Mike Cerminaro would take top spot in Bruce Maichle’s supercharged show-worthy 2002 Pontiac Firebird with a stunning 4.142 @ 172mph. Rob Goss’ 4.154 @ 173 would be right behind in second place in the BES Racing Engines
ProCharged Hemi Challenger, while Dom DiDonato torched the track with an amazing 4.196 @ 173 in his L&M Race Engines powered turbo GT500 Mustang. Rob Goss would have this race to himself, though, as opponent Tony Hobson was late on the tree and Goss would take the win with an A to B pass of 4.309 @ 168mph. Long time Cecil County racer and spring YB Nats Champion Mike Cerminaro placed teammate Bruce Maichle’s supercharged show worthy 2002 Pontiac Firebird in the number one qualifier spot with a 4.142 @ 172mph. Rob Goss sure has this Hemi Challenger on point dropping in the second spot with 4.154 @ 173 and driving it into the winners circle after a runner-up spot at the spring YB Nats show.
Dom DiDonato torched the track with an amazing 4.196 @ 173 in his L&M Race Engines powered turbo GT500 Mustang.
Tony Hobson well known for his competition efforts in NMCA/ NMRA Street Outlaw/ X275 in his ProCharged DiSomma Racing Engines powered ’93 Fox Body Mustang would runner up with a valiant effort. www.rpmmag.com www.rpmmag.com | september | october 2021
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8.50 INDEX To enter the 8.50 Index you better have your best foot forward on the pedal to hit that dead on 8.50 just as Bill Leckliter did to lead a 64-car field. The high-flying Nova is gorgeous too!
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he 8.50 Index class consistently brings in record amounts of cars. So much Although he didn’t variety that this year’s seasoned group qualify, Al Fonse in produced the tightest “Bump” ever with 32 the Camaro blasted out of 64 cars qualifying. It would take an through the traps with almost unheard of 8.517 or quicker to be in the Top MPH of the the field, outstanding from weekend warevent at an amazing riors that are generally not seasoned dial-in 170 in basically a backracers. The gorgeous wheel-standing Nova halved street car with a of Bill Leckliter set the pace with the only ProCharger, incredible! dead-on 8.500 after four qualifying rounds, and Al Fonse set the top MPH of 170! The non-qualified was a who’s who of deadly This ultra clean and 8.50 index racers, though, most of them you mean 1986 Grand Prix would expect to see on the opposite side of of Ryan Weeks waded the ladder, yet names like Al Fonse, Bill Verthrough four rounds of zilli, Mike Pyott, Jonny Thomsen Jr., Steven Kratch, all considered heavy hitters, were very tough competition to take the title of 8.50 outside looking in. Ryan Weeks in his sinister yet classy 1986 Index Champion by way Grand Prix would find his way to the win- of a holeshot 8.506 @ 158 ners circle as John Sahli in his 82 Monte Car- pass at against John Sahlo would lose to a holeshot by Weeks. Sahli li, the margin of victory was .001 of a second. was good on the tree with a .015 start, but Weeks bettered that with .009, and while Sahli would run a near perfect 8.506 @ 158mph, Weeks would take just enough on the top end with his 8.511 @ 158 to win by John Sahli would fall just .001! That is nothing short of fantastic in the final dance of drag racing! the 8.50 Index class courtesy a holeshot by Ryan Weeks in one of the closest races of the year.
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TOP SPORTSMAN Ray Bamond returns to competition in his newly refinished Camaro by CLK Customs. Ray put the nitrous fed Camaro into the number three spot in qualifying with a 4.238 @ 166mph.
One of the quickest women in Top Sportsman, Erica Coleman runs easily to the top of the ladder with the nitrous big block Camaro. A new combination had her struggling early, but those issues were sorted out fast when she posted an amazing 3.839 @ 184mph!
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ig numbers for Top Sportsman at the Yellowbullet Nationals are always on tap and the top three are right there with the Pro Mods, specifically Erica Coleman in the butternut yellow Camaro. Erica struggled through a new combination but that didn’t stop her from crushing the clocks with a 3.839 @ 184mph. Daniel Germano would take the second spot in the Magnum Motorsports 1968 Camaro running 4.213 @ 168, followed up by Ray Bamond’s 4.238 @ 166 in the newly refinished ’68 Camaro by CLK Customs, a hard hitting superbly detailed ride. After numerous rounds of eliminations, one thing was for sure; these racers are tough! So much so that Jim Mallis who
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TOP SPORTSMAN was having a once in a lifetime first attempt at Top Sportsman with basically a very fast streetcar, found himself in the finals with number two qualifier Daniel Germano. Mallis would take too much tree with a red-light start -.002 to end his day but was still overjoyed at the success he had. Daniel Germano would become the Top Sportsman Yellow Bullet Fall Champion with 4.25 on a 4.24 dial-in.
What a stellar weekend for Daniel Germano, taking home the win in Top Sportsman and qualifying strongly in the number two position with the Magnum Motorsports Camaro.
I thought my eyes were deceiving me as Jim Mallis was lining up with basically a streetcar against the full tube frame Top Sportsman entries considered to be just shy of being a Pro Mod. It surely paid off, though, with Jim going all the way to the finals and losing with a -.002 red-light to Daniel Germano.
IT’S A WRAP
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nce again, Monty, Maria and their crew hosted another amazing event with the pits full of wild cars and the stands full of eager fans. As always though, it didn’t take long for the rivalries to start in preparation for the 2022 Yellow Bullet Nationals. Keep an eye on the chatter and see if you can pick next year’s winners. Even better, pack up the family and head to Cecil County Dragway for a fall vacation to enjoy the action firsthand, after all, drag racing is always better in person! (If not, the YB Nats can also be viewed free on Motormania TV) “I need a clone to help
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me!” Said event promoter Monty Mikho. “Promoting and pulling off two events this year hasn’t left much time to do anything else heading into the fall. I sure am looking forward to a vacation with my wife Maria soon! We certainly can’t go without thanking our Yellow Bullet event sponsors who bring this race to Monty, Maria and their team led racers and fans in anlife with their support: Bro- other successful action packed Yellow Bullet Nationals! dix, Carey’s Mechanical, Holeshot Wheels, Induction Solutions, Jesel, J&H Aitcheson, Mark Williams, Mickey Thompson, Fueltech, Moroso, Shearer Fabrications, ProTorque, Ultimate Converter, Salvato Designs and ProCharger”.
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