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Photo by Wes Allison

Flashback to 2005: The First Drag Week

The event started in Kansas City, Missouri; then drove to St Louis; Bowling Green, Ken tucky; on to National Trail in Hebron, Ohio; and ended at US 131 in Martin, Michigan

Carl Scott was the overall winner, and his 1967 Nova was the wheels up cover star of that issue Powered by a 540 big block Chevy that ingested nitrous like candy, he posted solid 8 50 passes all week, culminat ing in an average e t of 8 58 and an average speed of 157 13 mph

The fastest single pass that year was run by Larry Larson in his ’66 Nova, ripping off an 8 38 at 163 mph That combo was a 555 inch big block Chevy with a 14 7 1 super charger backed by a Lenco transmission

Fast forward 17 years, and now the 8.50 cars are basically a bracket class, while the quickest cars are running low 6s Tom Bailey stunned us all with a Drag Week record 5 998 at 250 mph in 2019, and we suspect to see more timeslips with 5s on them soon

David ’s predictions of Drag Week’s suc cess were not wrong We now have to limit the field of competitors to 400, and registration sells out in minutes. People build cars just to compete in Drag Week And if imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, Drag Week has spawned several similar drag and drive events over the last several years, and we welcome the competi

tion The cars are great, it keeps the sport thriving, and it drives innovation for better parts Check out our expanded Drag Week coverage, which starts in this issue and continues into next month

EDITORIAL

Network Director Michael Galimi

Editor in Chief John McGann

Managing Editor Rusty Kurtz

Features Editor Timothy Bernsau

Technical Editor Johnny Hunkins

Technical Editor Steven Rupp

Staff Editor Jordon Scott

Social Media Editor Cyril Soliman Video Producer Kale Eickhof

HOT ROD Garage Hosts Lucky Costa Alex Taylor

Tech Center Manager Calin Head Contributors Wes Allison Steve Brule Renz Dimaandal Kevin DiOssi Heidi Elzas Drew Hardin Jesse Kiser Ryan Lugo Jordon Scott Lake Speed Jr. Tony Thacker

WEST & SOUTHWEST

Los Angeles: 831 S Douglas St , El Segundo, CA 90245 Cody Busch; 657 294 6509

President/General Manager Alex Wellen Group SVP, Sales Eric Schwab Head of Editorial Edward Loh @EdLoh VP Ad Operations Pauline Atwood VP, Digital Media Jason Rice SVP, Marketing Ryan Payne SVP, Content Strategy Aftermarket David Freiburger VP Finance/Controller Shilpa Joshi VP, Social Media & Content Monetization Megan Neal VP, Experiential Marketing & Events Karen Brown (Echavarria) Director Publishing Systems Matthew Paige

THE HOT ROD ARCHIVES

20 Years Ago

February 2003: 116 pages, $3.99

Thoughts about the Pro Touring movement for and against was a theme throughout the issue, beginning with Editor in Chief David Freiburger ’s assertion that “Pro Touring is as bad as Pro Street, if not worse,” in his Starting Line column (He did title the column, “Alienating Half the Read ers in the First Sentence ”) Later in the issue he wrote a history of the Pro Street phenomenon and wondered if it was “poised for a comeback ” Both Pro Touring and Pro Street also figured promi nently in the issue’s cover story, in which 20 experts from the aftermarket, race sanctioning bodies, design houses, and magazine staff were asked to crystal ball coming trends Ford designer Larry Erickson was among many who saw continued growth in Pro Touring, while Flowmaster ’s Kevin McClelland and Comp Cams’ Scooter Brothers expected Pro Street and Pro Touring trends to influ ence each other Holley’s Shane Weckerly said Pro Street “will never go away ” The cover car, Ken La Fortune’s ’66 Nova, was offered as an example of Pro Touring done right, as the big block coupe was a five time Power Tour veteran Editor Ro McGonegal started a new series about the revival of the Crusher Camaro project car, “back now with a big, big bullet in its gut and a chassis that’ll take anything the motor can fire at it ” The skyline blurb teased Senior Tech Editor Marlan Davis’s story “Metallurgy Made Simple” when buying a reciprocating assembly.

40 Years Ago

February 1983: 124 pages, $1.75

The “Street Heroes” cover blurb refers to the pavement pounding features in the issue, start ing with the flamed ’7 1 Satellite on the cover Mike Mattern bought the one time grocery getter from his mom and spent two years rebuilding it with a 440 Six Pack, Hemi four speed, and a NASCAR like suspension rake Those “Banzai Runners” blurbed in the corner were a “collection of haulin’ hybrids” of the engine swap kind, including a Porsche 930, Cobra replica and Datsun 280Z with big block Chevy powertrains; a small block Chevy powered Pantera; a Sunbeam stuffed full of turbocharged 302; a ’79 Datsun ZX with a turbocharged small block Chevy; and a ’69 Jaguar XKE with a 302 inch Ford. There was a lot of suspension tech in the issue, from Senior Editor Gray Baskerville’s overview of new street rod front suspensions to Executive Editor John Baechtel’s look at lowering ’82 ’83 F Bodies Pat Ganahl had a different take on the new Camaro, Project Z26: Buy a V6 Camaro and use the price difference between it and the Z28 to “ build your own personalized version of a Z car ” Technical Editor Marlan Davis reviewed the ’83 Mustang convertible, the first drop top Mustang in 10 years, and he presented a selection of “revolutionary new products” spotted at the 1982 SEMA Show Nitrous kits, a reusable oil filter, a “Top Fuel” scoop for the street and ignition systems from MSD and Mallory were among the featured products

60 Years Ago

February 1963: 120 pages, 50 cents

There isn’t a single blurb about it on the cover, but the engine featured is a Corvair mill “with Dellorto carbs and bathed in chrome ” Photo Editor Eric Rickman’s story described how intake modifications added “about 20 horses” to “Chevy’s little stockers ” Technical Editor Ray Brock was busy covering Detroit news, including the new 326 inch V8 for Pontiac’s Tempest He also asked, “What’s Ford Up To?” for the new year and answered the question with the introduction of the high performance 427 inch Galaxie engine and the Hi Po 289 for the Falcon The NHRA’s Jack Hart outlined new rules for the 1963 drag racing season, which included “optional” fuel dragster classes, signaling the NHRA’s fuel ban was coming to an end An eight page story by NASCAR driver Cotton Owens told readers “How to Build a Grand National Stock Car Racer ” in an overview of just about every component on a Dodge race car Besides Rickman’s Corvair coverage, tech stories included Don Francisco’s conclusion to a series about a Pontiac engine swap into a Thunderbird, Roger Hun tington’s examination of heavy flywheels in drag racing (using their inertia “like extra engine torque in the low rev ranges”), and the second of a three part series on drum brakes Racing coverage included Rex White’s surprising win in NASCAR’s Dixie 400 and Don Garlits taking Top Eliminator and low e t (8 45 seconds) at the Florida State Championship Drags

❱While he was covering the 1955 Bonneville National Speed Trials, Petersen Publishing photographer Bob D’Olivo ran across Gary Guinn’s yellow ’33 Ford coupe The car ’s proportions and Von Dutch pinstriping made it outstanding in its own right, but what really caught D’Olivo’s eye and assured the car of a feature story was its engine

“On the uptake among engine swap circles is the new Chevy V8,” read the opening to “Chevord,” the coupe’s feature in the January 1956 HRM Even at this early stage of the small block’s development, what made the swap attractive was the engine’s output relative to its size “Small in outward dimensions (almost identical in weight and size to the Ford flathead),” the Chevy V8 was “capable of high power output despite its comparatively low displacement of 265 cubic inches ” The editors pointed out that “the installation was accomplished without interference with firewall or steering, and that the fan is retained Alterations to the V8, originally a 165 horse stick shift model with mechanical lifters, are primarily concerned with carburetion.” Guinn replaced the SBC’s stock induction system with an Edelbrock manifold and triple Stromberg 97s “Chev coupling to

BY DREW HARDIN PHOTOGRAPHY BOB D’OLIVO, PETERSEN PUBLISHING ARCHIVES

Ford gearbox was made with Hildebrandt adaptor.” The “potent powerplant” was installed in a body “that belies its 22 years ” The roof was chopped 5 inches, and its fabric center filled with steel plate Sealed beam headlights replaced the stock lights, louvers were punched in the hood sides, and “to further entertain the spectators, the car has been treated to one of the milder Von Dutch striping jobs, terminating in a wild series of flourishes up the center of the turtledeck ” Guinn filled the fenders with 15 inch wheels with chrome discs and whitewall tires “Body rake is due to tall rear tires and dropped front axle ”

Inside the coupe, the seats and door and kick panels were upholstered in “white plastic leatherette ” Five big round gauges, including a Sun tach, filled

the instrument panel, and what looks like a Bell four spoke steering wheel was mounted on the column An ermine trimmed rearview mirror complete with furry dice hung from the windshield header And the long shift lever for the ’39 Ford transmission was topped with a Brew 102 beer keg knob (Don’t remember Brew 102? The Los Angeles Times described it as “the cheapest brew in a workingman’s town ” Local radio personality Phil Hendrie was less polite, call ing it “a proud sh*t beer from L A ”)

Questionable interior accessories aside, Guinn’s coupe was “a big attraction” at Bonneville, HRM said, and was “later featured at the Motor Revue auto show,” another name for Petersen’s Motorama car show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles

Tom Bailey wins his fifthDrag Weekto become America’s

om Bailey and engine builder and co pilot Steve Morris both agree this is the most brutal HOT ROD Drag Week they’ve ever completed as Bailey secured his fifth Unlimited title with a 6 58 average in a rain shortened week

This week was supposed to be a 5 second affair, but it turned into a fight for street car survival for Bailey and Morris in Sick Seconds 2 0, a 1969 Camaro that is purpose built for drag and drive events It looked promising when Bailey rifled off a 6 03 at 249 mph in the opening round at World Wide Technology Raceway. However, a post run evaluation proved to be costly. The Steve Morris Racing SMX billet engine had pinched a piston ring

The engine was healthy enough to make the drive to Indianapo lis and he limped it into Indy Speed Shop for overnight repairs The shop is owned by Richie Crampton, former NHRA Top Fuel driver and master fabricator/car builder Morris and his son, Steve Jr., worked on replacing the engine while Bailey and Crampton addressed a secondary issue: cracked turbo headers A few cutters, welders, and good ol’ ingenuity repaired the headers while the Morris family easily handled the piston swap The team finished up around 6 a.m., enough time to get a shower at the hotel and head to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for Day Two.

The second day of the five day event proved to be more of the

BYMIKEGALIMI, JORDONSCOTT , JOHNMCGANN PHOTOGRAPHYWESALLISON,

FastestStreetCar.

same for Bailey’s Camaro and they escaped with a 6 87 at just 129 mph The result of the half track pass was a pair of pinched rings Again. Crampton’s shop came to the rescue once more. They spent a second straight night there, swapping the pistons and wondering why there is a persistent issue The think tank surmised a bad set of fuel injectors, and a quick call was placed to Harry Hruska of AFIS for a replacement set Because the new injectors were a different brand, the clips on the wiring harnesses had to be swapped out.

After another all night thrash, the team was back on the road heading to Byron Drag way in Illinois, complete with two fresh pistons, 16 new fuel injectors, and one sketchy wiring harness

KEVINDIOSSI, RENZDIMAANDAL

modification. Sick Seconds 2.0 ran smoothly as they traversed the back countr y roads, but that would soon change. The trailer tongue snapped off, and they nearly lost it, forcing a late arrival to the track Bailey managed a single run, which resulted in a 6 59 at 214 mph, and essentially creating a situation where the Second Place runner, Michael Westberg, was now within striking distance. The fourth day, taking place at Cordova Drag way, brought both racers closer on the results page Bailey posted a 6 83 at 156 mph while Westberg handed in a 6 63 at 204 mph timeslip The num bers worked out with Bailey having a four day average of 6.5830. Westberg’s average heading into World Wide Technolog y Raceway was an oh so close 6 5855!

Back at World Wide Technology Raceway on Friday, the final day of Drag Week, and Bailey posted a stellar 6 05 at 244 mph It would not factor into the final results, however, as the skies opened up shortly thereafter In the event of a rain out before the entire field had a chance to run, the final standings were based on Thursday’s

results, and Bailey emerged as the overall winner, though by a much slimmer margin. His fifth Drag Week victory, Tom Bailey is now tied with Larry Larson for the most overall wins

The Unlimited category has seen 6 second street cars for a few years now, each with a different combination of engine and power adders, but in 2019 Tom Bailey set the bar with a 5.998 at 250.1 mph. His street legal Pro Mod 1969 Camaro is powered by a 526ci Steve Morris SMX V8 with twin Precision 94mm turbos Second Place Michael Westberg’s Chevy S10 is motivated by a small block LS, displacing only 400ci, with twin 80mm turbos. Defending champ Dave Schroeder’s Third Place Pro Mod C7 Corvette, on the other hand, is powered by a Reher Morrison nitrous injected monster mountain motor displacing 872ci

Tom’s Camaro is the only 5 second car in the bunch for now, but Westberg and Schroeder have proven they can reliably run mid 6s with multiple years of competition on their current drag and drive race cars

SWEDEN’S MICHAEL WESTBERG ROCKETS TO MID-6S RIGHT FROM THE START

The S10 captured Sweden’s Street Week Max Outlaw wins in 2019 and 2021 and has run a best of 6.62 at over 200 mph, fast enough for him and his team to take aim at Drag Week for the first time. They shipped the truck to the United States leav ing it with longtime friend and noted small tire racer Mikael Borggren You might recognize Mikael as the owner/driver of the 6 second 1987 Volvo wagon, which most recently won the Small Tire category during Roadkill Nights. Westberg’s S10 arrived with a note that more or less stated, “fix the engine for Drag Week ” Borggren must’ve done a pretty good job because Westberg’s first official competi tion run at Drag Week resulted

in a career best 6 53 at 212 mph

The LS based powerplant dis places 400ci and is pumped up by a pair of Precision 80mm tur bochargers The car is easily con verted to street trim by adding a set of truck tires and a pump gas tune up in the EFI system.

As much as his on track per formance impressed the crowd, the drive between tracks caused Westberg to sweat literally and figuratively. While the truck had no issues pulling off wins dur ing Street Week in Sweden, the humidity in the United States’ Midwest began taking its toll on the cooling system Excessive water temps forced the team to pull over several times on their drive to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

❱There are approximately a dozen different drag and drive type events around the world and one of the longest running competi tions is Sweden’s Street Week. We’ve seen several Swedish racers make the trip across the pond for the eBay Motors Powers HOT ROD Drag Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, so a strong Swedish presence pre pandemic wasn’t unusual The latest to do so is Michael Westberg and his turbocharged S10

Michael was able to fix the prob lem with some hastily constructed ducting to the radiator for street driving, but that didn’t mean the rest of Drag Week went smoothly Just a couple days later, his trailer hitch broke, causing the trailer to jackknife and spin the truck around. Fortunately, this happened on a low speed stretch of road Westberg was able to repair the hitch, knock out the dents in the bed, and con tinue the week

Westberg’s best pass of Drag Week happened at Cordova, and with that run, he nearly pulled off a coup. In a David versus Goliath battle, Michael finished Second overall to Tom Bai ley by 0 0025 second Yes, twenty five ten thousandths of a second Major congratulations go to Michael for his incredible performance

DRAG WEEK 2022

ULTIMATE IRON: ANYTHING GOES, AS LONG AS IT’S REAL STEEL

❱The Ultimate Iron category has grown into a fan favorite for good reason: The vehicles fit a genre that is quite popular and very relatable to enthusiasts around the world. This year it was all eyes on HOT ROD Garage co host Alex Taylor and the ultra quick Bryant Goldstone Each brought a unique steed to the party Taylor was wheeling the family’s 1955 Chevy 210, complete with patina and an expertly crafted chassis under the mostly steel body. Goldstone sat behind the wheel of his refurbished 1973 AMC Javelin. We call it “refurbished” because Goldstone put the car on its lid during the 2021 running of HOT ROD Drag Week, prompting a completely new skin and updated chassis The repairs took a full year, and he made his first runs since the accident the day before Drag Week 2022.

Both competitors rely on big block Chevy engines, and although the details are different, the rat powerplants are each pumped up by twin Precision 88mm turbochargers, enabling both to make in excess of 2,500 hp.

SCAN HERE

W A T C H L I V E E X C L U S I V E L Y O N

S T A R T Y O U R F R E E T R I A L

Goldstone and Taylor each faced myriad issues as they traversed the Midwest in search of 6 second runs Goldstone firmed up his leadership position with a record setting performance fastest pass in Drag Week’s Ultimate Iron category, ever which came at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in front of his family and friends, as the Javelin posted a 6 63 at 217 mph, blowing his own door off in the process By the end of the week, it was Goldstone who worked his issues out better than Taylor, and he captured the win with a 6.9403 average elapsed time and 205.80 mph.

Alex Taylor completed the torture test challenge with a four day average of 8 7480 and 183 54 mph, numbers that were skewed by a challenging day at Cordova International Raceway that resulted in a 13 second pass. The famed Chevy delivered her to consistent low 7s at the other stops The Third Place finisher, Chris Engle, raced to glory in a 1965 Chevy Nova and was a solid 8 second player, despite running a pair of low 9s in the opening days of Drag Week He com pleted the 1,000 mile road tour and rain shortened competition with a 9.032 average.

THE 200 MPH CLUB

❱HOTRODGarage co host Alex Taylor and Sweden’s Michael Westberg are the lat est to join a list that includes legends such as Larry Larsen, Tom Bailey, Jeff Lutz, Joe Barry, Mikael Borggren, and many more The rules are simple: Any competitor that runs over 200 mph (only after Day One) and completes Drag Week is eligible for entry into the prestigious club

Alex Taylor drove the family’s 1955 Chevy 210 to a high speed of 203 12 on Wednes day during the stop at Byron Dragway. She was competing in the Ultimate Iron class, which requires a 3,000 pound minimum weight, and lightweight body components are limited to bumpers, hoods, decklids, rear hatches, fenders, and doors. The body must also retain the factory profile and strictly prohibits any cutting or chopping

Last year, Alex and her dad, Dennis, built an awesome tube chassis Tri Five in less than six months with the goal of running

in drag and drive events She missed last year ’ s Drag Week but got on this year ’ s tour, finishing Second behind Bryant Goldstone. Her rain shortened four day average was an 8 74, a result that is far off the Chevy’s true capabilities The final average was held back due to a power management issue that resulted in slower than normal runs and broken drivetrain components

Michael Westberg’s entry into the HOT ROD Drag Week 200 MPH Club came quickly and consistently, and he wasn’t messing around when he fired off a career

best of 6 53 at 212 mph to start the week at World Wide Technology Raceway Behind the wheel of his S10, he officially joined the double century club with his Day Two performance of 6 55 at 211 mph at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park He almost set low e.t. at Byron Dragway when the truck unleashed a 6.61 at “just” 200 mph. The fourth and final run in his Drag Week average was a stellar 6 63 at 204 mph, which came on a second pass late in the afternoon when he had to abort his early morning attempt at Cordova International Dragway

DRAG WEEK 2022

PRO STREET: BIG TIRES AND FACTORY LOOKS

❱The term Pro Street means different things to different people Nearly 40 years ago, it became a popular build style on the cruisin’ and car show circuits with a typical over the top ’80s flair As HOT ROD introduced its Fastest Street Car competition in 1992, the focus shifted from the showgrounds to the dragstrip For Drag Week, the concept continues, and the rules require mostly steel cars that are factory appearing and carry big rear tires It is broken into two classes, one for nearly unlimited power adder combinations and another for naturally aspirated.

The Pro Street Power Adder class saw New York’s Glen Hunter, Jr take another category victory with his gorgeous 1956 Chevy The twin turbocharged combination is normally a bottom 7 second player on drag and drive competitions, however traction issues kept his four day average to just 8 1238, though at a scorching 181 988 mph His best performance came during Day Two of Drag Week 2022 at Lucas Oil India napolis Raceway Park when the red and white Bel Air zipped down the track with a best of 7.365 at 189.98 mph.

As a side note, we must mention the admirable actions of James Williams. He was declared the winner once the rain canceled Friday’s racing However, unbeknownst to race officials, he never completed the Thursday night drive. He traveled home, only to learn that he was declared the win ner Williams quickly called the Turk family to correct the record, and the Pro Street title was awarded to Hunter Sliding into Second position this year was Alan Mougey in a 1972 Chevy Camaro Z28. He com pleted the week with an 8 5648 e t and 161 268 mph The Third podium finisher was Evan Uerkwitz when his 1979 Chevy Malibu delivered him averages of 8 925 and 157 200 mph

The Naturally Aspirated divi sion was no joke as Matthew Sweet took the win and could’ve even placed Third in the Power Adder category with his 8 9013 average The purple 1976 Chevy Nova showed consistency all week long, with high 8 second runs at every stop and recorded his quickest hit in the cooler air we experienced at Cordova on Thursday. The colorful ride stopped the clocks with an 8 789 at a trap speed of 153 53 mph

Glenn Bridger and Karl Kopija rounded out the top three performances with their classic Chevy models Bridger pushed his 1968 Camaro to a 10.4508 average while Kopija’s 1962 Chevy Nova rolled out with a 10 8680 average

MODIFIED: THE SMALL TIRE PRO STREET CATEGORY

Borggren’s issues left the door open for Brent Sinclair and his flawless 1999 Chevy Camaro, which operates out of the Hargett Automotive & Performance shop. He posted solid 7 60 7 70 runs all week long, and his quickest hit was a 7 63 at 181 mph during the Indy stop on Drag Week 2022 His final four day average worked out to 7.7250 at 178.90 mph for the turbocharged LS combination

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We’d be remiss if we didn’t admit that we had Mikael Borggren as the favorite to win this year ’ s Modified category How could we not, after his strong performance last year, followed by finishing Sick Week with a 6.91 average, and nabbing the Small Tire victory at Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge earlier this year? But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as Borggren struggled with traction in the turbo LS powered Volvo wagon

Bob Hess Jr pushed his Fox Mustang to bottom 8s, but his 180 mph speed shows the car is a 7 second capable machine. He completed the rain shortened week with an 8 3263 average Borggren is listed on the final rundown with an 8 3913 average How ever, his 7.04 at 202.82 mph run at Indy indicates the Volvo is the raddest in Modified, if judged by one run

SUPER STREET: STOCK SUSPENSION EXCITEMENT

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Going fast on stock suspension and small tires has been the cool thing to do at these types of street car events since they went mainstream 30 years ago in Memphis Today, those types of cars live in the Super Street grouping The chassis and body modifications must adhere to a strict set of rules, and the power plant under the hood places the vehicle in one of two categories: small block or big block The class shed its naturally aspirated divisions, as those went into the All Motor class for 2022

The Super Street Small Block class had a lot of chatter going into the event with a bunch of Mustangs making some noise. In the end, Kyle Bemount took the podium with his 2000 Pontiac Firebird The co owner of Scram Speed set the tone for the week at World Wide Technology Raceway, by dropping an 8 297 at 176.44 mph, telling the field they would be chasing him. Bemount produced his first 7 second run at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway

DRAG WEEK 2022

Park with a 7 755, then unleashed a 7 784 the next day at Byron Drag way. His best pass came at Byron Dragway on the fourth and final day as he unleashed a 7 726 at 182 23 mph from the turbocharged LS pack age It put Bemount’s four day average at 7 8905 and 180 05 mph

Dean Anderson and Rich Woodward battled for the second posi tion, a fight that Anderson ultimately won with his 1979 Chevy Malibu. The gray hued G body completed the week with an 8.5325 average, right at the verge of his chassis certification In fact, the Malibu was so consistent that Anderson clicked off three 8 52 runs after he began the week with an 8.549. Woodward had consistency on his side as well, keeping each performance in the 8.50 8.60 zone all week long The brightly colored Fox body Mustang couldn’t be

missed on the highway with its matching trailer and large American flag proudly on display. The LS swapped Mustang completed the 1,000 mile adventure with an 8 621 average, good for Third Place

Moving over to the Big Block group of the Super Street category, Jason Glueck and his two tone Monte Carlo ruled the roost with a 9.0883 average over four days. The G body uses a ProCharger com bination in order to run a best of 8.892 during Drag Week. Following up the Monte Carlo was Mark Mannor in his 1970 Chevelle, turning in a 9 1358 average The third finisher hails from Long Island, New York, and is a crowd favorite with its stick shifting antics and clean look of the spotless 1955 Chevy 210 body. Frank Romano finished yet another Drag Week and scored a 9 5803 average

ALL MOTOR: LEAVE THE BOOST AND JUICE IN THE GARAGE

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New for 2022 is the All Motor category, which combines the two former Super Street Naturally Aspirated divisions with the Modified Naturally Aspirated class, creating a single, small tire arena that has two divisions, Small Block and Big Block

All eyes were on Jason Tabscott in All Motor Small Block with his iconic 1970 Chevy Camaro, a car he’s used to win multiple Drag Week competitions In fact, the Indiana native almost didn’t even make it this year when an engine issue was found during the initial start up A rally on social media helped secure the parts needed to fix a rare problem, and Tabscott spent several sleepless nights mak ing repairs. The effort was worth it as he completed the win, earning another victory, and did so with career best performances

Tabscott’s 8 6969 average came to be thanks to an 8.668, 8 747, 8 739, and 8 730 all quicker and faster than he has ever run Throw in the fact that it is with a naturally aspirated small block Chevy combination makes the feat that much more impressive In fact, he was the quickest car in the All Motor category regardless of displace ment Rounding out the top fin ishers were Paul Cornman and his Demon (9 045) and Joshua Norris, who’s Nova accom plished a 9 7975 average

Moving into the Big Block division of All Motor, Michael Remines and his Fox body Mustang was the car to beat with an 8 7060 average The venerable Ford big block pow erplant is normally rare, but it had enough grunt to leg out solid 8 second runs at every

stop The quickest pass hap pened in Indy with an 8.633, and his speeds were always near 160 mph, showing the power under the hood Ryan Ensor finished Second as he scored an 8.7323 average from his blue Fox body Mustang Holden Kramer grabbed the Third Place finish thanks to a 9 6170 average from his 1980 Malibu.

STREET RACE: THE MOST RESTRICTIVE CATEGORY AT HOT ROD DRAG WEEK

❱Street Race has the tightest rules of all Drag Week categories, and it does not permit any timeslip faster than 8 500 seconds due to the disallowance of a Funny Car cage That cap has turned Street Race into one of the most exciting and challenging classes on tour over the years.

There are four Street Race categories, separated by big or small block, and naturally aspirated or power adder all running on 11 5 inch, or narrower, tires

Street Race Small Block Power Adder always generates the most buzz and this year was no exception as the top three cars finished within 0.020 seconds of each other. In fact, the top seven competitors all had a timeslip that was 8.520 or quicker (with 8.500 hard stop) and it was the consistency that separated the top three finishers from the rest of the contenders

Dustin Trance pushed his well known LS powered S197 Mustang closest to the 8 50 barrier and finished the competition with an 8.5145 average, besting Brian Acton and Edelbrock Group’s Mark Campbell. Trance’s most impressive performance was when he turned in a timeslip that read exactly 8 500 a perfect run That was only the second time in Street Race histor y that a car hit the 8 500 limit, dead on The other was Rick Steinke and his well known crew cab Chevelle, affectionately nicknamed Honk If Parts Fall Off. Trance’s perfect run came at Byron Dragway on the third day, and he had already clocked an 8 506 and 8 522 on the first two days of Drag Week The last day at Cordova International Drag way is the one that hurt his average when he “only” ran 8 530, thus creating his winning 8 5145 average Acton was no slouch either, his 1970 Chevy Nova was equally impressive. The Fast Act Racing team turned in a couple of 8 52 runs and an 8 506 Their 8 566 performance is why they narrowly missed winning with an 8.5303 average. Camp bell’s LS swapped SN95 was hot on his heels thanks to an 8 5365 average, just 0 006 seconds shy of Acton’s final numbers, again proving that Street Race Small Block Power Adder is one of the most exhilarating categories on the books

The Small Block Naturally Aspirated division might not have been as tight or fast, however the top three cars battled all week. Jason Willis brought a rowdy 2007 Cor vette to Drag Week and actually got off to a slow start compared to the other top three finishers A 10 406 at World Wide Technology Raceway proved to be his slow est run of the week. He crept up on the competition when a 10 017 put him back in the hunt Then he began to extend his lead over Brad Dyer and Bobby Admire at the third stop at Byron Dragway. His 10.083 kept him in front while his 9 957 sealed the victor y Dyer rolled into the Second Place finish with a 10 1913 average from the 1980 Malibu. Bobby Admire’s late model Pontiac GTO slipped into the third position thanks to a 10 2675 performance

The Big Block division also features Power Adder and Naturally Aspirated, the former didn’t push the results as close to the 8 50 stop like the Small Block Power Adder cars, however, the top runners were a ver y competitive bunch The big power was applied to small tires and true stock suspension combinations, making them unpredictable Randy Belehar’s 1968 Pon tiac Firebird is unmistakable with its clean looks and the mid 8 second punch it packs. And his nitrous enhanced Pontiac 511ci powerplant was unflappable 8 547, 8 599, 8 545, and 8 601 combined to create the class winning average of 8 5705

Following up behind Belehar was Dar yl Yost and Bob Ruppel, both packing classic Chevy iron as their steeds Yost, the runner up finisher, brought a solid 8 second ride to the party with three runs in the 8.80s and

dipped into the 8 70s with an 8 79 His four day average ended up being 8.8155. Ruppel and his 1972 Chevy Nova coaxed consistent 9s and completed the journey with a 9 7438 average

Ditching the power adders, Street Race Naturally Aspirated featured a lot of sweet street cars, and in the end, Darren Ambro prevailed in his gorgeous, orange 1980 Malibu. The true stock suspension didn’t hamper his performance with times ranging

from high 8s to low 9s His quickest run was 8.890, which occurred at Cordova International Dragway on the fourth day The final four day average worked out to be 9 0668, topping Chris McNeeley and Dalton Major, the other two podium finish ers McNeeley closed out the week in his 1964 Chevy Chevelle with a 9 3780 average Major wasn’t far behind with his 1970 Chevelle when it captured the third position with a 9 5045 performance

Five Days on the Road—The Real Torture Test

❱Much of the attention Drag Week gets is from the on track action, but the real test of the cars and their drivers comes on the road Cars built for maxi mum acceleration and minimal run time tend to do very poorly when asked to idle in traffic, cruise down the interstate, and navigate long distances Cool ing systems are taxed, valvetrain and fuel pumps are pushed to the limit, and the drivers’ nerves are frayed from the constant thrum of loud exhaust, cramped interiors, and long hours behind the wheel

This year ’s drive was no different Totaling almost exactly 900 miles, our journey took us from St Louis, to Indianapolis, then on to Byron and Cordova, Illinois, finally ending up back in St Louis The longest stretch was the 287 mile drive between Lucas Oil Raceway in Indy to Byron near the northern border of Illinois. Rac ers had it easy by comparison the next day That trip between Byron and Cordova was just 119 miles Overall, the route incorporated

freeway miles and plenty of two lane roads through small towns, with checkpoints along the way that the drivers needed to stop at to take pictures of their cars as photographic proof they didn’t cut the trip short As you can imag ine the road claimed its share of broken parts, overheating engines, and overheated drivers. Attrition was on par with most years, and the road always seems to claim about 20 percent of the overall field

CO M I N G S O O N !

Car Craf t builds a 1972 Family Cruiser Nova Powered by a 6.6L Chevy V8 with an attitude…

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Brought to you by Catch Episodes Coming to in December 2022 and Januar y 2023!

Spirit of Drag Week

❱The Spirit of Drag Week Award goes to the driver that best exem plifies the spirit of the event. But what is the spirit of an event like Drag Week? Is it Tom Bailey pulling two all nighters in a row to stay in com petition? Or Bryant Goldstone literally blowing his own door off during his record setting, career best pass just one year after crashing and almost deciding to stop racing for good? Yes

The Spirit of Drag Week is also the desire to get out there and partici pate, no matter what; the willingness to help another racer out, despite not having any backup for yourself; the gumption to sleep in the back of a pickup truck because that was the only way to afford taking more than a week off from work to go drag racing. Ryan Bee did exactly that, threw a twin mattress in the back of his LS swapped 1994 Ford Ranger, and called it home

Ryan owns a metal cutting business (sorry we couldn’t represent you properly there, Mr Bee) and it was all he could do to save up enough money to bring his second gen Ranger out for his first running of Drag Week He wasn’t going to miss it because a week’s worth of motels were a little beyond his reach Drag Week forges fast friendships, and it was Aaron Gierke (driving another ’94 Ranger in Modified) who nominated Ryan stating, “Competed Drag Week solo. Helped other racers in need Helped rebuild my motor ” Keith Turk tells us there were other incidents of Ryan lending a hand brought to his attention, as well

A 12 second Ranger may not be anything to write home about these days (we’re too jaded about horsepower figures), but Spirit of Drag Week isn’t about having the best equipment, or the most triumphant story sometimes it’s just about being the most enthusiastic person to show up. This year, Ryan Bee was the most enthusiastic participant at Drag Week, and the genuine surprise he showed when accepting his award proves he was the deserving winner

Special Thanks

❱An event as colossal as Drag Week would be impossible to pull off without a lot of help. Therefore, we wish to thank our sponsors eBay Motors and Gear Vendors Rick Johnson, of Gear Vendors, has been an unwavering supporter of Drag Week since the beginning, and his sponsorship has been invaluable to the success of our event We also wish to thank Keith and Tonya Turk, Lonnie Grim, all the tech and timing volunteers, and track personnel who gave us the best possible conditions for our race Be sure to check back next month for a wrap up of the Gasser, Hot Rod, and Street Machine Eliminator Classes.

The Faces of Drag Week

❱

In what’s become a Drag Week tradition, photographer Wes Allison spends a portion of his time shooting portraits of the com petitors during HOT ROD Drag Week. In these pictures, you see the tension, drama, fatigue, and elation that comes from competing in an event like this

We always have a dedicated group of racers who run in Drag Week you can’t participate in an event like this without being totally committed. The week puts racers through a range of emotions and the long days can put a strain on the heartiest competitor Here, Wes expertly captures all of that through a series of portraits Study the pictures and you can almost feel the drama yourself.

ake one look at TredWear’s “Translammed” 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, and you’ll be smitten You’ll immediately notice the wide look of period correct IMSA bodywork from the late ’70s/early ’80s and a subtle but obvious reduction in the Trans Am’s wheelbase, aided by a slammed stance and an arsenal of aero aids including some crafty and functional turbine wheel covers Accompanying all these vintage style mods is a tasty complement of sponsor graphics in the IMSA style that some will no doubt label as kitsch, but it’s all in good fun and in the TredWear tradition of pulling at the heart strings of those who fondly remember the era.

Translammed is TredWear’s latest build in a line of cars seven in all that stretch back to the company ’ s inception in 2012 You may remember TredWear’s “Scraptona,” the equally imaginary 1969 Dodge Day tona designed and built on a whim to emulate how a 1969 Dodge Daytona might have been built to run the 24 Hours of Daytona circa 1972 The uninitiated may wonder why a company specializing in affordable rubber tire decals would spend so much time and energy on whimsical creations like Translammed, but it makes good sense; each vehicle calls attention to the company ’ s line of ready made and custom tire graphics in a way that makes sure you get the message loud and clear. And hold on to your chair for this one: TredWear only spent $17K on it includ ing the car, putting the lion’s share into labor about 20 hours a week over a two year period We’ll dive into the mechanical magic of Trans lammed in a moment, but the real story here is the unique relationship between TredWear’s two princi pals, Michael Hunt and Lee Clayton Second cousins and best friends since the age of two, Michael (the elder by two years) and Lee have identical one track minds and can be relied upon to finish each other’s sentences and each other’s automotive pipe dreams

After spending a childhood together plowing Hot Wheels toys through Alabama’s red clay, the two took separate paths in the work a day world, only to realize

that the key to happiness was already in their hands they just had to scale it. Michael was in first, but it didn’t take much to convince Lee, who liquidated the family hardware business to go into business with Michael to form TredWear.

The self taught car builders and entrepreneurs had constructed enough vehicles over the years to recog nize the advantages of starting with a Vette kart a Chevrolet Corvette stripped down to a bare chassis and drivetrain To that end, Michael and Lee found a wrecked, but mechanically sound, 2003 Cor vette Z06 with a salvage title for $6K. After a stillborn idea for hanging chopped sheetmetal from a 1974 Nova fizzled (the pair decided the “GMX” mash up on the AMX theme just looked too grotesque and unre latable) the notion of building Translammed emerged

Doubling down on the practice of giving each Tred Wear project a unique but fictitious backstory, Michael and Lee locked on to Smokey and the Bandit, and the black 1977 Pontiac Trans Am that was its mechanical star In their alternate storyline it’s 1981, and movie protagonist Bo Darville has decided to go road racing in the Camel GT IMSA race series’ top GTX class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in his Trans Am Gearheads who remember the IMSA Camel GT era will recall the steamroller tires, flared bodywork, aerodynamic trick ery, and high impact graphics all smack dab in the middle of TredWear’s literal wheelhouse

JOHNNY HUNKINS JESSE KISER

A 2003 Corvette Z06 “Vette kart” wears 1977 Trans Am bodywork to create an IMSA Camel GT race team that never was.

That important decision in hand, TredWear sought out and found a relatively rust free 1977 Pontiac Firebird Formula parts car for $500 and began the careful stripping and cutting of both vehicles The simplicity of the process belies its true complexity, as the C5 has a wheelbase 4 inches shorter than a second generation GM F body. In this business, proportions matter, and sometimes even when you measure thrice and cut once, it’s still possible to make mistakes If the bodywork of the Pontiac was to look natural on the C5 chassis, the placement of the Pontiac’s cowl and A pillars was critical. Moreover, how could they shorten the overall shape of a 1977 Trans Am to fit over the C5 and not make it look like it was designed in eighth grade art class? The answer came in a flash: Michael and Lee realized that the Pontiac’s doors had always been too long for their own good, and quickly got to work on a rendering to try that theory out. They had inadvertently stumbled on a way to improve on the Pontiac’s proportions and decided to run with it

Vindicated by the design exercise, the act of hanging Poncho sheetmetal on the C5’s chassis began in earnest. The stripped C5 was next treated to a rollcage that would tie the car together structur ally while providing the attachment points for some of the Pontiac’s

sheetmetal. The cowl and bodywork were channeled over the C5’s hydroformed steel chassis to give Translammed its race car ride height As a T top car, the removal of 4 inches from the center section created headaches that were only resolved with some creative heat forming of clear acr ylic Lexan for the T tops and side windows a technique Michael had honed during the build of S craptona

Through all of this, however, the magic of the rolling stock was being baked in with 275/35 Continental Extreme tires on American Racing 10x18 inch wheels up front and 335/20 tires on 12x18 wheels in the rear As a widebody IMSA exercise, making the bodywork swallow this wide rolling stock including allowing for an additional inch of scrub radius offset in front would require the creative use of sheetmetal in the form of patch panels pop riveted, race car style, to the Pontiac donor car ’ s skin These additional sections also pro vide fortuitous body gaps for some neat looking aero motifs and cooling ducts that typically festooned IMSA cars of the era Remark ably, the car weighs a svelte 3,155 pounds.

One might rightly ask, why cover up those beautiful 18 inch American Racing VF518 wheels? A couple of important things mat ter in this regard, the first being TredWear’s mission of “ no naked

TRANSLAMMED

tires ” The whole point of Translammed is to point a big neon finger at the company ’ s tire graphics, and crafting a set of turbine style wheel covers gets the job done in spades Second, from a functional standpoint, turbine wheels were used in IMSA racing prior to Pontiac’s adoption of them in production cars because they are an effective tool for extracting heat from the brakes during competition

Like a turbine in a turbocharger, these turbine wheel covers move air centrifugally from the center and away from the wheel hub, a mission aided by the ARE wheels’ open spoke design. Besides looking remarkably like production Pontiac turbine wheels (which aren’t functional), they also provide additional real estate for brand messaging The covers were designed and built by TredWear from waterjet cut aluminum sheets. Their louvers were bent to shape and the two primary plates were sandwiched by a pair of retaining collars attached by pop rivets They are attached via bolts that thread into extended length lug nuts

One issue of concern was the C5’s non adjustable mono leaf suspension. With the Pontiac bodywork, the weight distribution of Translammed would be significantly altered relative to a Z06 This would have an effect on the ride height, spring rates, and shock

valving Completely outside of the cosmetics and the highway driving characteristics, Translammed would also see significant time on the road course (after all, this was an IMSA inspired ride) TredWear turned to Aldan American and the company ’ s line of adjustable coilover shocks, which allowed them to set the ride height perfectly at all four corners while providing a great degree of suspension tuning capability.

In 1981, an IMSA car in the GTO class would have been comfort ably under 500 hp The cars would’ve also weighed a maximum of 2,300 pounds about 900 pounds less than Translammed. How does it compare? Starting with the Z06’s baseline power figure of 405 hp and adding the modest power mods of the Holley High Ram intake, Red Dragon 92mm throttle body, and Flowtech C5 long tube headers and off road exhaust system, horsepower on Translammed is calculated to be in the high 400hp range. Michael and Lee have considered a cam change for more power, but so far, it’s hard to do anything to upset the roughly 24 mpg the car is currently capable of

Speaking of highway miles, Michael and Lee have been driv ing Translammed everywhere since its completion in March 2022, and that includes 1,400 miles on the 2022 HOT ROD Power Tour, and another 1,000 mile round trip from Columbiana, Alabama, to Greensboro, North Carolina, where our photo shoot took place This ain’t no trailer queen, and as Michael and Lee quickly point out, what would be the point in using it as a billboard for TredWear if people couldn’t see it on the road?

This ain’t no trailer queen, and as Michael and Lee quickly point out, what would be the point in using it as a billboard for TredWear if people couldn’t see it on the road?

HEIDI ELZAS

Bob and Preston Folkestad swapped Ford’s 7.3 liter Godzilla engine into their 1988 Mustang and prepped it to compete in the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge.

he notion of built versus bought is a con tentious subject that can lead to heated debates in the car community. Either way, Bob and Preston Folkestad, the father and son team at Creative Werks, have taken the built side to a new level Their 1988 Mustang GT was built around Ford’s new 7.3 liter Godzilla engine, and Foxzilla, as they call it, has morphed into a monster worthy of the name They use this radical car as a test bed for developing parts for this new engine platform. Along the way, they have utilized the talent of local experts in the Des Moines, Iowa, area and sought feedback from the racing community the Folkestads have been a part of for many years They started with a $1,000 rusted out Mustang, and within 10 months had completely transformed it to a vehicle ready to take on the Optima Ultimate Street Car Outlaw class at Road America 2022.

This Mustang was meant to be driven relentlessly, and in doing so, catastrophic failures can often be the result. So far, Preston’s Mustang has already had two development engines installed, and multiple proto type parts have been refined as testing progressed. The upside, however, is that the amount of data collected has only resulted in improvements for the modi fications to the 7.3 liter engine, including the Indy Power Products Oil Conversion system Even after a crash at Road America earlier this year, data shows that the parts are not only reliable but also safe under extreme conditions

Almost ever y inch of Foxzilla has been altered, so don’t expect to find many original Mustang parts on the car. Creative Werks went well past the point of simply adding bolt on parts and instead created many of the parts from scratch. In their shop, we were able to see the process for ourselves Utilizing 3D printers and a 5 axis CNC machine, Creative Werks turns blocks of billet into prototype products, then tests them on their Mustang before finalized designs are available Case in point: Creative Werks made the intake manifold and billet valve covers The intake incorporates an air to water intercooler and

Almost every inch of Foxzilla has been altered, so don’t expect to find many original Mustang parts on the car.

ZY GODZILLA

valve covers feature 12 ORB fittings for crankcase ventila tion. Even the wiring harness and electronic components are produced in house The customized wiring harness was made specifically to reduce the number of failure points the Mustang may have Foxzilla runs on Emtron’s KV8 ECU Its complete and comprehensive range of controls and data logging allow Creative Werks and Off the Line Performance to analyze and further the development of the Godzilla engine and its complementar y components

On the road, Foxzilla com mands attention with wide fend ers and bold Blue Steele paint

serving up that powerful visual punch. The crowd of onlookers grows deeper as the ProCharger F 1A 94 sings its distinctive sound Apart from the obvi ous details, it’s the more subtle items that set this car apart. The rollcage design was a team effort by Bob Johnson, a family friend, and Billy Johnson, a driv ing coach. The latter Johnson has an extensive racing career as well as experience as a test driver for Ford, involved with the development of cars such as the GT350/R and the current GT500 The ’ cage was then com pleted by 515 Fabrication, just one of several local companies that took part in making the Fox body safe

CRA

Riding in the Mustang, you get the keen sense that the Godzilla engine is barely con tained Making upward of 850 hp, you can feel the impatient hunger lurking within it. At idle, the car shakes and quivers as if it’s ready to pounce The slightest throttle opening immediately jolts you back into the seat, giddy with satisfaction It is reas suring to know that once it gets going, you will have the ability to stop, thanks to the Brembo GT R brakes peeking out of the white Forgeline FFI wheels While the white wheels are hard to keep pristine during vigor ous competitive racing, they

complement Foxzilla well with a pop of contrast against the bold blue paint

Foxzilla is still in the early racing stages as it goes into competition unproven, but with Preston being the 2021 Optima Ultimate Street Car GTT Cham pion, this Mustang is not to be overlooked. If past performance is an indicator of future success, it’s worth keeping an eye on the wild world of the Outlaw class this year. Yes, the Folkestads’ Fox body will continue to be a head turner, but it’s their dedica tion to relentless testing in pur suit of perfection that will land them in victory lane.

D

ome might call it evolution while others might argue adaptation, but either way, today’s classic trucks are nothing like they were envisioned to be when built over 50 years ago Back then, trucks like the Chevy C10 or its GMC cousin were designed and built by GM to work hard, haul cargo, and generally lead a tough life before being parked out back and replaced with a new truck. Some older trucks did get hot rodded, but it’s a relatively recent phenomenon that has these classic trucks of the ’60s and ’70s being made over into corner carving muscle trucks

STEVEN RUPP

ES I G N E D TO H A U L C A R G O, T H I S P R O TO U R I N G M USC L E T R U C K N O W H A U L S SO M E T H I N G E L S E .

TRACK WARRIOR TRUCK

Such is the case of Danny Cartwright’s 1968 GMC truck, which is being used in a way never envisioned by the engineers who designed it Cartwright has had many 1967 1972 trucks over the years As he told HOT ROD, “GMC used to be harder to find than Chevrolet, so when I found out that the guy I bought tooling from had one, I talked him into selling it to me, but it took a while He had it completely disassembled, so when I bought it in 2005, it was just parts, but they were all there except one motor mount and the driveshaft. My plans were to start building it right away. But that same year I was diagnosed with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma, so the truck was put in the barn, where it sat until Februar y 2021 when I finally started on it ”

With the truck in Cartwright’s garage, he could start giving it the Pro Touring treatment. To get the project going in the right direc tion he took the advice of his friends Brian Finch and Mark Turner That advice turned out to be one of Finch’s Apex Predator chassis “I had been driving a ’68 Chevy C10 that I built in 2013, but after driv ing one of Finch Performance’s Apex Predator chassis, I knew that I wanted to do that to this GMC truck. It handles so much better than what I had before,” recalled Cartwright

TRACK WARRIOR TRUCK

Once Cartwright had the new chassis, he had just seven months to get the truck ready to debut at the 2021 Holley LS Fest While he was messing with the suspension, Scoggin Dickey was wrenching together a 427 inch (7.0 liter for the metric folk) LS7 with a lumpy Texas Speed cam, FAST 102 intake, and tons of dry sump goodness Backing up the LS swap is a Bowler Performance six speed Tremec Magnum trans that sends power back to the Motive gears and Yukon posi in the Moser 9 inch floater rear. The LS7 exhales through a stainless 3 inch exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers, and sips fuel via a Tanks Inc pump nestled in a Boyd’s tank Cooling duties are left to the AFCO radiator and AFCO adjustable shocks keep the tires pressed to the asphalt.

The body of the GMC truck was shot in Hot Rod Flatz single stage yellow, and the hood, grill, and bumpers were shot in flat Charcoal Wilwood disc brakes reside inside three piece Forgeline wheels wrapped in wide BFG Rival rubber

TRACK WARRIOR TRUCK

The interior is simple and all business, with Corbeau seats to keep Cartwright in place and a Holley 12 5 inch digital dash and ECU to keep track of ever ything A suede Sparco wheel mounted to the tilt column via an NRG quick release unit keeps the truck pointed in the right direction, and the hand built rollbar adds safety and chassis rigidity There’s even a Vintage Air system to keep ever yone comfy on long drives to the track Other bits include all new wiring from American Autowire and an Optima batter y to bring the electronics to life.

Every bit of the work done to this GMC truck was performed by Cartwright, a badge that he wears with quite a bit of deserved pride Since debuting at the 2021 Holly LS Fest, the truck has been sorted out at other events, culminating in a win at the Bowler Transmissions Midwest Muscle Car Challenge Barry Clapp from Graphic Effects added a back stripe and a flag to the roof, but aside from that, no changes are planned other than getting as much seat time as possible

All we can say is that seeing these old work trucks rampaging around a track makes us wonder why this hot rodded truck trend didn’t start decades ago

Every

bit of the work done to this GMC truck was performed by Cartwright, a badge that he wears with quite a bit of deserved pride.

In the January issue, we featured Gray Baskerville’s ’32 Roadster In that article, we heaped praise on Gray for his witty and engaging writing style, so this month, we present two examples written from his early tenure at HRM Both these features appeared in the February 1979 issue, and both are replete with Gray’s signature humor and clever turns of phrase. Though there’s no writer credited for the single pager on the fiberglass ’32, it’s pretty obviously Gray.

❱Did you know every page of every issue of HOT ROD is available for viewing on the MotorTrend App? That’s right, 900 issues (and counting) and more than 128,000 pages of HRM have been scanned, digitized, and are presented in an easy to read format. Download the app and catch upon 75 years of HOT ROD history.

Vintage racing on the beach in Denmark.

eople have been racing on the beach more or less since the invention of the automobile. The Race of Gentle men, the event that relaunched modern beach racing in 2012, can trace its origins back to 1905 and a 1 mile race in Cape May, New Jersey, that included Louis Chevrolet and Henry Ford. While Cape May was regarded as the “finest racing beach” in the world, The Race of Gentlemen relocated from Asbury Park to nearby Wildwood for its flatter, wider beaches and legendary boardwalk

DANISH BEACH PARTY

Over in the UK, there was Pendine, and in Denmark, Danes got their start on August 23, 1919, when Sven Simmelkær organized the first Danish event, but only after Fanø beach had been cleared of World War I mines In 1923, driving his famous Bluebird, Sir Malcolm Campbell set the fastest time to date of 240 kph, or about 150 mph Unfortunately, racing was curtailed the following year after Campbell lost a tire, which killed a spectator.

Shift gears to 2016 when Thomas Toft Bredahl, Carsten Bech, Steffen Sonnberg, Finn Andresen, and Holger Sonnberg revived Danish beach racing at Rømø, another even more expansive beach just south of Fanø on the west coast of Denmark. The 1⁄8 mile drag race is held on a public road, albeit a sand road, and consequently, there is no pre event access to the beach Setup cannot begin before 5 a m on race day, and at the end, everything must be returned to the way it was something the Danes are good at. Also, because it’s

DANISH BEACH PARTY

a public road there is no entry fee. That’s right the spectators pay nothing to attend. The only income for the organizers is from race entries, merch, sponsors, and vendors

My host for the weekend was McLaren F1 designer Peter Stevens, who races a ’25 turtle deck T roadster with a Winfield headed banger that, at Pendine, runs about 84 mph. To get to Rømø, we took a six hour ferry from Harwich in England to the Hook of Holland, then drove 470 miles north through the Netherlands and Germany into Denmark A forgettable trip except for the no speed limit autobahns mad with Bimmers, Mercs, Porsches, and endless white vans rocket ing by at breakneck speeds

Denmark is known for cutting edge design Think Legoland, but out on the west coast facing the North Sea It’s a step back to simpler times where there is no trash, and the people are trusting. For example, when we had an overheating problem, we drove the T to Finn Andresen’s garage, where Finn helped us flush and weld

Setup cannot begin before 5 a.m. on race day, and at the end, everything must be returned to the way it was—something the Danes are good at. + + + + +

DANISH BEACH PARTY

the rad While we waited, Finn took off and left us in charge of his shop Imagine!

There’s only one two lane road from the mainland out to Rømø, and with 20,000 plus people arriving from all over Europe in Ameri can cars, trucks, and trailers, the causeway gets pretty crowded, as do the narrow roads leading to Lakolk Strand (the beach) Somehow, everybody arrives and leaves with minimum hassle.

Tech inspection takes place on the Friday before the race at a dif ferent location on the south of the island, which means that you get to see all the entries crusin’ the street sans fenders, mufflers, etc After tech, we drove out to Sønderstrand, another endless beach, for a photo op, while others attended the first of two big parties. I took a blast up the beach in Swede Krister Lindblom’s Deuce Roadster pow ered by a 304ci flattie with parts sourced from H&H Flatheads

Racing begins at a civilized 10 a m , and there really aren’t any groupings, you just pair off with who you want to race and go for it.

Racing begins at a civilized 10 a.m., and there really aren’t any groupings, you just pair off with who you want to race and go for it.

DANISH BEACH PARTY

Despite our pre race overheating problems, Peter did well and won 8 or 9 of his 10 races Nobody, not even us, was really keeping score It was just fun to be having a good time with cars.

Besides the expected field of flathead powered early Ford hot rods, there was an unexpectedly eclectic field of bikes and cars ranging from a monstrous Hispano Suiza to a tiny Austin 7 and a Morris 8 There were several British prewar Riley sports cars, a Bentley, and a Packard. Our favorite car, however, was a Harley powered Swedish Formula 3/500 built in 1947 by the father of the late Swedish Formula 1 World Champion, Ronnie Peterson

When all was said and done, the fastest car of the day at 111 kph (about 70 mph) was former Top Fuel racer Jens Nybo’s S.Co.T. blown, Ardun headed, flathead Ford powered ’34 5 window with Krister Lindblom hot on his tail If the Rømø Motor Festival has never been on your radar, then add it to your list

QWHY THE COYOTE 5.0?

The Coyote 5.0 engine is a popular choice for a variety of reasons, from junkyard availability to the fact that it’s an easy and affordable way to add big power to your street car If you’ve been living off the grid for the last decade, here is a quick rundown on Ford’s latest OHC powerplant

The base Coyote 5 0 spans three generations, with each iteration building on the previous platform Through the three generations, the 5 0 powerplant has maintained its core values of four valves per cylinder and variable camshaft tim ing, providing ample low end torque and impressive top end power The vener able DOHC combination also responds very well to boost, making it the perfect powerplant to stay ahead of the Hellcats and Demons lurking on your block

The Coyote powerplant has been the standard V8 option for Mustang and F series trucks since it launched in 2011 to much fanfare The Gen 1 platform produces 420 hp in the Mustang platform and the Gen 2 checks into the party at 435 hp The latest Coyote, the Gen 3, is the boldest base V8 of all, with 460 hp, thanks (mostly) to the better cylinder heads and intake manifold, higher com pression, and direct injection The large build volumes mean there are plenty of cores in the junkyards, and it is the darling of several late model Ford engine shops in the form of crate engines or custom builds

01The engine is simple it’s a Gen 2 long block that ben efits from a Roots blower from VMP Performance and makes close to 700 rwhp with a 75mm pulley and a mix of VP Racing Fuels MS109 and 93 octane pump gas

QBuild Breakdown

Our test vehicle, an almond colored 1989 Mustang LX, belongs to Mike Jovanis, and he performed the Coyote swap because he couldn’t stand see ing so many LS swapped Mustangs in

his travels around the country with his “other ” street car His name should be familiar with street legal drag racing fans; he competed on HOT ROD Drag Week in 2016 and 2017 and is a 13 time NMRA/NMCA True Street winner But that was with his mid 7 second turbo charged Mustang The uniquely hued Mustang in this story is his daily driver for trips around town with the family

A VMP Performance supercharged Gen 2 Coyote sits between the fram erails while a Hughes Performance 6R80 automatic transmission backs

it A Ford Performance Control Pack houses a factory ECU, which has been tuned by Lund Racing and makes the powerful combination run smoothly A full UPR suspension, front and back, has been bolted into the clean Fox Mustang, and a set of Baer brakes brings it all to a stop in a hurry The car produced 640 rwhp with a 79mm blower pulley and ran 9 82 at 138 mph at the dragstrip with a smaller 75mm blower pulley and several gal lons VP Racing Fuels MS109 unleaded race gas mixed with 93 octane pump gas in the tank

02The Holley Coyote swap oil pan offers better clearance and perfor mance over the factory pan.

QWill the Holley Oil Pan Fit?

The engine was sourced from a 2015 Mustang GT and wore the original oil pan, which is where our story begins The standard polyurethane motor mounts presented Jovanis with two challenges The first was the oil pan clearing the tubular K member and steering rack The second issue was his desire to retain the factory hood, which is a problem with most positive displacement supercharger systems

The simple solution is to add shims to the motor mounts and K member, one set to elevate the engine for oil pan clearance and a second set to drop the K member down for the blower to clear the factory hood

After driving the car for a year and making several trips to the dragstrip,

Jovanis came upon the Holley Coyote swap oil pan and decided to make the switch The pan has been designed with extra clearance in the middle to clear the K member and rack and pinion steering, eliminating the need for shims In addition to the clearance, the pan offers several improvements over stock

03Our pan swap was per formed while the engine was in the car This com plicates the process, but it certainly was not impossible The first step was to drain the oil, which was followed by securing the engine in place using an engine support bar on the topside and a few adjustable under hoist stands for extra safety on the bottom

The Holley pan fits the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Coyote platform but not the Gen 3 powerplant, which has a slightly dif ferent oil pan design The aftermarket oil pan features a low profile geometry that is compatible with the factory K member in the 1984 2004 Mustang Despite the advantageous shape, it still holds eight quarts of oil Holley notes the 1984 1995 vehicles require a special Hooker Blackheart engine mounting bracket It also fits the popular tubular K member kits from UPR, AJE, Team Z Motorsports, and Maximum Motorsports

A bung is built into the pan to accept the Mustang Coyote oil level sensor, which is located on the left side of the sump An AN10 port is located in the front sump for an easy drainback solution for certain turbo or supercharger systems And finally, Holley ensured the pan is compatible with the popular Coyote swap head ers such as Hooker Blackheart, Kooks, American Racing, and many more

The swap was performed in Jovanis’ garage, which boasts a lift and a sizable collection of tools that made the job easier, including an engine brace to hold the Coyote in place when the K member was dropped down Swapping oil pans with the engine already in the car took roughly an evening to complete with the help of a few friends. It is an easy task to perform on the engine stand, so be sure to plan ahead if you are looking to do a Coyote swap in your Fox body Mustang

In a world of LS swaps, Holley is making it easier to remain faithful to the Blue Oval with its Coyote swap pan

04Here is the factory pan on the bottom of the Gen 2 Coyote, which forced Jovanis to use spacers for it to fit under the stock hood with the Roots supercharger

Once

A pair of spacers are required to lower an aftermarket K member to make the full Coyote swap package, including supercharger, fit under the stock hood We ditched these with the Holley pan

Make it Happen!

Ford rolled out a 2024 Mustang GT3 race car during the 2024 Mustang launch—but what about a Cobra Jet? ❱

The Mustang Cobra Jet has a history of dominating the dragstrip since 1968, and the modern program continues that tradition So, when Ford revealed the 2024 Mustang and announced its intention to compete in IMSA, WEC, and Le Mans with a GT3 spec race car, we asked, “What about a Cobra Jet model?”

The question made a few unnamed insiders a little uncomfortable, so we took it upon ourselves to give the Mustang community a vision of what the 2024 Mustang Cobra Jet could be Our imaginations didn’t have to run too wild the graphics are the iconic Cobra Jet snake on the rear quarter panels, and the wheel/tire package is carried over from the 50th Anniversary 2018 Mustang Cobra Jet

MICHAEL GALIMI

ILLUSTRATION: RYAN LUGO

Source Ford Performance; performance ford com

These renderings leave us with little doubt that Ford should be forging ahead with a Cobra Jet race car package After all, Dodge is continuing its Drag Pak program, and the Factory Showdown category in NHRA and NMCA sanctioning bodies is proof that these vehicles resonate with racers and fans

Developing the Powertrain

Ford could easily turn an ordinary 2024 Mustang into a Cobra Jet using its tried and tested parts bin and build process The company has been fine tuning the modern Cobra Jet since it was released in 2008, so why mess with success? If we were leading the Cobra Jet development team, our first choice would be to tap the 2018 powertrain for the new S650 chassis Sure, the new Gen 4 Coyote 5 0 liter engine represents the latest in V8 technology but being competitive with the Chevrolet COPO Camaro and Dodge Challenger Drag Pak should be paramount in powertrain selection The final Cobra Jet turns 8 30s from the dealer using a supercharged 5 2 liter engine That same package goes deep into the 7s at over 180 mph in “shootout” trim

The engine block comes from the third generation Coyote family, and Ford Performance fills it with a steel crankshaft from the GT500, Manley H beam rods with ARP hardware, and Mahle forged pistons. The cylinder heads feature

oversized and over the top titanium valves, probably something that could be ditched based on current racer feedback The ports are specifically designed for a supercharged application The boost maker is a Whipple Superchargers Gen 5 3 0 liter, which uses twin screw rotors and a dual pass air to water intercooler

Final output is buried deep in a file somewhere, probably due to NHRA/NMCA restrictions, but based on the vehicle’s performance, we wouldn’t be surprised if it cranks the dyno up to 1,300 hp That is a far cry from the supercharged 5 4 liter in the 2008 model that was detuned to make an “NHRA rated” 425 hp (wink wink) The rest of the drivetrain would remain unchanged, with a fortified three speed automatic transmission and the same torque converter package based on the TH400 transmission It would spin a chromoly driveshaft connected to a near bulletproof Ford 9 inch rear housing

Not much is known about the front suspension; we’re assuming an S650 based setup would need to be developed The logical choice would be to adapt the race bred struts from the S550 platform, enabling them to bolt into the new strut towers Out back, the last Cobra Jet benefits from a race inspired four link rear suspension and uses coilover rear shocks, something that could be easily configured for use on the new chassis Naturally, an SFI 25 5 spec rollcage would have to be custom fit to the new S650 interior

A Brief History of the Cobra Jet

The original Cobra Jet concept was hatched by noted Ford dealer Bob Tasca when he recognized the need for more power during the muscle car wars of the ’60s His solution was to take the 428 FE short block and bolt on the higher flowing 427 cylinder heads The higher output not only helped his Mustang KR8 beat the competition, but it also garnered the attention of Ford execs In 1968, the company released 50 lightweight 428 Cobra Jet Mustangs with the intention of dominating the dragstrip

They achieved that goal during the 1968 NHRA Winternationals at the Pomona Fairgrounds when Al Joniec won the Super Stock category He competed in a specially prepared race car that was one of six Cobra Jet Mustangs on the Ford fac tory team After 1974, the Cobra Jet package went silent in the halls of Ford Motor Company and stayed that way for over 30 years

Fast forward to the launch of the 2005 Mustang, with its retro looks and booming enthusiast following an old idea suddenly became new again The Ford Performance division knew it had a winner on its hands, as the speed division was seeing record sales thanks to the S197 platform It presented the perfect opportu nity for an intelligent group of marketers to reintroduce the Cobra Jet on the 40th anniversary of its predecessor.

The 2008 Mustang Cobra Jet, as it was named, reinvigorated the NHRA Stock Eliminator ranks as a turnkey sportsman drag race vehicle Unlike the 1968 Cobra Jet Mustang, this one wasn’t street legal, and Ford had it race prepped from the factory The 2008 model is NHRA legal to go as quick as 10 00, and most drag racers got it to run mid 10s with little more than a custom ECU calibration, minor tweaks, and great driving skills

The excitement and parts bin from the program would spark a drag racing craze within Ford, allowing its marketing program to thrive over the next decade Each passing Cobra Jet model took one big step forward from the previous iteration Ford made 50 Cobra Jet units in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and finally in 2018, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their successful Winternationals performance

Raise your hand and talk loudly on social media if you think Ford should bring back the Mustang Cobra Jet!

01 John Gore built this 383 for his wife’s 1968 Camaro, and according to him, it’s going to be driven hard. Starting with a two piece rear-main seal GM block, the bores were taken out to 4.030 inches and prepped for the new rotating kit from Summit Racing. The Eagle stroker kit (PN ESP B15405E030) is an amazing value at only $875 For that stack of cash, you get a new cast steel 3 750 inch crank, Eagle forged SIR I beam rods, Keith Black hypereutectic pistons, Perfect Circle plasma-moly rings, and all the bearings. On top of that you even get a flexplate and a harmonic balancer. The +5.00cc pistons combined with the AFR head ’s combustion chamber gave a pump gas happy 11.0:1 compres sion ratio.

01 02 03

02 The short-block was topped with a pair of fully CNC machined, high flowing AFR 195cc Eliminator heads that utilize L98 geometry. These affordable aluminum heads (PN AFR-1038, $1,857/pair) feature 64cc runners, 2.050 inch intake valves, 1 600 inch exhaust valves, dual valvesprings, and chromoly steel retainers.

03 The rest of the valvetrain consists of a Comp Xtreme Energy flat tappet camshaft (PN CCA 82 246 4, $235), Comp lifters, and a set of 1.65 ratio Harland Sharp roller rockers. The combo makes for good power at a wallet-friendly price. For those into details, the XE274H cam penciled out at 230/236 degrees of duration with 0 487/0 490 inch lift and a 110 LSA.

08 09

QThe 100 shot of nitrous really woke up this small block. Horsepower shot up to 552 at 5,200 rpm, and the engine made 550 plus hp from 4,800 rpm all the way to 6,000 rpm. Did you want torque? Well, how about 610 lb ft at 4,700 rpm? That’s a gain of 142 lb ft from the 100 shot of happy gas, perfect for when the Camaro wants to hit the drag strip. Our quick math put this build well under $5,500 for all new parts (excepting the block, but including the nitrous kit) that can knock out over 550 hp and a whopping 610 pound of twist whenever called upon to do so. To us, that is a lot of

for the performance buck

bang

08 09 Once mounted to Westech’s Superflow 902 dyno the 383 stroker Chevy was given a set of 1.75 inch long tube dyno headers, filled with Lucas 20w-50 break-in oil (critical since they went with a flat tappet setup), and run though the pre-programmed break-in procedure. On premium pump gas, without nitrous, the small block Chevy spat out a best pull of 436 hp at 5,900 rpm and 468 lb ft of torque at 4,100 rpm. That’s certainly enough grunt to rip around town, but the plan here was always for nitrous Now, they could have kept pump gas in the tank, but at Westech they like to play safe, especially with hypereutectic pistons, so the tank was topped off with 110 octane Sunoco race gas that was supplied to the 383 stroker by the dyno’s Aeromotive fuel system

SLIPPERY SITUATION

Is diesel motor oil the right choice for a gasoline engine?

LAKE SPEED JR.

It is widely known that diesel engine oils contain more zinc (ZDDP) than regular passenger car motor oils, but does that make a diesel engine oil (HD) a good choice for hot rods or race cars? To answer that question, we need to understand the other differences between diesel oils, passenger car oils, and high performance oils

❱

Let’s talk about zinc When we say zinc in reference to motor oil, we are referring to the compound zinc dialkyldithiophosphates That’s hard to say or spell, so we just call it zinc or ZDDP Either way, it is a powerful anti wear additive and antioxi dant However, not all ZDDP is the same What? Yep, those brilliant chemists at the oil companies can fine tune the way ZDDP works in the engine That might sound weird, but ZDDP works sacrificially ZDDP sacrifices itself to protect your engine and by tweaking the chemistry behind it, the conditions required for the ZDDP to activate can change

Why does this matter? Because the type of ZDDP in diesel engine oil is not the same as the ZDDP in gasoline engine oil This is an important difference; diesel engines run at lower rpm than gasoline engines, so that difference in engine speed changes the way the ZDDP needs to activate to provide anti wear protection. To get a little technical, diesel engine oils typically contain primary ZDDP, and gasoline

engine oils contain a blend of secondary and primary ZDDP As a side note, racing oils just contain secondary ZDDP Both types of ZDDP offer anti wear protection, but the gasoline type of ZDDP provides more protection for higher speed engines (think bigger valvesprings)

So, more ZDDP isn’t better? That’s right Just adding more ZDDP to an oil doesn’t mean it will provide better wear protection In fact, too much ZDDP can increase wear You need both the right kind of ZDDP for the engine type and the right amount of that ZDDP It’s like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: not too much, not too little, just right And in case you didn’t know, some die sel engine oils don’t have more ZDDP than gasoline engine oils (also known as passenger car motor oil, or PCMO) So, if the type and amount of ZDDP in a diesel engine oil is not ideal for a high performance gasoline engine, is that the only reason not to use it in a gasoline engine?

Going back to engine speed, there are other additives in the oil tailored to the lower rpm of diesel engines The first that come to mind are anti foam additives The churning of the motor oil in the crankcase by the motion of the crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons creates a frothy mess To combat that, anti foam additives are blended into the oil. The type and amount of anti foam additives in an oil varies by the type of oil You’ve probably already guessed it, but yes, diesel engine oils have a different amount of anti foam additive For example, a typical diesel oil formula might have less than 5 parts per million (PPM) of anti foam additive A racing oil designed for higher rpm engines will have up to 10 PPM of anti foam additive That’s a significant difference for this type of additive, and it can have an impact on your engine’s health and performance

Air is a terrible lubricant, so aerated oil can lead to bearing failure and a host of other problems Today’s variable valve timing and displacement on demand engines rely on the engine oil to function as a hydraulic fluid as well as a lubricant Aerated oil is compressible, so it can negatively affect the func tion of these systems

But wait, there’s more! Diesel engine oils contain high levels of detergent and dispersant additives because diesel combustion creates a much dirtier environment If you have a gasoline direct injection engine, pay special attention to this part The high levels of calcium detergent additives in most diesel engine oils have been proven to cause detonation in direct injection gasoline engines This even has a special name: low speed preignition (LSPI) The current API SP gasoline engine oil standard reduces the calcium levels in order to pass a low speed preignition test Also, those dispersant additives will hold fuel and moisture in the oil, so a diesel engine oil is not the ideal choice for an engine running on E85, unless you just like your oil to look like a chocolate milkshake

After 15 years of formulating and testing oils, one thing has become abundantly clear: The application always dictates the chemistry When choosing an oil, don’t start with the oil Instead, start by defining the appli cation gas or diesel, boosted or NA, drag race or street, and so on. Let the application determine the type of chemistry needed Here’s a hint: If your car goes to the racetrack on a trailer, you should be using a racing oil The actual brand of oil is the last choice Let the application dictate the chemistry of the oil and then decide which brand delivers that chemistry You don’t need to be an oil formulator to figure this out Trust me, the tech guys at the oil companies love it when customers come to them with all the details of the application and ask for their recommendation Get all your information together before contacting a few different brands available through your supply channels. Things like bearing clearance and operating oil temperature are important when determining the right viscosity oil to use That’s right, 20W 50 is not a one size fits all choice (but we will save that for another article) In the meantime, you know more about oil chemistry, and you have some homework to do At least it’s related to something you love Until next time, happy hot rodding!

Sources

Cool Hand Customs; 608 513 0597; coolhandcustoms com

Duralast; 800 288 6966; duralastparts com Edelbrock; 800 416 8628; edelbrock com Odyssey Battery; odysseybattery com Peak/Old World Products; 800 323 5440; owi com QA1; 952 985 5675; qa1 net Stewart Warner; 800 676 1837; stewartwarner com TCI; 888 776 9824; tciauto com

TMI Products; 888 460 0640; tmiproducts com Wilwood Engineering; 805 388 1188; wilwood com

This is the fourth build in our Car Craft Video series, a project that started nearly one year ago We resurrected a long running print title, Car Craft, and relaunched it as a video build series that runs on You Tube Our first build was a 1972 Challenger that we swapped a Gen III Hemi into From there, we took on another LS swap, this time it was a 6 0L truck engine into a 2008 BMW 3 Series wagon After that, we built a ’67 Mustang coupe that we rescued from the junk yard We got that running and driving with a fresh 351 Windsor and a T5 transmission That brings us up to our current build, a GM G body

❱

The concept for this build started over dinner at a restaurant near QA1’s headquarters in Lakeville,

Minnesota We were discussing different cars and the accompanying drivetrains that they could be built with Someone mentioned a Buick GN, a car I’m quite fond of, but I really struggled with the thought of LS swapping a real Grand National I suggested instead that we perform that operation on a run of the mill Regal or a Regal T Type Another in our group mentioned a Gen III Hemi swap into that car, and I quipped that we could call it the SRT Type. Eyes lit up around the table

Fast forward about five months and behold: Our Hemi swapped Regal is a running reality, and its project name morphed from SRT Type to G Cat, an amalgamation of GM G body and the supercharged

Hellcat spec engine lurking under the stock hood We had a lofty goal of finishing the car in time to run HOT ROD’s Drag Week, and we did just that, but as with everything, there is an asterisk that accompanies that statement

Building a car isn’t easy and building one for Drag Week is something far less than easy Though we hoped to enter and run the car all week, a few hiccups kept us sidelined for the first two days Ultimately, we ran the car down the track and drove it for the last three days of competition Our best pass was a 10 32 at 135 mph, and we’re pretty pleased with that given the short time frame we had to work within

Here’s how it went down

JOHN MCGANN WES ALLISON, JOHN MCGANN, COOL HAND CUSTOMS

01 After an exhaustive, nationwide search, we decided on this clean and surprisingly rust free 1986 Regal that only had three paint jobs on it already. QA1 was the title sponsor of this build, so we wasted no time shipping it to their headquarters in Minnesota and getting right to work.

02 Most G-body Regals came with Buick’s 3 8-liter V6 engine, so we were surprised to see this 307 Oldsmobile V8 under the hood. The 307 was optional for 1986 and 1987, the last year the Regal was offered in rear-wheeldrive. It was rated at 140 hp and 225 lb ft of torque. The transmission was a TH2004R four-speed automatic

03 With QA1 as a major sponsor of this project , of course we’re gonna completely change the suspension, starting at the front In the process, we took the time to also replace the steering gearbox and linkage with new parts from Duralast , giving this car a total front suspension makeover

04 Lending a hand was one of QA1’s engineers, Bill Foley. He was the right guy for the job because he owns a really nice Buick Grand National That’s Ryan Foss man ning the camera on the right .

05 After a couple hours’ work, things were already improving. This is QA1’s Level 3 Drag Race Suspension kit , which includes their tubular upper and lower A arms and their exclusive triple adjustable MOD Series shocks.

06 QA1’s front suspension parts are bolt-in replacements for the stock components. They include Delrin bushings and low friction ball joints.

07 The bolt through the upper control arms is used to adjust the amount of droop in the suspen sion during wheels up launches at the dragstrip. The shocks include adjustments for low- and highspeed compression damping and rebound, and the remote-reservoir design helps improve shock

performance by offering better oil control than a non remote type. The springs included in the kit are slightly taller than those that would be included in a Pro Touringstyle kit .

08 Though QA1’s suspension parts are certainly lighter than the stock stuff, we really shed a massive amount of weight from the front end by installing Wilwood ’s Forged Dynalite Drag Race kit . These brakes mount to the OE style spindle and only increase the track width by about a half an inch. The 10¾-inch rotors fit behind 15-inch wheels, too.

09 We had to modify the stock spindles a bit to mount the Wilwood four-piston calipers. The stock caliper mounting ears needed to be lopped off and the brake dust shield mounting holes enlarged and tapped to accept Wilwood ’s caliper mounting bracket . It’s an easy job, and Wilwood provides detailed instructions.

At the back of the car, we ditched the stock axle assembly for this stout 9-inch from Quick Performance. Check out that billet pinion sup port on the Yukon centersection We ordered 3.70:1 gears and an Eaton Detroit TrueTrac differential

The only prep work we needed to do to the car was to add reinforcing brackets at the upper shock mounts. With our new coilovers, the weight of the vehicle will be concentrated here instead of at the spring perches of the stock system 12 The axle fits in the car at the stock suspension mounting points but does so with QA1’s vastly better upper and lower trailing arms The lowers are square-tube with greaseable polyurethane bushings, and the uppers have spherical bearings on the chassis side and are adjustable so you can set the pinion angle correctly 13 The stock drum brakes were out of the question, so we installed Wilwood ’s Forged Dynalite drag brake kit to match the front Like the front , these come with a four-piston caliper and lightweight rotors. The rotor diameter is 11.4 inches and will fit inside most 15 inch wheels.

13 The combo of the new axle and brakes is still the stock width, so we don’t need wheels with a weird offset These G bodies have rather narrow rear wheelwells, but you can fit a 275 section width tire in there. Any more, and you’ll probably be needing mini-tubs.

14 Like the front , we’re using QA1’s MOD Series coilovers to support our Quick Performance 9 inch This is the version with a piggyback reservoir that’s part of the shock body. Its compact design fits in tight spaces. The modular valve packs are serviceable by changing out the adjustment knobs, and you can do that with the shocks still mounted in the vehicle We also installed a rear antisway bar for straight , drama free launches.

15 It never ceases to amaze us how drastically a set of wheels and tires and a lowering kit can transform the looks of a car. Our Buick looked downright stodgy and boring when we first saw it with its skinny tires, 15 inch wheels, and mile wide wheelwell openings. Now look at it! That’s a set of Billet Specialties wheels we picked up from Summit Racing, and they ’re wearing fresh Mickey Thompson ET Street SS drag radials and a matching set of skinny front runners. The lowered stance gives the car an aggressive look that we soon backed up after a trip to Cool Hand Customs in Middleton, Wisconsin.

16 Cool Hand Customs is a small but mighty shop located outside of Madison, Wisconsin The husband and wife team of EJ and Amy Fitzgerald do everything from welding and fab work to custom paint .

17 They wasted no time getting started on the Regal, and in a few hours’ time, they had the interior removed and were prepping to install a six point rollbar.

18 The Olds 307 and its accompanying TH2004R transmission finally parted ways with the Regal We needed something with a lot more power if we were going to run at Drag Week After a serious bout with the pressure washer and a solid coat of chassis black, our engine compartment was looking good.

19 The six point rollbar came from Wild Ride Race Cars It’s a pre-bent kit that needs to be welded together. It attaches to the frame through holes cut in the floor 20 We’ll be installing a set of Stewart Warner gauges in the stock gauge bezel, so Amy got to work disassembling the stock cluster and refresh ing the bezel in preparation for the new gauges 21 Wiring expert Corey Holmes flew in from San Diego to help us out with this project . Among other things, he wired the gauges into the new gauge panel

Meanwhile, the rest of us got busy trying to fit a Gen III Hemi into a GM G body chassis. Using a junk 5.7 block EJ and Amy had in storage, we attached the new TCI 4L80E transmission via TCI’s adapter bellhousing and hoisted the engine into the engine compartment .

23 Adapter motor mounts weren’t readily available, so EJ decided to make his own based on mounts designed to fit a Hemi into a square body C10 pickup. This was one of at least a dozen times the mock up engine was installed and removed from the car.

24 With the engine set on blocks in about the spot where it would permanently reside, we were able to start building wiring harnesses, mount our new Odyssey battery, set the radiator and fluid coolers in place, and begin to roughly plumb and wire the chassis.

25 Amy installed the new Stewart Warner gauges in the panel she made to fit the stock bezel. We’re using their Muscle Series gauge kit, which includes a large speedometer and tachometer, plus 2 1⁄16 inch gauges for volts, water tempera ture, oil pressure, and fuel level.

26 TMI Products helped us out in a big way by providing a pair of their new Pro Series Sport SS Chicane II seats. Not only are they much lighter than the stock, pillow-back seats originally in our Regal, they look much better. More importantly, the deeply bolstered sides offer comfort and safety for

competitive driving. These are a universal-fit design and come with mounting brackets that can be adapted to fit nearly any car They are also fully customizable, with a ton of different color, material, and stitching choices to select from.

27 It was a great day when the engine was dropped off at Cool Hand Customs This started life as a 6.4 liter crate engine, but we took the liberty of installing Edelbrock’s RPM cylinder heads for ’09 and up Hemis. They are sold complete and fully assembled, and feature CNC machined combus tion chambers and additional porting beneath the valve seats. If that weren’t enough, we topped it off with Edelbrock’s E-Force supercharger. It’s based on Eaton’s highly efficient R2650 TVS highhelix rotor design and is housed in a low profile case that fits under our Regal’s stock hood.

28 TCI’s adapter bellhousing for the 4L80E gave us the option to mount the Duralast starter on either side of the engine, which is very convenient We used an SFI approved flexplate and torque converter from TCI to join the transmission to our boosted Hemi.

29 With all that material hanging off the engine hoist , it just made sense to remove the car ’s front sheetmetal. That way, the engine and transmis sion could be slid right between the framerails and bolted down.

30 After a lot of head scratching, it looked like a set of headers for a Jeep would be the easiest to adapt to our G body EJ sliced and diced the collector to re angle the outlet . He then sprayed and wrapped the headers to help minimize under hood temperatures.

31 With the engine and transmission installed, EJ proceeded to build the exhaust system with a stainless tubing kit we picked up from Summit Racing Note the notch he made in the transmission crossmember to fit the driver side exhaust tube.

32 Though it looks close to finished in this picture, there was still a lot of work to do Among other things, we needed to make a throttle cable, wire in our FAST XFI engine management system, and finish plumbing the car. We used Duralast exclusively for components like the thermostat , belts, fuel filter, starter motor, and any electrical relays we needed to trigger the fans and energize the pumps Check out those cool headlights, too though they look like standard sealed beam lamps, they are actually LED units from Peak. They are a direct replacement for standard halogen headlights but are a lot brighter and emit a pure white light We also used Peak for all our fluids: engine oil, transmission fluid, and, of course, antifreeze

33 With crunch time upon us, we loaded the Regal on the trailer and hauled it to St. Louis for the start of Drag Week

34 One final touch Cool Hand Customs put on the car was this Demon Elmo logo that EJ and Amy airbrushed and hand lettered on the decklid. That’s a play on the Dodge Demon-spec engine, and our car’s particular shade of red. It looks awesome and it’s a great conversation starter

35 With that portion of the job complete, we hauled the Regal to St Louis for the start of HOT ROD Drag Week 2022. As you can imagine with any car built in a tight time frame, we had our share of issues to sort out. Among them were a funky crank sensor and a torn fuel injector O ring that could have ruined our day had we not caught it in time. With the FAST XFI system wired up and communicating happily with the engine and transmission, we set the air/fuel mixture to run on E85, loaded the tank with corn juice, and hit the track for exhibition passes on the second day of competition.

36 Colleague and avid drag racer KJ Jones was the Regal’s pilot for Drag Week. Once we got the drivability issues sorted out, he reported that the car launched hard and had plenty of power. On the track, it ran a best of 10 32 at 135 mph Our Project G-Cat was a set of 15-inch wheels and a dedicated pair of slicks away from low 10’s or possibly a high 9-second pass

37 Overall, we can chalk this up as a win We built this car in less than three months. It ran straight down the track and performed well on the street. Huge thanks go to QA1 and Cool Hand Customs for all their hard work. Left to right in this photo are QA1’s Rob McPherson, Producer/Gopher Cody Busch, EJ and Amy Fitzgerald of Cool Hand Customs, and driver extraordinaire KJ Jones

38 After Drag Week, we shipped the Project G Cat back to QA1, where it will continue to be refined. Their plan is to make it an all around street performer, and their fully adjustable suspension makes that dream a reality. Look for more of our Demon powered Regal at local autocross events and dragstrips in Minnesota, and possibly on next year’s Power Tour and Drag Week.

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The Cover That Almost Was

❱There are a lot of things that factor into the decision of what picture goes on the cover of the magazine You’d think that the best picture of the issue automatically gets the cover, but that’s rarely the case A magazine cover is as much a marketing piece as it is a piece of art You need to hook the reader ’s attention, get them to pick the magazine off the newsstand, want it enough to buy it, and eventually become a subscriber A cover picture needs to tell the story visually, as well as complement the words we put with it

This year, we’re running two different cover pictures, depending on how you get HOT ROD Tom Bailey’s Camaro is on the newsstand version, while subscribers get a picture of Bryant Goldstone’s Javelin after the door was ripped off in what was his best career pass in the car

Last year, this is the picture I seriously considered running on the cover: Mikael Borggren’s turbocharged, LS swapped Volvo surrounded by a sea of tractor trailers It’s very difficult to encapsulate an event in a single picture, but this one, taken by Wes Allison does just that, in my opinion Why didn’t it make the cover? It was a tough call, but part of the expectation (but not a guarantee) is that the overall winner of Drag Week makes the cover The other reason is that I really, really love V8 swapped Volvo 240s, and I was worried that my personal bias was factoring too much into the decision These decisions must always be about the audience and the storytelling, not just about the things I like Still, I love this picture for all the stuff it captures My only regret is that we didn’t do two different covers last year, too!