STOCK/SUPER STOCK DUDE...IT’S GOT A HEMI!
The Hemi that powered the first “street” Hemi in Super Stock into the 8s, John Kakalecik’s beautiful 1970 Cuda has been a race car all its life—and a very fast one at that.
to heat up when you get two cars lined up with the same index. Then it becomes a headsup no break-out race with the driver getting to the finish line first taking the win. Teardowns to ensure everyone is playing by the rules are not uncommon in tight forms of class racing. Sometimes tech inspectors will remove a cylinder head or even go so far as to check a rod to make sure your engine
builder didn’t try to sneak one in. Most competitors play by the rules, though, simply to prove that they can build the best total package over their opponents. And, as always, the battle of the brands comes into play. Chevy wants to beat Ford and Mopar and so on. Creating a fair playing field was important in these classes and history speaks to just how good
the powers that be are at doing that. In 1978, Jim Waldo became the first stocker in the 10s and it would be 23 years later that Bobby DeArmond would be the first to go in the 9s…that’s 23 years to pick up one second! It then took 11 more years to drop into the 8s when Don Fezell took his AA/S 2008 Mustang down the quarter-mile to light the clocks up with the first 8-second run in NHRA
Stock, and now the 7-second mark is right around the corner with records dropping almost monthly. Class racer David Barton is just one example of how good the guys and gals that race Stock and Super Stock are. His FS/ AA Copo Camaro runs on an index of 9.40 and this past October at the Dutch Classic in Maple Grove, PA he blew the record away running 8.073 at 153.37 mph! And get this: word is that the
RACIN’ THE BIG BOYS
NHRA Pro Stock car owner and co-owner of Gray Motorsports Victor Cagnazzi is having fun these days with the stocker crowd in his fifth-gen Camaro.
shifter popped out of high gear and knocked almost 15 mph off of his 8.074/168.05 run. The Gary Wolkwitz-owned Chevy is knocking on the 7-second door in the quarter-mile and I think it’s safe to say it will probably happen for someone this season as Tasca and Holbrook are also gunning for the same goal in their Mustangs. Of course not everybody can afford or has the desire to go that quick
www.rpm-mag.com | march 2017
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