Saw Dave Dudek's Hemi Challenger run an 11.03/133 MPH with a 1.89 60 ft. with a 4 speed :eek: on bias plys..pretty freakin' cool graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Greg Gessler and his Buick GS 455 won with a 11.02/128 MPH with 1.84 60 ft.
Saw a real nice 70 LS6 run in the pure stock class with mid 13 second ETs and a stock 72 LS5 Chevelle running mid 14's at 100 MPH,smog pump and all.

Man the air must have been good as the best i've seen for either of these cars is in the mid 11.3 second range at a little over 124 MPH for the Hemi car. Is this race on tape or a website anywhere?

Harold,there was serious mineshaft air today..slowest MPH for the hemi car was either 130 or 131
You might want to check the website
http://www.factorystockmusclecars.com/

Damn, those cars are flying! I saw them lay down some low 11 second passes back in the summer her in Atlanta. Very impressive!

A local guy i know is going to have Greg Gessler port an intake that is going on his newly purchased, original '70 Buick GSX that even has the original front spoiler. I don't care for the spoiler too much but it came with the car. This Buick and the '70 Stage 1 that i own were garage mates for a while at the previous owners house. Neither were anywhere near as fast as my '67 SS 396-375 Chevelle. The times they are getting out of them now just goes to show how much talent people like Gessler and Dudek have. My nearly stock GS has never run a twelve since i've owned it. The Chevelle ran mid 11's. I'll bet the Vipers run and hide when those two cars come around.

Here's more about the Buick vs. Hemi at Englishtown.

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=59671

Gessler flat owns that Whoop Azz can. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Congrats Greg !

DA was 1200 ft. below sea level :eek:
Best I've seen was 900 ft. below when I raced there in Feb. of this year

stock 72 LS5 Chevelle running mid 14's at 100 MPH,smog pump and all.Actually, that was a '71. I was there on Saturday with a Sapphire Blue (purple) '95 Mustang GT running tiem trials. The '71 was a VERY nice car.

Sure was killer air. I would like for my son's Chevelle to make one trip down the strip in that kind of air. One good eighth mile recently but can't get the back half of the run down. The best eighth mile is 5.79 @ 118.9 MPH so far. Wow, -1200 ft. air.

Guys,

Here is a pic I took from Gonzo's November Englishtown event being discussed here. Do one of you own this one?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/blownb310/FAST%20class/Cnv0144.jpg

BTW, the Year One Commerce Challenge event that Ken mentioned is available on DVD. Gessler set the 11.17 record there. Details HERE (http://forum.yearone.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=885&PN=2) and feedback HERE (http://forum.yearone.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=904&get=last#6243).

Cheers,
Mike

How big are the engines in these cars. Doesnt F.A.S.T. stand for factory appearing stock tire? To level the playing field they should change it to factory appearing same tire. Some cars came with bigger tires than others. What about weight. Can you run more motor with a heavier car? If there were no limitations then surely something like a light weight Nova with a huge motor or maybe a Hemi dart would be dominant. Do they have to run a factory block? Does it have to be period correct? How about year correct. I tried to make a few passes in my Chevelle on 295/50 T/As once. It was like driving on ice. I couldnt get into the throttle until I was in third gear. Suddenly my 11 second car became a 13 second car.

I believe if you go onto the Year One website, they have a link to the F.A.S.T drags with all the rules and regs.

I believe if you go onto the Year One website, they have a link to the F.A.S.T drags with all the rules and regs.
Thanks I will check that out.

How big are the engines in these cars. Doesnt F.A.S.T. stand for factory appearing stock tire?

Most of the engines in those cars are between 490" and 540" from what I have heard. Gessler and Dudek both run on G60x15 reproduction bias ply tires ~ the size that came on their cars, but even the cars that run on G70x14's have been in the low 11 teens. These guys can really drive um!

Year One is doing a two day F.A.S.T. event near Atlanta next month. April 22-23 with the 24th for a rain date.

Here's a link to their discussion forum. http://forum.yearone.com/

Yes,
Gessler's 455 Buick is at 493 cubes, and Dudek's Hemi is 486 c.i. Terry Pennington's alloy powered ZL-1 Camaro is of unknown cubic inches [at least to me], and has run 11.24 on reproduction Polyglas G70-14's.

It will be interesting to see what Wayne Nelson's L-88 Stingray will run this year. He ran in the 11.70's last year with only 439 c.i. He is just finishing up a "big one" for this season.

Mike Kamm

These FAST class cars are amazing :thumbsup:

They'll be at LVD in May

These FAST class cars are amazing :thumbsup:

They'll be at LVD in May I'll be there too. Lebanon Valley Dragway is only 18 minutes from home. http://forum.yearone.com/smileys/smiley1.gif

I would like to know how they get the engines to breath with the factory cast iron exhausts on the larger cubic inch motors even with an "x" pipe. Also unbelievable is how to get the tires to bite. They must be dialing back the ignition timing to get the street rubber to hold against those big motors.

I believe the tires are soaked in solvents until they decompose into a sticky goo. I don't think they get very many runs out of them.

Tires are soaked in bug and tar remover. Factory appearing stock tire = lots of room for fudging everything else. Slew contol anyone?

Thomas

I would like to know how they get the engines to breath with the factory cast iron exhausts on the larger cubic inch motors even with an "x" pipe. Also unbelievable is how to get the tires to bite. They must be dialing back the ignition timing to get the street rubber to hold against those big motors.
They have the exhaust manifolds "extrude ported" I believe it's called, where a liquid slurry with cutting abrasives is pumped through them to open them up. Some retard the cam to kill some bottom end. There are some extreme front end lightening (acid dipping) and rear end ballast things going on too. I've heard of one with the engine set back slighly.

Gessler Head Porting is the man to go to for the exhaust manifold porting. That Buick 60 foots in the 1.70's and has been the stopper on the Mopar products. It's been 3 mph behind the Hemi stuff but Greg didn't get the nick name the "Snake" for nothing. He works real hard at getting the ports balenced form what I've read and seen. He usually has a table at the FAST events that have some of his machine work to show.

If anybody is interested in seeing this stuff run on video Mike Kamm has DVD's of past races. All are good quantity. They even show some wheel dyno runs on 4 cars at the last event. Thumbs up on the video's, they are really good.

Jim

Thanks for the kudos Jim!

Harold,
Yes dialing back ignition timing is one of many things these guys do to apply the power slowly and smoothly. Slowing down the vacuum secondaries works well too. My latest Commerce Challenge DVD actually shows the secondaries on Gessler's Buick Q-jet opening in real time while on the chassis dyno. Did you catch that in the opening action compilation Jim? http://www.v8buick.com/images/smilies/naughty.gif

Mike you are so tricky! Love the rear wheel dyno action. Need to get Dudek involved in the next one. Mike, give me your point of view in what we will see this year in FAST? My opinion...........................

10's will be broken with the bias ply tires. The cars have been cutting .25 sec average per year. They will need good air in a spring or fall day.

To win events Dudek and and Joel need automatic transmissions. If they do they will slow 2mph and the racing will be even.

Pure stock............

JJ will go the fastest with the L-88 vette. 3400lbs with the 530 dynoed horsepower. Weight to power ratio and his shifting ability make him unstoppable. He does need to certify again to prove to the mopar guys that it is real. The Mopar guys are putting Bob Karakashians Hemi Cuda on top to get the job done. JJ's done 11.60 and a 3800lbs mopar isn't going to get that job done. The silver bullet is .40 away from the FAST cars in PURE STOCK.

Jim

Jim,

Boy it is hard to try to guess what the F.A.S.T. cars will run this year. I agree that they get quicker every year, but at some point real soon, it will be be really difficult to "find" more performance. Yes, I would agree that 10's are obtainable, but if we see it this year, I think it will only be once, and in perfect conditions like at Englishtown this past November.

Jimmy Johnston's Vette looks untouchable in Pure Stock. Now we all know that "Pure Stock" is a relative term, but it certainly does have it's own set of guidelines that P/S cars must all follow. I've never seen Bob's Hemi Cuda, but it sounds interesting!

Cheers,
Mike

Update:

Terry Pennington's '69 ZL-1 Camaro goes 11.07 @ 127 during a time trial at Year One's Commerce Challenge race last month in GA. He did it with 25 to 30 mph headwinds!.

And in testing this week, Wayne Nelson's '69 L88 Corvette ran 11.08 @ 125!

10's are closer than I thought!

I've wondered why a ZL-1 hasn't made the hemi cry up until now, the weight difference is enormous. According to my NHRA guide the '69 ZL-1 only weighes 3121 lbs. with a four speed and 3177 with a Turbo 400. With the technology available now the auto should be able to run faster than the stick. It sure would be interesting to turn the S.A.M. School in Houston loose on one of these and see what is possible.

If the ZL-1 Camaro could run the G60 tires the hemi cars have, it would have been over a long time ago.

Thats one of the neat things about this type of racing. Each car has some advantages, but they have to live with their bad points too. No one gets the easy win. They all work hard to get those low et.s . Hemis, ZL-1s, and Buicks . These guys deserve a lot of press for doing what they do with these cars.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

It sure would be interesting to turn the S.A.M. School in Houston loose on one of these and see what is possible.

Harold, what do you think we could do, that they haven't already done? :waving:

Personally, I think this class of racing is the bomb! I love fast, stock appearing cars. I wish I hadn't strayed so far from that appearance. Well, that, and mine isn't as fast as theirs. :( :D

Hey Justin...

I was down at SAM on Saturday. Were you there? I got the latest updates from Pat on the 'Stang and the SS. Sounds like they are doing well! Jeez....8.91 N/A on 391" (?) @3050 lbs! That's scootin'!!

They were sticking on the sheetmetal intake and carbon fiber hood for a Fun Ford race. Should be fast when they let it breathe!

It's going to be real good when Pat gets to build "his" version of the Ford. He still doesn't like that one really.

Looks like lots of building improvements going on. Make sure you learn all you can from those guys....you're in a good place!


JIM

Jim, I wasn't there on Saturday. Yes, that Ford Mustang Cobra is one BAD mofo. Pat's a heckuva guy and I'd be interested to see what he would do different.

Give me a holler sometime when you're gonna come around S.A.M.

BTW, I'm there from 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday.