We stopped by the track Thursday for a bit, to see some of the early birds that have shown up for the Shootout. The turnout for Thursday's evening test and tune session was a lot more then we all expected. I can't imagine how many more are going to show up through tomorrow. Our full coverage will start tomorrow, but here is a little preview.
We will start with last year's Drag Radial Champion Tom Kempf. There has been a lot of updates done to this record setting Camaro. The turbo has been increased from a 101 to 106 mm turbo and a four inch stroker crank. This has helped Tom jump the power to over 1800 horsepower, to the tire. This is an increase of over 300 horsepower from last year. The suspension has been swapped out and they managed to drop 30 pounds off the car. Tom has made a 7.51 pass out of it and hopes for lower this weekend.
2007 All Motor finalists and top qualifier, Jud Massingill is back with the SAM School built Camaro SS. They are running a twin throttle body setup, which they found out will cost them an extra 50 pounds. The motor is a refreshed 401 C5 block that they used last year. The engine is up on power and is making 938 horsepower. Jud was plagued with transmission problems last year. They also hope to break into the upper 8 second range with the extra found power. Wife Linda Massingill will be campaigning their other Camaro in an index class.
Martin Cox will be playing double duty this race with his Truck and SUV Trailblazer SS entry and Drag Radial Camaro.
This is probably my favorite vehicle of the LSX Shootout so far. This is an awesome, and yet still street-able Trailblazer SS. The OEM seats have been ditched for much lighter Kirkey seats. In the trunk, under the carpeted cut out is where you will find the fuel cell. Under the hood, you will find a completely redone 427 cubic inch LSX engine with All Pro heads with solid rollers. The old combination use to be a 402 with hydraulic rollers. The 427 is assisted by a 450 shot of nitrous between two kits. Though lightened, the SS still weighs in at hefty 4628 pounds. Martin had previously gone a 10.23 @ 130 MPH, though they plan to run deep into the nines with the 427.
Martin's other ride, is his Drag Radial Camaro. The setup is very similar but adds a third stage of nitrous. The massive 1250 CFM throttle body had been swapped out from their previous sheet metal intake manifold, as they are not allowed to run sheet metal intakes at their local events. Martin hopes for an 8.0 and the top nitrous car of the event so he can claim his LSX block prize.
This carbed LSX entry belongs to Jim Filipowski. A single 101 mm turbo powers this Drag Radial entry. Their true stock suspension Camaro has run a 7.70 @ 198 MPH. They are going for all, but feel confident that consistent 7.60s will take the win.
Trevor Doelling is going for the fastest stock bottom end LS based engine record this weekend. Currently the record is held at a 9.90. They have managed a 10.00 pass and with a few revisions, plan to beat the record. The car weighs in at 2850 pounds and makes 611 horsepower at the motor, though a power robbing automatic drops the horsepower to 496 at the wheels. Trevor will be running the 10.00 Index, that is until he gets thrown out if he is successful with his record breaking, nine second run.
Yes you see it right, this C5 was in process of being built by Lingenfelter when he died in a fatal crash. This Corvette is a street car that makes over 1000 horsepower. We will be doing a full car feature on this awesome Corvette shortly.
For an update on two of the guys we profiled here, Kempf managed a 7.68 at 188 mph in Drag Radial on a test and tune track that was pretty green. Also, the SAM car had a wheel/tire mishap at high speed but managed to not put the car into a ball, the word is good driving saved the show.
Lots of good action in test and tune, we'll report more when we get to the track