Old Dominion Speedway 1/8 Mile Short Drag Strip
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| Take one 1956 Chevy 4 door grocery getter, add one non-stock 327
engine, a posi rear end, and a driver looking for racing fun and you suddenly
have Fast Food. Kurt Breon worked several months to get the engine and
rear end ready, yet he was concerned about the RPM range of the torque
converter in the 350 turbo trani. |
The 327 Engine all cleaned up and purring good.
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Pre-Race tuning.
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Since he recently added the internal PCV baffle, removing and replacing
the intake manifold, the timing was slightly off. Kurt did some pre-race
retuning and mid-race adjustments. |
| Kurt lined up for his first ever drag strip run. The track was at Old
Dominion Speedway in Manassas, VA. The event was the 2004 Mid-Atlantic
Motor Fest held on 4 September 2004. As the race fans in the stands suddenly
cheered and started betting on the old Chevy Wagon against his first competitor
of
the day,
a later model Mitsubishi Lancer, Kurt turned towards the start line. |
Lining up for the first race against the Lancer.
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The Wagon received number 41 for the day.
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The track official numbered his car and staged him at the starting
line. The crowd cheered and the tree counted down. Overall, for the first
ever
race, the finishing stats weren't bad:
Reaction Time: 1.545 sec
1/8 Mile Time: 10.203 sec
Final Speed: 67.29 MPH
Unfortunately, the Lancer won. |
Several more runs were performed, three against a Camaro, one against
a late model Blazer, the Lancer, a Mustang, and alone. After the mid-race
tuning, the Wagon actually beat the Camaro 2 out of 3 races. Final best
specs were:
Reaction Time: .63 sec
1/8 Mile Time: 9.87 sec
Final Speed: 71.37 MPH
All races were official and one trophy was awarded for the fastest
time of the day. Everyone had a fun time. |
Way to go Kurt! Beat the Camaro.
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Kurt really launched on this run, pulling out
ahead of the Camaro again.
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One of the last runs of the day.
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By the end of several runs, the Wagon was overheating and slowing down.
But it was still holding it's own against the newer and more tricked out
cars. Kurt has some changes planned for the car including retuning for
horsepower, a different intake manifold, and a different torque converter. |
| The race rules allowed for a Pit Crew and passengers for this special
day. On his final run of the day, Kurt took a friend for a ride. "I had
to brace in," the passenger reported afterward. That old grocery getter
sure has some punch power, just not enough to break both tires loose. Kurt
plans to "fix that". |
Kurt and a passenger head back after their final run.
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Still sitting pretty at the end of the day.
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From tame 1950's grocery getter to Fast Food,
you can't kill an old Chevy! |