Check out the jan. issue of Hot Rod page 57. Rick Head runs a 427ci sbc with a pair of Innovative GT 80mm turbos. making over 2000HP at the crank!! And the car weighs 3400lbs! Damn. EDIT: btw, that's 200lbs over min. weight. He says the he can launch so hard because of his multi stage boost controller. SWEET! -ugly paint though

Impressive times. Here is a pic of the car:

that multi-stage boost controller is the single reason he is illegal in all of the drag radial classes except for the outlaw classes. sorry, i have a whole bunch of friends that run drag radial and i am just inimpressed that he is basically using a traction controle to overcome a problem that this class was based on: making lots of power and making it go to the ground with stock style suspension using a less than great tire. don't get me wrong, i like the tire, i run on it on my own camaro, i just don't like how he has come up with an eletctronic solution to a problem that should have a mechanical solution. go search for Jim Filopowski or Powski Racecraft. he has a car that will put down and has no traction crontrol modules.

Rick, my hat is off to you for the accomplishment. wanna race with us at the NSCA? come on man, bring it! but that boost/traction controller has to go!

See the video of the twin monster turbo Mustang run 6.9x @ 200+ mph on a 10.5 tire?

Click here for that 200+ mph video

I dont understand why you think it's such a big deal, its still impressive.

If it goes that fast, it goes that fast. Whatever technology he used to get him to that level sure worked, seeing how he won the event, and the title.
A third gen camaro that runs 7.7's is impressive however you look at it.

I dont see how the boost controller is a problem either, it's not a traction device as you said, it simply can use different boost targets for different gears and/or be time based depending on how old you unit is. Mine is older and doesnt have the time delayed control but the launch/multi stage function is great and something that I use very often at other track(E-Town, my local track, usually hooks good enough that I only use the launch stage).

Too many damn cry babies - especially lately when it comes to innovations in turbochargers, they might be better off buying one of them controllers scince it is an off the shelf item.

Steve

sorry, it must be my elitist "Street Car" mentality showing it's face.

i race with a fine group of people. each class is designed for a purpose. i sometimes get lost in that. i really enjoy building a car around a certain spec and limitations. i guess i am so use to seeing cars running fast within a certain perameter (which this car doesn't fit in with NSCA/PRO/NMRA drag radial rules).

Rules are there so that nobody can dominate a class with something different. NHRA banned the use of turbos in ProStock back in the 80's and we can all see how a turbo car can be more ProStock than the current ProStock cars are and run just as quick. The car they banned had a V6 turbo and ran as fast as the 500 CID motors we know today.

So to keep everyone happy, other sanctioning bodies such as NMCA, NSCA etc came up with new classes for cars to run in that NHRA or IHRA never had. Things like Outlaw ProStreet, Crate Motor etc have gained in popularity over the years for people who want to take they're cars to the extreme but still have certain restrictions. It's when someone does something different that gets the attention.

Why build a ProStreet car to run 6's when it's cheaper to just build a ProMod car that will do the same thing for a lot less money? If you build a tube chassis car with a huge engine that runs 7's on 10.5 tires everyone thinks it's a fast street car but where's the boundry layer of considering it "street"? Just because it has lights and an exhaust?

I'm not arguing that there are no fast street cars but whatever class of "street" you race in to me it should mean a car that was an original production car not a purpose built tube chassis car. It should run on premium pump gas and can be a daily driver without hours of maintanence downtime every time it's taken out. There are a few 7-9 second cars that can actually fall into that catagory and most of them use some sort of power adder to do it.

Drag Radial was desinged 5years ago as an entry level class. most of my buddies, Dave Rudissel, Jim Filiposwki, John Balinski, James Kursay, still have a budget, but average Joe cannot run this class anymore, and it's thanks to people like Rick.

now i cannot run this class without spending a bajillian dollars.

see why i am a little peaved?

I understand what you are saying, but the post said "fastest car on drag radials", it didnt say "fastest car in drag radial class".

Not only does that Camaro run multiple power adders, and a now an illegal tire, he also uses a traction device. Regardless, he got a car to meet all required rules of the class AND run better than anyone else. Give credit where credit is due. All others who mumble about this "traction control" device being unfair - are wishing they thought of it first. Racing is innovation.

Imagine that, a pro drag racer, coming up with a better way to hook the tires. BLASPHEMY I tell you!

BTW - The "average Joe" CAN compete in these type of classes. A good friend of mine, Chris Little (NMRA) did it. He even won the championship in NMRA's BFG class! He started out on a budget like everyone else. He built a highly competitive car is his backyard! He eventually took on Wilson for his nitrous use. Many other sponsors followed, and now he's getting paid to race.

Hate to break it to ya, but after looking over the websites for NMRA, NSCA, and the PRO drag racing series I didnt find any heads up classes I'd consider entry level or that you could race in without spending quite a bit of money. Maybe I'm wrong but the slowest record listed on the NSCA's site is 8.731 in the pro nostalgia class. Maybe if we were racing mustangs in the NMRA then the 11.41 record in Factory Stock or the 10.43 record in Pure Street would be more appealing to the entry level racer. Of course there is Mean Street in PRO with a 10.92 record which I'd consider entry level.

Only things entry level about those series IMHO is the index or bracket eliminators. Let me know if I missed something cause the way I see it a low 8 second drag radial class is very far from entry level or budget oriented, unless the budget is quite large.

Steve

Ressurecting a 7 year old thread....w00t!
I could just as easily complaint about people in automatics vs manual, just as the people here are complaining about tc....
You either make it all about driving skills, or all automated, any in-between is just grey-area bull, everyone arguing what is better because of what "THEY" can achieve with certain mods.

Amazing car, amazing feat.

I'm not really that impressed. I can drive mine around town and will predict 7.80's next year on a DR's. I haven't even used my second kit yet with tehe 8.09 I ran. My mph was a lot higher with my 8.30 passes than the 8.09 run with very low timing. plus I'll be 100lbs lighter this upcoming year.

what size drag radial are you running?

im planning on running 325/50/15 drag radial.

Haha, when I first saw the title I was thinking that this was either really old or someone bumped their head. Drag radial cars have come a LOOOONG way in the past 6 years. Heck, a 7.70 might qualify you at the tail end of a 275 class now. Its amazing to see how far they've come (or stretched the rulebook).

I appreciate fast cars lol. I searched for the fastest thirdgen on google, and this page came up

Just depends on class. I will be running 275 mainly this year with a 4150 carb.

with the new rules, rick's car would be at the bottom of the pack, or back in the trailer before first round. i miss what this class was about in the inception. but the rules allowed for way too much leeway, and it was only a matter of time before the guys with big wallets came out and "ruined" it. but those guys have pushed the envelope wide open and have made some amazing headway in power production and management. now guys with 1000+ hp can have it in a car that has ac, cruise, et al, and can cruise from california to ny with no reliability issues whatsoever. i have a different stand on this subject now, but with time and innovation comes maturity, what can i say?

I was reading this and thinking "are these guys nuts?" 7.70?

Than it hit me that it was from 2004, lol. Lot of advancements since than.

i remember watching one of the first NMRA drag radial races. they were running on bfg's and wow things have really come a long way since then.

Exactly what I was thinking. By the way I WILL be calling you after xmas.

Look at OL10.5 - it has been where ODR is now...dying due to the big money cars. These classes were started out by middle-class working guys who couldn't afford a pro-mod but wanted to run heads-up with any combination of power plants, thus the chassis/suspension & tire being the limitation. - Now, a competitive 10.5/radial chassis cost more than a pro-mod and the power plants are on par...

some of these guys are soooo dadgum rich... when you go to the big races you see rows and rows of incredible toterhome rigs. they have a couple-hundred thousand dollar car competing for at the most $10,000 or so. and those races are only once or twice a year. they just do it for the hobby. whats a $200,000 car when you have 30 million sitting in the bank? some guys never even touch the car, the crew runs it and he just goes out and watches it go down the track!

i gotta get rich!!

Dont knock it lol try finding one to sponser you!! Thats what I want

how do you make a small fortune in drag racing?





start with a large one.

Truer words never spoken - exactly what my dad told me long before I was legal to drive. This is not a hobby that will ever make you money, you have to do it because you enjoy it.

Doesn't matter who likes or dislikes it, It's still a fast car, to each his own and that friends is what hot rodding is all about!! And of course there is always somebody faster, always.

Mark.

SPEED TAKES MONEY! how fast do you wana go?
thats has old has cars!

i have always liked the heads up racing. thats what street cars should be all about. the guys who spends more. wins more. thats the bottom line. (it's the truth!)

it was fast back then.. whats he upto today? anybody know?

heck i was thinking i had a fast street car back in the mid 90s running mid 10's. that was a long time ago.. 5 tens more and in the 9's wow.
AND. if i was at sea lev..? but i was not... never used that line.