I was just reading in the latest issue of Hemming's Muscle Machines that the top cars in this years F.A.S.T drag racing series are running 9's! This is incredible since this is on bias ply tires! There's a photo of Dave Dudek's HEMI Roadrunner pulling the wheels! Incredible!
For those who haven't heard of this type of racing. F.A.S.T is short for "Factory Appearing, Stock Tire". These cars look bone stock but under the skin these cars employ every trick in the book to go fast. If I had the bucks I'd love to campaign a Beaumont. Since I can't afford it, how about one of our members taking the reigns? You'd be guaranteed plenty of magazine coverage.
Lane Carey is the first F.A.S.T. racer to break into the 9-second realm with his '71 Super Cobra Jet Mach 1, turning a 9.84 at 139 MPH. Photo courtesy fastraces.org
The planets did indeed align at Cecil County last weekend, and the F.A.S.T. racers had their first 9-second pass and then some. In a turn of events that few would have predicted, the first run in the nines did not actually go to long-time front runner Dudek, but rather, to the man whos been chasing him down all season: Lane Carey. Carey pilots a 71 Mustang Mach 1 thats built to 429 Super Cobra Jet specs, and hes been whittling his ETs down since last year, though often a couple tenths behind Dudek. At Englishtown, Careys best run was a 10.36 at 133 MPH, though a number of his other passes at that event were considerably slower. Yet at Cecil County, Carey blasted all the way to a 9.84 at 139 MPH, even showing a little air under the right front tire. Video of the run offers proof of expectations on that day the cameraman was focused on Dudeks scoreboard at the end of the run that produced Careys big number.
I've heard these guys spend HUGE money getting these factory parts to perform at that level. I'm just repeating here what I've been told but it sounds like some of these engines have $50,000 and up invested in porting and all the other tricks involved.
I wouldn't be surprised. I've also heard of spare tires filled with water for weight transfer and OEM batteries that are just cases with motorcycle batteries too. I bet if Smokey Yunick was alive he'd be good at this!
