It was around this time that I formed a partnership with my friend Mike Brenno, AKA Dr. Big Block. He helped me get it all put together properly. When I took it to the track for my first run down the quarter mile, it went 16.25 @ 85 mph. I was hooked!
I spent the next few years racing almost every weekend that I could and learning how to make a big big block Mopar go fast. I also learned about how to break big big block Mopars fast. Eventually, we had that thing running mid-11’s before we decided to concentrate our efforts on a '66 Plymouth Belvedere II wagon that I had acquired for $500.
With Josephine's running gear, "the Helvedere" ran easy 11's while still being able to drive to the track but I melted the cam at a stoplight one day and decided that driving a race engine on the street was a sucker's game. I bought a trailer and started towing the car to the racetrack and running high 10’s.
Now I'm blessed (cursed?) to be a pro car guy, who knows everyone at the track. The days of innocent wide-eyed wonder are over, but we're having more fun than ever. Last year, after 18 months of work and countless thousands of dollars, we got our Stock Eliminator program to the track.
NHRA Stock racing has more rules than pro football but the basic concept is simple - pick a good factory combination and make it as fast as possible. Stockers are required to weigh the factory shipping weight plus driver and have a complete interior and tires are limited to a maximum of 9"X30". This really separates them from the other racecars at the track because, aside from the contingency decals and sponsor lettering, they look like real cars.
To me, this is the ultimate apex of muscle cars and racing. I like and respect the restoration part of the hobby but I love open exhaust, race gas, and of course wheels up launches!
Since Stock is one of the oldest classes in racing, it's possible to compare cars of the present with cars of the past, which brings different generations of racers and spectators together.
I've always been addicted to car magazines, and reading them has played a huge role in getting me where I am (not?) today. My favorite stories are about the nuts and bolts of old racecars discovered in barns. I'm not that into the newer bling bling deviations from stock, but I try to keep an open mind and not be a snob. This would be a pretty boring racket if everyone built the same cars!
Reconciling the sexy fantasy world of car building that one sees in the media with the busted knuckle reality of building and maintaining, and maintaining, and maintaining, a hot rod on this planet has always been my primary goal as an automotive journalist and artist. I'm sure that's what has drawn me to drag racing and station wagons, and drag racing station wagons.
I'm glad to have the opportunity to write this column and share my love of fast Mopars with you. I've always got at least a couple of cool projects going on here at the shop and our racing season is about to begin.
Along with flogging all manner of Mopars down the 1320 and on the roads of his top secret island hideaway, Chris Barnes is also the originator of Wagons of Steel Magazine. Check it out at: www.wagonsofsteel.com
