#33 "Hemi" Joel Nystrom Blue 67 Plymouth GTX
Day 1: 13.64-101.9
Day 2: 13.81-99.9
Day 3: 13.64-100.8
Day 4: 13.88-98.8
Day 5: 13.83-99.1
Final Average: 13.765-100.12

It's the 33rd fastest mopar on Drag Week, Joel's "parade car" as he calls it. It's so much more than that. She's a rolling, living, breathing, history lesson, a legendary automobile from a time when a company would dare to put a nascar race engine in a personal luxury convertible! 17 were built. Let that sink in...seventeen, and here she was, rolling down America's mid-west back roads in front of the unwashed masses, shocked Grandpa's trying to explain to their grand kids the significance of the car! Something akin to seeing Kim Basinger wearing cutoffs in a Wal-Mart...


#32 MaryBeth "Talongirl" Kiczenski Blue 95 Eagle Talon
Day 1: 13.78-124.4
Day 2: 13.63-124.0
Day 3: 14.09-94.8
Day 4: 13.62-120.1
Day 5: 13.60-117.9
Final Average: 13.748-116.28

As the 124 mph trap speeds indicate, this car is much faster than 13.70's, but she's used to launching on street tires, and the Drag Week mandated sticky rubber caused a serious issue. It's a fine line leaving with all wheel drive, and needing rpm to keep the turbo'd 4 cylinder spooled up and happy. The new rubber didn't allow the wheel spin/speed needed to accomplish that, so bogging and lag plagued MaryBeth throughout the entire event.

The fifth set down National Trail Raceway was James Sandlin's 13 Ram beside Craig Douglas' 15 Charger HellCat. James would finish Drag Week with a 13.30 to Craig's 10.38-133. That would put Craig in the 4th qualifying spot. Gary Tallen's 62 Tempest and Ed Urcis' 15 Vette had already locked into their spots, so with 10 cars through the traps 4 of the 32 spots were already filled.

#31 Jess Neal Yellow 73 Dodge Challenger
Day 1: 13.34-101.8
Day 2: 13.32-103.5
Day 3: 13.26-102.7
Day 4: 13.44-101.1
Day 5: 13.51-101.4
Final Average: 13.380-102.01

This was Pike's Peak racer Jess' second foray into Drag Week with his ratty but dependable 73 Challenger. The small block powered E-body improved nearly a half-second and two mph in average over their 2014 effort.


#30 James Sandlin Black 13 Dodge Ram
Day 1: 13.43-98.6
Day 2: 13.17-101.8
Day 3: 13.24-100.2
Day 4: 13.25-100.8
Day 5: 13.30-100.3
Final Average: 13.284-100.36

I talked with James on registration day, and while he hasn't done much to boost the horsepower of his 5.7 Hemi truck, he did do as much as he could to get it to leave hard. Lower gear, converter swap, and short tires on 15" wheels. I thought low 13's was pretty impressive for only having 100 mph on tap!

Looking at their comparable times, James and Jess might have had more fun if they had spent all DW racing each other!

The Street Machine Eliminator class was intent upon using every bit of their two hours, and despite breaking drivelines on an MG and a Cavalier they still managed to send 30 sets down the track in the first thirty minutes. Raywood and Connie Lejeune, a Louisiana couple who bring a pair of hopped up , late model 5.0 Mustangs were solidly in the quick 32. The 2015 SME Champion, Jeremy Wilson and his 66 Nova were slotted into the 7th qualifying position to defend his crown, but last year's runner-up, David Burke in his LS powered 79 LeMans, was struggling to stay in the field. Of the four guys near the bump, only Clark Lamb in his Barracuda had a solid run in the opening salvo, with an 11.18-119. Burke went 11.29-118, Charlie Ogle's gold Challenger went 11.39-119, and David Kirwan's first hit in the red Challenger HellCat was an 11.35-119.

Just forty minutes into the session, a couple of the first guys down the track were back for pass #2. Rachael pulled the Belvedere into the right lane water box at the 44 minute mark, with Burke in the LeMans beside her.
She treed him big time, and the Belvedere seemed to be running really hard in the first eighth, but she eased off the bottle at a thousand foot and ran 11.63-112, a perfect ending for her Drag Week! The 11.45 for Burke meant he would need a third pass if he wanted to compete in the quick 32.

Compound Turbos and Cummins 6BTs

While not a Mopar product, many of us have a great deal of affection for the 5.9 Cummins Turbo Diesels that have powered our heavy duty Rams for nearly twenty years. We've seen them hopped up with bigger turbos, higher rpms, injectors, turned up pumps etc. with pretty impressive results. Compound turbos are nothing new either, we've seen them on Super Stock pulling tractors since I was a kid. Now apparently, compound turbos on 5.9s for a stout street hot rod is a thing.

Robert "Bob" Berry has brought his crazy contraption to Drag Week the last three years. It's a diesel powered rat rod truck that he calls a 45 Chevy CK, but the bed is from a Studebaker, the front fenders from something else, and parts from every manufacturer you can think have been put to use. The 5.9 6BT with a single turbo averaged a 13.81-96 in 2014, 12.06-114 in 2015, but he stepped it up with compound turbos in 2016, and despite blowing the intake pipe off on the first day, claimed one of the coveted quick 32 spots in Street Machine Eliminator!

Robert Berry "Rust" 45 Chevy
Day 1: 12.09-113.6
Day 2: 10.66-125.1
Day 3: 10.83-120.2
Day 4: 10.64-121.7
Day 5: 10.78-123.9
Final Average 11.002-120.94

Jesse Harris pulled his Cummins out of a crew cab 4X4 that had ran a best of 11.0, and slammed it into a tubbed, back halfed short bed C-10 just days before Drag Week. Like Robert, first day teething issues left him behind the pack, but a string of ten second runs secured his place in the quick 32 as well. Not bad for a couple of inline 6 oil burners!

Jessie Harris Orange/White 80 Chevy C-10
Day 1: 11.59-127.5
Day 2: 10.94-125.0
Day 3: 10.29-129.8
Day 4: 10.42-128.9
Day 5: 10.35-130.3
Final Average: 10.724-128.34

#29 Patrick Culkin 88 Black Dodge Shadow
Day 1: 12.15-109.0
Day 2: 12.11-113.1
Day 3: 12.71-102.8
Day 4: 15.30-95.6
Day 5: 12.37-103.5
Final Average: 12.933-104.83

Pat brought a 90 Shadow in silver last year...it was better looking, and faster. I don't know if it was broke, or this is a new project that had issues, or what the real story is, but when you own two Shadows that can run high elevens and low twelves, that's impressive!

Top Photo: 2016 car
Bottom Photo 2015 car

Ouch!!

Billy you are such a tease, you know we are all waiting for the "and then it......."

I'd love to tell you all about it Rod...but I do have a timeline to follow, you know!


As the Street Machine Eliminator session entered the second hour, the number of cars coming back for multiple time runs dwindled, while the pressure and anticipation rose for the drivers on the bubble.
Jay Williams ran a solid 10.88-128 in his bright yellow 2013 ZL-1 Camaro to finish his week with a 10.75-132 Five day average, then promptly told his co-driver James (Billy's step-dad) that he was going to turn it in, and ask not to be included in the bracket race.
"We finished the week, and I proved to myself I could do it, I don't need to bracket race, I did what I came to do!" James re-told the story in our pits shaking his head.
"I don't understand it! We worked all week to secure the 13th qualifying spot...and he doesn't want to race!"
"I've seen it time and time again James", I explained, "Street car guys are usually street car guys because they don't like to race!"
"They love having a fast car, they enjoy driving it, making time runs in it, but they don't like competition...or they'd be racers", Dale added.
"No biggie", Boone chimed in, "That leaves one more spot for one of those guys on the bubble that are out there beating on stuff just trying to squeak in the field."

That extra spot was quickly claimed by a long shot, who made up several spots to leapfrog into 31st on his third run. Michael LoCascio and his 08 Pontiac G8 went 11.30, and 11.17, but his third pass of 10.99 was the one he needed to overcome the 11.62 he turned in on day 1. Clark's 11.18 was good enough to slot him in the 30th spot, but he came back around for an insurance run, and improved to an 11.17-120.
Burke's Pontiac LeMans used a last ditch effort, 3rd pass of the day 11.18-119, to finally move around Charlie Ogle for the 32nd spot. As Charlie alluded earlier, his stroker big block was going away, and the 72 Challenger was slowing every pass. He made his final pass of Drag Week 2016 beside his nephew Dillon, in Jason's 73 Barracuda. Dillon took the win 11.79-114 to 12.06-104.
We had all been standing at the end of the bleachers watching, and we were fairly silent as the Barracuda and Challenger made their way into the shutdown area.
"That was cool", Dale managed to get out, with his head turned away from us.
"Yeah...it was", Boone added
"Dillon represented Team Ogle quite well this week", I observed, and the brothers nodded in agreement.
Rachael suddenly spun away from the track and announced she was going to make another run.
"What for", I asked.
"I'm here, the car is here, we have time left, and the lanes are empty", she shrugged and walked back towards the Belvedere.

#28 Wayne Scofield Tan 69 Plymouth Valiant
Day 1: 12.45-112.0
Day 2: 12.23-113.5
Day 3: 13.29-106.8
Day 4: 12.30-111.3
Day 5: 12.57-110.4
Final Average: 12.571-110.82

In 2014, Wayne lived in Kansas and took a 69 Nova to Drag Week, where he finished with a 13.40-102 average. He then moved to North Carolina, sold the Nova, and didn't even bring this untouched original Valiant home to begin work on it until late October, but in ten months the injected small block was in, roll bar added, and the clean 69 came within a hiccup on day 3 away from low twelves all week.

#27 Susan Slater Blue 15 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack
Day 1: 12.36-109.7
Day 2: 12.35-111.7
Day 3: 12.36-112.9
Day 4: 12.27-113.0
Day 5: 12.70-107.9
Final Average: 12.412-111.08

With a couple of HellCats running around, Susan's 6.4 didn't garner much attention, but I thought it looked like a very fun car. She made multiple passes every day, and except for small blip on Friday, the Scat Pack was deadly consistant.

#26 Dillon Ogle Yellow 73 Plymouth Barracuda
Day 1: 13.04-105.7
Day 2: 12.05-98.6
Day 3: 11.97-113.9
Day 4: 11.83-113.1
Day 5: 11.79-114.5
Final Average: 12.141-109.21

Before Drag Week 2016, Dillon and his Uncle Charlie converted both E-bodies from 4 speeds to 727s, and had some issues to start the week, but the Barracuda and Dillon were stronger every single day. The average improved 4 tenths and two mph over 2015.

About 35 minutes after Rachael ran her "just-for-fun" final pass of Drag Week 2016, Ross Dudley pulled his Road Runner up for his first pass of the class car session, and decided to make a just for fun pass as well.
"Did he just purge the nitrous?" Rachael asked me as we watched from the stands.
"Yeah...he sure did, and he hasn't used it all week so maybe he just wants to go after your 11.30 best", I joked.
The big B-body torgued over pretty hard and ripped down the track to an 11.390-119.95!
"Well", Rachael laughed, "He might take that time slip back to Canada and show it off to his buddies, but he can't turn it in!"

Ross spun pretty hard on his second pass, and then had what appeared to be fuel delivery issues on his third, so his official Friday slip ended up as his slowest of the week, but that first run was a keeper!

#25 Ross Dudley Yellow 68 Plymouth Road Runner
Day 1: 12.04-111.4
Day 2: 11.91-112.0
Day 3: 11.94-111.7
Day 4: 11.95-111.1
Day 5: 12.14-110.5
Final Average: 12.003-111.38

Ross and his Road Runner have completed every Drag Week they have entered, a perfect eleven for eleven, and have only missed attending the original 2005 event.

#24 Rachael Gebhart Blue 67 Plymouth Belvedere
Day 1: 11.93-115.2
Day 2: 11.97-113.4
Day 3: 12.08-113.9
Day 4: 11.57-119.2
Day 5: 11.63-116.4
Final Average: 11.840-115.63

Rachael's final average was twelve hundredths better than her 2012 effort, and four mph faster than the Belvedere's best average in 2014. She said she actually enjoyed herself without the pressure to qualify for the quick 32.

#23 Rod Munchiando Black 68 Dodge Dart GTS
Day 1: 11.83-112.9
Day 2: 11.77-114.1
Day 3: 11.76-113.6
Day 4: 11.86-113.2
Day 5: 11.88-112.7
Final Average: 11.827-113.35

Like Ross, Rod has brought his small block Dart to ten of the twelve Drag Week events, only missing the first two. He's struggled in past years however, to put to together the consistent runs out of the stroker that he was able to accomplish this year. 2013's numbers were nearly identical, but he had a DNF in 2014, and was a half second slower in 2015. In 2007, with the original 340, the GTS was in the high 13s.

#22 Randy Juliani Primer Gray 66 Dodge Coronet
Day 1: 11.74-113.7
Day 2: 11.79-113.5
Day 3: 11.83-112.9
Day 4: 11.80-113.2
Day 5: 11.87-112.5
Final Average: 11.811-113.20

If the bright red paint in the engine bay is any indication to what Randy's Coronet will look like when finished, it will be stunning. The primer was a perfect, stealthy covering for Drag Week though. They announced at Columbus that this was the first car Randy ever owned, and it serves once again as a reminder of what great all around street machines the big block B-bodies truly are!

With their final averages separated by just a tick more than a hundredth, these two could have went fender to fender all week as well.

As the Class cars took their first shots at the National Trail surface, it was clear that a combination of track temperature, ambient air temp, and five days of wear and tear was causing many of the competitors to collect a time slip that was a few tenths off their average pace. A good deal of them were likely to come back for multiple hits, so I decided it was time to stop spectating and put the Valiant in the lanes. My plan was to get a nice, solid, wheelstand free pass on the first run, then come back and lean on it for a personal best.

I had a fresh bottle in, and a couple gallons of 114 Rockett brand fuel in the tank, so I felt the engine was on point and ready to go, I just hoped the driver was too. I pulled alongside a thirteen second Pontiac, so all I needed to do was concentrate on the process of getting the Valiant down the track in the most efficient means possible.

I staged on the foot brake with the tach needle firmly at 2800 and stabbed the throttle to the floor after the ambers flashed. It wasn't a real hard hit, so I suspected a little tire spin, but the front tires dangled about eight inches off the ground. As soon as the fronts tickled the tarmac, I grabbed the nitrous and the front felt weightless again for a brief moment, but never rose significantly. I clicked second and found myself charging smoothly down the middle of the groove with the 428 at full song. I let the shift light hang for a second, then put it in drive. The shift light was on again at a 1000 feet, but the small block sounded so smooth as the tach needle marched to 7K, that letting off the nitrous never occurred to me until we hit the stripe. I was working the brakes pretty hard to scrub speed when I saw the top end worker motion for me to take the exit first, even though I was in the left lane, so that allowed me to cruise around the curve at 25 mph instead of coming to a full stop to wait on the Pontiac.
"Was it a good pass, or did I give up too much in the first 60", ran through my head as I drove back up the return road.
"She was singing a song out there", was my second thought, "that had to be a decent run!"
I pulled my helmet off so I could concentrate on the time slip that was offered. 9.652-138.03...both were best ever numbers for the little 62 Valiant, so I knew in a glance that my Drag Week 2016 had just came to a very satisfying close.

I love it when a plan comes together!

#21 Scott and Kim Abbott Orange 70 Plymouth Road Runner
Day 1: 11.70-119.7
Day 2: 11.60-121.2
Day 3: 11.83-119.5
Day 4: 11.87-110.0
Day 5: 11.53-120.7
Final Average: 11.711-118.24

This was the eighth successful Drag Week for Scott, Kim, and the Road Runner. The 2013 Daily Driver Class winner started out in the low 12's at around 112 in '09 and '10, but since the 520 stroker has been in, the 120 mph trap speeds indicate that the b-body could run well under the mandated 11.50 ET cutoff for no roll bar cars. Scott modifies his driving technique and leaves weight in the car to get time slips he can turn in.

#20 David McKenna Grey 66 Plymouth Belvedere
Day 1: 11.66-114.8
Day 2: 11.62-115.3
Day 3: 11.63-114.9
Day 4: 11.63-114.9
Day 5: 11.74-113.7
Final Average: 11.660-114.74

OUTLAWD's FI Tech equipped 493 performed flawlessly all week, and I think Dave and his Dad had a great experience on Drag Week, as he heads up our contingent of big block B-bodies.

"Ross and his Road Runner have completed every Drag Week they have entered, a perfect eleven for eleven, and have only missed attending the original 2005 event."

The only reason Ross missed the first one was that he did not know about it!

I know Vince Rasch and Tom Hogshead have attended every DW.Are there any others that have gone every year?

I think Norm Tannehill has also, I met him at Indy this year. He was with Ross, Vince, and Tom so its a good chance.

You are right.Norm has gone every year.

Tom Hogshead has attended all twelve, but had a DNF at the first one, only turning a slip for day 1. Vince Rasch has attended all twelve, Five in his GTO, and 7 in his Firebird, but has collected 3 DNFs. Steve Eden has brought his beige/tan 70 Nova ten years also, starting out in the low thirteens, and working down into the high tens.