At first, the Duster would lift an inside tire during aggressive corners. Now, it has
two additional leaf springs on the passenger side and one on the left, which evens the
front-end lift.tumultuous undertaking, as the car
was full of rotten interior, mud, rust,
and it caught fire in the driveway at
one point, but it had a well-built 440
and 727 TorqueFlite transmission. They
got the car racing, and Scott worked
his way to third in local SCCA points.
Laura started to like the car, too. He
slowly grew into the fold of SCCA
Central Carolina Region and last year
operated as a Novice Chief and
Carolina Veteran Motorsports rep.
Scott’s neighbors play tag with burn-
outs. They’ll perform a burnout in front
of each other’s houses, shops, or work,
claiming the recipient as “it.” After
neighbor and current crew chief Randy
Buell made Scott “it,” Scott attempted
to return the favor, but his throttle
stuck, sending the car into a neighbor’s
truck. The Dart was destroyed.
Scott wasn’t deterred and went back
to Craigslist to find a 1972 Duster proj-
ect a mile from his house for $500.
Like a phoenix from the ashes, they
rebuilt the new Duster with the leftover
Dart parts. They did this in seven
weeks, and Scott finished Eighth Place
in points, having missed only two
races. Laura began to join Scott in the
garage, too.The GT steering wheel and gauges are
over-the-counter items from the local
auto-parts store. Scott installed a hook on
the gas pedal so he will hopefully never
have another throttle stick open.The Duster now competes regularly
in SCCA with Randy, who has a long
history circle-track racing, handling
crew-chief duties, and fine-tuning.
“He’s out there with us checking tires,
pressures, temps, carrying a clipboard,”
said Scott, who believes they’re creep-
ing onto the limits of the current setup.
“Now, I’d love to convert the car to the
complete QA1 coilover system, but
that’s $10,000, and I may only pick up
a second.” The car will likely remain as
is, at least until they finish Shelby’s lat-
est project, a 1966 Barracuda they’re
building for his high school graduation.P
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