STAGE WRITE
BOB KOTMELR
ECORDS are made to be broken. As
I write this, Jason Carter and Mark
Micke have just run 3.67@221mph
over the eighth-mile in qualifying
at the Sweet 16 event in Georgia, USA, in
their 1978 Malibu radial doorslammer. While
everyone is going nuts over the 3.67 ET, the
221mph is what I’m thinking about. By rights
that would equate to a 5.82@274mph over
the quarter!
Last year I asked Sonny Leonard if anyone
had run a five-second pass naturally aspirated
in a doorslammer. No one at the time in the US
had, but Sonny reckoned it would be possible
using one of his 1005-cube motors. Sonny
advertises his ‘Godfather’ engine at 2100hp,
but says he can get 2250hp using Pro Stock
technology, and in a 2350lb doorslammer it
could theoretically run a 5.98@235mph.
Sonny’s reasoning is as follows. A PRDA
Pro Stock 825ci mill will produce 1975hp at
8300rpm. Over several runs, a 2425lb, five-
speed car with this motor has achieved 6.18-
6.21 seconds at 227-228mph. If you took
75lb out of the car you’d shave 0.04 seconds
off the ET, so 6.14@229mph. The 2250hp
that Sonny’s Godfather engine makes is an
increase of 275hp over that 825ci Pro Stock
mill, and you’d pick up an average of 0.05-0.06
seconds for each 100hp increase. This would
give you 5.97-5.99@235mph.
Aussie racer John Zappia became the first
person in the world to run a five in a blown
doorslammer. There’s no reason why another
Aussie couldn’t become the first doorslammer
racer in the world to run a five aspirated. I’ve
already spoken to one racer who might be
interested in taking his 2500hp blown engine
out, stripping his class-minimum 2700lb
doorslammer down to 2350lb with driver,
fitting a six-speed gearbox and buying one of
Sonny’s 1005ci ‘Godfather’ donks. I’ve got
my fingers crossed he takes up the challenge
and immortalises his name worldwide in an
Aussie-built car.
Several racers are selling off their trailer-only
drag cars to build tough streeters for Street
Machine Drag Challenge. One of them is Jai
Schluter, who has sold his wheelstanding
‘Killer Tomata’ XC hardtop to make way for
a ’68 Mustang streeter. It will be powered
by a Cleveland-based 408-cube small-block
dynoed at 708hp on pump 98, and will start
life as a high-nine-second N/A car that Jai’s
daughter Taylah can drive. But watch this
space: Jai won’t be able to help himself, and I
reckon within a year it will evolve into a street-
driven, eight-second, naturally aspirated
weapon competing in Drag Challenge.
While our Drag Challenge event takes its
cue from Hot Rod’s Drag Week in the US,
there are important differences. The concept
of driving from track to track unassisted and
racing at each track is the same, but the rules
governing the Aussie event, whether set down
by ANDRA, the transport department or DragChallenge itself, are completely different to
its US counterpart. At this point in time there
are no minimum weight restrictions like there
is at Hot Rod Drag Week, which has a 3200lb
minimum for 2018. We have legally street-
registered and driven cars here that weigh
less, and any car that is legally registered,
ANDRA-compliant and street-driven is
eligible for Drag Challenge.
When I saw Bob Rizzoli driving along and
pulling up at traffic lights in the US in his
blown, black ’37 Fiat Topolino on Facebook
recently, I thought: What’s next, a street-driven
blown funny car with indicators? Australian
road rules might prohibit such an extreme
altered on the roads here, but conceivably
someone could build a lightweight 460-cube
turbo fibreglass-bodied hot rod that complies
with the Australian Government’s Street Rod
Manual and weighs in around 2350lb with
driver. For road use, the maximum engine size
is 460ci, and boost is limited to 9psi whether
turbocharged or supercharged. There’s no
boost restriction at the track though, and itcan be cranked up to make 6hp per cube,
which is 2760hp. A street-legal, ANDRA-
compliant hot rod like Rizzoli’s Fiat altered
could be built in Australia that could run in
the high five seconds.
If you think I’m going senile in my old age,
think about this: Sonny Leonard makes a 711-
cube Donovan-block blown boat motor that
makes 1600hp all day on 91-octane unleaded,
and over 2000hp on race fuel. Conservatively,
if the little Donovan motor was twin-turboed
and made 6hp per cube, 4200hp should be
achievable. And if this engine was dropped
into a 2350lb car, high four-second ETs
should be theoretically possible.
Even more insane is this: Sonny makes a
940ci street engine. I’m not sure if it could live
at 6hp per cube, but theoretically, 5640hp in
a 2350lb car is over 300mph. I’m wondering
how long it will be before we see a four-
second pass and the 300mph barrier broken
by an Outlaw doorslammer.
As Billy Thorpe sang, most people I know
think that I’m crazy! sSONNY LEONARD ADVERTISES HIS 1005CI
‘GODFATHER’ ENGINE AT 2100HP, BUT SAYS HE
CAN GET 2250HP USING PRO STOCK TECHNOLOGY,
AND IN A 2350LB DOORSLAMMER IT COULD
THEORETICALLY RUN A 5.98@235MPH
SS