Custom Street Racing Cars

Overall Winner
Denny Terzich and crew weren't happy after the '06 Drag Week(tm). That's because their '67 Camaro only made it about four miles before overheating and forcing them to drop out. Frankly, we weren't shocked, since the car was double-throw-down radical, with a monster 6-71 blower setup that reached higher than the roof of the car and show-car-like shine that's often a sign of impending doom for an event as punishing as Drag Week(tm). But boy, did they make up for it in 2007.

Terzich's Camaro is a perfect example of astounding performance coupled with rock-solid reliability.

Overall Winner * Msd Quickest Pass: 7.642 * Mickey Thompson Best 60-Foot: 1.194 * Quickest Chevy The beginning of a 7.96 at 175 run at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.

Kevin at KMP Performance built the 580-inch Rat motor with a 4.5-inch bore in the Merlin block and a 4.5-inch stroke Lunati crank with Lunati rods and 8.5:1 JE pistons. The heads are from Trick Flow and have a Holley intake with a CSU-built Holley Dominator set up for a blow-through application. An enormous Comp roller cam caused no valvetrain issues whatsoever during the week. The ProCharger is the moneymaker.

Terzich originally bought the car to race himself and had it at Steve Roth Racecars to get some work done, but then he and Roth got all geeked up about Drag Week(tm) and that became the new goal. Steve, Denny, and Denny Sr. began the thrash to get it ready for the '06 event, and Gary Pocratsky jumped into the fray to rewire the whole car. But it was such a thrash that they didn't have any road miles on it before the event, hence the overheating problem. Over the next year, the 6-71 was replaced by a big ProCharger F3 reverse-mounted supercharger stuck dead-center in front of the KMP Performance-built 580-inch big-block and blowing into a single four-barrel carburetor through a Steve Morris Racing Engines elbow. Not only would the new setup create less heat than the big Roots, but driver Roth could finally see the road! The cooling system was updated with a vented Be Cool radiator, and they also changed to a Rossler two-speed Pro Mod-style transmission with a Neal Chance 10-inch converter and a Gear Vendors overdrive unit. The wheels were also upgraded-they are the very first set of Billet Specialties' new Street Lite rims.

The secret to reliable, cool running down the road was removing the blower belt after the day's passes. To save time, Pocratsky just cut the belt off and used a new one at the next track. They drove the car on pump gas, but at the track they drained the fuel cell and carb, refilled the cell with C-16 race gas, jetted the primaries up 10 sizes, installed the blower belt, swapped the front tires (which are only rated to 140 mph) to Mickey Thompson racing skinnies, and threw on the air-launcher parachute. Then they'd change it all back again and hit the first gas station to fill up with 87 octane.

The crew would be Roth driving and Pocratsky riding shotgun, straddling the huge water-to-air intercooler the whole way. Because there are only two seats, and Drag Week(tm) rules prohibit support vehicles with crewmembers, Terzich was relegated to spectator status and was not allowed to work on the car or provide assistance in any way other than moral support. Roth and Pocratsky covered the entire 873 miles with only one problem: a flat rear tire between Union Grove, Wisconsin, and Wisconsin International Raceway (they put a new tube in it and kept going). They didn't even change the oil, plugs, or check the valve lash until Thursday, at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

How'd you like to cover nearly 900 miles in five days in here?

The trailer would sway a little bit but the 33x18.50 Mickey Thompson ET Street tires didn't allow it to move the car around. With the Gear Vendors overdrive engaged, 60 mph required only 2,000 rpm, and Roth said they got about 6 mpg on the road.

Know what's even more impressive? The Camaro ran in the 7s all five days, with a best of 7.64 and an overall average of 7.801 at 175 mph. Roth said, "On Sunday [during tech inspection and test and tune], we put a mild tune-up on the car because we didn't really want to show everything we had until Monday. With the timing turned back and the launch turned down, we thought we would run an 8.0-something, but when the 7.79 came up, we were stunned. So we decided to leave the tune-up where it was at so as not to work the car any harder than we had to, so we would have a better chance to finish the week. That was the primary goal. Monday's 7.64 was even more of a stunner because one of the tubes from the firewall to the carb blew off at about 1,100 feet, causing the mph to drop to only 167."

With a 7.76 at 179 in the bag on Friday, they planned to turn the wick up and let it all hang out, but a leaky head gasket prevented that from happening. Roth speculates that the car has 7.40s in it on a full-tilt tune-up, but they haven't taken it back to the track. Terzich said they're too busy driving it in local car cruises and taking it to shows like SEMA, where it was displayed in the Gear Vendors booth.

So to all of you gunning for the Fastest Street Car in America title this year, here's your bogey.