Mac Tools Thunder Valley Nationals: Featured flyers

National Dragster, May 23, 2003

RON BRADY Clarksburg, W.Va. Super Gas '94 Lumina

Mac Tools Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals Super Gas runner-up Ron Brady began building his '94 Lumina in 1993 after crashing his Vega at the 1992 U.S. Nationals.

"It was a pretty nasty crash," said Brady. "A piston broke, and the rod went through the side of the block, right where the main oil galley was. It put water and oil under. the tires, and there was nothing I could do. The car hit the guardrail and slid on its top about three-quarters of the way down the shutdown area. The chassis was intact, and I probably could have put another body on it, but I couldn't see putting that kind of money into it. 'That's when I decided to build this one."

Brady, 50, who owns an auto repair shop, debuted the car in September 1999 and hadn't gone more than four rounds in NHRA competition prior to his runner-up finish in Bristol, where he cut a -.013 red-light in the final. "We don't run as many races as some of the other guys, so it really makes us feel good when we go some rounds," he said.

Brady built the car, with help from Terry Brown and brother-in-Law Jack Roush, using an Alston chassis and fiberglass body from VFN. The suspension features Strange struts up front, Koni adjustable shocks in the front and rear, and disc brakes all around. Jimmy Stulter did the bodywork and applied the paint.

"The new Lumina had just come out, and I was at a local GM dealer getting parts," said Brady, who began racing Super Gas in 1990. "They had one in the showroom, and it just caught my eye. That was before I crashed the Vega, and I told myself then that if I ever built another car, that would be the car."

Brady also assembled the car's 548-cid big-block Chevy, which features GM aluminum heads, Edelbrock intake, Holley 1050 carburetor, Dedenbear throttle stop and delay box, Hooker headers, and MSD ignition. Internal components include a Comp Cams camshaft, Crane rockers and lifters, JE pistons, and Eagle crank and rods.

Behind the firewall is a Powerglide transmission and eight-inch Coan converter. The Ford nine-inch rear end houses a Richmond ring-and-pinion that turns Strange axles. The 2,375-pound machine rides on Goodyear tires wrapped around Cragar wheels and has run 5.57 in the eighth-mile without the throttle stop.

"I'm about 6-foot-3 and weigh around 235, and I was a little cramped in the Vega," said Brady. "This car has a lot of leg room, and I feel real comfortable in it. I'd run 148 [mph] in the Vega, and it didn't feel real stable, but this car feels like driving a Cadillac down the interstate. It also has [big] windows, and I can see pretty good out of it, which means a lot in the kind of racing we're doing."

In addition to his fiancee, Dee Conner, Brady thanked Tom Ware at Quality Automotive and friend and fellow Super Gas racer Joe Carbacio for their support.

JEFF JEWELL

Bangor, Pa. Stock '67 Corvette

Jeff Jewell and his father, Super Stock racer Larry Jewell, have a thing for '67 Corvettes, such as the one Jeff races in B/SA. Larry races a Corvette in SS/DA that he purchased new and honeymooned in, has a restored '67 model in his garage, and bought Jeff's current entry 12 years ago. In addition, Jeff raced a different Corvette in Super Stock for several years in the early 1990s.

Jeff, 34, a director of information technology for Linx Enterprises in Phillipsburg, N.J., said that his car had been sitting in the previous owner's garage for 20 years when his father bought it. It had been road-raced years earlier, but except for scruffy paint and some bodywork, the car was complete.

Larry bracket raced the car at tracks such as Pennsylvania's Numidia Raceway and New Jersey's Island Dragway for 10 years before Jeff began driving it two years ago. The car was converted to Stock specifications a year and a half ago. The biggest change made was eliminating the stock independent rear suspension and switching to a solid 12-bolt rear end that is still suspended by stock-type trailing arms and a transverse leaf spring. The car has Koni shocks at all four corners.

Gary Hettler built the 390-horsepower version of the 427 engine, which is NHRA-rated at 380. The Holley four-barrel carburetor only flows 585cfm, and the intake manifold is a cast-iron version. The hydraulic camshaft is from Comp Cams, and the ignition is from MSD. In addition, the car's headers have been massaged over the years into what Jewell calls a custom-blended set.

Steve's Transmission Repair in Stillwater, N.J., built the Powerglide transmission, and ATI supplied the torque converter. The rear end has 4.88 gears, the wheels are from Weld, and Moroso tires are used in the front and 29.5x9 Mickey Thompson bias-ply slicks in the back.

Many racers and fans like the car because of its reproduction white original paint color and hood stripe.

Jeff debuted the car in Stock at the 2001 Dutch Classic at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading. His best finishes this year have been a runner-up at a Super Stock/Stock Combo race at New Jersey's Atco Raceway and a five-round showing at the Mac Tools Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals, where he defeated national event winners such as David Rampy, Lee Bannister, and Gene Jordan before losing to eventual runner-up Bryan Merkle.