FEATURED FLYERS

National Dragster, May 7, 2004

Jonathan Womack has raced his '00 Corvette since it was new in 2000. "It was built specifically for Super-class racing," he said.

The chassis is by Don Davis, who also is responsible for the one-piece fiberglass body. A new Faerman Racing Engines-built 538-cid big-block Chevy replaced a tired small-block. With small-block power, the 'Vette achieved a top speed of 155 mph; with the extra cubic inches of this new engine, which produced 1,020 horsepower and 750 foot-pounds of torque on the dyno, the car has generated a 166-mph best. The engine has Dart cylinder heads done by Jimmy Bell, a Bell-prepped Edelbrock aluminum manifold, Cola forged-steel crankshaft, 15:1 JE pistons, Eagle rods, 1050 Holley Dominator carburetor by DaVinci, Jesel belt drive, Moroso vacuum pump and pan, and MSD ignition.

Behind the firewall is an Arabie transmission, Hughes converter, aluminum driveshaft, and a nine-inch Ford rear end that features a 4.56:1 ring-and-pinion and Strange axles in a Davis housing. Womack also uses a four-link suspension, Wilwood disc brakes, Dedenbear electronics, Hoosier tires, and Weld wheels.

Womack, a 23-year-old barber from Houston, began driving in late 1999 while in high school. "I only raced sporadically while I was going to barber college, then my first full season was 2002," he said.

Womack runner-upped in Super Gas at the 2002 Fall Nationals in Dallas, one of the first national events of his career. Womack is joined on the team by mother Madelyn and father Warren, who take care of all of the bills, and brother Warren Jr.

"The car is for sale right now," said Womack. "If we sell it, we'll get an F.J. Smith-type Modified car or something like that for Super Stock, a Cavalier or a Grand Am. We've always liked Super Stock; trying to go as fast as you can with a small motor. Plus, you get two chances to win: You can win class, and you can win the whole race."

In Houston, Womack, like a disproportionately large number of Featured Flyer subjects, went out in the first round. He more than redeemed himself one week later at the NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals, where he reached the semi-finals.

Legendary Funny Car and Pro Stock chassis builder Don Hardy built the chassis of Jeff Franklin's current '69 AMX in 1982 to run in NHRA's Comp class. The car sat in a warehouse for years before Franklin's friend Ed Tingle bought it and put on it the former Pro Stock AMX body that it still carries. Tingle never raced the car and in 1990 gave it to Franklin. Tingle included one of Wally Booth's original Pro Stock AMC engines from the 1970s.

The car's only original steel body parts are the roof, quarterpanels, and doors. Franklin and Tingle built the fiberglass front clip themselves, forming a mold from a stock AMX grille and fenders. Because the chassis was trick for its day - four-link rear suspension, strut front suspension, and Pinto rack-and-pinion steering - it's current by today's standards. The car weighs 2,420 pounds with Franklin strapped in.

Franklin, a missile inspector for Lockheed Martin, built the engine, a 454 Chevy big-block that he overbored .060-inch for a displacement of 468 cubic inches. The Holley Dominator four-barrel is rated at 1,050cfm. Dart supplied the intake manifold and cylinder heads, and Ross pistons provide a 14-to-1 compression. A Sig Erson camshaft and the crankshaft are from Reher-Morrison, connecting rods from Eagle, ignition from MSD, and harmonic balancer from ATI. Hardy built the headers.

The Powerglide transmission, torque converter, and shifter are all TCI. The Dana 60 rear-end housing still has the magnesium center section supplied many years ago by the Ramchargers factory racing team. The 4.88 Richmond gears turn a Strange spool and axles. The car's 16x32 bias-ply Goodyear slicks, inflated to seven pounds, ride on Weld Star wheels.

Franklin, a racer for 30 years, moved out of the brackets and into Super Gas with this car in 1995. After sitting out from 1998 until 2001 at his former wife's request, Franklin returned to the 9.90 wars and was runner-up to Tommy Phillips at last year's O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals. Franklin went three rounds at this year's event before losing to eventual runner-up Jonathan Johnson.

Franklin doesn't use a two-step rev limiter on the starting line; he leaves wide open against the torque converter, and the Powerglide shifts at 7,200 rpm. The car's best times with the throttle stop inactive are 8.63 seconds at 153 mph.

Before it ever turned a tire on the quarter-mile, Malcolm LaGrone's '57 Bel Air Super Gasser was known as the Fairmont From Hell.

"It was originally a promo car for a radio station in Houston," said LaGrone. "It was a four-door Ford Fairmont they called 'the Fairmont From Hell, but the promotional deal didn't work out like it was supposed to, so the car was sold to Larry Edmondson. He sold it to R.J. Dorsett, whom I've known forever. I told [Dorsett] that if he ever sold it, I wanted it. He put a '57 body on it and raced it for a few years, then decided he wanted to go Top Sportsman racing, so I bought it."