Dave Dudek makes a pass in his Hemi Road Runner at Musclepalooza X. Photo by Daniel Strohl
As Labor Day weekend and Hemmings Musclepalooza XII draws near, the chatter we’re hearing about the Factory Appearing Stock Tire series race that will be part of the event at Raceway Park at Englishtown, New Jersey, is getting interesting. Word is that this may turn out to be the fastest F.A.S.T. field ever, with even more cars in the 10-second range and a renewed battle for the Hemmings “big check” that goes to the driver with the lowest ET of the race.
Dave Dudek has managed to take quite a bit of Hemmings publisher Jim Menneto’s money, wallpapering his trailer with the huge novelty checks and lining his wallet with the cash. His black ’69 Hemi Road Runner continued to astound at our Memorial Day event, breaking the ET record with a 10.24 and then resetting it at 10.18 at 136 MPH. Hot on his heels, however, is Lane Carey’s ’71 Super Cobra Jet Mach 1, which was running mid-10.30s at 133 MPH in the spring, but which has reportedly found even more trap speed in the months since.
Then there’s Rick Mahoney and his ’68 Ram Air II-spec Firebird. Mahoney was a relative newcomer last season, but he and racing partner Scott Tiemann managed to field the first Pontiac to make it in the 10s just the same. Now there’s word that the team has found more power, and is no longer satisfied by being the fastest Pontiac – they want to be the fastest, period.
Someone is going to crack the 9-second barrier at some point in the series, and if the planets align, it might just happen at Englishtown this weekend. F.A.S.T. qualifying takes place on Saturday and the race is Sunday. Will series history be made? Be there to find out!