At the Bonneville World Finals in October, Steve Benyo Destroyed the class record for C/PS by over 21 MPH. The old class record (which Steve also held) was set at 232 MPH. The first leg of the record run was 258+ MPH, and his second was 248. The two runs are then averaged for the record. Beno’s 323 CID 4V Mod motor is developed by Scott Brown of Competition Components, and meticulously machined and assembled by Dave Weishaupt (Pops).
Tony Russo’s Dart is kind of plain. Sleeper isn’t really the word. Maybe subdued is. It’s most definitely clean. The attention to detail is great too. It’s just not flashy. Tony likes to make his statement at the track. This car has evolved over the years from a 440 powered bracket car to a nitrous assisted stormer. He is still hard at work making improvements, we wonder what he has in store….
The Engine:
499 CID = 4.375 bore x 4.150 stroke
9375 box stock dominator
Indy Intake ported by Competition Components
Nitrous system, Edelbrock and Nos components, installed by Tony Russo
Heads 440-1’s ported by Competition Components
Scott Brown roller cam
T & D Rockers
Smith Bros pushrods
Pistons Ross flattops
Rods GRP alum
Crank Callies
Oil pan, home made Tony Russo
Milodon single line, fixed pickup
2″ ProParts headers
4″ Exh, Hooker Aero Max mufflers
The Car:
1973 Dodge Dart
Front suspension – Stock, 318 T bars
Front shocks AFCO
S & W Roll cage
2 X 2 Box frame connectors
S & W ladder bar kit
Rear shocks Strange
Trans Rossler Turbo 400 ATI 10″ blown/fuel converter
S & W 9″ Rear, Strange center and axles 3.70 gears
Race weight with driver 3.550
Currently registered and inspected and street driven in NY
Jim posted new bests this past weekend at the NMRA Milan race, including a 7.18 at over 196
Jim’s 400 inch motor sports a variety of custom parts from Competition Components including Billet Aluminum rods, and Ross Pistons. The key to the power comes from a 106 MM turbo from SupernaturalTurbo providing the manifold pressure. We’ll do an upcoming feature on this home built killer soon!
If you saw Brian Sobczykz’s Blue 72 Buick GS at Norwalk this past weekend, you probably thought it was a nice looking 12 second car. It can’t be much faster than that can it? Look at that. It has a stock radiator. Clutch fan and stock water pump. All those stock parts add up in weight. The 72 weighs in around 3900 lbs. The interior doesn’t give away the car’s performance either. Stock bucket seats and full interior. Is that a tilt steering column? Nice car, shame it’s not faster. But it is faster. A lot faster. Brian ran a string of passes between 10.62-10.65 all over 124 MPH. Wow, cool! Rumor on the street is it’s a stroker motor with a roller cam. But it’s not. The engine is 464 CID (4.350 bore x 3.90 stroke.) Stock cast crank. Stock rods with ARP bolts. Custom Ross Dished pistons. The heads are ported TA stage 1 units. The TA Single plane intake with a Dominator is one of the few things that give away the car’s potential. It doesn’t even sound radical. The custom 256 at .050 solid flat tappet has a little lope to it, but the X pipe and large case 3″ mufflers tone it down enough that the police barely give it a second look on the way to the local cruise night. The tailpipes running to the bumper complete the sleeper look. A race converter from PTC custom matched to the cam and the rest of the combination, and transfers power through the TH400 Converter and 4.10 gears.
Update: All good things must come to an end. After 7 years of fun and abuse, Brian’s engine expired at Milan last night, 9/3/2009. Watch for a new combo appearing soon!
Sheldon Brewer’s Dart has it all. Literally! That’s why it weighs in at a hefty 3705 lbs with him in it. Things like the full exhaust with power cutouts, cd player, and other creature comforts add considerably to the Dart’s race weight. That’s a lot more than most race cars.
But with it’s pump gas 496, it runs consistantly in the 10.40’s. That’s pretty quick for a street car! And the engine isn’t some tricked out tempramental race piece either. Sheldon’s 496 is just a well put together pump gas combo. The 496 has a 4.150 stroke 4340 Crank, 6.760 4340 H-beam rods, and a custom Ross Piston that calculates out to 10.7 to 1. Cylinder heads are ported Edelbrocks with the springs, locks and retainers swapped out to accomodate the custom flat tappet cam. The cam is 263/273 @ .050, and has pretty good street manners. An Edelbrock Victor manifold and a Quick Fuel 1050 (4150 based) carb round out the top end. This engine dyno’d at 654HP and 653lb/ft of torque. Dyno Results here.
A quick online trip to Wallace Racing’s HP/ET calculator, show’s that Sheldon’s car should run in the high 10.38 @ 129, which is pretty close to what it actually runs, so it looks like the HP numbers from the dyno and the real world all work out. (So much for those that say we test on a happy dyno.)
The rest of Sheldon’s driveline consists of a 9.5″ PTC converter spec’d out to match the custom camshaft, and 4.10 gears drive the Mickey Thompson DragRadials.
Steve Benyo (R) and Jim Locke display this seasons' most sought after outerwear
In October of 2008, Steve Benyo gave a glimpse of what was to come by
running a blistering 228 MPH at the Monster Mile in Maxton, NC.
Fast forward to the first event of the 2009 season. Benyo unleashed the
Centimark Mustang, turning 233.10 MPH in the standing mile, to become the
fastest doorslammer ever down the track, beating the previous mark set by a
twin turbo Viper in 2007. In addition to winning the Top Speed Challenge,
Benyo set records in 4 different classes: Class Old Record New Record
AA/BFSS 221.42 226.51
AA/BGSS 184.65 233.10
A/BGSS 218.95 226.95
C/BGSS 198.63 230.48
Steve’s car is a blue 2003 SVT Cobra with minimal external modifications to
conform to sanctioning body rules, race prepped by Jim Locke Automotive.
Power comes from 323CID Mod motor combination developed by Scott Brown of
Competition Components, machined and assembled by Dave Weishaupt (Pops). Based on a FRPP Boss50 block, the rotating assembly consists of a Kellogg 3.750 crankshaft, custom Oliver Connecting Rods, and Custom CP pistons. The short
block is topped with 4 valve GT head castings fully ported and fitted with
a mix of custom and OE components, including custom cams, stock rockers,
and hydraulic lifters. The induction system consists of a highly modified
Sullivan intake manifold topped with a Wilson Manifolds elbow and 95MM
throttle body, pressure fed by a Procharger F2 Centrifugal supercharger. A
Big Stuff 3 EFI unit controls the fuel and spark and is tuned by Dale
Cherry of Injection Connection.
