Just came across an old magazine that I had not seen in years. Leafing through it I realized why it got saved. The 2002 Factory Stock Muscle Car Drag Race!
FYI the writer says my car had a manual transmission when in fact it had a C6 with 3.50:1 Traction Lock. It ran 14.00 average in 4 runs in qualifying the day prior, with the temperature around 95 degrees. On race day it was cooler, around 80 degrees.
Very cool!
Nice! It looks like the Firebird just threw in the towel on the second and third runs. He must have blown the tires off pretty bad out of the gate? How much did you have to peddle the big Cat to get her to hook up? I would imagine it was an art to get her making forward progress off of the line. Great job!
I think he missed a shift on the second run. On his third run the engine sounded hurt like it was running on 7. He had a bad day.
I had 3/4 tank of gas and put 150 pounds of tools in the trunk to help traction. All the runs were made with the shifter in drive. It could go 13.50s if I shifted manually but it was less consistent. It launched hard, almost pulling the LH front wheel out of the gate.
Wow! That’s awesome you could leave that hard on stock tires and get it planted in the track. The last time I drag raced my Eliminator I couldn’t launch it at full throttle or it would wheel hop terrible. I also was running a 3.50 Traction Lok at the time with street radials. I do have a 3500 rpm stall speed converter that I’m sure was the biggest problem without having slicks, so I couldn’t leave on the converter but kinda did a half throttle launch then I’d put it to the mat. I really miss my old drag racing days of the past. Nothing serious as a track regular, but many Sundays my buddies and I would spend racing every and anything we brought to the track that day. I actually stumbled across a You Tube videoclip of me in my Eliminator racing a 03 Marauder many years back. I was surfing You Tube Cougar videos and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. I remembered talking to the guy with the Marauder in line waiting to race.We we’re both running 13.50 ET’s. He had 3.55 gears which I think were factory, but he also had underdrive pulleys, drag radials, and a supercharger bolted on the 4.6 liter. Neither one of us was stock and we both were fresh out of the gate with our new mods trying to figure out how hard we could launch them. I tree’d him good but his blower pulled me on the big end. He ran his best pass of the night that run. I don’t know how to link a video but if you search “03 Marauder vs. 69 Cougar” on You Tube it should come up. The track was the old 75/80 drag way in Monrovia MD.
The nearly full fuel tank and trunk full of tools make our cars plant the rear end hard. The Goodyear Eagle tires were new and sticky. Too bad they are not made any more.
Yeah I’m running BFG’s and I had an empty trunk and not even the spare or jack. I guess sometimes extra weight can work in your favor.
I bought this car from Royce. It would run high 13s in Phoenix at 90 degrees in the evening. I had to launch carefully like the was a gallon of milk on the seat next to me, and then nail it.
That car is definitely a strong runner for being stock. I’ve done some substantial engine work to put my 390 in that league. Keep on putting the hustle to the muscle! These cars were built to do the weekend warrior drag racing thing… that’s why they are called muscle cars! I’ve only raced mine that one time since all the engine work because my local track shut down right afterwards. I’m gonna have to get it to Capital Raceway soon to see if the new 4.11 gear set is gonna sneak me in the 12’s. I might have to trailer it there. Enjoy your toys!
