Out from the shadows and finally have a BBF

Hey folks,

Rich Pedraza here. I've been around a long time but never had anything to add since I've been in dreamer mode with my pooch 429W running 11's. I finally upgraded to a big block with the generous help of my good friend Bill Fowler. I bought his 'little' engine for my '67 Mustang when he decided to go another route on one of his projects. It's an A head 572 with only 11:1 compression for street manners as I like to run the Drag n Drive events, which I've been doing since 2009. After a year of struggling to fit it in while still keeping it legal for a particular drag and drive class, I finally got it lit just before Rocky Mountain Raceweek 1.0 2021. This first event was certainly an adventure and although I somehow ran a 10.50@128 in Denver with a DA of 8,800, a couple issues caused me problems during that whole week and at Hotrod Dragweek a few months later. Although I finished both events, the car just wasn't doing what we expected.

With some deeper investigation and help, I finally got it all worked out and had a decent outing this February at the inaugural Sick the Magazine SickWeek. Although I was one of the slower N/A cars that showed up, I was happy to have averaged 9.76@137 (1.35 60') in my 3,500 lb car, leaving on foot-break. Testing the day before, the first time the car had actually run on all 8 cylinders consistently, it ran a best of 9.60@140 so there is still more there. Now I can start having fun with the car and focus on chassis tuning and the like. Next event I'll be taking it to is a return to Rocky Mountain Raceweek in June to hopefully redeem myself and the car flying the Big Hat Racing colors alongside Bill.

Good Job Rich! I will have to find some time to chat with you at RMRW. Last year was our first. My brother has a brown Fairmont wagon that we ran in 11.00. You pitted next to us in Kearney, the ten minutes that you were there! I'm not sure all of what you had going on, but I heard it was a hard couple of days. Much luck this year!

theres lots of knowelge here.looks like you do drag and drive events?love the early mustangs!