2002 Chevy Camaro Z28

Possibly the only thing sweeter than becoming the first six-speed F-body to reach below 9-seconds in the quarter is doing it without a power adder. Between the tremendous stress from running high rpm, designing the cam profile, cylinder head work, intake manifold selection, and tuning, it's nowhere near as simple as just cranking up the boost or screwing in some bigger jets. Anyone who has ever built an all-motor racecar knows that it takes a tremendous amount of R&D to even scratch the surface of your combination's potential. Joe and Amber Huneycutt, for example, have spent years dialing-in their 2002 Camaro. Originally the SOM Z28 was running 10.20s cam-only, and then lost another tenth by adding a set of ported heads. The next thing they knew, Joe was piloting the Z to 9.30s with a 385cid stroker, while still running the stock computer. This combination was eventually refined to its current iteration, which the Huneycutts have ran for more than two years, aside from the brief use of an LSX block, which was grenaded at last year's LSX Shootout.

Believe it or not, a little old 403cid LS1 is all the Huneycutts needed to run 8.86 at 154 mph with the potential to drop even lower. Joe said the 6.0L iron truck block is more ideal for running over 10,000 rpm as the cylinders can become out-of-round on aluminum blocks. Spinning that much rpm also requires Katech billet caps, a beefy billet crank from Scat, super light GRP aluminum rods, and custom Diamond forged pistons. The power lie in the quality machine work by Joe's alma mater, the School of Automotive Machinists, as well as the Dailey dry sump lubrication, custom solid roller cam from Comp, and Greg Good ported ETP 255cc heads. The severely milled heads enable a crazy 15.8:1 compression, which has Joe running Q16 and C25 fuel exclusively. Massive Xceldyne titanium 2.10 intake and 1.60 exhaust valves make good use of the 4.006-inch bore, while still clearing the Diamond pistons, even at over 280 degrees of duration thanks to the 11-degree valve angle. Jesel 1.75-ratio rocker arms command the PAC Racing double valve springs. The heads are topped off with a custom Beck sheet metal intake manifold with dual Accufab 2,000cfm 4-barrel throttle bodies that replaced the previous setup for the smaller motor.

To keep up with the massive airflow, RC Engineering 60-pound squirters and a Magnafuel pump are commanded by a Big Stuff 3 computer. The spark is provided by an MSD Digital-7 Plus, Pro Power coil, and Jesel belt drive distributor to make up for the coil-on-plug setup's deficiency at high rpm and cam sync. The large port, high-flowing heads breath the post-ignition gases through 2-inch diameter long tubes with a 4-inch collector, courtesy of American Racing Headers, while Vibrant Performance mufflers keep a lid on things. With Don Bailey at DCB Enterprises making the original tune, plus Joe's tweaking, the motor is estimated at well over 900 horsepower. Unfortunately this is just beyond the capabilities of the Tremec T56, which quite frequently requires Joe to rebuild his trans. It's a good thing rebuilding six speeds is his specialty. His skill at the craft was demonstrated via the many custom features such as the welded and machined dog ring gears as well as the machined Viper output shaft that allows hard clutchless shifting through the Pro 5.0 joystick. To lessen the initial hit to the tires when the clutch is dropped, a Super Stock-style McLeod Soft-Lok single 10-inch disc clutch is used, which allows adjustment to the pressure plate and centrifugal counterweights to increase slip at low rpm and lock at high rpm. Despite this style clutch, the tremendous shock to the drivetrain from the manual trans required a Burkhart Chassis fabricated 9-inch rear with Mark Williams 300M 40-spline axles. Pyle Brothers Performance setup the rear using a backcut Motive 5.43 ratio gear and a spool.

Louisiana-based Madman & Co. Racing helped tune the chassis with a trick torque arm, lower control arms, Panhard bar and double anti-roll bar. Madman also kept the Houston F-body NHRA legal by welding in a Wolfe 10-point roll cage. Aerospace Components brakes, Stroud parachute and a HANS neck device also keep the quiet Texan safe behind the wheel. Weld Magnum wheels not only keep the rolling stock light, but the 15x12-inch rear wheels also add some sidewall stiffness and footprint to the tubed, bias-ply Mickey Thompson ET Drag 28x10.5 slicks. With good track prep and a few tweaks, Joe fully intends to crack his previous best 1.32 short time. You may be wondering, what's next for the fastest six-speed F-body ever to grace the 1320? More than likely-a five-speed that won't need rebuilding every few runs. Now that Joe has achieved his goal of becoming the first six-speed in the 8s, he would be more than happy to "just drive the car onto the trailer at the end of the weekend."