GM Performance Parts - LSX Drag Radial
After last year's stellar competition, we had high hopes for the 2008 LSX Shootout Drag Radial class. While the amount of racers wasn't any bigger (10 showed for DR), there had been huge buzz during spring and summer '08 about several of the competitors. In contrast to last year's insane thrash to get the car done in mere days after a wreck, Tom Kempf actually had time to prepare for this event, and with the defending champ well-rested, many had Kempf retaining his crown. Rumblings abounded about fellow Midwesterners Mike Brown and Steve Turley: would Turley work past the mechanical problems that kept him from taking the '07 crown...and would Brown's 7-second TA be a DR contender? And as of late, Steven Fereday out of Texas had been turning heads with his bad black Camaro. It was known to be wicked-fast...could it handle the torture of seven-second qualifying rounds?
But by far, the hottest topic leading up to the event was Paul Major and the ridiculous numbers he'd been laying down. It was well-known that Paul's Corvette was hurt during the '07 event, but a new build and a killer twin-turbo setup had Major setting the strip on fire in mid-2008. From high sevens last year to mid sevens now: a 7.4 in August, and a 7.3 at a blistering 205 mph in October! Many had proclaimed that if Major's ride could hold together, it would not only win Drag Radial, but dominate it! But with a few new faces running low 8s, and dark horses like Michigan's Jim Filipowski and his 7-second Camaro, anything could happen...and that's just how we like Drag Radial.-RJ