drag racing | Muscle Car Fan

A ‘Bone Stock’ Muscle Car Just Popped a Wheelie at the Gatornationals – And the NHRA Rulebook Says That’s Legal

At the 2026 NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, one Stock Eliminator racer sent the front wheels of a completely unmodified muscle car off the pavement — and NHRA’s own rulebook says it’s perfectly legal. Bobby Fazio’s coverage captures 35 minutes of staging lane interviews, in-car runs, and mid-track action from one of NHRA’s most historic stops, including a wagon several fans called the best-appearing car in the field. Watch to see why a factory suspension can throw a wheelie a wheelie-bar car would need a tech inspection for.

Mercury Built Only 341 of These 1970 Cyclone Spoilers With the 429 Super Cobra Jet – One Still Runs 11-Second Quarters on Stock-Style Tires

by Jack Harmon

Most 1970 Mercury Cyclone Spoilers built with the rare 429 Super Cobra Jet have long since vanished. One owner didn’t just save his — he races it in a class that demands factory-look parts and stock-style tires, and it’s turning 11-second quarter miles. Here’s the story behind Detroit’s most overlooked 429.

The World’s First Purpose-Built Drag Strip Just Had Its Biggest Crowd in Years – Here’s What Brought Muscle Car Fans Back to Cordova

by Jack Harmon

Built in 1956 as one of the first true drag strips in the country, Cordova Dragway just pulled a crowd big enough to stop longtime regulars in their tracks. The 2026 World Series of Drag Racing brought six-figure vintage muscle cars and a 30-year-old match-racing club back to the same Illinois quarter-mile, and the numbers in the stands tell their own story.

The 1972 Olds 442 W-30 Raced a Hemi Road Runner, a GSX, and an L88 Corvette in One Day – Only One Car Could Beat It

by Jack Harmon

A numbers-matching 1972 Oldsmobile 442 W-30 squared off against a Buick GSX Stage 1, a Pontiac Trans Am SD-455, and a Hemi Road Runner in a strict Pure Stock Drags shootout. Only Chevrolet’s chronically underrated L88 Corvette could put it away. Here’s how the torque-heavy 455 stacked up against three of Detroit’s most famous engines – and why it still gets called one of the most underrated muscle cars ever built.

The 1968 Buick GS 400: Detroit’s ‘Gentleman’s Muscle Car’ Just Squared Off With a 454 Corvette in a Pure-Stock Drag Race

by Jack Harmon

A numbers-matching 1968 Buick GS 400 met a 1970 Corvette LS5 454 on the strip at the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race — no cheater parts, no shortcuts, just two factory engines settling an old argument about who built the better big-block.

Blue sports car parked beside a classic car viewed through a rear window.

Dodge Challenger Hellcat Drag Races Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Crazy Highway Pulls

by Kiril

A Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 lined up for a rolling highway pull, the kind of real-world test that does not always agree with drag-strip time slips. The Hellcat’s 57-horsepower advantage on paper met the ZL1’s lighter chassis and quicker-spooling supercharger on the open road. Read on to see why the result depended more on speed range and gearing than on the horsepower figures alone.

A 1969 Chevy Nova Just Broke 1,000 Horsepower on Roadkill Garage — Then Went Straight to the Drag Strip

by Jack Harmon

A 1969 Chevy Nova rolled into Roadkill Garage as a bare shell — and rolled out packing more than 1,000 horsepower. Hosts David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich built the entire street/strip package from scratch, then hauled it straight to the track to see if the numbers held up. Fans are calling it one of the show’s best comebacks yet.

The 1970 Torino Super Cobra Jet Was 412 Pounds Heavier and Down 75 Horsepower to a Yenko Camaro — It Still Nearly Won

by Jack Harmon

A 1969 Yenko Camaro and a 1970 Ford Torino Super Cobra Jet squared off under strict factory-stock rules — no headers, no lightweight parts, nothing but what rolled off the assembly line. One car gave up 412 pounds and 75 horsepower on paper. The finish line told a much closer story than the spec sheet promised.

Alex Taylor’s Street-Driven ’55 Almost Upset Jeff Lutz’s 3,000-HP ’57 in Their Tri-Five Nationals Rematch

by Jack Harmon

Jeff Lutz’s twin-turbo, 3,000-horsepower ’57 Chevy squared off again against Alex Taylor’s street-driven ’55 at the 2026 Tri-Five Nationals — and the power gap didn’t tell the whole story. Fans who expected a lopsided pass instead got a race close enough to argue about for days. Here’s what makes these two Tri-Five builds, and the family history behind them, worth knowing.

Mickey Thompson Bolted His Own Hemi Heads Onto a 427 Ford in 1963 — And His Galaxie Lightweight Just Fired It Up After 47 Years of Silence

by Jack Harmon

One of the 212 fiberglass-and-aluminum Galaxie Lightweights Ford built for 1963 belonged to Mickey Thompson, and it carries the engine he built to beat Chrysler at its own game: a 427 FE wearing his aluminum hemi heads and three-piece pushrods. After 47 years dormant, it runs again.

Oldsmobile Rated This 442 at Just 300 Horsepower – Then It Nearly Chased Down One of the Rarest Corvettes Ever Built

by Jack Harmon

A humble 300-horsepower rating made Oldsmobile’s 1972 442 W-30 look like it had lost the muscle car war. Then it squared off against a genuine L88 Corvette — one of only 116 ever built — in a quarter-mile grudge match that exposes exactly how misleading that number really was. Here’s the story behind two of the era’s most misunderstood engines.

Ford Only Built 2,131 of These 1970 Torino Cobras — And One Just Ran 12s on Bone-Stock 7-Inch Tires

by Jack Harmon

A rare 429-powered 1970 Ford Torino Cobra rolled into a vintage NMCA drag event on nothing but factory-width rubber — and dipped into the 12s anyway. Ford built barely two thousand of these with the big engine, and far fewer with the gearing to make a pass like this possible. Here’s the math behind one of the toughest quarter-miles in muscle car history.

Wayne Newby’s 3.681-Second Pass Just Made Him the Quickest Top Fuel Driver in Australian History

by Jack Harmon

At the 58th Gulf Western Oil Winternationals, one qualifying run rewrote the record book before the finals even started. Here’s what an 11,000-horsepower weekend at Willowbank Raceway actually looked like, and who walked away with the trophies.

These Nose-High Willys Coupes Ran 9.93 at 141 MPH on Pump Gas – Then NHRA Erased Their Class Entirely

by Jack Harmon

Gassers ran on pump gas, rode on solid front axles, and pointed at the sky for one blunt reason: physics. This is the full story of the 1960s Gas class – the Willys coupes, the 9.93-second grudge match at Lions Drag Strip, and the rule changes that wiped the category off NHRA’s books by 1972.

A high-powered car performing a burnout with 2400 HP.

2400hp Unicorn Vette!

by Wes

This twin-turbo, nitrous-fed Corvette showed up to Texas Invitational wearing two 88mm turbochargers that punch straight through the hood, backed by a 2,400-horsepower rating that its own team hasn’t even been able to confirm yet. A dead fuel pump capped boost at roughly 1,500 horsepower on this outing, leaving another 1,000 horsepower and a promised 200 mph pass still on the table. Fans can’t agree whether to call it a unicorn or a bull. Watch to see just how much of that power actually made it to the ground.

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