KillerBees Slant Six Drag Racing

How about a cheap way to get into drag racing? Bracket racing is the ticket and slant sixes are probably the cheapest engine to get the job done.

I had met a couple of the KillerBees guys down in Redding, CA last year and they convinced me to race with them at Champion Raceway in Medford, OR this year. I have done plenty of autocrosses but never a drag race (Kind of backwards for an old car guy I guess). I was curious what the Dart would run after my SuperSix intake conversion.

Continue reading after the jump!

I literally mowed lawns just to afford to go racing. I planned to do the test and tune on Friday night and just watch the slant sixes race on the next day- due to lack of funds. But in the staging lanes, I met Edd Jesiolowski. Within five minutes of talking, he offered to pay my way to race the next day. Edd turned out to be invaluable over the weekend, giving me tips on bracket racing and slant sixes in general. I’m very grateful for his help- thanks Edd. (Edd owns Pace Fabrication in Paradise, CA and his work is top notch, check it out.) His wife’s Demon is pictured below.

That first night, the fastest my Dart ran was a 20.182 @ 66.65 mph. I was a bit disappointed to tell you the truth. I thought it would at least run in the high teens. I was told later that for a mostly stock slant six in a street car, this was decent. Besides, bracket racing is about reaction time. Friday night, my reaction times were all over the map, so I left pretty disappointed and almost didn’t come back.

I did come back though and I wasn’t disappointed. I got to meet most of the KillerBee crew. There was some serious machinery present. Andrew Howards is pictured below in the near lane with Wayne Erickson in the far lane-both of these cars have run in the 13’s.

The fastest car that day was this Swinger pictured below owned by Aric Erickson, he was running in the 12’s.

I made a couple more test passes before we started the bracket race. To my surprise, the Dart clicked off a 19.806 at 68.15 mph. My reaction time was a decent .073- I was feeling pretty good. We set up the ladder and I was paired up with Mike Bjerklund. His ‘68 4-door was a second faster than me, so it was a good match up.

I got him at the light with a .104 reaction time to his .261 but I made a newbie mistake and picked too slow a dial in. The car made its fastest pass of the weekend with a 19.802 @ 67.88 mph- and I even let up at the finish. So, I broke out and Mike got the win. The eventual winner of the day was Wayne Erickson pictured below:

I had a good time and I highly recommend checking out the KillerBees when they’re in town. Because the slant six isn’t as popular to hot rod as a V8, there’s a lot of impressive backyard engineering on these cars. The next race is September 13 in Sacramento, CA. Check out the KillerBees website here.

The rest of the pictures are here.

Related posts:

• A Rare 1998 Nissan Skyline GT-R turns up at this years Turkey Run in Daytona
• Its in the Details…
• The fact that Toyota have the number one spot does not necessarily mean ...
• The Thunderstorm Is Part Geo Storm, Part Subaru Brat, 100% Awesome [Found On EBay]
• 2010 North American Car of the Year Candidates Announced

Related posts:

• Is ethanol the answer?
• Surfmobiles in Puerto Escondido
• Getting a Remote Starter for Your Vehicle
• What Domestic Car Are You Going To Miss The Most? [Question Of The Day]
• The 1,005 HP Mustang GT-Based Scythe Concept Is An Overgrown Hot Wheels Car [Sema]