Northern Stealth Fighter
For many years Edmonton’s Campbell Automotive has been a trend-setting facility for motorsports in Western Canada. But that group may well have even outdone themselves with their newest flagship racecar……
It was easily one of the most impressive entries overall during the recent IHRA Mopar Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam event at Castrol Raceway. Standing out from most of the crowd was the all new Top Sportsman 1937 Chevy driven by Mark Campbell.
Built by Bob Bunker Race Cars (Sacramento CA) and powered by a turbocharged 534 CID engine (by Campbell Automotive) the very stealth-looking machine was an immediate hit with the paying public. The car, which is the most radical drag racing machine to ever emerge from the Campbell facility, was also totally impressive on the race track. Despite the car’s overall newness, it still took the Top Sportsman pole position handily based on a terrific run of 6.554 secs at 216.55 mph.
The new car went 6.55 secs at 216.55 for TS #1 at IHRA Edmonton
“Bob (Bunker) did a fabulous job building this car,” said driver Mark Campbell, a second generation racer to his father Don. “We took delivery (roller) in March and it seems we worked like mad men ever since. We got it all ready during May and hit the drag strip.”
The move to a doorslammer is somewhat of a new experience for Mark Campbell who had spent the majority of his driving career behind the wheel of dragsters.
“I raced in Super Comp and Top Dragster mostly, but did run a 7.50 Nostalgia Funny Car for a time,” he confirmed. “But driving a turbo car is also not totally unfamiliar territory to me — because I did dabble a bit with a turbocharged ’88 Mustang which I raced on Drag Radial tires.”
Sinister & Speedy!
Mark confirmed that prior to ordering the new ’37 Chevy he and his partners did a lot of research.
“We really did a lot of consulting during the building process from a chassis science perspective and car weight percentage,” he continued. “We did all of our homework first and already that looks like it’s paying off. I’m so very pleased with the cars initial performances. It seems it is doing exactly what we wanted it to do. It is really a dream to drive – it feels very controlled and you don’t have to fight it.”
Mark confirmed that his engine combination is basically a Chevy configuration with 18 degree cylinder heads. They have installed a custom camshaft and the turbocharger is an 88 mm Precision model. On the dyno at 20 lbs boost they measured some 2400 HP during the pull process.
“This car was built to be 100% Pro Mod legal — however our attention right now is Top Sportsman and Quick 8 competition,” Mark added. “Pro Mod racing – it’s been discussed – but if that comes it would be sometime in the future. In 2011 we are going to focus on raising the boost — because there is a lot left on that tap. Our short times are very good (1.01 sixty foot so far) so we will now work on increasing our speed further down the track.”
The "skunkworks" crew behind the Campbell Automotive Turbo-Chevy
Mark races the machine in conjunction with a talented supporting cast that includes his father Don and Doug Weins. He is however quick to give extra credit to Tony Moretto, the owner of Campbell Automotive who was instrumental in making the ultra cool project even possible.
For more information on Canadian and industry-leading Campbell Automotive visit their website at: www.campbellautomotive.com
Posted by: Bruce Biegler
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
