<< PREVIOUS PAGE

What's the secret to get a 10.5 car to go that quick? Davis's answer is simple and logical: "To get it down the track without spinning the small tire."

"You need a superior chassis with excellent weight transfer to transfer the majority of the weight to the rear tire, to eliminate tire slippage as much as possible," Davis said. "Unfortunately, because of the steel body, my car was 2,860 pounds, so we put 140 pounds of lead right in the rear, and it's a very reasonable 51.3 percent on the front wheels. That's very good for a steel car."

Another secret of the Nova (Davis won't reveal all) is the rear wheels, Weld by make, but these were made into bead lock wheels, just like those on Top Fuel Dragsters. "They eliminate a lot of tire shake and spin that you run into in any kind of car, from a Top Fuel

ADVERTISEMENT

car to a 10.5 car," Davis said. Since Weld doesn't make bead locks, he sent these 14-inchers to Red's Custom Wheels in Rochester, New York for a special build. It gives him a bigger footprint and eliminates tire shake and spin.

Davis runs Strange double adjustable shocks on the front and rear, with Strange coil overs. Ignition is all MSD, gauges are all Auto Meter, fuel system is all Barry Grant, tires are all Mickey Thompson, and sponsorship comes from John Bleakley RV Sales in Douglasville, Georgia. Paint was by Shane Barber of Carrollton, Georgia, silver with black stripes down the middle. "You can put all the custom paint on it, but I wanted to keep it clean, so we went with the '69 Nova style, gray with black SS stripes across the hood and deck lid," Davis said.

A final secret is the way he races. "I do the exact same thing that Warren Johnson will do, or anybody else, for that matter. I go out with a game plan, with a setting, and make a run, and that's just an information run, and come back and make adjustments to go faster. That's what you're trying to do in this (Outlaw 10.5) class," he said. "In Top Sportsman, you're trying to run consistently. In this class, you need to go as fast as possible and get every hundredth, just like Warren and them fight for. If I need to change the four-link, I'll change it at the track. Change shocks, anything. I'll change converters, take away power if the track is slick, add power if it's not, turn the second nitrous system on down the track, turn it on sooner, get on the third system --- which I haven't even used yet. I'll change line rpm, shift points, anything, just like a Pro Stock car.

"I'll race the Nova for a living, in the 10.5 class. Match races, grudge races, whatever, anywhere, anytime, anybody. That's what I built the car for. I spent a lot of money on it, right at $45,000 on the chassis," he said. And he is serious.

An update: At a recent IHRA Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway, Davis qualified his 10.5 Nova 44th out of 48 cars, with 54 entered in Top Sportsman, with a 7.404 at 180 mph. The "Top" race was rained out on Sunday, March 30. However, Davis did make one round of the Holley Shootout and lost in the second round on a breakout, running 7.475 off a 7.49 dial. "I took the (finish line) stripe but broke out more than the other guy did," he said.

He next travels to the NHRA Division 2 race, April 4-6, at Montgomery (Alabama) Motorsports Park, to race in the John Bleakley Motor Homes Top Sportsman series, a series that he helped create and promote in NHRA racing. Davis will again race his 10.5 Nova in Top Sportsman, again "giving away" 500 pounds. "I weighed 2,995 pounds at Rockingham, and in Top, you have to weigh 2,450 pounds with nitrous. You do the math. But that's all right," Davis added, "I'll still be there."

< MORE STORIES >