In an officially sanctioned event, the cars of the Factory Appearing Stock Tires (FAST) class raced May 28-29, as part of the 2nd annual Musclepalooza presented by Hemmings Muscle Machines at Lebanon Valley Dragway, near Albany, NY.

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FAST rules dictate all entries appear showroom stock, including the body, interior, and external components of the engine; however, internal engine modifications are practically unrestricted. To top it all off, wheels and tires also must be true to original, right down to running on skinny bias-ply rubber, which makes for quite a show from some deceptively “ordinary” rides. On raceday, FAST runs a heads-up Quick-8 show for the top qualifiers, with all remaining entries paired up with their closest competitors for a series of best-two-out-of-three challenges on raceday.

Number-one qualifier Wayne Nelson of Princeton, MN, won at “The Valley” by beating Canadian Jimmy Johnston in an all-Corvette final. Johnston left first with a .057 reaction in his ’79 model, but Nelson quickly reeled him in with his 1969 L-88 and posted a winning 11.01 at 126.68 mph to Johnston’s 11.62/120.69 combo.

In addition to winning the event, Nelson steered his ’69 Corvette to the first 10-second pass in FAST-legal trim and picked up a $500 bonus courtesy of Hemmings, plus another $250 each from the Capital Area Mopar Club and Clifton Park Dodge World. Nelson’s car features a 427 bored out to 511 cubes and runs Firestone (replica) G70-15 bias plies on all four corners. His incrementals on the record-setting pass in the first round of eliminations were: 1.697 – 60 feet; 4.663 – 330 feet; 7.098 – 660 feet; and 10.978 at 126.88 mph at the finish line.