Pure Stock Shoot Out
Written by Keith Fudge

One of the hottest trends in automotive racing is pure-stock, muscle-car drag racing. It's just like the good old days where two cars had a showdown to see who was the fastest. Often was the case that these cars were “lining up” on the boulevards and the back roads just as they rolled off the showroom floor. Part of the joy of this form of racing was that anyone could take on anyone and there were some pretty unique battles that occurred—often with surprising results. On this segment of My Classic Car, Dennis Gage had the privilege to witness one such unlikely contest between a 1969 Yenko Camaro and a 1964 R-3 Studebaker—yep, that's right, a Studie!

The event was held at the Mid-Michigan Motorplex, and while he was there Dennis spoke with Tom Shaw, publisher of Muscle Car Magazine, who told him that in this type of racing the only modifications that are allowed are some minor carburetor and ignition tuning. Next, Dennis spoke with Rob Clary who would be driving the Yenko. Rob told Dennis that the Yenko was his dad's car but that he was allowed to drive it! He also told Dennis that he had “squared-off” against the Studie previously! This yellow Yenko was incredible and was naturally powered by the L72, a 427 cubic inch, 425 horsepower Chevy big-block! Then it was time to talk to George Krem, the owner of this rare Studie. Referred to as the “plain brown wrapper,” George purchased this sleeper when it was brand new in August 1964, and then he purchased the engine from Studebaker to transform his Lark into a beast on the street. The R-3 engine is a 289 cubic inch motor that was bored to 304.5 cubic inches. George said that it has “unique” heads, and aluminum intake, and an AFB carburetor. There were also cast iron headers and to top it off there was a Paxton Supercharger that really moved the Studie down the track! It wasn't long before this showdown was to begin, but first George had one final adjustment to make; he enlisted the driving help of eight-time NHRA national Champion, Ted Harbit! Would this “modification” be enough to help this David slay Goliath? We were soon about to see.

On the first pass the Yenko shut down the Studie, but not by much. The Yenko ran a 12.47 at 112 miles per hour. On the second pass the Yenko ran a 12.58 and the Studie closed the gap and ran a 12.92 at 109 miles per hour. Although the Studie ran close the Yenko bested it today, but from what we understand, each has its share of wins against the other. What all this means is that when you “line ‘em up” sometimes the results may not be as obvious as one thinks—that's the beauty of it all, not to mention the fun of the sport! So, until our next showdown, “rev it up!”