Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 4, 1993 TAG: 9307040083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Nothing may ever be the same for the 32-year-old Roanoke drag racer.
His phone is ringing off the hook. Reporters' notebooks are looming. Television cameras are lurking.
Such is life when you're a world record-holder.
"It's an awesome feeling," Stubbs said. "Hey, we're on top of the world right now. It's like here, you've been admiring all these other guys your whole life, and all of a sudden, damn, now you are in the limelight."
All thanks to a Camaro that runs like a bat out of hell. On the night of June 26 at Bristol (Tenn.) International Dragway, Stubbs and his white rocket covered the quarter-mile in an elapsed time of 8.49 seconds (166 mph) - a world record for a vehicle equipped with street-legal tires.
Stubbs' ride certainly is not your typical dragster. Oh, it has the motor - a 482 cubic-inch iron block that burns alcohol and pushes nearly 1,200 horsepower. And, OK, it has a rear wheelie bar and a packed parachute.
Other than that, the car is just like the one in your garage or driveway. It has glass, not Lexan windows. It has turn signals, lights and a horn, all of which work.
And what about that cellular phone? Shoot, in this baby, Stubbs can drive to most local haunts faster than he can dial the number.
"I still drive it on the street occasionally," Stubbs said. "The main reason you won't see it on the street much is because it's not real fuel-efficient. About a mile per gallon, I guess.
"Basically, it looks like a stock car other than the fact it's got a pretty healthy-looking engine in it and a pretty good set of wide tires in back."
The tires are the key to Stubbs' project. There are plenty of faster mounts in drag racing, but none are shod with street-legal tires.
"That's the thing," Stubbs said. "We run on a tire that's street-legal and approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
"It's not a racing slick. Therefore, it's very difficult to get traction. You'll pick up a half-second with slicks in an average street car."
Stubbs, who works in a Vinton speed shop, got hooked on drag racing after graduating from William Byrd High School. Four years ago, he made the decision to begin the slow conversion of his tame Camaro into today's speed monster.
"I drove the car and put about 10,000 miles on it on the street," he said. "Then we started on this project. Our goal when we set out is what we've done - we wanted to be the fastest and quickest street-legal car with street VDOT tires."
Super Chevy magazine, which featured Stubbs' car on its cover in July 1992, started the division matching street-legal machines. Since then, Stubbs and Floridian Dan Richenburg have been battling head-to-head for class supremacy.
"For many years magazines couldn't pump up street cars because that was negative publicity. We don't want to promote street racing," they said. "The new angle is get it off the streets and take it to the track."
Richenburg's 1970 Nova held the record until Stubbs blew past in Bristol. Stubbs turned an 8.69 in his first pass before hitting the 8.49.
"That's unheard of," said Stubbs, whose hero is funny car ace John "Brute" Force. "I just drive, though. I owe a lot to the guys who do most of the work on the car."
Crew chief Billy Triplett, who operates GT Performance speed shop in Roanoke, did most of the duty on the engine and chassis, Stubbs said.
"I've got about $12,000 in the motor and $35,000 total in the car," Stubbs said. "Billy calls all the shots. There are so many others you can't list 'em all. You don't do this by yourself."
Stubbs, however, was alone in his moment of fame in Bristol.
"I was all by myself at the finish line and I heard I had gotten the record," Stubbs said. "Then, I started to think, `Where's the guy who is supposed to talk to you when you do this?' "
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB