By Mary Lendzion
After Kevin Parent competitively campaigned his 1969 Nova in NMCA ARP Nitrous Pro Street, he sold it to Jeff Rudolf, who was just as competitive in the same category.
And now, David Fallon Jr., who purchased it as a roller from Rudolf a few years ago, is poised to be just as powerful in the EC1 Race Cars-built car.
The Belleville-based driver took it to Keith Engling of Skinny Kid Race Cars for some adjustments to the driver's seat area so that he could sit lower in the car.
It was a little cramped for me height-wise, so Keith removed some bars and added some bars in slightly different areas inside of the car to give me a few more inches when I'm sitting in the car, and we did a poured seat for the Kirkey seat, said Fallon Jr.
With help from Level Performance, he put together a 632 cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet on a steel block topped with Dart 18-degree heads and enhanced with an Induction Solutions nitrous system. Then, he backed it with an M&M Transmission Turbo 400, M&M Transmission lockup converter and M&M Transmission shifter.
I had to make a new crossmember for the car, with help from my friend, Wayne Prysdale of ZWN Performance, because the lockup converter is one inch longer, requiring everything to be pushed back, said Fallon Jr.
Prysdale also fabricated custom headers and a trans tunnel for the car, and installed a new Precision Shaft Technologies carbon fiber driveshaft under it. When everything was in place last summer, Fallon headed to a heads-up event at Milan Dragway in Michigan, where his friend, Pro Hose Connections business partner and NMCA VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod driver Jackie Slone, made the first pass in the car before Fallon Jr. entered Outlaw 632.
We were just starting out, shaking the car down and getting the feel of it, said Fallon. Jackie was helping me dial it in, and it was a bit of a nail-bitter, but we were able to run high 4.70s, and then 4.60s.
Pleased, but wanting to put down even more power, Fallon Jr. last fall replaced that engine with a 632 cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet built by Reher-Morrison and featuring a half-filled Brodix aluminum block, Reher-Morrison Raptor 12-degree heads and a Reher-Morrison billet intake. He chose two carburetors from Williams Carburetors, as well as a SpeedTech nitrous system for additional adrenaline.
When it all came together, it was a very nice piece, and almost like jewelry, said Fallon Jr., with a laugh. It ran well, too. We went 4.42 at 163 mph in Outlaw 632 at Milan Dragway. Then since we were putting more power down, we felt we needed to move to a better rear-end and anti-roll bar last winter.
Fallon turned to Marty Merillat to massage a Mark Williams Fab 10 rear-end and floater for his car, and Fallon also installed new carbon fiber wheelie bars by MVM.
While helping Slone at the NMCA event at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida in March, Fallon Jr. couldn't help but notice ARP Nitrous Pro Street, and decided that he wanted to compete in the category, and circled on his calendar the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl presented by HPJ Performance, July 30-August 2, World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
He was quick to fit in and fly, and he posted a 4.50 to qualify in the third spot in ARP Nitrous Pro Street, won the first round of eliminations with a 4.43 against Kyle Salminen, won the second round of eliminations with a 4.44 against Kelly Boring and later remarkably raced to another 4.43 and a runner-up finish against Tony Gillig in the final round of eliminations.
I wish I could have won the event for my daughter, Ryleigh, who's also my crew chief and wants me to win in the worst way, but it still felt so good to get to the final round of eliminations, said Fallon Jr. We faced very tough competition.
Fallon Jr., who also has help from Slone's hardworking crew, is now preparing for the Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA All-American Nationals presented by Force Engineering, Aug. 27-30, U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
We're working with the nitrous system to find the sweet spot, and we hope to pick up even more, but we still feel as though we will be competitive, said Fallon Jr.
Prysdale also fabricated custom headers and a trans tunnel for the car, and installed a new Precision Shaft Technologies carbon fiber driveshaft under it. When everything was in place last summer, Fallon headed to a heads-up event at Milan Dragway in Michigan, where his friend, Pro Hose Connections business partner and NMCA VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod driver Jackie Slone, made the first pass in the car before Fallon Jr. entered Outlaw 632.
We were just starting out, shaking the car down and getting the feel of it, said Fallon. Jackie was helping me dial it in, and it was a bit of a nail-bitter, but we were able to run high 4.70s, and then 4.60s.
Pleased, but wanting to put down even more power, Fallon Jr. last fall replaced that engine with a 632 cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet built by Reher-Morrison and featuring a half-filled Brodix aluminum block, Reher-Morrison Raptor 12-degree heads and a Reher-Morrison billet intake. He chose two carburetors from Williams Carburetors, as well as a SpeedTech nitrous system for additional adrenaline.
When it all came together, it was a very nice piece, and almost like jewelry, said Fallon Jr., with a laugh. It ran well, too. We went 4.42 at 163 mph in Outlaw 632 at Milan Dragway. Then since we were putting more power down, we felt we needed to move to a better rear-end and anti-roll bar last winter.
Fallon turned to Marty Merillat to massage a Mark Williams Fab 10 rear-end and floater for his car, and Fallon also installed new carbon fiber wheelie bars by MVM.
While helping Slone at the NMCA event at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida in March, Fallon Jr. couldn't help but notice ARP Nitrous Pro Street, and decided that he wanted to compete in the category, and circled on his calendar the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl presented by HPJ Performance, July 30-August 2, World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
He was quick to fit in and fly, and he posted a 4.50 to qualify in the third spot in ARP Nitrous Pro Street, won the first round of eliminations with a 4.43 against Kyle Salminen, won the second round of eliminations with a 4.44 against Kelly Boring and later remarkably raced to another 4.43 and a runner-up finish against Tony Gillig in the final round of eliminations.
I wish I could have won the event for my daughter, Ryleigh, who's also my crew chief and wants me to win in the worst way, but it still felt so good to get to the final round of eliminations, said Fallon Jr. We faced very tough competition.
Fallon Jr., who also has help from Slone's hardworking crew, is now preparing for the Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA All-American Nationals presented by Force Engineering, Aug. 27-30, U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
We're working with the nitrous system to find the sweet spot, and we hope to pick up even more, but we still feel as though we will be competitive, said Fallon Jr.