Written by Mary Lendzion
Photos by NMCA and courtesy of Dennis Breeden
Dennis Breeden likes to be behind the wheel of a race car.
He also likes to be busy at the racetrack, so rather than competing in one category, he competes in NMCA Nostalgia Super Stock as well as Micro Strategies Super Stock Eliminator at each race on the annual tour.
In Nostalgia Super Stock, he pilots his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere with a 572 cubic-inch Hemi by 1 Way Technologies and a 727 transmission by CRT, and he chooses 9.25 and 9.50 indexes.
While the car was going into wild wheelies, he found the perfect rear end gear and transmission gear in 2023 and has the car leaping off the line in fine fashion. In fact, it helped him haul to a perfect 9.50 on his 9.50 index to lead qualifying in a field of 65, at the 22nd Annual Red Line Synthetic Oil NMCA World Street Finals presented by Chevrolet Performance at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in September of 2023. He then went on to win in the class, as well as in the event’s F/X Shootout and Dave Duell Classic.
Over winter, Breeden performed basic maintenance on the engine in his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere and in an attempt to be ready for the 2024 race season, he went to a test session at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky in early March. Unfortunately, on the first pass in the car, the lower radiator hose failed and water spilled onto his tires, causing them to lose traction. The car went into the retaining wall at about 120 mph.
Most importantly, Breeden was not seriously hurt. His beloved classic car, however, was hurt.
“The track truck brought my car back to my pit area, and my brother, Bill, helped me get it into the trailer,” said Breeden. “It was very difficult to have to call my wife, Jackie, to tell her what happened, but we were grateful that when I was sideways, the slicks didn’t catch because that probably would have made the car barrel-roll instead of going into the retaining wall.”
Breeden shared that the majority of damage to his car is on the front clip, with some additional damage to the rear bumper and quarter-panel that occurred when his car spun back around after hitting the retaining wall.
“The car is sitting stripped at my shop, and most of the parts are on the way,” said Breeden. “The car will have to go to the frame shop to get the subframe straight and to have the bumper brackets repaired. After we bolt everything back on, we can paint it. I really want to thank fellow racers Joe Ewing, Clay Kossuth and Kevin Gass for helping me find parts.”
Breeden hopes to have his 1965 Belvedere back in action by mid-summer.
Meanwhile, he will focus on racing in Micro Strategies Super Stock Eliminator in his 2010 Dodge Drag Pak Challenger with a 6.1L Hemi built over winter by 1 Way Technologies and a 904 transmission by CRT. His first race of the year is the highly anticipated 16th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Sipple’s Speed and Performance, April 11-14, 2024 at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.
Running as quick as 9.17 and choosing the category’s 10.25 index, Breeden has come very close to earning a championship in Micro Strategies Super Stock Eliminator twice, and he is committed to staying competitive and coming out on top. He admits that it takes extreme effort among such strong competition, but he is also up to the challenge.
Photos by NMCA and courtesy of Dennis Breeden
Dennis Breeden likes to be behind the wheel of a race car.
He also likes to be busy at the racetrack, so rather than competing in one category, he competes in NMCA Nostalgia Super Stock as well as Micro Strategies Super Stock Eliminator at each race on the annual tour.
In Nostalgia Super Stock, he pilots his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere with a 572 cubic-inch Hemi by 1 Way Technologies and a 727 transmission by CRT, and he chooses 9.25 and 9.50 indexes.
While the car was going into wild wheelies, he found the perfect rear end gear and transmission gear in 2023 and has the car leaping off the line in fine fashion. In fact, it helped him haul to a perfect 9.50 on his 9.50 index to lead qualifying in a field of 65, at the 22nd Annual Red Line Synthetic Oil NMCA World Street Finals presented by Chevrolet Performance at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in September of 2023. He then went on to win in the class, as well as in the event’s F/X Shootout and Dave Duell Classic.
Over winter, Breeden performed basic maintenance on the engine in his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere and in an attempt to be ready for the 2024 race season, he went to a test session at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky in early March. Unfortunately, on the first pass in the car, the lower radiator hose failed and water spilled onto his tires, causing them to lose traction. The car went into the retaining wall at about 120 mph.
Most importantly, Breeden was not seriously hurt. His beloved classic car, however, was hurt.
“The track truck brought my car back to my pit area, and my brother, Bill, helped me get it into the trailer,” said Breeden. “It was very difficult to have to call my wife, Jackie, to tell her what happened, but we were grateful that when I was sideways, the slicks didn’t catch because that probably would have made the car barrel-roll instead of going into the retaining wall.”
Breeden shared that the majority of damage to his car is on the front clip, with some additional damage to the rear bumper and quarter-panel that occurred when his car spun back around after hitting the retaining wall.
“The car is sitting stripped at my shop, and most of the parts are on the way,” said Breeden. “The car will have to go to the frame shop to get the subframe straight and to have the bumper brackets repaired. After we bolt everything back on, we can paint it. I really want to thank fellow racers Joe Ewing, Clay Kossuth and Kevin Gass for helping me find parts.”
Breeden hopes to have his 1965 Belvedere back in action by mid-summer.
Meanwhile, he will focus on racing in Micro Strategies Super Stock Eliminator in his 2010 Dodge Drag Pak Challenger with a 6.1L Hemi built over winter by 1 Way Technologies and a 904 transmission by CRT. His first race of the year is the highly anticipated 16th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Sipple’s Speed and Performance, April 11-14, 2024 at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.
Running as quick as 9.17 and choosing the category’s 10.25 index, Breeden has come very close to earning a championship in Micro Strategies Super Stock Eliminator twice, and he is committed to staying competitive and coming out on top. He admits that it takes extreme effort among such strong competition, but he is also up to the challenge.