1999 Chevrolet Camaro SS - The Judmobile

Jud is a little bit old-school and likes things simple, so he uses a single coil and a beltdriven distributor with an MSD Digital 7 to run the ignition.

This shifter is an H-pattern Hurst that was modified to fit under the stock console. They left the console off because they knew they would be pulling out the transmission repeatedly during the race.

With the exception of the racing seats and 'cage, the Camaro could almost pass as a street car. The electronics hide in the glovebox, and it still has its factory interior.

The guy who mounted the slicks killed one of the wheels a couple of days before the race. Jud called Bogart Wheels that night and bought whatever the company had. When they arrived, the wheels were the wrong offset, so John had to narrow the rearend (yes, you heard that right) to get them to fit. On the first pass, the new wheel rubbed through the brake line and killed the rear brakes. Jud had no clue what the pedal pressure was, but he was using everything he had to stop the car. He locked up the front tire and blew it out right before he reached for the parachute and saved it.

The reason Jud had never used the parachute before was the big brakes from Aerospace. Jud says he uses them because they are a little less spendy than the others.

After the first run, the students downloaded the driveshaft speed, rpm, fuel pressure, voltage, mph, and O2 so they could analyze the run. For the next race, Jud purchased a Racepak system with a transmission input shaft sensor so they could tell the difference between clutch slippage and wheelspin.

On the first qualifying pass, clutch problems reared their ugly heads. The clutch was a yet-untested East/West system with a trick flywheel and adjustable discs. The car launched well. Then when Jud dabbed the clutch to shift into Second gear, the engine hit the rev limiter at 10,000 rpm and stayed there. Jud short-shifted the rest of the pass and still ran in the mid-9s.

The clutch was smoked after the first pass, so the students had to pull it out. The Jericho four-speed is designed to be shifted with a clutch, and the East/West clutch was designed to be used with a transmission that can be shifted without using the clutch. That required some adjusting and testing during the race.

Fortunately, Jud has run a few races in the past and had a clutch-surfacing machine. They pulled the transmission out at least three times in one day.