Joel's low-slung, 10.5W-tired warrior has blasted off a best of 7.48 seconds in the quarter-mile at more than 188 mph. The 60-foot line is gobbled up in 1.17 seconds with the estimated 1,750-horse small-block Ford wailing away. Of course, you can't run this kind of car alone, so Joel is quick and gracious in thanking his wife, Missy, his stepson Preston, all of his family and friends, Philip Jolly, and crew chief Ben Thomas.
Based on a 376-inch Fontana aluminum block (Cleveland style), the Jon Bennett-built, Joel-maintained engine consists of a 3.5-inch-stroke Bryant billet steel crank swinging GRP aluminum rods and 4.130-inch-bore 8:1 Ross pistons with a Speed-Pro ring package. The SC-1 Yates heads were ported by Bennett to flow 400 cfm on the intake and 300 cfm on the exhaust at 0.800 inch lift. The heads carry 2.18-inch intake and 1.65-inch exhaust valves, Comp Cams valvesprings, Jesel 1.6 rockers, and Jesel lifters. As for the cam specs, Joel says, "Yeah, right!" He says he's had a million of them-we'd believe a thousand. Bennett modified the Edelbrock intake to hold 160-lb/hr fuel injectors and a 90mm Accufab throttle body. The blower of choice is the ProCharger F-3R, which feeds 30 psi of boost through the Spearco intercooler and into the hungry small-block Ford. While Joel has progressed to the point where he calls his own shots on the FAST computer, he gives full credit to Wayne Young for the initial tune and continued good advice.
From left to right, Joel's racing team includes Ben Thomas, Floyd Watt, Tim Watt, Harvey Baker, and, of course, Joel Greathouse.
| 5.0 TECH SPECS |
| ENGINE AND DRIVETRAIN |
| Block | Fontana aluminum |
| Displacement | 376 ci |
| Heads | Yates SC-1 |
| Camshaft | Custom |
| Intake | Bennett-modified Edelbrock |
| Throttle Body | 90mm |
| Fuel System | Weldon 2345, -10 line, and Aeromotive regulator |
| Exhaust | Young's Performance headers with 2-in primaries feeding 4.5-in collectors and DynoMax Ultraflo mufflers |
| Power Adder | ProCharger F-3SC |
| Transmission | Performance Automatic Powerglide |
| Rearend | Fab-9 rear holds a Strange aluminum centersection w/4.30 gears and 35-spline Moser axles |
| ELECTRONICS | |
| Engine Management | FAST |
| Ignition | MSD DIS-VII, MSD coil, Holley spark-plug wires, and NGK spark plugs |
| Gauges | Auto Meter |
| SUSPENSION AND CHASSIS | |
| FRONT SUSPENSION | |
| K-Member | K&B Race Cars |
| Struts | Santhuff |
| Springs | Santhuff |
| Wheels | Hole Shot |
| Tires | Mickey Thompson |
| REAR SUSPENSION | |
| Traction Device | K&B antiroll bar |
| Shocks | Santhuff |
| Springs | Santhuff |
| Wheels | Hole Shot |
| Tires | Mickey Thompson |