A High School Car Takes Shape as Andy Cook and Free Form Team Up to Build a 1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Drag-and-Drive Competition
Andy Cook has been one of the players in the 235-sidewall designation drag radial (or 26-inch-tall x 8.5-inch width slick) class, commonly referred to as Rowdy Radial, for the last few years.
Run on the eighth-mile distance, Andy’s turbocharged 2005 Pontiac GTO has held its own, winning twice at Rocky Mountain Race Week, as well as the recent Sick Summer event.
Now Andy has turned his focus to a new ride, a 1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, to build for a chance to make even quicker and fastest passes in the future.
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“I hunted for that car for years,” Andy admitted. “It is an identical car to my high school car, down to the year and gray interior, which is less common in those cars.” The Monte Carlo was acquired in 2022, and dropped off at Free Form Motorsports last December, the same shop that did the work on Andy’s brother Doug’s 1972 Chevrolet Nova.
Andy’s Monte Carlo is already getting some solid upgrades, with a NHRA spec cage to allow for 6-second performances. To achieve that level of performance, Andy dialed up Harrell Engine & Dyno (HED) for a LT engine similar to brother Doug’s car, and will likely use a pair of turbochargers to boost the power output a bit more. A Proformance Turbo 400 transmission with a lock up option will back the potent engine.
To accept the power and help with the hook-up, Free Form selected a TRZ Motorsports billet faceplate fabbed 9-inch arear end, along with TRZ’s modular anti-roll bar and control arms. Menscer Motorsports got the nod for a pair of coil-over shocks, and TBM Brakes will provide the woah.
Andy is hoping to get the car back from Free Form in late winter or early spring 2024, and get working to finish it.
Once that happens, Andy said he will likely put his potent 2005 GTO up for sale. “We have a couple COPO Camaros that we want to heavily campaign in Stock this year, and my son is running a junior,” said Andy. “So that may affect the timeline and my level of commitment to drag-and-drive for 2024.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Free Form Motorsports, Andy Cook and Doug Cook.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com