Behind the Scenes and Struggles of Drag-and-Drive with Mike Finnegan and the Blasphemi ‘55 Chevy Gasser
Considering he co-stars in the popular “Roadkill” show and sells a shirt with “speed parts killer” on it, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Mike Finnegan pushes vehicles and parts to the limit. His popular YouTube channel Finnegan’s Garage covers a plethora of projects, from a 711 cubic inch twin-turbocharged boat to a diesel-swapped Chevrolet ramp truck.
His desire to duplicate a 1955 Chevrolet used in the popular Two Lane Blacktop led to acquiring a shell of a ’55 Chevrolet and mating it to a brand new gasser-style chassis in episode eight of Roadkill in 2012. The car was completely built between the Hot Rod garage and Finnegan’s shop, using an old-school HEMI powerplant and a 6-speed manual transmission for motivation. Earning the name “Blasphemi” for the engine swap, the build was completed just hours before a road trip of over 2,600 miles from California to North Carolina for the start of Hot Rod Magazine’s Power Tour.
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Fast forward a few years, and after covering Hot Rod Magazine’s Drag Week event several times as both a writer and also as a pit reporter, Finnegan made his first appearance as a participant in 2017. He had updated the ’55 Chevrolet to A/Gas standards, converting the naturally-aspirated Hemi engine to a blown combination, but kept the stick shift transmission. A 9.53 at 141 mph was his best lap on day one, and Finnegan survived two days before dropping out with problems.
He returned in 2018 to complete the week, and finished second to Jarrad Scott in the A/Gas class by less than three hundredths of-a-second, 9.160 to a 9.189. One year later, Finnegan and co-pilot Tony Angelo (former host of Hot Rod Garage) returned to Hot Rod Drag Week and scored his first win, lowering the A/Gas class record to an 8.906 average, and their journey was captured for an episode of Roadkill.
After not competing in 2020 or 2021, Finnegan and Angelo returned to Drag Week in 2022 looking to defend their title.
Unknown to anyone at the time, Finnegan brought along a camera crew to document the twists, turns and struggles the duo encountered. The result is over four hours of a true look at what can happen during a drag-and-drive.
The first of a two-part video release is linked below:
Written by Derek Putnam. Photo courtesy of Sick The Mag