David Schroeder and John Ens To Debut a New C7 Corvette at Performance and Racing Industry Show Next Month!
Although the turbocharger and superchargers continue to gain ground as the popular power adders, nitrous is still employed by a healthy contingent of competitors on drag-and-drive events.
One of the leaders in nitrous-fed hot rods is the team of David Schroeder and John Ens, first with their 1966 Chevrolet Corvette and then they debuted a 2019 C7 model Corvette in 2021.
That Corvette met an untimely demise earlier this year, but the team is ready to debut its replacement, which will be on display at the 2023 Performance and Racing Industry (PRI) show on December 7th through the 9th.
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The first C7 Corvette debuted with a win in its first drag-and-drive competition, Hot Rod Drag Week in September 2021.
At the first Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022, the car was hurt in testing and didn’t make it to Day 1. One year later, it made it to Monday’s competition, but a horrifying crash was the result.
Thankfully, the combination of a well-built Jerry Bickel Race Cars Corvette, and David’s required use of all the safety gear, resulted in minimal injuries – “My back was mildly sore for a few days,” said David. “The kind of pain you might get from swinging around a heavy suitcase.”
“I didn’t realize how bad the accident until I saw pictures of it after,” David said after some time to reflect on the crash. “I am thankful for the safety gear and a well-built car.”
Even though the team still had the potent ’66 Corvette in the stable, the search was on to find a replacement for the C7 Corvette, and David was able to find the needle in a big haystack, another Jerry Bickel Race Cars C7 Corvette.
“I was lucky enough to find this car, which was built 11 cars after our car,” he said. “It was never finished; basically just tubes and a body. As soon as I found it, we agreed it was cheaper and quicker to turn around than trying to repair the old car.”
“It has a lot of parts from the old car,” David continued. “We transferred over the Gear Vendors, the Rossler Turbo 400, and the engine without any major fixes. The intake was scuffed a little bit, and I was able to clean that up, but we did have to buy a new pair of valve covers.”
All the wiring and electronics were able to be used from the old car, as well as all the rear end and fluid lines too. “At one point we thought it might not be done in time for the Performance and Racing Industry (PRI) show, but it will be there.”
The car rolled out of the paint booth last weekend, and final assembly is nearly at the finish line. The new C7 will debut at PRI in the Gear Vendors Overdrive booth.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Schroeder Ens, Motion Raceworks and Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com