FAST Times – How Factory Appearing Muscle Cars Are Invading the 9-Second Range
When reminiscing about the cars of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s before the EPA restrictions neutered the muscle car world, some have often times speculated those cars ran much quicker than they originally did.
In reality, most of the quicker cars of the 1950s through the 1970s run slow enough that a modern muscle car would beat them in a heads-up race with room to spare.
For those that enjoy the classic muscle cars, there are several classes and events to see them racing. Events are held as both standalone, as well as in three in conjunction with the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA).
The classes include Pure Stock, Factory Stock and the Factory Appearing Stock Tire (FAST) classes.
The Pure Stock and Factory Stock classes are heavily restricted to keep cars as they would have been off the showroom floor. The FAST class is a different story.
FAST started as a way to see how quick a correct-appearing muscle car could actually run on period-correct design and size poly-glas tires. Cars started running in the 12-second range, and now the forerunners are in the 9-second zone.
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The 9-second barrier was first broken by Lane Carey in a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 built to match 429 Super Cobra Jet specs.
Carey’s 9.84 at 139 mph shot in 2010 came opposite Dave Dudek’s Road Runner, which many speculated would be the first to collect a 9-second time slip. Dudek would get his own 9-second run before the event was complete with a 9.98 at 138 mph, solidifying the first two cars in the nines.
Since then, eight more cars have run a 9-second pass at an event under legal guidelines, with a Pontiac, a second Road Runner piloted by Dudek, and six Chevrolet cars. The current record is held by the team of Kirkum and Pennington, wheeling a 1969 Corvette to a 9.31 at 147 mph.
The rules of the FAST class are lengthy, but simple in nature per the www.fastdrags.com website: “To look stock, sound stock and run fast, the way muscle cars should, while having fun and building camaraderie among fellow muscle car enthusiasts.”
Recently, the second-quickest car on the list, Terry Pennington’s 1969 Corvette, did some testing at US131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
Pennington’s Corvette is not far off the number one spot on the FAST record list, clocking a best of 9.37 at 146 mph in 2021. After some off-season upgrades pushed the car to 751 horsepower on a hub-dyno, Pennington and crew made a trip to the track to see how quick it would run.
FAST Racing sponsor Horsepower Depot covered the results, and uploaded them to YouTube below:
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of NMCA.
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