Is This The First All-Steel-All-Glass Car With A Blow-Through Carburetor to Enter the 3-Second Zone?
As we reported in mid-December 2022, Jon Bitler made big news for carburetor fans when he spun the hub dyno at FuelTech’s Georgia location to 3,093 horsepower. Now, he holds a time slip as historic as that horsepower number.
In a 1969 Chevrolet Nova sporting a 557 cubic inch big block with a F3-136 ProCharger that Bitler assembled at his carburetor business, IRD Racing, he became the most powerful conventional cylinder head centrifugal supercharger engine combination last December at FuelTech.
In addition, Bitler collected the title of the most power recorded from a blow-through single carburetor engine, according to Cameron Lohrmann at FuelTech.
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But Bitler isn’t one to rest on his laurels, so he got busy working on the second half of the equation – getting the Nova ready for track duty.
After the conversion from leaf-springs to a 4-link rear suspension, Bitler got the car aligned and checked out, and attended a test session at Bradenton Motorsports Park on March 15th.
Racing in All Steel All Glass (ASAG) class trim, where cars are only allowed fiberglass hoods, trunk lids and bumpers, Bitler’s Nova tipped the scales at 3225 pounds.
“I didn’t roll into Bradenton with ultra high expectations,” said Bitler. “I would’ve been happy with a 4.20-something pass, having some data to review, and loading up a running car.” Little did Bitler know he would be resetting his personal best by four tenths of-a-second!
The first pass on the new combination kicked the tires loose, and Bitler also nearly lost the hood. “I had the front end tied down to avoid a big wheelie, because I’ve done that before,” he said. “I didn’t change anything for the second pass except the shocks, and left the hood off.”
The second run of the night was supposed to be a half-track pass, but that logic didn’t last long. “It got to the Christmas Tree, and I knew it was on a serious hit,” said Bitler. “(Operation manager and track prep guru) Wade Rich even said to me after the run that he thought I was going to click it at the 330-foot mark. I told him I wasn’t because how good it felt.”
The results of the pass? A 1.029 60-foot, 2.657 at the 330-foot mark, and Bitler completed 660 feet of work in just 3.977 seconds at 186.18 mph. That marks the first 3-second pass for a ASAG vehicle. Bitler even coasted across the quarter-mile mark at 6.66 seconds at just 148.79 mph.
“I thought legitimately it would take ten to twenty runs before we got it all figured out,” Bitler admitted. “To get that number on the second pass, it was a very emotional moment for me.”
“The confidence in my team made this happen like it did,” Bitler continued. “My dad Don, Steve Miller Fabrications for all the fab work, my girlfriend Leslie Hosmer, we all work together well and make it happen.”
“There’s a lot people and companies that have supported me in this journey as well,” said Bitler. “They include ProCharger, Chris Alston, Applied Racing Technology, Neal Chance converters, Proformance Racing Transmissions, Menscer Motorsports and FuelTech.”
“I’m all about showing what we can do with carburetors,” Bitler admitted. “The records, they’re awesome no doubt. But for me, I’m ready to get right back to work and use these results to help others get to their goals too.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Jon Bitler.