This 1967 Firebird Pulled Jim Trettel Back Into Racing in Just Seven Seconds
People change as they go through life, and it’s not uncommon for someone that used to enjoy cars and racing to step aside to raise a family, or move on to a new hobby. Popular choices include golf, boating / fishing and motorcycles. But sometimes, a few will get the bug and return to the car and racing scene.
Jim Trettel decided to put racing to the side to raise a family. But the 20-year hiatus combined with Covid found Jim getting the racing bug to jump back in with both feet. “My wife and I raced the NMCA (National Muscle Car Association) circuit from the mid-90s into the early 2000s,” said Jim. “We raced a 1965 Pontiac GTO with a 440 cubic inch Pontiac and a Jerico four-speed manual.”
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All it took was a Craigslist find during the cooped up Covid period to bring Jim back to the fold. “My brother found a deal on a motor on Craigslist during Covid that was too good to pass up,” said Jim. “The rest is history.”
“I decided life is too short,” Jim continued. “This Drag-N-Drive is pretty cool.” So, unlike his past when he had more of a race car, Jim decided this time to have a vehicle that could hold its own on the street as well. “I was a co-pilot in my brother’s Buick GN at Midwest Drags in 2021, and I was hooked.”
Starting with a 1967 Pontiac Firebird, Jim went to Cage Rage Fabrication for a 25.5 SFI spec upgrade done, but kept the stock leaf-spring suspension out back. The Craigslist find, a 438 cubic inch LSX found its way between the frame rails wearing Air Flow Research LS3 cylinder heads, and a pair of Precision 76/75 turbochargers. Backing the powerful LS is an ATI Turbo 400 3-speed with a ProTorque converter and a Gear Vendors Overdrive to keep the revs down on the road. A Holley Dominator ECU commands the systems.
A little over a year later, the Firebird build was complete, and Jim set his sights on 2023 Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
Entered in Super Street, Jim would be one of eight drivers to clock a 7-second pass in the class on day one, collecting a 7.98 at 174 mph time slip at Orlando ‘Sick” World Dragway. Heading southwest to Bradenton Motorsports Park for day two, Jim quickened his pace by posting a 7.86 at 174 mph. After a long drive north to South Georgia Motorsports Park for Wednesday and day three, the Firebird delivered Jim 8.12 at 174 mph time slip.
That would unfortunately be the end of Jim’s Sick Week, as he wouldn’t turn in a time slip at Gainesville or Orlando, but he still had a positive outlook on the event. “The challenge that it presents and the time spent with like-minded people,” Jim stated of why he was looking forward to Sick Week. “It is a combination of all the good things from the other drag and drive events, with awesome track prep.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Motion Raceworks.