“I’m the one in the middle holding the pewter likeness of Wally Parks that I won! It is my first one and to win it on the same day as the NHRA Nationals at Indy and the last points race of the season at Sonoma; It was a great day for all three of us at 3 Fat Boys Racing. The other two guys are my long-time racing pals. On the left is Craig Renke past Sportsman Track Champion in the Redding Drag Strip and does the tuning on all the cars and on the right is Dennis Bowman, 5th in season points at Sacramento Raceway and runner up in the ALS Run for the Money Challenge.” – Bob Choisser
The National Dragster Challenge is an annual event, and coincided with the last race of the points season at Sonoma Drag Strip. Hotrodhotline.com contributor Bob Choisser, and his racing Vega, went six elimination rounds and won the Dragster Challenge Wally against the current Sportsman Champion, as well as the Sacramento points leader! Bob hadn’t been running in the points but loves to race at Sonoma. “It’s the finest facility in the West, and the people who work there are superior. I only went yesterday (September 1st) to see if I could help shuffle the points standings a little as it was the last race of the points season and those points will determine the race teams for the upcoming Division 7 Summit E-T Finals in Bakersfield.”
Bob’s bracket racing car is a 1973 Chevrolet Vega Kammback that he bought in 2007 in Yuba City, CA. The owner hadn’t done any work on it, aside from painting it the lemon yellow you see before you, which is what had originally caught Bob’s eye. He’d seen it at a Goodguys show in Pleasanton, and it had caught his eye. It looked like the perfect foundation for a bracket racer.
To turn it from stock to stock car (bracket car rather) Bob swapped out the motor for a 350 cid small block Chevrolet “roller” motor with Edlebrock Performer aluminum center bolt heads that were decked and “knifed”, added Iskenderian triple springs, an Edlebrock Torker II aluminum intake manifold, a Comp Cam, and Sanderson custom 2½-inch coated headers. Power is transmitted to the ground through a GM TH 350 transmission. Rear drive is a Chrysler 8-3/4-inch rear end with a 3.73 Sierra Racing gear set and a Richmond PowerTrax locking system.
All that effort has been worth it, as Bob has raced the Vega successfully over the past few years, culminating in this weekend’s surprise Wally.
Congrats Bob!
