How to run a 10.92 quarter mile on bias ply tires

By rnkibbe • March 10th, 2010

There are those that like their muscle cars fast, and there are those that like them stock, but never the tween shall meet, right? Wrong.

Joel Nystrum launching his '67 Hemi GTX for a 10.92 run....on bias ply tires!

An organization called F.A.S.T. (Factory Appearing Stock Tire) has been sanctioning quarter-mile races for muscle cars for a long time now with just a few easy stipulations:

Your car has to appear to be factory-trim stock
Your car has to run on tires it would have come with originally

Sounds simple, right? You can visit their website for full information, but essentially you can bring any old muscle car of your choice and run it as long as it looks completely stock. The engine must be one that was available in that car originally in size and displacement and must have a stock sounding cam (along with several other stipulations), but it does not need to be numbers matching. The tires must be of stock variant as well – meaning you’re likely going to be running a bias ply tire.

The people competing in this series have really taken their creativity to the next level, and that is the purpose of this article. Joel Nystrum has built what appears to be a stock 1967 Hemi GTX, and is running sub 11 second quarter mile times with it……on bias ply tires. He was the first MOPAR in F.A.S.T. competition to do so. The car is not an original Hemi GTX though ( it’s actually a small-block Satellite dressed up to look like a GTX), but per the F.A.S.T. rules this is perfectly acceptable.

As you may guess, getting a big car like a GTX to run a 10.92 second quarter mile is a quite a feat – especially without the aid of traction bars, sticky tires, and a wild cam. Joel did it though….and a lot of other guys are having just as much fun as he is. A video of Joel’s run is below as is a link to the buildup of his car (including pictures) from bangshift.com.

If you are a fan of keeping things original but still need to scratch the “modify to go fast” itch, this may be just the ticket for you. Have fun, and way to go, Joel (and all others racing in F.A.S.T.)! Thanks for the inspiration!

Click here to see the buildup pictures.