The squeaky-clean 442.

I moved the car to the other side of the parking lot to take more pics. Part of the registration "goodie bag" was a Supercar Showdown license plate, which I installed. Car Review Magazine was the event's primary sponsor.

Friday June 20, 1986: Getting familiar with the track. Friday was spent at the track - Quaker City Dragway in Salem, OH. Aside from the magazine shoots, driver's meeting, and tech inspection, drivers were given the opportunity to get acquainted with the starting line. Some car owners had never been on a drag strip before, myself included.

Drivers were given the opportunity to get some practice at the starting line. This wasn't an actual "time trial." Emergency personnel were not present, meaning full quarter mile passes weren't allowed. But burnouts and launches were fair game.

Saturday June 21, 1986: Time trials and eliminations. First on the schedule for Saturday were a series of time trials. Drivers were given the opportunity to make several timed quarter mile passes.

The Supercar Showdown was created to answer the question, "Who made the fastest muscle car ?" Timed quarter mile passes are great. But they don't really answer that question. Showdown organizer Chuck Green decided to use a Head's-Up "Run What You Brung" format, meaning cars were not divided into classes. You raced whoever was next to you at the starting line, just like you did on the street.

The 1980s was a bleak time period for the automobile industry. Power was down substantially compared to 1960s levels. My 180 hp 442, while impressive for the 1980s, was nothing compared to the powerful machines from the muscle car era. This extremely rare 1970 AMC Javelin SST Trans Am edition, (1 of 100 produced), and its 325 hp made short work of me by half track. My first ever quarter mile pass on a drag strip resulted in a not-really-that-impressive 16.83 seconds.

My 180 hp 442 was quick for the 1980s, (16.2 - 16.5 second quarter mile). But it was nothing compared to the heavy hitters from the muscle car era. The photo above shows me getting thoroughly stomped by a beautiful 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda 440.

Unlike my first pass against the Javelin SST Trans Am edition where both cars were visible in the same photo at half track, the 'Cuda was probably 3 seconds in front of me on this run. My time improved slightly to 16.80 seconds.

I'm in the staging lanes for my third time trial of the day. The results of this pass would mimic the others. The 370 hp 1970 Olds 442 W30 Pace Car I would face would leave me in its dust. My time improved again though, this time to 16.69 seconds.

My final pass was during the eliminations where I would face a 429-powered 1970 Mercury Cyclone. Like the 'Cuda and the 442 Pace Car earlier, the 360 hp Cyclone would finish the quarter mile almost 3 seconds ahead of me. The upside to this is that my time improved once again, this time to 16.58 seconds !