Larry Larson has claimed his fourth Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week title by fighting his way down the Heartland Park drag strip this afternoon in 7.56 seconds. That run, while not a record breaker in the elapsed time department, was probably one of the sweetest passes Larry Larson has ever made. Despite the fact that Larry tries to make this feat look easy, his calm and pleasant demeanor belies the fact that he has busted his ass for months leading up to the event and for the last week on the road.
Is street car drag racing was ever looking for a Babe Ruth, there’s no need to keep the search going. Larry Larson is it. He walks softly and carries the biggest street legal stick in the world. No hype, no super self-promotion, no boasting, just performance. He’s a class act through and through, a guy we are honored to call our friend, and someone who has earned every bit of the success he has achieved at this event and others.
Please join us in congratulating Larry Larson, the reigning king of Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week presented by Gear Vendors. Once again, he sits atop the mountain. Will anyone be able to knock him off in 2012? We can’t wait to find out!
I learned years ago that only people that are REALLY good at something can make it look easy. Larry IS really good at this. Congrats on the continued domination of Drag Week!
Congrats to Larry and his crew! I hope someone can stay the challenge with him for the entire week next year, though!
Truly the baddest street car on the planet! Congrats
Boring!
7.56 in a street, car a real street car, Larry is amazing the car is amazing, congrats Larry…
Boring? Show us you can do better !
Larry Larson is the true Master. He cannot be defeated in this world. All bow and pay tribute to the Drag Week Sweep! We are not worthy…we are not worthy…..
Larson’s like street car racing’s Jimmy Johnson and Chad Knaus all rolled into one. He’s running a reliable combination (big-cube twin turbo) with a scienced-out pro chassis . . . and no support trailer!
So how could he be beaten by BRAND X in 2012?
11. Write an IHRA Mountain Motor-sized check to Jon Kaase.
10. Build a car with better aero than Larson’s barn-door Deuce (something like Glidden’s old T-Bird or Probe)
9. Forget nitrous and centrifugals (too hard on parts)
8. Big cubes/relatively modest cam/huge turbo boost (an adjustable combination that’s not on the edge is more likely to last)
7. Make him chase a rabbit (a two car team with one always set on “kill” and the other set for reliability)
6. Advanced suspension (electrically-adjustable shocks, etc.)
5. Detune it (avoid the hot rodder’s tendency to run everything at 11/10ths)
4. Gas on the street and alcohol at the track (there’s no rule against it and alcohol is much better for the stratopheric boost necessary to run 6s).
3. Figure out a new way to leave on boost without an turbo & engine killing “bang bang” system (there’s a way to do it . . . .)
2. Convert a new pro stocker to a “street car” (all that science and wind-tunneled carbon fiber powered by a turbo mountain motor on alcohol ought to do the trick)
1. Build an old-school sprung “funny car.” (Floppers killed the doorslammers in the ’60s, so why not repeat some history . . . besides, what would be cooler than figuring out how to live with a flip-top funny for a thousand miles on the street?)
Considering that all others have been slower and failed to make it to the end makes Larsons achievements all the more amazing. To run the numbers, make the drive and win four times….. LEGEND. I’m not sure anyone else has what it takes, words are easy, results are work and dedication.