Maybe it’s because I’ve worked with a bunch of vets who are missing a limb…or two…or more who carry on a kind of gallows humor about what happened and make killer Halloween costumes out of their replacement limbs. Maybe it’s because everyone loves a story of triumph over adversity. Maybe it’s just taking a really shitty situation, and instead of simply shrugging and going, “Well, this is it I guess” and backing off, instead solutions are created and you adapt and get better as a result. Whatever the case, one of the builds I dig the most is Kari Bahus’s rig, best known as the “Open Container” K5 Blazer. Bahus is a paraplegic, with his legs out of the program, so seeing the big Chevy come up off of the line knowing that it’s all being done with hand controls is badass on it’s own, but knowing that the rig is in 8.90 territory while it’s pulling monster wheelstands is another. Every pass, same story: the lights came down and the nose of the Blazer went up as the truck went forward faster than you’d expect. The combination is new and features a 4.5L Whipple supercharger on a Dart LSX block with nitrous for good measure. It’s difficult to not point out Bahus’s condition when talking about the Blazer, not that it always needs to be pointed out, but because his driving and taming of the beast is that much more impressive when you realize he’s one-handing the wheel while working the hand controls!
As someone who must use hand controls to drive following a spinal cord injury, it is nice to see that there are those out there who still want to race and do well at it using them!!
Absolutely love it! That must be a ladder bar set-up judging by the way it leaves. He could obviously be a lot quicker if he kept the nose down, but it wouldn’t be nearly as cool!