Beaver Springs Dragway – “Dyno” Don Nicholson was one of the well-known pioneers of the sport of drag racing, starting in the 40s and racing almost till the day he died in 2006. It was in the late 50s that he earned the nickname “Dyno” by perfecting his own technique of tuning his engines on a dynamometer, one of the first to do this. While he had success with a wide variety of his cars, most of his success is associated with his ‘65 A/FX Mercury Comet. On this day at Beaver Springs Dragway, you could easily be convinced Dyno Don came back and was racing that Comet. Closer examination reveals it’s not Dyno Don, but the tribute car of Steve McBlane.

Steve’s one of those guys who loves drag racing, loves his car, but is not one to talk a lot about it or himself. It took a little prodding to get him to divulge it took him a year to build this car. Like serious hot rods of old, the body was acid-dipped and placed on a chassis built by Steve. Under the hood is a 511 cubic inch Ford FE engine with Edelbrock heads that utilize titanium valves and springs. On top of the engine are two 950 cfm carburetors for induction. The engine also utilizes a belt drive. Behind the engine is a Ford C4 Transmission mated to a 4:57 ratio rear differential to send the horsepower to the ground. Although it looks ridiculously powerful, Steve admits, “There’s just a soft tune on it right now, [I’m] not leaning on it.”

Obviously, Dyno Don is Steve’s hero and the reason he built the car to look like his. Years ago, while at Bowling Green, none other than Earl Wade (Dyno Don’s crew chief and engine building expert) checked the car out. Memories like that caused Steve to say, “I think I was born 20 years too late. Got to try to relive it.” The car is meant to look like Don’s Comet, but it’s got some modern technology because, according to Steve, “That’s what he would have done. I tried to keep it pretty much stock looking, kept the towers. Just a ladder bar setup nothing fancy. My motto’s keep it simple.” Steve’s trying to walk that tightrope of having fun, racing seriously, but not so serious as to damage the engine so the thrill of driving the car lasts longer. Even driving conservatively, the car has done an elapsed time of 8.62 with Steve lifting at 1200 feet. Or as Steve puts it, “Not leaning on it, just taking it easy on it, keeping it living. I’m just foot-braking it.” If you want to relive the old days, take a look at Steve’s car and watch it closely. Close your eyes and you’ll be transported back to the glory days when drag racing was at its’ peak.