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3.50s or Bust! Luis de Leon in Chilly Willy's 68 Camaro

October 05, 2020

The Radial vs. The World category is fierce and Luis de Leon showed the field that Brian Shaw’s Chilly Willys Racing Camaro is a contender. The team recently finished runner-up during the Shakedown Nationals with their Jerry Bickel Race Cars 1968 Camaro and they did so in commanding fashion by dropping a best of 3.57 at 203 mph. It marks the first time a FuelTech-controlled nitrous entry has run in the 3.50s and is just one of two nitrous-powered door slammers to accomplish the feat.

The basis for the 3.50 performances comes from a Fulton Competition 959ci billet masterpiece, which utilizes a 5.300 bore space engine block. Multiple stages of nitrous help increase output to a robust 3,300hp, as recording on FuelTech’s in-house Mainline hub dyno.

Controlling the chemically enhanced 3,300hp monster engine is the job of a FuelTech FT600 engine management system. All PowerFT ECUs feature sequential injection and ignition, O2 closed loop, Data Logger, Delay Box, Boost Controller, and much more. The built-in Pro-Nitrous control is widely recognized in the RvW, 275 Radial, and Pro Modified worlds as being one of the most effective controllers on the market, giving the user a set of tools for engine tuning as well as power control for record-setting performances. The FT600 is more than just an ECU; it doubles as an LCD display screen for the driver to keep tabs on the engine and allow him or her to make tune changes without connecting to a laptop or PC computer.

Team principal, Brian Shaw, chose to back the massive Fulton 959ci powerplant with a unique drivetrain. A Extreme T Liberty Transmission is mated to a TyDrive converter drive and this is where it gets fun. De Leon relies on the GearControl, an integrated transmission controller in the FT600 that allows transmission shifting to be completely automated.

De Leon and Chilly Willys Racing are gearing up for the Duck X Productions Sweet 16 and No Mercy competitions where they look to better the 3.57 benchmark set last month. Success in boosted and nitrous applications from street cars to the highest levels of door-slammer racing is why you’re seeing #FuelTechEverywhere