HOT ROD Drag Week, presented by Gear Vendors Under/Overdrive
After a horrendous crash at the 2015 Roadkill Nights in Pontiac, Michigan, Brain Kohlmann got his bell rung good. Like off from work for over a month good. Getting bonked on the head with a flying fire extinguisher torpedo can do serious damage to your noggin. He was kind of done drag racing his cool 1931 Chrysler 3-window coupe, something that being in such close proximity to Union Grove Drag Strip just outside of Racine, Wisconsin, was a staple of his adult life. With stock frame rails and safety equipment you would expect in an old hot rod, smacking the wall at 150mph makes one reflect on launching oneself in a Chrysler coffin. But soon he decided if he was going to continue doing what he loved in the car of his dreams, he needed two things—a much safer car, and a nitro-fueled Chrysler Hemi coupe capable of 6-second passes at over 200mph that he could drive on Drag Week. We’re down with Brian’s logic, sense of perspective, and obvious intellect.
We’re all the better for Brian’s clear thought, racing drive, and building abilities, which after only one year he’s back with his reborn Chrysler coupe. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of doubt, fear, and escaping logic, Drag Week has its first nitro-fueled entrant. The only class in Drag Week that allows the use of anything other than conventional fuels is the Unlimited class, which is where the coupe is slotted. And as with other more competitive classes in Drag Week, a fuel system that can be switched between nitro and gasoline is mandatory. Brian fashioned a system that uses a magneto in front of the Hemi to spark the juice, and a conventionally placed distributor at the rear where all 392 Chrysler Hemis get spark.
EFI allows for easy switching between the two, as well as timing and fuel curves exclusive to each fuel. Brian was a little close to the vest about every element of the switchover, telling us, “I don’t want to tell you and then find out that it doesn’t work.” With only a few miles on the coupe this is definitely a work in progress.
The chassis was patterned after the old Logghe ladder-type double tube Funny Car frames from the 1960s. And the roll cage ensures that any more introductions to walls or barriers will be better on Brian’s brain. His plan is to ease into elapsed times from day to day as his license is certified for 7-second passes, so the full potential of the Chrysler’s fury won’t be found this week. But it should be fun watching a fuel coupe handle the highways, byways, and drag strips for the 2016 HOT ROD Drag Week.
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September 11 – Registration, Test and Tune
National Trail Raceway
2650 National Rd SW
Hebron, OH 43025
September 12 – Day One Racing
National Trail Raceway
2650 National Rd SW
Hebron, OH 43025
September 13 – Day Two Racing
Summit Motorsports Park
1300 OH-18
Norwalk, OH 44857
September 14 – Day Three Racing
US 131 Motorsports Park
1249 12th St
Martin, MI 49070
September 15 – Day Four Racing
Lucas Oil Raceway
10267 US-136
Indianapolis, IN 46234
September 16 – Final Day Racing
National Trail Raceway
2650 National Rd SW
Hebron, OH 43025
The post First Nitromethane Entry: Brian Kohlmann’s Chrysler Fuel Coupe at 2016 Drag Week appeared first on Hot Rod Network.