Feature: Rick Thornton’s Immaculate Outlaw Drag Radial 1965 Corvette

THORNTONLEAD

Texas doorslammer racer Rick Thornton established his name in the mid to late 2000s terrorizing the competition in ORSCA and Texas King of the Hill competition in his stunning 1965 Chevy Corvette on 10.5’s. Thornton and partner Grant McCrary also held their own in ADRL Outlaw 10.5 competition with a pair of turbocharged Dodge Stratus’, but the Vette was the car everyone remembered for its stunning looks and equally impressive performances.

28It’s been almost six years since the Corvette graced the starting line of a drag strip, but 2015 marks the return of this fine machine, which will be competing in the Outlaw Radial category at drag radial events across the country.

Originally purchased in New York by Thornton in 2004, the Corvette has since gone through a complete rebuild and upgrade in its current home in Texas. This Larry Larson-built machine previously featured a big block-powered, nitrous-assisted combination, but now packs a powerful punch of twin turbo-powered small block action assembled by Reher & Morrison.

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The 463 cubic inch powerplant fed by a pair of twin 94mm turbochargers.

The Chuck Nuytten block with a 4.400-inch bore space pairs with a set of Alan Johnson billet cylinder heads and Hogan sheet metal manifold. A Winberg crankshaft and Comp Cams camshaft can be found inside this 463 cubic inch engine. An MSD ignition system fires this fuel injected powerplant that’s supplied by a Waterman fuel system and boosted by two 94mm Precision turbochargers. Applying the power to the track is a Bruno-Liberty transmission combination tied to a fabricated rear end. The car was front halved and updated in house by Thornton and McCrary at Fast Forward Innovations in Haslet, Texas.

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Made famous in Outlaw 10.5 racing, this fine Corvette will now compete in the popular Radial vs The World and Outlaw drag radial categories.

The team recently spent three days testing at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas where they put down the first passes with this new combination.  By Sunday evening, momentum was building as Thornton was able to lay down several strong passes which gave the team the confidence they hoped to find before heading to Bradenton, Florida for the U.S. Street Nationals. There, Thornton qualified fourth with a stellar 4.14 at 187 mph in his competition debut on radials, which he improved on with matching 4.12’s in eliminations before rocketing to a 4.043-second, 192.96 mph lap (a contest he lost on a holeshot to Keith Berry) that solidified him as a frontrunner right out of the gate.

“We learned a lot this weekend and made the laps we needed to make before we head to Florida. Rick needed seat time and I needed tuning time, we got both of those here this weekend. The track here at North Star is stellar to say the least, which allows us to really put the power down and test the things we need to test. The car responded exactly to our adjustments throughout the weekend. We’re pumped, we’re ready to have fun this year and prove us boys from Texas can run in the front,” said tuner McCrary.

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Thornton brings his Corvette to a safe stop after a clean pass at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas in January.

These two longtime friends have shared many successes over the years in doorslammer racing. One memorable moment Thornton and McCrary shared was the first time they traveled east and brought home the win at an ORSCA event at Carolina Dragway in 2007.

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Thornton, like many, began drag racing in the sportsman classes and that never ending desire for speed brought him into heads up racing.

“It was the first time anyone from Texas had gone to the east coast and beat the east coast boys in their own backyard,” said McCrary. Thornton added, “I red lit and he went about 50 feet then blew the transmission out of it. He blipped the lights on me, playing games on the line and got me to go red, but it was great for us both to advance to the final round and race each other representing Texas on the east coast. That was just one of the many memories I have with this car.”

Drag racing has been a passion of Thornton’s for many years. “I started racing in 1991 with a Super Comp dragster in NHRA Division 4 and did that for about ten years. When the Outlaw 10.5 craze hit, we decided to join the fun and bought the Corvette. The people, friendships and competition are what keeps my interest in the sport. Drag racing is just like doing business. If it was easy, everyone would do it . The competition to be the best and win drives my desire to drag race and also be successful in my business ventures.

“Being able to not only have fun racing, but do it with great people who we enjoy racing with really puts the icing on the cake for me,” says Thornton who was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas.

Being able to not only have fun racing but do it with great people who we enjoy racing with really puts the icing on the cake for me. – Rick Thornton

Thornton and partner McCrary’s focus on the business contributed to their brief hiatus from drag racing, as together they built the company from the ground-up starting in 2009. Fast Forward Innovations is now a leading supplier of racing components from all the industry’s major manufacturers, while also custom-building turn-key racecars from street applications to Pro Modified machines.

Focused mainly on turbo applications, Team FFI has been busy at work and recently completed their latest project. Thornton and McCrary will debut their brand new Fast Forward Innovations-built 1969 Pro Modified Camaro at the PDRA season opener in March in the Pro Boost category. This car will be a stunner to say the least, which reflects the standard and quality of work put out by the dynamic duo at FFI.

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Rick Thornton is geared up for a busy 2015 season.

With things moving smoothly at the shop, Thornton highly anticipates the 2015 season as the team plans to compete as much as possible with both the Corvette and Camaro. Team FFI would like to give thanks to John Meaney at BigStuff3, Eric Davis and Penske Shocks, Brad Morgan at Reher & Morrison and Craig Liberty of Liberty High Performance Products for their help in the Corvette project.

Thornton will be competing in the Radial vs. The World class at the upcoming Duck X Production “Lights Out” event at South Georgia Motorsports Park as well as the newly formed Radial Tire Racing Association, before debuting the new Team FFI Pro Boost Camaro in PDRA competition in March.

The wait is over, the assault is on, Thornton and McCrary are back, you’ve been warned. Now keep your eye on this eye catching Corvette on its quest to conquer the ever growing class of Outlaw 315 drag radial racing!

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