[1]If you thought Keith Berry’s record-setting, IRS-equipped 2002 Corvette Z06 was badass before, then you’re in for a treat, as the BMF Crew prepares an all-out assault on the Outlaw 275 ranks in 2011 with what will be a completely rebuilt Corvette next spring.
Following a successful run with the nitrous-aided LS engine combination and the independent rear suspension setup with which he continually lowered and held the record all the way up to the final race of the season in St. Louis, Berry shared with us his plans to transform the car over the winter to join in the ever-growing 275 radial arena. And he wasted little time in doing so, removing and placing up for sale the IRS and the now-famous exhaust system and gutting the rest of the car so the guys at Bell Chassisworks in Woodstock, Georgia could apply their handiwork.
The familiar Corvette will receive a complete, ground-up 25.2 spec chassis with motivation from a Proline-prepared LS motor that will utilize an RHS aftermarket block, fed by a single 114mm turbocharger. The LS engine, while not particularly popular in outlaw radial racing, is Berry’s “bread and butter,” and thus, it was a easy decision to continue with the platform.
He continued “we’re basically going to build the car similar to John Carter and Paul Major’s Corvette’s, and we’re going to tub it out to where we can put something as big as a 10.5W in there if we need to. That’s kind of the route we’re going.”
For 2011, the plan is to run mostly Outlaw 275 events, along with the gamut of LSX races just as in 2010, and a year or two down the road make the switch to a twin turbo combination to join the elite of Outlaw Drag Radial.
“We thought about doing just the X275 rules, but to be quite honest with you, we just want to go faster than that.”
Keep your dials tuned here to DRAGZINE for future updates as construction of the BMF Corvette progresses during the offseason.
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