By Chris Hagan
Review Staff Writer
For most, people don’t surpass the triple digit mark when traveling in a vehicle.
Tom Bailey has accomplished that feat and then some.
Bailey, a 15-year resident of Lake Orion, and his coveted 1969 race-ready Camaro own the title of fastest street car in America following his win at the 2015 Drag Week hosted by Hot Rod Magazine. Bailey also won the title in 2013 with a different 1969 Camaro.
The 44 year-old spent nine months building his Pro Mod Camaro but what makes his win even more glorious is the traveling he and the car had to do during the week of racing. Unlike many races where the cars are trailered from track to track, Bailey drove his Camaro hundreds of miles between races to several different states for a grand total of 1,060 road miles in just five days.
The Camaro has a 615 cubic-inch big block Chevrolet engine with twin 98 millimeter turbos generating 3,800 horsepower and 2,680 foot-pounds of torque. He can go zero to 60mph in under one second and can finish a quarter mile in 6.2 seconds at a blinding speed of 240 mph. If that’s not impressive enough, Bailey says his car is capable of more.
‘We won it without seeing the true potential of the car,? he said. ‘It’s built to go faster than my other car and it’ll run fives in the quarter mile once we get some things sorted out.?
That means that once Bailey figures out how to get traction under control and keep the tires from spinning so much, he’ll be able to get more power to the ground and get a quarter-mile time in under five seconds.
This win was his second as he won the same competition in 2013 with a similar 1969-style Camaro. His love of cars stemmed from his father who shared a similar interest and Bailey said that throughout his life he’s owned several and the 1969 Camaro is by far his favorite car.
He plans on defending his crown in the 2016 Drag Week in September and is confident his Camaro won’t disappoint.
‘It was great to win especially with the bugs we still have to work out with the car,? Bailey said. ‘The fact that we’re able to win and not have the car completely sorted out was great and hopefully this year we can do much better.?
Both the 2013 and 2015 winning Camaros will be at this year’s Autorama in Detroit.
In its 64th year, Meguiar’s Detroit Autorama opens on Friday, February 26 and will run until Sunday, February 28. The event is touted as ‘Detroit’s real auto show,? highlighting the hot rods, custom cars, trucks and motorcycles of everyday people.
The first Detroit’Autorama’took place in 1952 at the University of Detroit Field House as a fundraiser for Michigan Hot Rod Association’s’efforts to build the legendary Detroit’Dragway. Over the years it moved to the Michigan State Fairgrounds and the Detroit Artillery Armory before coming to’Cobo’Center as its first paid public show in 1961.