North of the Border Know-How!

The dedication of Mopar® branded drag racing as an international movement is well known and that of course includes the Canadian drag racing scene. Last year a couple of Ontario-based racers completed construction of significant new machines and it will be “throttle up” for those efforts this coming season.

Words: Bruce Biegler

Detroit’s sister city, Windsor, Ont., is the home base to arguably one of the most dedicated Mopar® drag racers in history. Larry O’Brien and his brother Wayne have since the 1980s represented the Mopar brand within Mountain Motor Pro Stock racing while running a series of very successful Dodge cars. Their newest entry, a 2010 Dodge Avenger, which debuted during the middle of last season, is by far their most impressive venture yet. Simply put, it is already the world’s quickest and fastest Dodge Pro Stocker.

Powered by a massive 825 cid HEMI® hybrid motor, which was developed jointly by Larry O’Brien’s 
Bears Performance Products facility (Ontario) and legendary Mountain Motor Pro Stock builder 
John Kaase (Georgia), the all new Avenger clocked a stunning 6.27 seconds at 223.95 mph at mid-season last year—during one of only a few limited appearances. The ultra-high-tech car, which was expertly constructed by Jerry Haas, has sites set on ADRL (American Drag Racing League) and MMPSA (Mountain Motor Pro Stock Association) events for 2011.

O’Brien’s Avenger is in fact the only Dodge currently entered in competition within the Mountain-motored Pro Stock circuits. That “lone wolf” moniker is a fact which Larry and Wayne are both proud of and focused upon.

“I’ve been a Mopar proponent forever,” O’Brien admitted. “It all started back with my Dad who was a millwright at the Chrysler plant in Windsor. Our family was supported by Dodge and I grew up that way. It has always been a brand that I admired so when I got myself into the position to build my own race cars—Dodge was a natural.” “There is no doubt that we could have gone a more conventional route for Pro Stock racing,” Larry continued. “That may have been easier and less expensive. But I enjoy the challenge of it and all the support we get from the Mopar fans for what we do. That’s exciting and probably the reason we’ve come so far.”

Larry is particularly impressed with his new machine which melds some much improved Avenger aerodynamics with great chassis tuning flexibility.

“Our new Avenger is a much narrower and smaller car and that body has helped out immensely,” he added. “That combined with today’s modern chassis design has resulted in a very adjustable car—from front to back. It’s the most tunable car I’ve ever had and I’m very excited about the future possibilities.” The 2010 Canadian racing season also included the emergence of one of the newest members to the 
ever expanding SS/AH race class conglomerate. Toronto-based Gus Mantas unveiled a spectacular new SS/AH ’68 HEMI Barracuda last summer.

For Mantas, the 2010 racing season marked a coming of age for him. The lifelong Mopar proponent and racer/businessman fulfilled a dream with the completion of the car which had been a project first begun in 2003.

“I had been watching all the hype around the “Super H” class for a while and I really wanted to be part of it,” explained Mantas. “I acquired this car (an original HEMI Barracuda) and then spent a few years collecting parts for it. Eventually I hooked up with Andre Mailloux (Mailloux Chassis) who builds really fine quality cars. This car is the end result of all that.”

Mantas did utilize a rather mild 426 HEMI engine program last season during the car’s testing phases but still coaxed a best run of 8.78 seconds at 151 mph. While that may not yet be up to higher end class contention, it certainly does demonstrate the car’s future potential. Mantas does plan to further upgrade his engine program and fine tune the car with the ultimate target being future participation within Mopar HEMI Challenge events.

Mantas cited the ongoing influence of fellow Canadian Don Cloake as part of his HEMI Barracuda racing program. Cloake is a well known and long time Mopar racer who currently campaigns his own SS/AH Barracuda, the former NHRA national record holding Miller and MacCallum car.

Bruce Biegler is a veteran motorsports photojournalist and Mopar drag racing specialist.