Likewise, there’s also the option available to run on alcohol. Pennington the tuner says he’s apt to go that route at high altitude tracks like Bristol, or when the ambient air temperature is high, but the car has go several rounds in a row without time to cool off. “It really likes the alcohol, the biggest problem we have is slowing it down enough,” he says. “It just comes alive, like a different car; it likes to wheelstand when you put it on alcohol.”
Similarly, the Penningtons will slip on Goodyear or Hoosier slicks depending on what type of racing they’re doing. “We switch back and forth,” the father says. “The Goodyears appear to be better in the heads-up mode, and the Hoosiers are just super consistent in repeating on the footbrake stuff.”
The car’s interior features a Pennington-built, eight-point, mild steel rollcage, as well as Kirkey aluminum racing seats that Pennington Sr. says are 100 pounds lighter than the stock ones. “They have special mounts I made that are all aluminum and they bolt up into the original holes, so you can actually adjust the seats if you want, move them back and forward. I’m pretty proud of the seats; I spent some time on them.”
Additionally, Pennington fashioned a special stand to incorporate the Hurst Quarter Stick shifter into the original Chevy console. “And we don’t use electric shifters,” he states. “Ricky drives the car himself. I’m kind of old school that way, I like for him to drive the car.”
The attention to detail extends to the car’s undercarriage, too, where all suspension and steering components and even the inner fenders have been powder coated, while the headers and exhaust pipes were treated by Nitro Plate. Pennington Sr. also points out they purchased a complete Moroso 12-bolt housing last year with excellent results. “It freed up this thing like you wouldn’t believe,” he says. “I just couldn’t see putting a nine-inch Ford under that Chevelle; it just didn’t seem right.”
Performance-wise, the Pennington’s Chevy has posted a best of 6.65 seconds at 103 mph over an eighth-mile and in one of its rare quarter-mile outings ran a best of 10.60 seconds at just over 126 mph.
“I’ve driven several different cars and by far it’s the smoothest car that I drive. It’s got the best that you can buy all over it and it just drives so well you could just about let go of the steering wheel and it would drive itself,” says Pennington Jr. “It’s turned out to be a great car.”
