Words by Jeff Burk - Photos by Jeff Burk and Darr Hawthorne - 10/15/07
So, when Mike Stewart,
owner of Mike’s Transmission
in Lancaster, Calif., drove the company
test-bed Top Dragster to a 5.97 lap, we knew we were going to have to do a story -- not only about the ‘glide but also something about the man and his quest to be the first in the “fives” with a ‘glide.
Any really serious high-horsepower engine built today has an aftermarket cylinder block and any really serious ‘glide built for high-horsepower application uses an aftermarket case and tail shaft. The case and tail shaft are much stronger than stock with provisions for, among other things, roller bearings.
Mike Stewart’s company enjoys a reputation as one of the premier builders of Powerglide transmissions designed specifically for use with high-horsepower and high-torque engines. His Powerglides can be found in many of the quickest and fastest supercharged and nitrous oxide-aided doorslammers and dragsters today.
Stewart began his career working at B&M more than 25 years ago. He began his own career as a builder of Powerglide-style transmissions for extreme applications just over 20 years ago in 1986 when he built a ‘glide using a stock GM case and modified components for a supercharged big-block alcohol car.
While qualifying for his NHRA Alcohol dragster license in that same dragster, Mike made a 6.97 lap. That might have been the first ever six-second pass by a racecar using a modified GM Powerglide.
rag racing is all about performance barriers. Being the first to
do anything related to
the sport, whether it
is the first car over 200 mph in
the quarter mile or the first car
to make the quarter mile in less
than five seconds. In drag racing often
being the first to do anything performance
related guarantees a person, car, or
product a place in drag racing history.
When the first Powerglide-equipped car and driver in North America made a lap down the quarter mile in less than six seconds, that
was news.
