NMCA Drag Racing Event - Street Fighters

When we first noticed Chad Wade's '89 IROC at the True Street Challenge in Columbus, Ohio, last year, we made the same mistake most people do when they first see it. We ignored it. That level of blissful ignorance meant our cameras totally missed Wade's wheels-up launch and follow-on 9-second pass. We did not make that mistake again, but could certainly be forgiven at least once. Wade's IROC looks utterly and completely stock from the outside, right down to its stock 16-inch rims. Built at a time when Chevrolet's top ponycar was the standing joke in performance circles, Chad's IROC has made a career on the streets of Iowa City from such misplaced expectations. It runs 9s, my friend, and that's hauling ass no matter what kind of iron you drive. Wade eschews the simple function of a carburetor in favor of high tech. XFI fuel-injection by FAST feeds a voracious 406-inch small-block topped with a TPIS miniram intake. Two stages of computer-controlled nitrous oxide put the small-block into a drug-induced rage, while an FLP-built 700-R4 trans does a credible job of staying together during the onslaught. Were Genghis Khan alive today, this would no doubt be his daily driver.

You'd be in real trouble if you thought Chad Wade's '89 IROC was just another sucker for your "cam and heads" late-model Mustang.

1989 Chevy IROC Camaro
Chad Wade
Occupation: Claims adjuster
Hometown: Iowa City, IA
Best Prior e.t.: 9.93/136
True Street e.t. Average: DNF