WORLDS FIRST & FASTEST LS1

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing!!

and Judd Kennedy Photography

A quick look at this month's Xtreme ride and you say “nice clean car” then you peek in the window and continue… “this thing is as clean inside as out… and there’s some cool equipment in here”.  Next, you’re at the Drag strip on a Saturday afternoon to see some wild street machines do battle, probably a Canadian OSCA event.  You say to the guy with you “hey there’s that ‘98 Z that we saw a few weeks ago, wonder what class he’s in?”.  The True Street cars come up to the line and this silver Camaro is part of the field.  The lights come down... this full bodied, full weight machine gets up in a wild wheelie and takes off like shot down the quarter mile...the time is displayed...as you pick yourself up off of the pavement to clean your glasses and take another look you realize that a car that could pull up beside you on any street corner, with you none the wiser, just slammed down a staggering 8.92 ET at 156 MPH.  THAT is what gives the awesome ‘98 Z28 of Wade Stevens (Pickering Ontario Can.) the title Quickest and Fastest LS1 in The World!

Wade has been racing for the past 15 years and has been a part of the fast street car scene for many of those.  The Camaro was originally built to compete in the N.F.R.A. which was cancelled and left this car and driver without a place to call home.  With a few minor changes the car fit nicely into the True Street class of the OSCA (Ontario Street Car Association).  This class is basically a full weight, stock style suspension, single power adder class that sees many competitors with machines that are actually still “street machines”. 

WADE STEVENS

Wade finished the car late in the 2002 season but was able to make a definite impact within the class.  From there it didn’t take him long to find the potential of this machine.  During an outing late in the year, on a track that was recovering from moisture, Wade laid these staggering numbers.2003 will bring some cylinder head upgrades for increased power and Wade tells us that he’s looking for an early start to the new season to try and win the 2003 Championship. 

This will be another season of incredible cars and huge growth for the heads up street car drag racing scene. Power comes via an Agostino Racing Engines 422ci LS1. Currently the engine was utilizing the stock block and cylinder heads and packed extra punch with the assistance of Texas Nitrous Technology Nitrous Oxide kit. The ground sees the power courtesy an API Turbo 350 with lockup and a 9” rear with Moser 40 spline gun drilled axles. With all this in mind and the planned cylinder head upgrades Wades goals of 8.60’s at 160 plus MPH are not out of reach.

Look forward to seeing Wade and his stout Z at all of the OSCA events (Toronto Motorsports Park), the CFSC Shootout (Grand Bend Motorplex) and select other venues and match races throughout Canada and the USA. Good work Wade and best of luck for 2003.

Wade would like to thank the crew Stewart Russel, Barry Dwyer and Craig Weir as well as sponsors The Chassis Shop, API (Vic Richards), Don Butt Auto Body and Agostino Racing Engines. Also thanks goes out to TNT, BMR, Ross Racing Pistons, GRP, Moser Engineering, Holley/Lunati, Jesel and Comp Cams.