Written By Mary Lendzion
Photography by Race Pages and courtesy of Del Holbrook
Del Holbrook comes from a family of remarkable racers, and a few years ago, he decided that he also wanted to race.
So, he drove his Focus ST, as well as vehicles belonging to his father, Chris Holbrook of Holbrook Racing Engines, and Bill Skillman, Jason Dietsch, and Lloyd Mikeska, in NMRA TorqStorm Superchargers True Street at various events. He pulled off a win with a 12-second average in Mikeska’s Mustang at the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing presented by HPJ Performance last May at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
Then, after a course at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School with his girlfriend, Maci McKenna, he debuted his 2016 Mustang in NMRA ARP Open Comp at the Inaugural Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival presented by Force Engineering last July at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Michigan.
Holbrook, a CNC machinist for Bohr Racing Products, clocked 9.50s at that track in his home state in his former body-in-white car that features a gorgeous Jet Green Metallic paint job by Mike’s Collision and a 5.0L Coyote engine built on a Bear block prepared by Holbrook Racing Engines, topped with GT 350 heads and a Ford Performance Cobra Jet intake, and backed by a C4 transmission by Joel’s on Joy and an A-1 bolt-together converter.
“It was a big jump, but it went very well, and I loved it,” said Holbrook, who relied on Darrel Herron of Mad Fab for his 6.50-certified cage and three-link suspension, Zach Prysdale of Holbrook Racing Engines for additional fab work and Tom Frayer of High Voltage for wiring.“I raced some more races after that to get seat time, sort things out and tune the car and chassis, and I was averaging 9.50s. By the end of the year, I went as quick as 9.30 and as far as the third round of eliminations, and I felt good about that considering how big of a change it was.”
Ready to take the next step, Holbrook is aiming for the ultracompetitive NMRA JDM Engineering Limited Street, and his first race in the category will be the 28th Annual Spring Break Shootout, March 3-6 at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.
“We were examining the rules for the category, and thought our car and combination would be a good fit for it, so we bored our engine to 3.700 and we got our stroke to 3.650 for 314 cubic-inches,” said Holbrook, who uses Big Stuff Gen 4 to tune his combination along with his father, Chris Holbrook, and flies banners for Varsity Ford of Ann Arbor. “We’re running a new set of Diamond pistons, aluminum BME rods, Total Seal rings and Comp cams, as well as a new set of GT 350 heads with the same Ford Performance Cobra Jet intake we ran last year, and we installed a dry nitrous kit by NOS, which will be great.”
Holbrook, who recently installed a parachute on the back of his car, and removed its wheelie bars, has support from his father and fellow racer, Chris Holbrook, who will be one to watch in NMCA Edelbrock Renegade and NMRA Edelbrock Xtreme Street this year, his girlfriend and fellow racer, Maci McKenna,and Tom Kline and Larry Ziem.
“I’m very excited to start racing in Limited Street,” said Holbrook, who will replace the Hoosier slicks on his Weld wheels with Hoosier drag radials. “One of our customers, Samantha Moore, runs in that category, and I always thought it would be very cool to race in it, too.”
Photography by Race Pages and courtesy of Del Holbrook
Del Holbrook comes from a family of remarkable racers, and a few years ago, he decided that he also wanted to race.
So, he drove his Focus ST, as well as vehicles belonging to his father, Chris Holbrook of Holbrook Racing Engines, and Bill Skillman, Jason Dietsch, and Lloyd Mikeska, in NMRA TorqStorm Superchargers True Street at various events. He pulled off a win with a 12-second average in Mikeska’s Mustang at the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing presented by HPJ Performance last May at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
Then, after a course at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School with his girlfriend, Maci McKenna, he debuted his 2016 Mustang in NMRA ARP Open Comp at the Inaugural Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival presented by Force Engineering last July at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Michigan.
Holbrook, a CNC machinist for Bohr Racing Products, clocked 9.50s at that track in his home state in his former body-in-white car that features a gorgeous Jet Green Metallic paint job by Mike’s Collision and a 5.0L Coyote engine built on a Bear block prepared by Holbrook Racing Engines, topped with GT 350 heads and a Ford Performance Cobra Jet intake, and backed by a C4 transmission by Joel’s on Joy and an A-1 bolt-together converter.
“It was a big jump, but it went very well, and I loved it,” said Holbrook, who relied on Darrel Herron of Mad Fab for his 6.50-certified cage and three-link suspension, Zach Prysdale of Holbrook Racing Engines for additional fab work and Tom Frayer of High Voltage for wiring.“I raced some more races after that to get seat time, sort things out and tune the car and chassis, and I was averaging 9.50s. By the end of the year, I went as quick as 9.30 and as far as the third round of eliminations, and I felt good about that considering how big of a change it was.”
Ready to take the next step, Holbrook is aiming for the ultracompetitive NMRA JDM Engineering Limited Street, and his first race in the category will be the 28th Annual Spring Break Shootout, March 3-6 at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.
“We were examining the rules for the category, and thought our car and combination would be a good fit for it, so we bored our engine to 3.700 and we got our stroke to 3.650 for 314 cubic-inches,” said Holbrook, who uses Big Stuff Gen 4 to tune his combination along with his father, Chris Holbrook, and flies banners for Varsity Ford of Ann Arbor. “We’re running a new set of Diamond pistons, aluminum BME rods, Total Seal rings and Comp cams, as well as a new set of GT 350 heads with the same Ford Performance Cobra Jet intake we ran last year, and we installed a dry nitrous kit by NOS, which will be great.”
Holbrook, who recently installed a parachute on the back of his car, and removed its wheelie bars, has support from his father and fellow racer, Chris Holbrook, who will be one to watch in NMCA Edelbrock Renegade and NMRA Edelbrock Xtreme Street this year, his girlfriend and fellow racer, Maci McKenna,and Tom Kline and Larry Ziem.
“I’m very excited to start racing in Limited Street,” said Holbrook, who will replace the Hoosier slicks on his Weld wheels with Hoosier drag radials. “One of our customers, Samantha Moore, runs in that category, and I always thought it would be very cool to race in it, too.”