LARSON READY TO CRUISE WITH THE CADDY

by Anthony Caruso III; Photo by Steven Wilson    Thu, 2019-06-06 16:26

 

LARSON TO ATTEMPT RECORD IN TOPEKA THIS WEEKEND

Larry Larson will attempt to reset the record for the fastest street car record with his S10 pickup on Friday at the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties in Topeka, Kansas. Larson last had the record in 2015.
“We were the first in the 5’s back in 2014,” he said. “Then, we went 5.89 in 2015, then somebody went 5.86 -- I think -- down in Florida a couple of years ago with way better air. We’ll see what it’s like in Topeka. It could be really good or hot and humid -- it’ll depend on what the weather is like. We’re going to have to see. We might not be able to pull this off. I think in a perfect world it is able to run a high 5.70. We’re going to have to go over there -- and we have three shots to do it -- and see if we can pull it off.”

The Oak Grove, Missouri native believes the record could definitely be set in Topeka.

“Topeka can be anywhere from a 1,000-foot corrected to 4,500-foot corrected,” Larson said. “I think when we were in Vegas, it was 2,800-foot corrected when we went the 89. When he went that 86, I think it was 500-foot corrected in Bradenton, or Orlando on the coast. I feel if we have decent air, and it’s 2500-foot or less corrected, we have a very good shot. We should be able to go pretty fast.”

He will have three attempts on Friday to set the record. Jeff Lutz -- who also competes on the Street Outlaws No Prep Kings circuit with Larson -- presently has the record with a pass of 5.85 at 251.34 mph.

The attempts will come at 2:30, 4:30, and 7:45 pm local time.
Larson admitted that he could try it again elsewhere if he does not break the record on Friday. Presently, the S10 truck is up for sale and that would depend on if he’ll sell it by then or not.  

“It depends on if I sell it,” he said. “We’re going to have to see. I was approached about doing it this time. It wasn’t big on my priority list, because the guy, who has the record now has a carbon fiber Pro Mod car that has a license plate on it. My S10 is steel roof and quarters -- and actually has some GM parts on it. He has nothing more than a Pro Mod with a license plate on it. It still counts, don’t get me wrong. He ran it on Drag Week, but me and him butt heads. How’s that sound?”

Officials at Heartland Park Topeka asked Larson to attempt the record.

“People at the facility asked me to do it,” Larson said. “The NHRA has been promoting different things here the last few years -- and they’ve had some No Prep guys run in Houston, Dallas, and Bandimere last year. They’re looking at ways to get more people in the stands -- and they’re looking at different ways to promote things. They’re trying to get more people out there to see their product, which I understand. It’s good for the sport no matter how it’s done.”

This may not be his final attempt at the record. But he admitted that his new Cadillac that appears on Street Outlaws No Prep Kings Season 3 is not made for being street legal.

The S10 pickup was the first street-legal vehicle to go in the five-second barrier. He also won an NHRA race in Top Sportsman at the 2015 NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

“You never say never,” he said. “The Cadillac is not set up to drive and be street legal. I didn’t build it with that in mind. Not saying that something couldn’t happen down the road, but not at this time. But if I don’t sell the truck, and I don’t get the record now -- maybe I’ll go run it somewhere in the fall. Hopefully, somebody else can own it by then, but if somebody else owns it and they want me to tune it and drive it, I don’t have a problem with that either.”

Larson said he has had some interest in the S10 truck since he put it up for sale back on April 21st. However, nobody has knocked down his door to purchase it.
“You never know, as it only takes one person to buy it,” he said.” - Anthony Caruso

Street Outlaws No Prep Kings Season 3 is in full swing. Yet, a very popular S10 driven by Larry Larson will not be in any of the events. In fact, it has been banned from competing on the hit TV series.

“They actually outlawed the S10, as it would have been illegal for Season 3,” Larson said. “So I had to do something different. It’s not because I wanted to; it’s because I had to. When the rules came out in December -- knowing I had to do something different -- I looked at some different body styles and settled on this late model Cadillac.”

Larson admitted there were three or four things that the Committee, who oversees the No Prep Kings, had an issue with. He also said had he fixed the truck, they could have found more things to complain about.

The S10 truck has been put up for sale.

“They didn’t like the bed size or the wheelbase,” he said. “I could have fixed those three or four but then they would have found three or four more others. Bottom line, they wanted something that had more of a factory appearance. There was four of us that it affected car wise -- me, Chuck Parker (The 55), Shawn Wilhoit (The Mistress), and Kayla Morton. All four of us all had to do something different. Kayla has the same car but changed it around a bit. Chuck, Shawn and myself built new cars. They both had something going before the rules came out, as I didn’t. I didn’t start on this ATS-V until the 10th of January.”

The Drag Week legend chose the Cadillac over looking at a 68 or 72 Nova. He wanted to do something different, which led to his decision to choose the Cadillac over the Novas.

“I began looking at different cars last fall, and it was down to a couple of different body styles,” Larson said. “I was looking at a 68 or 72 Nova -- and like I said -- I looked at this Cadillac. I liked the Novas, but a lot of people have them. Nobody has ever done one of these Cadillac’s, so that’s kind of me -- and I’ve always wanted to do something different -- but the downside is nobody makes any carbon fiber for this Cadillac so all the body panels; they’re all factory from GM.”

After purchasing the Cadillac, Larson and his workers at his shop began putting the car together. “Everything was in pieces, so we had to work to put it together,” he said. “We had to take a plastic bumper and put it in shape -- front and rear. We had to do the same with the hood and the lights. We had to put a lot of things together to make a one-piece front end and get the back end of the car together. Everything kept moving around when we were trying to get it to keep its shape. That was the most difficult part.”

They also rushed to get it done. After getting it back from paint on Friday, May 17th, the mad rush began to have it done for Memorial Day weekend.

Larson missed having the car at the first event at Maryland International Raceway on May 4th.

“We got it back from paint on Friday then we started on it first thing Saturday morning,” Larson said. “My guys in the shop, myself, and a few friends of mine helped put it together -- wired it, plumped it, headers, mounted the turbo, the whole deal -- in basically five days. We have a ton of hours in that thing. As soon as it was done, it went in the trailer and we ended for New Hampshire, but made a stop in Ohio (Dragway 42 - West Salem, Ohio) and made two hits, then we drove through to New Hampshire to race on Saturday.”

While in Ohio, Larson only made 60-foot hits. He admitted that he wanted to make sure everything worked, before heading to New England Dragway

in Epping, New Hampshire on May 25th.

He made it in time for the first round of eliminations. He said that the fellow drivers knew what he was creating but they did not know what it was going to look like.

“Most everyone knew what I was building, but nobody -- I think -- had a clue what it was going to be like,” he said. “The thing has no Dzus fastener, no window screws in it -- we tried to make it stock appearing as we possibly could. We even have all the weather strips on the doors. When you stand back and look at it, it looks like a factory car.” Larson said all of the cars on Season 3 has to be factory appearing. If they are not factory appearing, they cannot be on the TV show that is taping now and will air at a later date.

“Their biggest thing is that they wanted to be factory appearing,” he said. “They didn’t want it looking like a bunch of Pro Modified cars. As bad as that sounds, they don’t want someone with a stretched wheelbase, stretched nose, a crazy wing -- they wanted it so that the fans can relate to it. They wanted it to be like a production car.”

At one point, Larson had 300 man hours in assembly after paint on the Cadillac. But he admitted there

were way more hours than that. Larson faced “The Professor” Randy Williams in New Hampshire.

“It was fine,” Larson said. “The biggest problem is I just needed some more runs. I missed the set up on the 4-link a little bit from what it needed to be. We went out there and spun the tires about 150-feet out. That was the biggest issue in New Hampshire that I was chasing up there. As far as being in the car, I was good after the first hit. After doing the burnout and backing up, I was comfortable in the car at that point in time. I needed a more runs to get everything else lined out. I missed the set up on the 4-link a little.”

Larson planned to make tests in the Cadillac and the S10 this past weekend. He plans to run the Cadillac on Saturday at Reaper’s Outta Time No Prep Series at Ozark Raceway, before the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway event on June 14-15.

 

 

 

 
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