What could arguably be the last great milestone in street car drag racing was achieved two weeks ago as Tom Bailey went a 5.998 at over 250 mph on the final day of Drag Week 2019. This marks the fourth Drag Week title for Bailey and the second in this car, the street legal Pro-Modified “Sick Seconds 2.0” Camaro. Averaging low six second passes all week, the car was reliable on its 750-plus mile journey from Virginia to New Jersey and back.
With the five-second barrier achieved, Bailey’s goal for next year will be to average high five-second runs for the entire event while still surviving the long drive in between.
At just over 2,800 pounds, this car is heavier than your standard Pro-Mod but creature comforts like cup-holders, power windows and the secondary fuel system for street driving account for the extra mass. Under the carbon front end we find Steve Morris’ new jewel, the “SMX” 526 cubic inch all-billet V8 based off of the older 481X platform but designed for continuous street duty instead of the usual 5-6 second pulls.
Expected to make north of 3,500 horsepower, the new powerplant and its Twin 98mm Precision Turbo’s have shown that they are a powerful yet dependable combo with only a few valve train adjustments out on the road.
Morris has been a long-time friend and engine builder for Bailey’s Drag Week vehicles and this year he rode co-pilot to monitor the car. The drivetrain was completed only two weeks before Drag Week and it’s first passes were made on day one of the week-long event. Morris relied on the Dominator EFI, Racepak Datalogger and a slew of sensors to ensure that everything on the car was in-check and looking at their final time slip, it paid off.
The new engine combo has proven itself to be much more reliable than the older 615 cubic inch mill and once the chassis is sorted to handle this much power output it should have no issue clicking off lower E.T.’s.
This story was originally published on September 24, 2019. 
