In 2006, 33-year-old John Langer and his 525-cubed '69 Firebird made trips from Philadelphia to points around the eastern U.S. chasing the annual NMCA circus as he has done for the last nine years, but this year was different. John and his potent Trans Am clone locked up the NMCA TCI/ProX-sponsored Pro Stock World Championship points title with two more rounds remaining, much to the dismay of the many Chevy and Ford racers in this series, which is open to all domestic makes.
Many of John's competitors work in performance shops or own their own businesses, but John's job as an engineer specializing in the selective demolition of nuclear powerplant facilities requires extensive travel and often conflicts with his racing. For example, a scheduling conflict prevented him from attending the NMCA race in Atlanta, Georgia, and he had to leave early from the Columbus, Ohio, event so he could return to work on time the following Monday, thereby handing the win to defending champion and second-in-points, Jamie Stanton.
John frequently has to fly into Philadelphia to get his race car and trailer and then drive to where the event is that particular month. Arriving late, he gets in as many qualifying runs as he can, completes the event over that weekend, and drives home Sunday night into Monday. But work he must, or there is no racing. Although he has won significant cash and contingency this year, it is not enough to financially sustain his efforts long term.
Last year's defending champion spent huge money for a fresh Bischoff Engine Service (BES) big-block Chevy for his '71 Chevelle to defend his title in 2006, going so far as to say that it was specifically built to defeat John Langer. Nevertheless, the unassuming white Firebird with blue stripes continued to tally up points and win events.
As a matter of record, John has won every round of NMCA competition he has competed in this year. His '69 Trans Am clone has been slowly and painstakingly sharpened into an 8.80-at-153.6-mph rapier, and he wields it with skill and style. In this type of racing, the fastest car advances and the loser goes home. There are no break-outs to save you from the big-block Chevys, no bracket to equalize you with the mountain-motor Mustangs, and no buy-backs to get you back in the game against the Dodge Viper in the next lane. It's Pro-Tree, heads-up, and the second car to cross the finish line is done for the weekend.
The Combo
John competes with traditional Pontiac power using an IA II block and Wenzler Series II heads (no power adders) and at a 3,250-pound race weight on 10.5-inch tires. Although his Bird has run quicker in non-NMCA trim, John posted the aforementioned numbers at the 2006 opening NMCA race in Bradenton, Florida, and it remains the current NMCA Pro Stock world record for both e.t. and mph, a significant accomplishment that also paid extra points to that weekend's race win.
After nine years of trying, what changes propelled him from a Top 6 season finish last year to runaway World Champion in 2006? During the off-season, John went from 477 to 525 cid using the same Ross custom-forged pistons (since he had three sets). He decided to use shorter 6.600-inch GRP rods so the piston-pin height would remain the same with the longer-stroke Sonny Bryant 4.400-inch stroker crank.
John is adamant that this is not a bracket-car engine but a full-effort racing engine. Both the engine and transmission require constant maintenance and freshening and are not something that can be built on a budget. His figure to replace this engine is about $35,000, so he doesn't have a spare and makes do with as many extra parts as he can carry. This engine required a great deal of development to reach this level (he's used the same block and heads for six years), and in its current state, is a very efficient powerplant capable of serious power at higher rpm than most people would dare take a Pontiac engine of this displacement. This was achieved through a lot of broken parts and painstaking cylinder-head and valvetrain research aided by Tony Bischoff of BES and T&D Machine Products.