NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

David Barton, far lane, won the School of Automotive Machinists & Technology Factory Stock Showdown after final-round opponent Kevin Skinner red-lighted.

Racing an unfamiliar car in an event that was presented with an all-new format didn’t prove to be enough of a curveball to throw off David Barton, who quickly adjusted to his new surroundings and came away with a landmark victory in the School of Automotive Machinists & Technology Factory Stock Showdown. Barton has a long history of success with Hemi-powered Mopar entries, including multiple wins in Hemi Challenge and Factory Showdown races, but this time he was in the Chevrolet product. Barton wheeled Gary Wolkwitz’s new supercharged COPO Camaro to the Gainesville victory after final-round opponent Kevin Skinner red-lighted in his Cobra Jet Mustang. Barton capped off the win by setting low elapsed time of the event in the final with an 8.390 to Skinner’s 8.401.

"I really hope this [new Factory Showdown] program grows into something big, and to be able to say that I won the first one is awesome," said Barton. "I love racing just about anything, but I really enjoy these heads-up races. We were hoping that we could run in the 8.30s in the final, and the car responded to the changes we made. I knew that Kevin red-lighted, but I still wanted to have the fastest car here, and we did that."

Barton made his first runs in Wolkwitz’s COPO Camaro during a test session held less than a week before the start of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, but the lack of preparation time didn’t seem to have much of an effect on his performance. After qualifying No. 4 in the eight-car field, Barton powered past the Cobra Jet Mustangs of Don Fezell and Chuck Watson to reach the final round. Barton qualified in the 8.4s and made runs of 8.47 and 8.42 in eliminations.

"I'm an engine builder, and for us, taking on this COPO project was important to show everyone that we can build more than just Mopar stuff," Barton said. "To us, an engine is an engine, and we think we can make good power with just about anything. We've only had this car out a week or so, and we were very careful with it. I made a point to only make one change at a time and to just make small changes so we'd be able to tell what worked and what didn't. Thankfully, it responded well to just about every change we made. The car ran 8.39 in the final, but there is a ton left. There is so much potential in these cars and we haven't even scratched the surface of it. I've got to thank Gary Wolkwitz for having faith in us."

Skinner, the winner of the Factory Showdown races held last year in Englishtown and Las Vegas, emerged as the early favorite after taking the top spot in qualifying with an 8.449 blast at more than 160 mph. Skinner remained remarkably consistent with two more 8.44-second runs in eliminations, where he beat the COPO entries of Ryan Herem and Aaron Stanfield.

The School of Automotive Machinists NHRA Factory Stock Showdown, which highlights the factory-built race cars built by GM, Dodge, and Ford, featured an all-new format, where only the quickest eight qualifiers advanced to the final eliminator for a heads-up battle that was waged on Saturday and Sunday, apart from traditional Stock eliminations. Not surprisingly, all eight qualifiers were driving supercharged entries, but the field was diverse with all three brands represented. Additional rounds of the School of Automotive Machinists Factory Stock Showdown will be held in Englishtown, Norwalk, and Indianapolis.