NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

In 1968 Sam D’Agnolo purchased a one-year-old 1967 Camaro. It was equipped with a 350 and backed by a 4-speed; just the stuff to make for a fun street/strip machine. With his life ahead of him, Sam began racing but there’s no way he could have imagined owning the very same Camaro 57 years later.

Today, the Chevy is wheeled by Sam’s son Pete, who’s become an NHRA world champion, having topped the Super Stock class during the 2022 season. Long gone is the factory 350, but the D’Agnolo’s have kept the car true to its roots with small-block power.

“It's a 336-inch small block and we pretty much run it in SS/BS or C modified,” said Pete D’Agnolo. We've only got one carburetor on it, though in CM you can have two. It spins to 10,000 rpm, makes about 800 horsepower and we’ve gone 8.99 at 144 mph.” Backing the small-block is a ProTrans 3-speed with a Ford 9-inch packing a steep 6.20 gear.

D’Agnolo comes into the 19^th Annual Summit Racing Equipment Nationals 10th in national points having had a spectacular weekend right here at Summit Motorsports Park the previous weekend during the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series double divisional. He will also be competing in Competition Eliminator, driving a E/SMA Chevy Cobalt.

“The first race went well, and so did the second one,” said D’Agnolo. “I was driving good, and then I don't know if I got overtired. I just didn't perform my best in the final, but it was a good race overall and I can't really complain too much.

“I enjoy the strategy behind Super Stock because you're never in the same conditions, so tuning the car and picking a dial is a big part of the challenge. There's a lot of strategy involved because of big weather swings. Nobody's car can be that great over a course of 12 hours when it's 70 in the morning and 95 in the afternoon,” he added.

D’Agnolo next spoke about the performance of the Camaro and why he chose the Modified classes. “The Modified combination can give us an advantage because it turns more rpm than a typical Super Stocker. And we feel it makes the car more consistent, to a point. The single carburetor, though, is very finicky on the weather compared to two carburetors.”

D’Agnolo has established himself as a premier driver in the class, with the previously mentioned championship and two runner-up seasons in Division 1.

“The Camaro is by no means the best tool for the job. But it's fun to drive and the visibility is decent. And running low 9s high 8s, you're getting to chase a fair amount of time. I prefer the CS combination because we're like 9.40s versus nine teens in CM, so that gives me a bit of extra time on track to make decisions that much easier. I'd say the majority of the Super Stockers go 9.50 to 10.0.”

D’Agnolo continued, “My dad's owned it since 1968. I grew up watching him race it in Modified Production with a stick. He was way better than me,” he said with a smile. “I started racing it 20 years ago, when I was about 18. I'll never part with it, but it'll never get black wheels like I want because he doesn't like black wheels,” he said about his dad Sam. “We always joke about it when he's always like, yeah, no.”

Before concluding D’Agnolo thanked his parents Sam and Nancy, along with his sister, Julie; girlfriend, Niki; and a host of sponsors including Hoosier Tires, Ryan Competition Carburetors, VP Racing Fuels, Sepanek Racing Transmissions, JRO Designs and TBM Brakes.