 A modified V8 MSD distributor head is used to route the spark (note the capped spark plug wire posts), and it also supplies the sync signal to the Big Stuff 3 ECU to sequentially fire the fuel injectors. |
 Moroso supplied a deep oil pan for the oiling system. |
When I asked him what one-half a V8 BB was like to drive, Voges chuckled and noted, “Well, it set the NHRA Comp Eliminator record on its first pass at Memphis.” That was in March this year and 9.13. That time has since been broken, but Chad says, “we’ll be going after getting it back.” He also won the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals Comp Eliminator class at St. Louis – where he had won Super Stock the year before.
He continued, “We’re picking up one- to two-hundredths a race,” and considers this their “break-in year” for the car and him. Back to driving it: “there is a lot of vibration, but the EFI keeps it consistent. The weight bias is more to the left with most of the engine and the driver on that side. We can use up to 500-lb of ballast, but use about 300-lb and tune it where it will do the most good. It weighs 2210 total with driver.” We saw Billingsley adjusting the ballast before the St. Louis win (moving right-side weight farther back), and he had the car hooked up at that track.
Voges says that at every race they go to other racers crowd around the engine bay trying to figure out the combination because they want to use it. They now know it can be very competitive, and he says he believes there are going to be other engines like his team’s next year to run against.
What’s next for the team? Why another car with another one-half a V8 BB of course! Voges Motorsports and Billingsley Racing aren’t standing still. According to Voges, they are planning to run a two-car team, with a carbureted one-half a V8 BB engine in the other car. They will start out with one 1050 carb to test and sort the combination, and then likely step-up to using two 1050s for induction. You read it here first. Outside the box? What box?
 The original tube 4-link tube chassis was built by IHRA Pro Mod champ/builder Tommy Mauney. The rear shocks are Koni coilovers; the fronts are Lamb. The car had run 8.60s in the IHRA when Voges bought it as a roller.. |
 The car sports a typical Comp Eliminator rear wing and back stickered-up for contingency money. This was taken in the staging lanes at St. Louis as you can see from the fully white wheelie bar wheels. |