Straight off the bat, when John Camp debuted his new “Hells Bells” 1969 Camaro back in January 2020 at the U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton Motorsports Park, he ran a career-best run of 3.65 ET and you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
John(ny) had been a long-time competitor in PDRA’s Pro Nitrous, running in the top half of the field for many years. Late in 2019, he decided to swap to Pro Boost for the 2020 season. His decision to purchase the Jerry Bickle Race Cars Procharged PLR Raised Cam-powered Hemi Camaro was a business decision.
John explains “I don’t race for a living and I’m at least 4 hours away from a suitable track to use for testing. I can’t afford to be away from my business for too long, so I decided to change the combination and hire PLR to supply tuning capabilities for 2020. From day one the car was competitive and now I’m so excited to take home a win”.
Camp has had an impressive run so far, starting the year at the US Street Nationals in Bradenton Motorsports Park where he qualified in 4th position and ran a 3.66 ET. He had a great run, going through to the Semi-Finals when he was beaten by a holeshot .000 win.
With a delayed start to PDRA, due to the COVID19 pandemic, Camp impressed at both events to date, qualifying 5th and 3rd respectively. At both the East Coast Nationals at Galot and the Carolina Showdown at Darlington, the John Camp / Hells Bells team, although running impressive ET’s, bowed out in the second round.
Wanting to get some more racing in, Camp entered the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod (NEOPM) event held this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway. Although no spectators were allowed, the NEOPM provided a live feed for the benefit of viewers and fans alike. Camp came out of the gate swinging, qualifying in 2nd spot with a 3.71 ET, slipping from number 1 in Q3.
Tuner, Brandon Stroud, played a strategic game brilliantly in the hot and greasy conditions, to get the Camaro the win with each elimination. Each round was a consistent 3.70s A-B pass that got him the win against Kevin McCurdy, also running a ProCharged combination, in the final.
WTG John Camp and the Hells Bells team, great effort.