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Eye candy at a show like the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) tradeshow is literally everywhere you look. Each aisle is packed full of engines, cars, trucks, components and parts, machining equipment, and so much more. Frankly, if you don’t keep blinders on, your eyes won’t let you actually make it to where you need to be!
Fortunately, we didn’t turn a blind eye to the Vortech Superchargers booth as we walked by during the 2022 PRI show, because front and center in the booth was David Pearson’s Pro 275 Foxbody Mustang, which features a 572 cubic inch Vortech supercharged big block Chevy engine. We gawked at it for a few minutes before Vortech’s Lance Keck was kind enough to provide some details on the car and engine setup.
David Pearson and his family run Little Evil Racing and are no strangers to the drag strip. In fact, David and his Pro 275 Mustang have constantly pushed the envelope in the 275 drag radial world, seemingly setting new world records every year. Most recently, in 2019, he set a record pass of 3.90 at 181 mph. David and his wife Tracy have been racing together for a very long time and Tracy has a highly active role in the tuning and operation of this race car.
The car and engine setup seen at PRI is similar to that 2019 world record day. David is currently running a supercharged 572 cid big block Chevy engine that features Race Flow Development 14.5-degree cylinder heads, a Brodix solid aluminum block and a billet Winberg crankshaft.
“The engine boasts a lot of compression and the Bullet camshaft has about 1” of lift,” Keck told us. “Of course, it does have our V-30 131B supercharger on it, which makes about 50-lbs. of boost. At the tires, the engine makes about 3,200 horsepower.”
Inside those Race Flow Development heads are some high-quality valvetrain components as well, such as custom T&D twisted-shaft rockers. Sitting between those billet heads is a billet Thomsen Motorsports intake manifold, and the engine runs on M1 methanol controlled by Holley EFI.
“It’s a wet sump engine, and our supercharger requires engine oil for lubrication, so that’s part of the whole oiling system,” Keck says. “This supercharger is the largest we have in both the V-20 and V-30 line. It could be used for anything from LDR to a Pro Mod program.”
The billet Winberg crank is also paired with GRP aluminum rods and custom pistons, and with the engine capable of 3,200 hp, David’s “Little Evil” can now make 1/8th-mile passes in the 3.70s at over 180 mph.
“He even does some sub-1-second 60 foots,” Keck admits. “It gets the job done. When he shows up with this at the track, people fear him. That’s the evil part in the name of the car.”
The “Little Evil” Mustang itself features a double frame rail 25.3 chassis and some proprietary attributes that truly make this one evil drag car. Maybe another world record in the 275 drag radial world will fall this year thanks to this supercharged 572 big block Chevy engine?
Engine of the Week is sponsored by PennGrade Motor Oil, Elring – Das Original and NPW Companies. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor Greg Jones at [email protected]
