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Coming off a solid performance throughout 2023, which ended in Bryant Goldstone and his big block Chevy-powered AMC Javelin being crowned the first-ever Drag-N-Drive World Champion, Bryant was once again back in Florida for the third running of Sick Week. This time, Bryant was there with his father-in-law and engine builder Norm, to revenge a DNF in the 2023 event’s Unlimited Iron class.
We got an opportunity to discuss Bryant’s Sick Week mentality and the details of the now infamous Javelin and its twin-turbo big block Chevy engine capable of mid-6-second passes during day one at Orlando Speed World. In fact, Bryant had just returned to the pit area following a 6.48 at 223 mph blast, which were new personal bests for ET and mph, but just the fourth best ET of the day. It would be tough competition, as it always is!
“That pass was fast enough yesterday,” Goldstone says jokingly. “Tomorrow we’ve got to go faster because we know [the car has] got a lot in it. I went 6.48 at 223, both personal bests. Hopefully we can go faster from here.”
Those familiar with drag-and-drive events will know Goldstone and his Javelin have been in the game for a long time. In fact, he’s owned the Javelin for 38 years!
“I got it when I was 19,” Goldstone says. “We’ve been running the car off and on. I’ve also got a Chevelle at home that [Norm’s] done the engines for. We’ve raced this Javelin for probably 20-plus years with breaks for the other cars, but it always comes back to this one.”
According to Norm, the Javelin runs a conventional headed big block Chevy engine that features a 10.2” deck height.
“The engine has a Dart aluminum block, Profiler cylinder heads, a hydraulic roller COMP Cams camshaft with about .750 lift, T&D rockers and large pushrods, MGP aluminum rods, and a Sonny Bryant crankshaft. It’s been very durable. We run it very successful. It’s sort of basic and a lot of R&D time went into it before we really got it developed, but it’s been very pleasing to watch what’s happened with it so far.”
According to Bryant, the big block Chevy has been extremely reliable, even with running numerous events throughout the year.
“I ran three drag-and-drives last year and I didn’t touch the valvetrain,” he admits. “I didn’t take the valve covers off for two of them. I didn’t even take the covers off in between the events. I was kind of stupid not to, but I actually forgot and by then, we were already in it. It was still all perfect.”
Helping the Javelin and the big block Chevy make some serious horsepower are a pair of XPR Precision 94mm turbos that Bryant put on the car last year at Drag Week.
“Outside of a drag-and-drive event, the other day were some of the first test runs we’ve had,” Goldstone says. “We usually show up and we’re under the gun, so we make a good run and leave, which usually takes us to the end of the day to get one. But, these turbos are flawless. Yesterday, we ran 34-lbs. of boost. These things are perfect.”
The big block Chevy runs on M1 methanol on the track, which helped lighten the car, and it runs regular pump gas for the street drives. The engine is mated to a Rossler 400 transmission.
“I usually run a Gear Vendor overdrive and then it’s got a ProTorque converter that’s brand new and we ordered it a little bit too tight, so we’ve been having to be a little bit easy off the line to get it going. We’re going to look at the data and we might be calling for a different stator later this week,” he says.
One thing about Goldstone’s big block Chevy engine that people are often surprised to learn is that it runs conventional cylinder heads versus other alternatives.
“They’re very surprised,” Norm says. “It’s not Big Chief headed or Alan Johnson stuff or something, but it’s all about torque throughout the whole run, not about the top number that you can possibly make on a dyno. That’s where some people are missing out. We don’t run as high rpm as a lot of people do. I know where it’s happy and where it’s not, so we try to stay in the happy world, while still going fast.”
That’s the name of the game for any racer. For Bryant, that’s his mentality at every event he enters – go faster than the pass before.
“We try to go faster every day,” Goldstone says. “We don’t ever go anywhere and say let’s just try to keep it at a certain number. Every run I make, I want to go faster, and if the track looks good enough to do it, that’s what we do. We try anyway. Track condition determines a lot of what you’re able to do. You’ve got to tune for that.”
Throughout the five days of Sick Week 2024, Goldstone wasn’t always able to go faster than the previous pass, but he did manage an excellent week that saw him firmly in 6-second ETs every day. He recorded ETs of 6.48 at 223 mph, 6.67 at 221 mph, 6.54 at 221 mph, 6.42 at 228 mph, and 6.46 at 220 mph for an average of 6.51 at 223 mph. The 6.48, 6.42 and 6.46 were three of Bryant’s personal best ETs. Bryant’s performance won him the title in the Unlimited Iron class and his average earned him second place overall. We have no doubt we’ll be hearing more about Bryant Goldstone, his AMC Javelin and its twin-turbo big block Chevy engine later this year.
Engine of the Week is sponsored by PennGrade1, 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].
