This week’s Drag Race video features a beastly 1979 Chevy Camaro racing against a Factory Five Cobra Kit car. While these kit cars look the part of the original Shelby Cobra, they don’t sport the same race-ready pedigree and honestly, I really don’t like kit cars so when I stumbled across this video of a ’79 Camaro beating the tar out of a Factory Five Cobra kit car, I couldn’t pass it up.
I don’t know what engine is under the hood of the Camaro, as there are no details available on either car, but it is pretty clear that this 2nd gen Camaro has been built to hand out some serious quarter mile beatings.
In this video, we get to see one of those beatings.
Not only is the “Cobra” a kit car, but it is driven by some poser who doesn’t know how to drag race so the video begins with the Camaro waiting patiently as the fake Ford driver tries to figure out the staging process. After the painstaking process is complete, the lights come down and the beating begins immediately.
The Camaro gets a fantastic launch, while the kit car stumbles away from the line. The Cobra eventually gets moving, but by the time the guy in the near lane racing in a beanie cap gets his car moving – the Camaro has already finished his 10 second run.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
