Is David Reese's El Diablo II the most impressive door car ever in drag racing?
/There comes a time in every industry where someone does the unthinkable. That person turns the tables and makes everyone else stand up and take notice of what could become absolute greatness. I think that time has come with David Reese and the El Diablo II car.
Ever since the second car was built I am sure that there has been a competition to see who could go faster, handle better, etc. In our sport of drag racing, it is simply two vehicles lined up against each other in a contest of power, skill, and pure will, to get to the finish line first. Over the last twenty years, we have seen progression grow at an astonishing rate. Even ten years ago we were only seeing RvW cars run in the 4.40’s, and now we see, as we did at U.S. Street Nationals and Lights Out, these cars are ripping off mid 3.50’s passes like taking candy from a baby.
What’s more impressive is the car that David Reese debuted earlier this year. Aptly named El Diablo II, as it was the replacement for the original El Diablo that Ron Green now drives. If you have been following E3xtreme over the last few months, you will see that Courtney Paulshock and I did a full feature shoot on the new El Diablo II car at David’s shop Reese Feature. It was at that moment that I think we all sat back and realized that this car was going to be something special. David was not coy in the fact that he wanted the records…in fact, he wanted all the records he could get.
Why after more than 30 years around drag racing would I call El Diablo II the most impressive door car ever in drag racing? I mean there are other cars that have gone quicker and faster, like Shadow 2.0, Sidechick, and others. The reason for such a bold statement though is this, it’s a small block, screw blown car. You didn’t misread that statement either. In a world where everything in Pro Mod or RvW is big blocks and Hemi’s, David is dropping jaws and winning rounds with a small block.
Let’s think about this for a moment. The world record in RvW is a 3.54, which both Melanie Salemi and Stevie Jackson have accomplished. And the overall world record for a door car is in the high 3.40’s. All of these are amazing accomplishments, but now look at what David did at Lights Out 11. He dropped a 3.580 in its second race out. This is a small block with a screw blown Camaro, with Menscer Motorsports equipment to plant the power to the ground, and it’s out running screw blown Hemi combo’s, along with only being a handful of numbers off from the overall world record in RvW.
With Sweet 16 just around the corner, and David already being the quickest small block in drag racing history, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take a shot or two at the overall world record in RvW. David is a man on a mission. While he remains humble every time that I see him, the fact is that he is driven to win and succeed, whether it is his own car or the customers that trust him to build their cars. Winning is what it is all about for David.
So if you don’t think that this Camaro is one of the most impressive, or in fact the most impressive door car in drag racing history, then feel free to leave a comment and start the discussion.