In 2018, David Schroeder brought his Motor Trend ‘Hot Rod Magazine’ Drag Week-winning 1966 Corvette to the Motorama Show as he celebrated his inaugural title in the prestigious ‘Drive Fast and Make It Last’ competition.
For the 7th annual Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors, running April 29, 30 and May 01 at Toronto’s International Centre, Schroeder returns to celebrate another victory in the ‘Five Race in Five Days’ enduro with both his original 1966 Corvette and his latest champion, an all-new 2019 Corvette C7.
Drag Week regulations require all race vehicles to be completely street legal. The cars must be driven to the five events, a total of 2100 kilometres on public roads, and then prepared for the quarter-mile drag races. Schroeder’s race / street car is also equipped to tow a small trailer laden with extra parts and tools, to and from the various race venues.
The 2021 edition of the straight-line marathon kicked off September 13 at US 131 Motorsports Park in Michigan. In all 340 teams entered Drag Week, with 14 in the elite Unlimited Class. They then raced at Summit Motorsports Park (Ohio), Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis and Illinois’ Byron Dragway before proclaiming a champion back at US 131 Park on September 17.
David Schroeder (l) and his cousin John Ens (r) will return to Motorama with both of their Drag Week winning vehicles.
Competing in the Unlimited Class, Schroeder’s average ET was the championship-deciding factor. His average pass time of 6.793s (198.08 mph) saw him beat Mikeal Borggren (1987 Volvo 240 wagon) for his second Drag Week crown. Schroeder’s fastest run of Drag Week 2021 was 6.46s at 212 mph, although he admits there was still some power left. “I think there’s a 230 (mph) in it,” he said.
For the Mississauga-based racing effort, Schroeder and his small team needed to thrash to simply have the car ready for the 2021 Drag Week opener. The necessary alterations meant that the gleaming blue ‘Vette was not debuted until two days before competition began.
In late 2020, they purchased a Jerry Bickell Pro Mod chassis. And in January 2021, David’s cousin John Ens set about to modifying it. The team needed to fabricate a new front-end to accommodate the new powerplant and to handle the extra stresses and accessories for highway travel. Retaining their 872 CID Rehrer-Morrison Pro Mod powerplant with its four-stage nitrous oxide system, Schroeder estimates that his car, at full song, was pushing 2,400 BHP to the rear, 36-inch Hoosier tires.
“Bigger tires and a longer wheelbase were the primary reasons why we built this new car,” noted Schroeder. “Our engine was making more power than we could use, but with this car we can throw everything we can get at it.”
Schroeder concluded, “To win Drag Week once is pretty cool. Winning twice is unbelievable. But I can’t get too excited, Larry Larson has won this thing five times in a row!”
David Schroeder, the only Canadian-born Drag Week champion, and his cousin John Ens will be on hand to meet race fans in Hall 2, Booth 5213 for all three days of the 2022 Motorama Show.
For tickets and show info, visit MotoramaShow.com.
ABOUT THE MOTORAMA CUSTOM CAR & MOTORSPORTS EXPO: The seventh annual Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo Presented by eBay Motors takes place April 29, 30 & May 1, 2022 at The International Centre, across from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. The show features more than 300,000 square feet of custom cars, hot rods, racing vehicles of all kinds, tuners, displays and exhibitors. Motorama is Canada’s biggest late-winter celebration of automobiles and motorsports. For information about the show, including tickets, sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, and more, call (416) 962-7223, email info@MotoramaShow.com or visit www.MotoramaShow.com.
