THE WAIT IS OVER - Chuck Roberts

If the name sounds familiar, it should. Roberts has been involved in street car and outlaw drag racing for a number of years on the west coast and beyond, and focuses on nitrous cars and tuning. Now, after far too long of a wait, he has acquired

I’ve helped other people win 9 championships in PSCA and WCHRA, now it’s my turn...

CHUCK ROBERTS

Chuck Roberts’ Nitrous Outlaw 1996 Pontiac Firebird is a legit Don Ness Racecraft full tube chassis ex-Pro Stock car. Repairs and modifications were completed by Whoppado Racing (John Sicalpi Sr. and Jr.). The Sicalpis cut off the entire front end in the process and the car has been certified for 6.0 second ¼ mile hits.

The body consists of an OEM steel tub with steel ¼ panels; fiberglass deck lid, doors, front end, hood and scoop were added. It has taken its share of hits over the years and Chuck is planning to continue with body repairs and a complete color match.

Needless to say, the racing bug didn’t just recently hit Roberts. During his youth in Las Vegas he raced BMX in the mid-1970s placing #5 for the state of Nevada, and before long, by 1977, he had himself a sweet set of wheels, one that any young man would be proud of. It was a 1967 Camaro RS and Chuck would hit the streets with it, learning the ins and outs of horsepower. The next mountain to climb was motocross racing and after that, just after moving back to California, Chuck decided to go with 4 wheels again.

“When I moved back in 1980 I started to street race heavily,” said Roberts. “In fact, I made a living for 5 years just street racing from Los Angeles to San Diego.” Along with paying his dues and making money on the street though, he was also paying fines and had his license taken away twice. “I was very happy once I started to take racing to the track,” he added with a smile.

Before long, Chuck found himself working with and on nitrous combinations and decided to immerse himself in everything N2O. “Nitrous was fun so I started learning everything I could about it,” Roberts

A color matched cage is mixed with carbon panels and tinwork inside the ’bird. An OEM style lightweight dash is blank except for the Racepak display along with a traditional tach and oil pressure gauge. The MSD Grid and ARC module along with Racepak V300 SD are mounted on the passenger side firewall area.

continued. “Wady from NOS took me under his wing and taught me a lot along with Charles Carpenter and Monte Smith (RIP).” Chuck would continue to focus on nitrous combinations but along the way had the opportunity to crew on Mike

Hayden’s championship twin turbo Pro Street ’57 Chevy and then drove the car in South Carolina with Annette Summers. “And now, my 30 year dream is complete and ready to go,” he added. “I have waited a long time for a car of this calibre.”

The car itself is a proven piece as it was a legit Don Ness Pro Stock car and won a Pro Stock event when it was first built. The body is an OEM tub with steel quarters. Fiberglass doors, a complete front end, hood and hood scoop were added for weight savings along with Lexan windows. Body wise, the Firebird has seen its share of bumps and bruises over the years and Chuck is making his way through repairs and paint

matching. The full tube chassis carries an NHRA 6.0 certification however a number of upgrades were required to get it back into shape and recertified, and Chuck had Whoppado Racing (John Scialpi Sr. and John Scialpi Jr.) cut it off at the firewall to build a whole new front frame section.

Interestingly, Roberts had tuned on the car for a previous owner in the past and also tuned on the motor, yet never in this car. He somehow ended up with both and dropped the size-

It’s hard to argue with 648 cubic inches of Fulton big block Chevy, especially when it’s plumbed with 4 stages of Nitrous!

I have waited a long time for a car of this caliber...

CHUCK ROBERTS

able Fulton 648-incher between the new front rails of the Firebird.

Fulton started with a Brodix aluminum block and installed a Bryant crank swingin’ GRP rods and custom JE nitrous pistons. Big Duke heads were studded in place and equipped with Jesel rockers and Manton pushrods. Cam specs are, of course, top secret but Chuck did say the cam was carefully selected by Fulton specifically to run 4 stages of nitrous. And guess what? There are 4 stages of Nitrous Supply/Fulton juice cocked, locked and ready to rock. A Hogan’s sheet metal intake is topped by twin Dominator style Pro Systems carbs and fuel is supplied via Magnafuel pumps and regulator and Holley 803 regulators control fuel for the nitrous systems.

A Mike’s Transmission Extreme Monster Glide transmission with Reid case and Pro Torque nitrous

This is why most of us shouldn’t try to self-plumb 4 hits of juice…leave it to the pros!

The Mike’s Transmission Extreme Monster Glide with Pro Torque converter send power through a chromoly driveshaft to the braced full floater 9-inch rearend and then out to these sizeable 35x15x16 Mickey Thompson meats.

Chuck

Roberts’

Body & Paint:

Nitrous Outlaw 1996 Pontiac Firebird

Original body tub with steel quarter panels. fiberglass doors, hatch, front end, hood and scoop. Lexan windows. Silver paint.

Chassis Modifications:

Original Don Ness Racecraft full tube chassis Pro Stock car –modified by Whoppado Racing (John Sicalpi Sr. and Jr.).

Suspension:

Custom fabricated front suspension with Lamb struts and rack and pinion steering. Rear is 4-link with Santhuff coilover shocks and anti-sway bar. Wheelie bars.

Engine:

Fulton 648 cubic inch big block Chevy. Brodix aluminum block with Bryant crank, GRP Rods and JE nitrous pistons. Brodix Big Duke heads, Jesel rockers, Manton pushrods. Top secret Fulton nitrous cam. Jesel belt drive. Hogan’s sheet metal intake with twin Pro Systems Dominator style carburetors. Magnafuel pump and main regulator, Holley 803 regulators control nitrous system fuel. Tuned by Chuck Roberts of Competition Nitrous Systems.

Power Adder:

4 stages of Nitrous Supply nitrous installed by Fulton.

Transmission:

Mikes Transmission Extreme Monster Glide and Pro Torque converter. Chromoly driveshaft.

Rearend:

Braced 9” housing, Strange Ultra center sec tion, 40 spline full floater axles, 4.56 gears.

Brakes:

Lamb carbon fiber front, Strange steel rear.

Tires & Wheels:

Weld Wheels with Mickey Thompson “big bubba” tires.

Safety: Stroud belts, safety net and parachutes.

Electronics:

Racepak IQ3 dash, Speedwire switch panel, MSD Grid and ARC module, Race pak V300 SD with multiple sensors set up by Pro Data Systems, traditional tachome ter and oil pressure gauge.

ET & MPH

4.36 at 168 MPH so far… How long to build the car?

I have owned the car for 7 years and just recently complet ed it.

Thanks To:

“GOD! He brought all this to me. Whoppado Racing – Paulie Henry (Crew Chief), Mike Hayden, Annette Summer Drag Racing School.”

converter sends power rearward through a chromoly driveshaft to the braced 9-inch rear with spool, 40 spline full floater axles, Ultra center section and 4.56 gears. A custom 4-link coilover rear suspension with anti-roll bar provides the hook out back, while a fabricated strut front suspension with rack and pinion steering keeps things on the straight and narrow.

Inside this ’bird is all business. The cage snakes its way through the cockpit and Chuck’s co-pilots are a billet pistol grip air actuated shifter, two nitrous bottles and twin Induction Solutions large-face gauges to monitor pressure. A high-mounted Speedwire switch panel controls most

of the car’s functions and wiring along with relays and control boxes are affixed to the passenger side firewall area. Chuck chose an MSD Grid and ARC module to control the spark and utilized a Racepak V300 SD set up by Pro Data Systems to monitor all the vitals such as driveshaft RPM, vacuum, oil pressure, water temperature, fuel pressure, air/fuel

ratio, transmission pressure and temperature, and the rear shocks. Just in case, he keeps a traditional tachometer and oil pressure gauge mounted to the left of the Racepak display. Hey, old habits are hard to break!

To date, with just a handful of runs, Roberts has wheeled the Firebird to a 4.36 at 168MPH in the 1/8th, but we can guarantee,

To date, the Firebird has been 4.36 at 168 MPH in the eighth-mile, but there is more to come...

We figure “more” means 2 more nitrous stages to activate…after all Chuck has 4 kits plumbed and ready.

It takes a village to raise a race car...

Chuck (back row left) has that village support. He has waited over 30 years to own and drive a car of this caliber, and throughout those years he helped many others win races and championships, putting all his efforts into learning everything he could about nitrous oxide from some of the best in the business.

since Chuck knows the game all too well, those runs are with one, maybe two stages, and when he does hit that magic number, we probably won’t hear

about it anyway. After all, given the fact that he already has some grudge races coming his way, some things are just best left unsaid.