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10.24 @ 132.59, 60’ 1.46
In May of 2005, Shawn Strauss decided it was time to graduate from his
1993 Camaro Z28 to a newer, faster car. Returning home from one of
his many trips to Ocean City, he spotted what would soon be his
10-second street car. This 2000 Trans Am WS6 was in amazing
condition, but it’s true beauty would only shine after he showed it
some tender love and care.
Little did he know
it at the time, but his newly purchased F-Body was unique it it’s own
right. The car was one of the few that came with the special
Three-Spoke N66 option wheels, which was only available in the 2000
model year. It was estimated that only between 1-5% of all 2000 Trans
Am’s came equipped with the N66 option. Since then, the wheels have
been replaced by a set of stock WS6 wheels for the street.
Lightweight Welded R/T Bogart wheels take their place for the strip.
His modest plans
would change drastically after his father purchased a heavily modified
2000 Formula WS6 that was capable of low 10’s on it’s 408ci motor.
After driving the car to plenty of 10.4x’s, Shawn knew that mid-11’s
in his car wouldn’t cut it.
As the 2006
racing season was coming to a close, Shawn started turning up the heat
by swapping out the stock 10-bolt rear with the optional 3.23 gears
for a Strange 12-bolt with 3.73 gears. That winter he began
installing a Nitrous Outlet 90mm Plate system with dozens of
personalized touches. An FJO Progressive Controller is the heart of
the system and is mounted in the glove box for quick changes to the
progression curve.
-The Gloss Black
8-point roll cage hugs the interior of the car tightly.
Preparing for
faster times, Shawn decided it was time for a roll cage. He got in
contact with Tyson from
Performance Auto Fab about his options.
He decided on a custom 8-point roll cage that would be bent to his
specs and powder coated in gloss black. Swing-outs would bring a
little more convenience to this street car. A custom-made window net
was included to allow him to enter the 9’s.
After his cage
was complete, Shawn continued to work on his nitrous system. Custom
self-made switch panels house the controls for the nitrous arm, purge,
heater, and line-lock activation. A Dynotune Digital Nitrous Pressure
gauge sits flush in the center console for a seemingly factory look to
the average person. Before he could spray, he needed to feed more
fuel so he ordered a Racetronix Fuel Pump. In the mean time, he took
the car 11.67 on the motor.
Hoping to add a
little excitement to his car, he swapped out his stock 4L60E for a
built TH-400 3-speed transmission. A 4500 Stall Converter was used to
help pop the wheels up for a few small wheelies. On a 75-shot, blew
through the 1/4 in just 11.07 seconds at 123 mph.
Some hammer time
put into the rear fender wells helped accommodate massive 325/50/15
Mickey Thompson ET Streets. Feeling more confident in his ability to
grip, he put in the 100-shot jets, bringing him to a 10.8 quarter-mile
run. Popping bigger wheelies than ever, Shawn felt he was ready for
his next obstacle, a televised race for $10,000, Pinks All Out.
On June 9th
at Maryland International Raceway, Shawn would pit his car against 400
opponents in 100-degree weather. Only the first of two runs would be
timed and he managed to launch the car to a current best 10.782 @
122.73mph with a 1.417 60-foot time. Of the 400, only 16 cars in a tight time
cluster would be chosen for to race for the $10,000. As luck would
have it, his last-minute rush to get ready would pay off as he was
chosen to be in the Pinks All Out 16. His luck would unfortunately
run out as he was eliminated in the first round.Shawn’s plans
for the future is to run 9’s on the stock bottom end with a more
aggressive camshaft and aftermarket heads.
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