Racing is no drag for Yk car owner
Larry Burkowski's alcohol funny car takes top place at Edmonton car show
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, April 7, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife car owner is brimming with confidence heading into this summer's drag racing season. Larry Burkowski owns a Plymouth Duster blown alcohol funny car and it might just be the hottest set of wheels in the territory.
This 1970s Plymouth Duster blown alcohol funny car is owned by Yellowknife resident Larry Burkowski. It won first place in its division at the World of Wheels car show in Edmonton last month. Burkowski said he hopes to have the vehicle in Yellowknife this summer. - photo courtesy of Larry Burkowski |
He built the car, which runs on pure alcohol, from the ground up. It took home first place honours in the drag racing division at the World of Wheels car show in Edmonton in early March.
The car is fast - it did a quarter-mile in 8.6 seconds in Saskatoon last year - that's 317 kilometres per hour.
"The driver had the chute open before the finish line," Burkowski said. "She'll definitely do (321 km/h) - no problem there."
Burkowski intends to enter the dragster in seven or eight races this year, mostly in the Edmonton area. The original body was a 2008 Pontiac Trans Am Firebird, but Burkowski said he realized that body did not fit the criteria for the Pro Nostalgia category that he wanted to enter at car shows and drag races.
The Plymouth Duster body he eventually decided on has an unusual history behind it. It was used in drag races in the U.S. before it was eventually retired.
"The body was sold to a towing company in Minnesota. It was wrapped in vinyl and mounted on a pedestal for advertising. The city of Savage, MN made the owners take it down," Burkowski said.
"It sat on the ground at the towing company until it made its way to Canada sometime after 2012, when I bought it."
Burkowski said he took the car to the Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton last year where a writer from one of the drag racing magazines saw it and recognized the vehicle as one that had run races in the U.S. The writer called the original owner to verify it was indeed the same vehicle.
"It was, right down to the 'Ted Nugent for President' bumper sticker," Burkowski said.
"I had no idea of its history. It truly is a nostalgic car. We did not want to destroy the history behind the car or its name - White Trash. We just added 'Canadian' to the name out of respect for the original owner."
Burkowski said he believes the body is from 1974 but he has been unable to confirm that so he refers to it as being from the 1970s.
The car is currently stored in Edmonton.
"You can't run that thing on the streets. You'd get put it jail," Burkowki said. "It's just way too fast. It's only built for the racetrack. The RCMP would get a little excited."
Burkowski said building the car has been a 10-year labour of love for him and his three-man, Edmonton-based crew.
Building the car, racing it and taking it to car shows has become his hobby. He estimated there is more than $100,000 put into the vehicle.
Although he intends to have the dragster in Yellowknife this summer, he is not yet sure exactly when or where in the city he will show it off.
