A 41-mile Pro Stock–era Camaro dazzles with sky-high launches and two wins at Byron Dragway’s nostalgia program.
A 1970 Chevrolet Camaro showing just 41 miles on its odometer turned heads and tripped win lights at Byron Dragway’s Summer Thunder program, delivering a pair of nostalgia-flavored victories that underscored why the model remains a fan favorite more than half a century after its debut.
Captured by the Race Your Ride YouTube channel, the burgundy second-generation car is a Midwest Nostalgia Pro Stock Association entrant with deep period roots. The car retains hallmarks from its early competition life — an original fiberglass front clip and hood, a Dana 60 rear axle and a dash frozen at 41 miles when the race conversion began — and now runs with a hood-poking 427-cubic-inch V-8. Driver Herb Fox gave the crowd a show in both rounds, yanking the front wheels high and carrying them before settling into two nine-second passes.
The Camaro’s first matchup came against a first-generation, dual-tone SS Camaro driven by Stan Janik. Fox launched with a towering wheelstand yet kept momentum, taking the win light despite clocking a 9.65-second elapsed time to the lane-opposite 9.25. The result suggested either a foul or a holeshot advantage was in play; either way, the time-capsule Chevy advanced.
Round two brought a newer challenger: a third-generation Pontiac Firebird wearing STP-style livery and driven by Tyler Shenuk. The Firebird left cleanly, but the Camaro again stood on its hind legs, gathered itself and reeled in the Pontiac downtrack. Fox’s 9.68 held off the Firebird’s 9.8 for a decisive second victory.
Beyond the scoreboard, the car’s provenance and presentation drew nearly as much attention as its performance. Described by organizers as a “purebred racer from day one,” the Camaro evokes Pro Stock’s formative era — long before modern electronics, when big-block torque and clutch footwork ruled. Its period-correct fiberglass, heavy-duty Dana 60 and through-the-hood induction speak to that heritage, while the preserved instrument cluster serves as a rolling time stamp.
The Midwest Nostalgia Pro Stock Association, which showcases cars patterned after the class’s golden years, has become a staple at regional tracks, marrying competitive passes with storytelling about an influential period in American drag racing. Byron Dragway’s Summer Thunder event leveraged that formula, pairing heads-up skirmishes with showpiece machinery to pack the stands.
The Camaro’s outing also arrives as the Chevrolet nameplate transitions into the history books — at least in its traditional form. Production of the sixth-generation street Camaro ended in December 2023, but the cult around vintage competition cars continues to grow, with nostalgia series offering a stage for living artifacts to run hard instead of static in museums.
For one evening, the 1970 Pro Stock–era Camaro did exactly that: launched high, powered straight and reminded a new audience why the badge carries such weight. The elapsed times were quick, but the impression it left was quicker.
