Trevor Hayes and his family have an undeniable passion for drag racing. Trevor is from Rancho Cucamonga, California, and currently races his ’74 Chevrolet [2] Camaro in the NMCA [3] West and the Summit Series [4]‘ events. The Camaro came together after he grew tired of driving other people’s racecars, and decided it was time to build one of his own. “I knew that it was time to build my own, so that I could make tuning changes and my own decisions to make the car work better for me,” said Trevor. Having been a lifelong fan of the Chevrolet brand, the Camaro was a perfect fit.
Trevor told us, “The car was a racecar before I bought it, but it had been sitting outside of a buddies shop for three or four years.” Although he had not been hunting for a particular model car, this one turned out to be a good deal. He had always liked Camaros, so it seemed this arrangement was destined to be.
It took Trevor approximately six months to get the car running, and to its current condition. In true father and son style, almost all of the work was completed by Trevor and his father, Jeff Hayes. Everything from installing the Lexan the windows, fitment of the fiberglass doors, making fender brackets, adding CalTracs [10], and rebuilding the front end, these tasks were all completed in their home shop. “My dad and I did almost all of the work on the car ourselves, except for the rearend setup and paint,” added Trevor.
Despite being a Bow Tie fan, the Camaro is painted Tungsten Grey, which is a 2007 Mustang color. Along with the weight savings of the fiberglass components, Trevor and his father added Lexan windows to shave some additional pounds. Thanks to the lightened body, the 400 cubic-inch small-block built by John Brooks helps the car reach consistent 10.20’s in the quarter-mile.
This combination features an aftermarket block, a 13.0:1 compression ratio, a Lunati [11]crankshaft, Manley [12] connecting rods, JE pistons [13], Brodix [14] heads, T&D [15] rockers, and an Edelbrock [16] Super Victor intake. This thirsty combination drinks E85 thanks to a Holley [17] 950 carburetor that was converted by Horsepower Innovations [18].
This potent combination has helped Hayes achieve some significant awards and a few wins along the way. In 2014, Hayes was nominated by fellow racers for the NMCA West Rookie of the Year, because of victories at the 2014 NMCA West events in Pomona, and Las Vegas, which helped Hayes build momentum for the season. 2015 proved to be another successful year for Trevor, as he earned wins at the West Coast Classic Run for the Money Shootout, the West Coast Classic Pro Shootout, and Summit Race number 3. Hayes averages 15 race weekends per year.
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