Ever since the debut of the COPO Camaro program just one short year ago, the cars have been tearing up the racetrack in the hands of many experienced racers, and ATI Performance Products’ JC Beattie, Jr. has been making his case in East Coast competition with his 327-cube, Whipple 4.0L-blown LSX powerplant under the hood of COPO #008.

To date, the car has over 35 quality passes on the strip, and this past weekend at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, Beattie Jr. set the Super Stock SSA/A record. “This weekend was the first time running the car in air under 75 degrees and the performance really took off. Actually, it “took off” a little more than we expected. We set the Super Stock SSA/A record at 8.449 and 161.83. Furthermore, we were able to take the motor apart for tech, easily pass inspection, and put it back together in order to make a couple more runs,” says Beattie, Jr.

This car runs at a whopping 3,600 pounds on a 10.5-inch Hoosier slick, making its performance even more amazing. Beattie, Jr. has a Katech-built engine that’s been constructed from all factory parts, and even took home the “Best Engineered” award for the event from the NHRA. 

But setting the class record comes with drawbacks of a sort. “The only bad news is that per NHRA factoring, we will have to move up to SS/AAA and take some weight out of the car to run in the new class at a quicker index. But then we will get to see how fast it will really go,” Beattie, Jr. explains. 

The team has had their fair share of struggles getting the new program lined out, but it appears from all accounts that they’re on the right track. We’re looking forward to seeing what the future holds for them!