Inside the Quickest Small-Block Chevy Engine Ever Built - Hot Rod Network
The racing bloodlines running through the Champion Speed Shop are long and complex, going back through 60 years of tradition, innovation, and racing dominance—Northern California style. HOT ROD is honored to be able to present it as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the small-block Chevy engine, which is integral to this story, leading up to the 60th anniversary of Champion Speed Shop in 2017. The Champion Speed Shop Special... In 1957 when Jim opened Champion Speed Shop in South San Francisco, it was a wood-shack mecca for all of the Great Highway street racers, gearheads, and roundy racers in the Bay Area. Having a speed shop in “South City” seeded related paint shops, engine builders, and competing speed shops, which spurred McLennan to branch out from his racer roots. First, he and Smith leased Half Moon Bay airstrip for drag races starting in 1958. A half-hour hop south of South San Francisco, it wasn’t long before they also ran Cotati Drag Strip, hidden behind the Santa. Source: www.hotrod.com
