Fans of Drag Week already know by the title that one of the familiar hot rods from the weeklong drive-and-drag event, and this year’s surprise third place finisher in the top-tier Unlimited Class, has met its untimely demise. We’re talking about Nick Plewniak’s unique stretched-wheelbase, mid-engined, twin-turbo big block-powered Chevy S10 pickup, dubbed “Stretchy Truck” by most because of the added 46-inches of wheelbase and “Sketchy Truck” by some after seeing it slip and slide down the 1/4-mile.
Plewniak was lined up alongside Mike Klosowski’s Dodge Dart for their matchup in the semis at the Lancaster National Dragway in New York when the incident occurred. Klosowski took a sizeable lead out of the gate but Plewniak was beginning to close when he lost traction. Nick short-shifted the unruly truck, hoping to tame the wheelspin, but instead, the rear kicked out and tried to come around, leading to an impact with the wall before the truck rolled onto its roof. Plewniak walked away unharmed thanks to a solid roll cage and full complement of safety equipment.
Plewniak is already working toward the future, and unfortunately for fans of the pickup, he’s planning on going away from the mid-engine platform. Though he believes taking the lessons learned in building Stretchy Truck and apply it to an updated version, Plewniak is instead planning to search out another less-common base chassis to cram his twin-turbocharged big block into. “I’m probably going to try to find a ’30-something four-door sedan and do a 25.3 chassis with a race weight goal of 3,000 pounds,” says Plewniak. “I’m planning to use everything salvageable from the truck as far as powertrain; the twin-turbo setup, the TH400 transmission and the Holley EFI system should all be good to go.”
Nick has plans to head to the PRI Show in Indianapolis later this year and seek out sponsorship, as well as checking out the latest offerings in the go-fast arena. We certainly can’t wait to see what Nick comes up with, and we hope it’s every bit as unique as Stretchy Truck!