The Pure Stock Drags have fascinated Muscle car enthusiasts since the racing series started in the late 1990s. Everyone knows traction on factory tires was severely limited back in the day. So, when you see a car like this Pure Stock Camaro, running 11s or low 12s in the Pure Stock Drags or similar series on Polyglas or Wide Oval bias-ply tires, you are immediately captivated or assume the car is far beyond stock.

There are plenty of misconceptions about the Pure Stock Drags or similar vehicles, like those that run Factory Appearing Stock Tire events. Some of the muscle machines in the latter are running 9.0s, so certainly they’re not all original, right? Well…

Pure Stock vs. Factory Stock vs. F.A.S.T

Let’s go over the rules so you can differentiate between the various classes. In the Pure Stock Drags, the regulations are pretty strict. The two biggest no-nos are stroker crankshafts and soft-compound/specially prepped rear tires. Both are forbidden.

Displacement must be as close to stock as possible, and overbores are limited to .070-inch. Compression can be up to 1.5 points higher than stock.

The L78 Camaro was born without power steering and remains without it to this day. The air cleaner is taller than stock, a Pure Stock trick to get more air to the carb.

Camshaft? It must be correct for the model, year, and horsepower claimed. Duration at .050-inch lobe lift must be within 1 percent of factory specs. Lift at the valve must be within 2 percent of the factory specs. Rockers must be stock.

Factory Appearing Stock Tire Factory Stock rules mirror those of Pure Stock.

Where people get confused is with F.A.S.T. cars running in the more wide-open F.A.S.T. category, where up to 560 cubes are allowed (620 for Ford 429/460-based powerplants). Elapsed times and trap speeds can be pretty eye-opening here, although the original equipment, bias-ply-tire rule is in effect. No soft compound tires of any kind are allowed, which makes these cars running in the 9s even more remarkable.

Quick Camaro Competitor

Bruno Beltrame of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, has enjoyed competing in the Pure Stock Drags for quite some time in a variety of vehicles: a ’63 Pontiac Catalina with 421 Super Duty engine mated to a four-speed, a ’69 GTO Ram Air IV with a four-speed, and most recently the ’69 Camaro SS396 you see here.

This Pure Stock Camaro is a legitimate, L78-powered car (375-horsepower) but is campaigned with the factory aluminum L89 cylinder heads (which are legal for the class). No tricks are allowed with the heads — no acid porting, no multi-angle valve jobs, larger-than-stock valves, etc. Stock means stock, though you can shave them slightly to help raise compression, which, as noted up top, can be 1.5 points higher than stock.

Beltrame’s Camaro launches hard for a car running G70-14 reproduction bias-ply tires.

Other than taking a bunch of weight off the nose, there is no flow or performance gain to be had by using the L89 heads. His SS had the aluminum heads on the L78 when Bruno bought the car off the second owner, a Texan.

Speaking of weight, unless your car came equipped with one from the factory, fiberglass hoods are not allowed.

Inside The L89

The .060-over 396 is 408 cubes. Again, no stroker cranks are allowed. The penalty for such an indiscretion is disqualification from the event. If you are suspected of using lightweight internal parts in your engine or elsewhere in the drivetrain, you can be banned from the next event.

In gross horsepower terms, the L78 was rated at 375 horsepower in the Chevelle, Nova, and Camaro, while in ’65, it was rated at 425 horsepower in the Corvette. The only differences were that the Corvette had far superior exhaust manifolds and a large, open-element air cleaner.

The Z-16 396 ’65 Chevelle was equipped with a restrictive-but-quiet dual snorkel, low-rise air cleaner.

On engine dyno tests we’ve seen, most stock L78s will make 418-425 gross horsepower with headers, so they were probably underrated by Chevrolet in anything but the Corvette. Pure Stock does allow engine blueprinting and the aforementioned increase in compression ratio. It also allows mandrel-bent 2.5-inch exhaust systems, which is a huge upgrade over stock in most instances. Bruno said his engine makes 500 horsepower in his Pure Stock Camaro, so his combo is definitely maxed out.

Preparation does not end when you leave the house. When we ran into Bruno at Orlando Speed World, friends Christopher Teed (who campaigns an L89 Chevy II in PSD) and “Home Depot” Steve were helping him rejet the factory carb, which was too fat for the conditions at the track.

Note: The carb must retain the factory choke, which is a definite restriction.

The original, matching-numbers M21 transmission is resting comfortably in Bruno’s shop, but the Camaro still runs runs an M21 gearbox, but one equipped with a stock-appearing Long Transmission shifter. The factory rear is still in the car and came with 4.10s in 1969, but Bruno added 4.56 for more dig out of the hole.

Power To The Pavement

So, how do these drivers get such commendable elapsed times on these tires? Practice, practice, practice. Traction bars, Caltracs, etc., are all verboten. Traction devices are limited to hop-stop bars for the upper control arms on coil spring-equipped vehicles. Pinion snubbers and clamping of the springs are allowed on leaf-spring automobiles. Not much, right?

Check out the in-car video. You can see he’s not just matting the throttle and dumping the clutch. Bruno, like a lot of Pure Stock pilots, mastered the art of the pedal dance. On some days, when the track is right and the heat isn’t too bad, he can make it look easy. When the track is not great or the heat is above average (like on the day of our shoot), spinning off the line and down track is a definite problem.

Inside of Bruno’s Pure Stock Camaro, you’ll see not much more than an aftermarket tach and AEM air-fuel ratio gauge and an Equus tachometer. The air/fuel gauge is especially important. Rather than trying to read the plugs at the end of a run, he can glance down at the gauge.

Looking inside that interior, though, reminds us there is little more needed than what the factory provided. It is a beautiful example of the ponycar breed, including the console and optional gauges.

The LeMans blue paint is not only gorgeous but mostly all original. If there is a blemish, there are two holes in the tail panel below the SS emblem where the original dealer tag was mounted. Bruno does have it and plans to reinstall it at some point.

The G70-14 Goodyear Polyglas repo tires are, per the rules, one size larger than stock (F70-14). Shocks and springs, front and rear, must also be factory-style (no drag shocks, springs, etc., are allowed). Lightweight driveshafts are also prohibited. And for you doubters, excessively worn or bald tires are not permitted. Tires cannot be worn down to the tread wear bar indicators — anyone who has priced a set of four reproduction tires lately will tell you Pure Stock Drags is not for the cheap or poor.

Bruno’s best pass thus far was an 11.98 at 116.20 mph at the Factory Stock Races at New York’s Empire Dragway. On the day we caught up with him in Florida, his best run was a 12.20 at 116.47.

We think Pure Stock and F.A.S.T. are two of the coolest forms of drag racing out there today. These are real driver categories. We say clamp your leaf springs down and go for it!