FLY LIKE EAGLE
By Van Abernethy
When David Campbell dropped off his brand new 1970.5 Camaro at the paint shop of South Hill, Virginia’s Chris Ellis in early 2010, Campbell’s instructions were pretty simple: “Make sure it’s got some yellow on it and don’t forget to put an indian head on the hood, otherwise, paint it however you want.” Chris Ellis’ instructions were somewhat easy to follow, too, “Leave me alone, and don’t call me. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
You can probably guess what transpired next. The phone was indeed ringing, but it was an impatient David Campbell who was curious to know how things were progressing. “Why are you calling me? I didn’t call you!” snapped Ellis. “I’ll call you when I’m done!” A few days later, Ellis called and invited Campbell to come look at the car. David’s jaw hit the floor when Ellis unveiled his spray gun-rendered masterpiece.
Fast forward two weeks and the unthinkable happened. Campbell smacked the wall at Piedmont Dragway during one of the car’s very first test runs. Campbell promptly loaded the paint-ruffled car in the trailer and hauled it back to Ellis’ shop, where once again the unthinkable happened. Chris refused to repaint it. “It’s been just two weeks and you’ve already hit the wall?” inquired Chris in disbelief. “When you learn how to drive it, bring it back and I’ll repaint it,” says Ellis. Campbell pleaded, but Chris wouldn’t hear any of it.
Nothing to do but load up and come back home, where Campbell slapped some stickers over the cosmetic damage across the rear quarter panel. When people say this car has a beautiful paint job it’s really hard to grasp in the fullest, but maybe this will help put it in perspective: Even with its congested decal-covered damage, the car still won Best Appearing at ADRL’s prestigious Dragstock event in Rockingham last September.
As the season was winding down, Campbell called Ellis to gauge his chances of getting the car repainted. “Have you hit the wall anymore?” inquired Chris. Luckily for Campbell, he had a clean driving record since the Piedmont incident. “Okay, it sounds like you’ve learned to drive it, so bring it on back up here and I’ll repaint it,” Ellis said.
It’s somewhat of a miracle that Chris Ellis even took the job to begin with. “Mike Graham of Virginia Speed Race Cars told me about Chris, but he warned me that he’s kinda funny about painting race cars, and mainly just does restoration work,” says Campbell. Luckily for Campbell, he’s got an ace in the hole when it comes to the art of persuasion. “My wife, Yvonne, just smiles at everyone and never meets a stranger, so I sent her to South Hill to talk Chris into painting the car,” laughed Campbell. Turns out, Chris Ellis was no match for Yvonne’s sweet charm, and he agreed to paint the car with little resistance.
Although Campbell’s Camaro is among the most beautiful on the track today, his first heads-up car was somewhat of an ugly duckling, and that’s being kind. It’s rather unhandy being strapped for cash while shopping for a fast car. After liquidating some assets that included his motorcycle, an old Vega bracket car and a yard full of four-wheelers, David realized that the only thing he could afford in the heads-up arena was this Willie Rells ex-Pro Stock Firebird that had seen its better days many moons ago.
For decoration the car featured duct tape accents and a big Indian head on the hood. “I ask my buddy, Steve Harris, what in the world was I going to do about that indian head, because I can’t paint,” laughs Campbell. Steve had a brilliant idea. He encouraged David to name the car “Thunderwolf” and tell people that the Indian represents bravery and a warrior spirit. “It sounded like a pretty good lie to me, so Steve and I went to Wal Mart and bought some stickers and slapped “Thunderwolf” across the scoop.” When Steve died unexpectedly a few years later, David vowed to name all of his race cars “Thunderwolf” as a tribute to his friend Steve Harris.
Despite its ghastly appearance, the Firebird ran pretty well. Power came from an outdated 540 cast iron motor, but the car was ridiculously light, which made it deceptively fast. Campbell raced the car in the East Coast Proglide series, where he won three events with the Firebird. The rules for that series were pretty simply: If you ran 5.10 or quicker you were in the qualified field. “We ran 5.10 with ease during the spring and fall, but it would fall off sharply during the summer months,” says Campbell. “We were just getting starting and we didn’t have sense enough to know that the air was what was changing, not the car,” laughed David.
Campbell’s quest for obtaining more power was realized when he met Eagle Racing’s Mike and Chad Hedgecock at Roxboro Dragway. The three men hit it off from the start, and a power-supplying relationship has been solidly intact ever since. After taking delivery of an Eagle Racing 632 for his Firebird, Campbell decided to jump into the deep end of the pond and try his luck competing in possibly the toughest heads-up club in existence: Piedmont Dragway’s Big Dog Shootout.
The Big Dog rules stated you had to have mufflers, of which David had no money for. What he did have was a head full of ideas for improvising. “I didn’t have any money for mufflers, so I bought some flex pipe from a local truck stop. I wrapped it around the header, drilled holes in it, spot welded it and painted it black,” laughed Campbell. The Big Dog official was studying this trick piece pretty hard. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this before,” says the tech official. David confided that these were the highest dollar mufflers ever made. “Where do you get a set of these,” inquired the official. With a straight face David replied, “Eagle Racing.”
The official then began to examine the rest of the car, which in addition to the homemade “mufflers” prominently featured the Indian head on the hood and Wal Mart stickers on the scoop. The front end was secured with duct tape, while crazy glue held the headlights in place. “I’m telling you this car did not look good,” laughed Campbell. The tech official couldn’t agree more. “Are you sure you’re wanting to run Big Dog,” inquired the official, followed by, “And what’s your name again?”
David pulls the car to the line for his first qualifying attempt. He looked out into the stands and never saw so many people in his life. “I was so nervous, I left before the tree was activated,” recalls Campbell. Nobody knew what the car ran, but David retrieved some good data from the Racepak. Returning for round two qualifying, David relaxed then reeled off a 4.36 on his first legit run ever at Big Dog. Those numbers were quite quick for Big Dog a few years ago, so instant rumblings were heard throughout the pits, accusing the rag-a-muffin car of having something bigger than a 632 – the legal cubic inch limit for Big Dog at the time.
In round one eliminations, Campbell clocks a 4.34 and took the win light, which only caused the murmuring to increase. David then wins the semi finals and the crowd is getting down right unruly. Just one more pass to go, can this really be happening? You bet it is. With a 4.32 David Campbell and the ugliest car to ever compete in Big Dog took the win on their very first attempt. As you may have guessed, an angry mob had gathered at Campbell’s pit to protest. They would have torn down the engine coming up the return road if they could have gotten to him quick enough.
David Campbell stood by with confidence as the verdict came back. “It’s a 631,” the official shouted. Dejected and in disbelief, the mob began to break off into groups and go their separate ways. “After that, they accepted me and everything was okay,” says David. Now days, he’s a regular part of the Big Dog crowd, competing in each and every event, while attracting an ever-growing fan base.
When David finally retired his humble Firebird, he then acquired the former Pro Stock Grand Am of Greg Anderson. He campaigned the car for several seasons in Big Dog, Mad Dawg and a variety of other heads-up leagues in the southeast. Campbell ran solid, consistent numbers with the Grand Am, collecting wins at a variety of tracks.
During the off season of 2009, Russ Farmer’s Racetech Race Cars got the nod to construct Campbell’s finest piece yet, his current 1970.5 Camaro. His friends at Eagle Race Engines built Campbell a 738 to motivate the Camaro. The car has been as quick as 4.12 at Campbell’s Big Dog weight of 2585. In outlaw trim, he’s clocked 4.04 with the Camaro at Alabama International Dragway. He currently holds the Roxboro Dragway mph record at 184mph.
For 2011, Campbell plans to outfit his Camaro with a 784 from Eagle, and hopefully shed a few pounds off the car. “I’d like to put a 5.3 motor in it, but my finances won’t allow it at the moment. I believe we can be competitive with the 784 if we can get the car a little lighter,” says Campbell.
In addition to Big Dog, Campbell plans to mix it up with the Extreme Outlaw Pro Mods and also the Quick-8 Outlaws. Always looking for new challenges, Campbell also expressed a desire of running some quarter-mile events in 2011.
