BLAKE DENTON GOES VIRAL IN LIZZY MUSI’ S‘ BONNIE’
As the new driver of the nitrous-assisted, Musi-powered“ Bonnie”’ 69 Camaro previously driven by the late, great Lizzy Musi in Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings competition, Blake Denton has grown accustomed to the collective drag racing community watching to see what he does next in the fan-favorite car. Some fans have even questioned whether he belongs in the car that Musi made famous before her untimely passing last summer, but when he legged it out through the eighthmile finish line while riding the wheelie bars to win his opening-round match with Lyle Barnett in the Pro 10.5 Challenge, Denton made a statement: he’ s a wheelman through and through.
Denton, who won the 2023 PDRA Super Street world championship before moving to Pro Street last fall, was strong in qualifying, using a 4.031 at 193.16 to be the provisional No. 2 qualifier after the first session, missing the No. 1 spot by a couple miles-per-hour. He then lowered his best to a 3.952 at 191.73 in Q2, which was good for No. 3 after that session. Denton ended up fourth when qualifying wrapped up.
Throughout qualifying, Denton hiked up the front wheels in the Jeff Pierce-tuned hot rod, but they’ d set back down well before the finish line. That changed in Denton’ s opening-round match with Lyle Barnett, who was making his Pro 10.5 debut in the ProCharger-boosted Kohler Racing Camaro that he typically races in Limited Drag Radial. Denton was away first with a. 027 reaction time when“ Bonnie’ s” front wheels started hovering. They kept going skyward as Denton charged down the track. He actually tripped the finish line beams with the 10.5-inch rear slicks,
riding the wheelie bars to victory.
Understandably, announcers Al Tucci and Brian Lohnes went wild, with Lohnes describing it as“ the run of the entire event … pure courage defined.” Viewers watching from home on Flo- Racing also went wild as clips of the pass started popped up left and right on social media. Last year, Lance Knigge went viral for his wheelstanding passes in the Pro 10.5 Challenge, and now it was Denton’ s turn.
“ That was not really planned, but hey, it stuck, so I was like,‘ I ain’ t losing,’” Denton told Flo- Racing’ s Don O’ Neal after the round.
Denton’ s wife, two-time PDRA Pro 632 world champion Amber Denton, wasn’ t as awestruck with the nail-biting pass, telling O’ Neal,“ I’ m sure everyone at home and online is like,‘ Oh my God, that’ s so cool.’ Uh yeah, it was cool, but as a racer and a wife, that stressed me out a lot.’”
“ She wasn’ t a big fan of it,” Blake confirmed in his interview,“ but I trust these guys and I trust this car. Robert [ Hayes ] builds a great car. It set back on the bars and it was going and I was like,‘ I’ m just going to ride it.’”
Denton’ s weekend came to an end in the next round when parts breakage brought“ Bonnie” to a stop on the track, but by that point, Denton had made his mark on the event.— NATE VAN WAGNEN DI DI DI
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