DOUG DUELL

he had run before.

“ It’ s extremely difficult; the first day we had testing, I was wondering if maybe I was over my skis a bit,” admits Duell, who said he was talked off the ledge by engine builder and veteran racer Greg Stanfield.“ The car is just so much more powerful. It kind of leaves like my other Drag Pak( a 2015 Challenger acquired from Jeg Coughlin Jr. for Super Stock), but the burnout, the staging, the Pro tree, all of that is different. I have 30 years of racing behind me and I had to be retrained. Each run it gets better, but I’ ve made every mistake you can in these cars. I’ m not afraid to admit that it’ s hard.”

Duell made his first passes in the Factory Stock Showdown Drag Pak at Bradenton Motorsports Park, getting comfortable ahead of testing in Gainesville and then making his debut in the class at the 2026 Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals. Helms was by his side as team manager, along with crewmen Lane Gortney and Max Gorton, and Stanfield Racing Engines power roared beneath the hood. A 7.770-second pass at 177.49 mph qualifying-best set Duell up to start from the No. 7 spot in a field of 16— a promising launch— and although problems ended his efforts in the first round, he drove to the semifinals at the fourwide race in Charlotte the following month. A quarterfinals-finish and career-best 7.718, 182.01

mph pass at the Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, the next race on the tour, indicated that Duell was getting used to going fast.

The experience he’ s gaining now will come in handy when the Drag Pak being built specific to him for the class by Mike Roth is ready to rock and roll. It’ s already got a nickname based on its modernized classic color,“ Go Mango”( go, man, go!).

With wife Anne by his side, Duell is committed to Factory Stock for the long haul and not planning to give up racing the 1969 ATI Barracuda he pilots in Stock Eliminator any time soon. He also campaigns a‘ 64 Plymouth Fury— a replica of his father’ s“ Drag’ n Wag’ n”— in a seven-race Nostalgia Super Stock series, during which he hosts the Dave Duell Classic each year. Duell’ s oft-admired on-track car collection includes the‘ 68‘ Cuda Super Stocker branded“ Cool Fish” that Helms drove to an NHRA national event win twice during his near-miss of a fifth world

22 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 201