In 1986, a twin-turbo Buick nearly upset the V8 Pro Stock monsters

Jeff Glucker

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If you’re going to race, you need a V8. That was the thinking, at least, for those running Pro Stock drag racing events. And those V8 engines needed to be monsters too. We’re talking 700 cubic-inch beasts making monster power. Yet Buddy Ingersoll rolled up to the starting line with a much smaller mill… and nearly shocked the entire field.

Ingersoll drove a Buick Regal with two fewer cylinders than everyone else. Pull his hood off and you’ll find a 268 cubic-inch V6. Albeit one breathing through a pair of turbochargers. The rest of the competition wanted nothing to do with Ingersoll and his silly little Regal. And they would typically get him off the line, but once those turbos spooled up Ingersoll would rocket past them to take the win. He climbed all the way into the final race before finally losing out to Bob Glidden in a mountain motor-powered Ford.

Head to Competition Plus to read more about Ingersoll and his nearly triumphant run at the 1986 IHRA Fall Nationals.

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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3 responses to “In 1986, a twin-turbo Buick nearly upset the V8 Pro Stock monsters”

  1. Tomsk Avatar
    Tomsk

    Between this car and Gale Banks’ Pacemaker top fuel dragster, the two main professional drag racing sanctioning bodies (NHRA and IHRA) had two very compelling reasons to be scared of turbocharging in the ’80s.

    Also: If the rear wheel openings on Buddy’s Buick look a little odd to you, it’s because they’re Olds Cutlass Supreme ones, which is what this “Regal” started life as.

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  2. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    Buddy ran the car in Competition Eliminator in NHRA, and had some quicker passes than the top Pro Stock teams. The NHRA didn’t want to monkey with their formula (American make RWD coupe with <500 CID V with two 4 bbl carbs) to keep the rules fair for everybody, so they said no.

    Of course, in 1986 you couldn't walk into a Ford dealer and order a Thunderbird with a dual quad 500 inch engine, or an Olds dealership and get a Chevy-based DRCE comparably carbed in a Cutlass, but if you asked your Buick dealer for a fuel injected turbo V6 in a Regal, there was probably one sitting on the lot. By then, "Pro Stock" meant something very different than when the class debuted.

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  3. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    The Pro-stock formula is a bit arbitrary, and has been for a long time, but I kind of agree with the guy in the linked article. If you want a professional race series with money on the line, injecting radical new variables into the formula after people have invested many years into perfecting the narrow one you have seems pretty dodgy. It makes for a good underdog story, and why pro modified is an interesting class.

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