{"id":57704,"date":"2021-11-18T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=57704"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:20:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:20:48","slug":"little-big-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/gallery\/2021\/11\/little-big-man.html","title":{"rendered":"Little Big Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Longtime Mopar drag racer Don\nLittle has been applying his craft for so long, it\u2019s hard for him to keep\ncount. This unassuming, 70-year-old Northern California native has been modifying\nMopar cylinder heads, intake manifolds, and experimenting with various engine\ncombinations in his little shop near Modesto for decades. He\u2019s also an intimidating\ncompetitor with his high-flying Challenger R\/T NHRA Stock race car. This former\nNHRA Stock Eliminator World Champion claimed the crown in 1999, can also send\nhis competition packing when he lines up next them during eliminations. In a\nclass that limits what can be modified to the engine, Little has figured out\nways to make production parts be more efficient. He\u2019s been the go-to guy for\nmany Mopar racers looking to step up their engine combination for more power. For\nthe number of championships he\u2019s won, and the horsepower gains his parts have\nprovided the loyal customers he has managed to amass over the years, Don Little\nis still very quiet and humble.  A former\nauto parts store counterman and mechanic, Little has made his passion for fast\nMopars his livelihood. Little doesn\u2019t really have any hobbies other than drag\nracing and extracting the last ounce of horsepower from the engine. Little began\nhis craft by working with Mopar Super Stock HEMI legend, Harry Holton, whose\ncars were aptly named \u201cHEMI COUNTDOWN\u201d and dominated the drag strips throughout\nCalifornia during the late 1960s and early 70s. Little was a quick study as Holton\ntook him under his wing and showed him all the nuances of HEMI engines, chassis\nmodifications, and other details needed to make a car run fast and hard while\nbeing legal under the constant scrutiny of the NHRA\nTech Department<\/a>. \u201cWhen I was\na kid, I went down to the gas station Harry owned to check out his HEMI race\ncar, he asked if I\u2019d like to go racing and I said sure,\u201d said Little.  Those skills still carry on today when\nLittle\u2019s HEMI powered 1970 Dodge Challenger R\/T comes to do battle with the\nBowties and Blue Ovals in the contentious Stock Eliminator wars where engine\ncombinations are scienced out while the production body panels go on a weight\nreduction plan. Skills behind the wheel and under the hood are needed to go\nrounds and win races.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Little is one of those rare individuals. He can make more\npower by turning a wrench and pilot his car down the track while sidelining his\ncompetition. He\u2019s raced numerous Mopars to event championships and class wins over\nthe past few decades. Little looks at every Dodge and Plymouth body\/engine\ncombination to find an advantage over the Camaros and Mustangs. \u201cAfter running\na 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, I switched it up to 1970 \u2018Cuda with a 440 Six Pack\nengine. We eventually went with a HEMI in the \u2018Cuda and it was a very\nsuccessful package. Unfortunately, my \u2018Cuda was an original V-code Six Pack car\nand it got to a point it was becoming too valuable to race,\u201d noted Little. \u201cSo,\na friend of mine found me clean 1970 Challenger body to build another Stock\nEliminator race car back in 2003. We added a few new tricks but within the NHRA\nrule book. The Challenger has a longer wheelbase than the \u2018Cuda, but the class\nallows the use of the factory T\/A style fiberglass hood not just on the 340 Six\nPack engine, but on all on 383, 440, and 426 HEMI engines. That allows to save\nsome weight off the front end.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Powering the Challenger is an engine that Little is very\nintimate with, the venerable 426 Street HEMI. With its massive cylinder heads\ncovered by chrome valve covers a dual four-barrel carburetors, it packs a\npunch. But the NHRA Tech Department constantly tries to balance out the\nperformance among the competitors so no one brand or engine has a big advantage\nover another manufacturer. \u201cWe started out with the HEMI, but the Challenger\nhas had a multitude on engines under the hood to include a 383 cubic-inch Super\nStock motor and 440 Six Pack. My Challenger has run in nine different classes\nand has won many races,\u201d smiled Little. Along with fitting in many classes,\nLittle also loves the look and feel of the Challenger and \u2018Cuda over his Road\nRunner. \u201cThe Challenger looks sportier, and I like the way I sit lower in the\ncar over the bigger Road Runner that feels like I\u2019m riding on a bench seat,\u201d\nnoted Little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Challenger started right off the bat on a winning\nstreak and has been a great little race car. \u201cI won the A-stock automatic class\nat the 2004 NHRA U.S. Nationals and I was really proud of that. Then I brought\nthe car to a drag strip in Woodburn, Oregon, for a NHRA Divisional Race and was\nvictorious at that event. The following year, I entered the 2005 NHRA\nWinternationals and won the event,\u201d said Little. For the past few years, he\u2019s\nbacked off slightly from racing as his business has been going full\ngangbusters. His phone has been ringing off the hook in his shop. He\u2019s been\nself-employed for 30 years as engine builder\/machinist but still finds time to\nrun his HEMI powered Challenger R\/T at select NHRA events throughout the year. Little\nloves pushing his machine as fast as it can go which is in high-nine second\nrange at legal weight for the A-Stock Automatic Class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don Little might be up there in years, but he\u2019s not\nslowing down anytime soon. His network of fast friends that bounce ideas off\neach other in making more power. It keeps his mind fresh and always pondering ways\nof getting vintage Mopars with 50-year-old engine architecture to keep moving\nfaster than the competition a quarter mile at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s other images of Little\u2019s big bad HEMI Challenger R\/T to check out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n