Meo looking to end year with big bang

Wainuiomata driver Pete Meo will be looking to end the year with a bang when he turns out for the Masterton Motorplex Christmas competition meet on December 29 and 30.
This meet has always been a highlight for the Masterton club, attracting huge crowds to see some of the country's top cars, but this year is shaping up as something special.
The club has stripped the surface of the launch area and recoated it with the glue-like VHT that enables cars to get away at a huge pace.
That's stunning stuff, a thunderclap of action that assails the senses; the noise, the sight, the smell that continues to draw thousands to this most dramatic of motorsport events.
Each meeting since then has seen the surface improve.
Last time out, at the Central Nationals, round two for the Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer cars and round three for other classes, six cars exceeded the magic 200mph (that's 320km/h), five of them topping 220mph and one reaching 224mph.
That's stunning stuff, a thunderclap of action that assails the senses; the noise, the sight, the smell that continues to draw thousands to this most dramatic of motorsport events.
Meo isn't anywhere near the 200mph bracket yet, but his 1974 Chevy Vega is the national elapsed time and speed record-holder for its class, 8.73s and 156.5mph.
Pete Meo has been a regular at Hood for years.
A technician at Honda Cars in Wellington, he got into drag racing with a 350 Chev-powered Holden Commodore VC in 1992.
He kept that car for a year then moved into the T-bucket Plum Crazy. In his 12 years with that car Meo collected a couple of national records and many first and second places.
Then he decided to get serious, building a full tube chassis drag car. He found a 1974 Chevy Vega sitting on a trailer in Masterton in 2004 and rebuilt the whole thing, starting racing with a blown 468 Chev borrowed from Terry Christensen in Hamilton.
He ran that for a season and then purchased a new motor from the United States.
For the technically-minded, it's a 598cu in based on a Dart Big M block. Bore and stroke are almost square, 4.6in and 4.5in respectively. The engine has Eagle crank and rods, a custom roller cam 7/4 swap, Dart cnc 355 heads, Holley ram with bird-catcher, methanol injection, custom-made headers and Powerglide transmission (built by Meo) with 5500 hi-stall. The 9in diff has 4.11 gearing and the tyres are 32x14x15 Hoozier slicks.
Meo, 43, is a member of the Cam County Rod and Custom Club. When he's not drag racing he's keen on rugby and fishing. He's married to Jo and they have a son, Nathan. The upcoming meeting also includes the burnout competition. Next week we'll look at a car built especially for this curious but very popular competition.