Record-Breaking Wing Car Returns to Bonneville

Lee Sicilio's Charger Daytona is a Bonneville staple. Each year since 2001, salt willing, Lee has taken one of his two Charger Daytona race cars to Speed Week. To date, this naturally aspirated car, No. 1001, has set 11 records, two of which are still standing

Lee's love of land-speed racing was born while reading HOT ROD in the 1960s. Growing up in Texas, Bonneville was a bit too far to venture, so Lee drag raced instead. At a friend's urging, Lee visited Bonneville during Speed Week in 1997 to see what it was like up close. With a clipboard and pencil in hand, Lee prowled the pits taking notes. He came back the following year and did the same. In 1998 he began building the 1001 car, starting from the General Lee clone he owned. He scrounged up a reproduction window plug, nose cone, and wing, and in 1999, showed up to Speed Week looking like Joe Dirt, the car in orange and primer. Bobby Isaac made history when he ran the K&K Insurance Daytona in 1971, but wing cars hadn't been seen on the salt in ages. Lee's car was a hit. He made his licensing passes and headed home to Texas to finish the car.

Returning to Bonneville with a new paint job, which is still on the car, 2000 proved to be a great Speed Week for Lee, and in 2001 at the World Finals, he broke an 18-year-old record by 22 mph. That AA/Classic Production record still stands at 237.373 mph.

If it were easy, everybody in L.A. would be in the [200 MPH Club].” - Lee Sicilio

With his name atop the Classic Production record, Lee decided to go up against the Production class. While the SCTA's Classic Production is limited to 1982-and-earlier vehicles, Production includes later-model cars that were designed with aerodynamics and fuel efficiency in mind. They tend to have smaller frontal areas for considerably less aerodynamic drag, and the class also allows for aftermarket EFI. Lee schooled us in the in and outs of 1960s aero as it pertained to the Daytona: “The '69 Daytona looks real swoopy, but it's not,” at least when compared to modern cars. “It's got a pretty big frontal area, because in stock configuration you have to have the factory air dam. The air dam and nose are very far off the ground and the car has a lot of air going underneath it. It creates turbulence.” That can add lift. It also can effectively add to the frontal area. The long, tall Charger body also means there's a lot of area for crosswinds to push the car.

Luckily, the work Chrysler engineers did in the wind tunnel made a huge difference, and the rear wing does help. Actually, it's more about the vertical stabilizers. Lee used the analogy of an arrow. A heavy arrowhead in front and stabilizers in the rear make for a straight flight because the center of gravity is far in front of the center of pressure. It's all a balancing act, however. With enough weight in the nose to move the center of gravity up front for stability, there might not be enough weight in the rear for traction. Add too much weight and the car will be sluggish to accelerate and require a long shutdown.

Which car Lee runs each year can be used as a barometer for the salt conditions. If the salt cooperates, the twin-turbo Charger is ready for Bonneville. “I need a good 7 miles for that new car,” Lee admitted. He has been chasing 300 mph, which would be a milestone in a stock-bodied car. A twin-turbocharged Ray Barton Hemi has pushed it to 284 mph so far. When the salt is questionable, as it was in 2016, the 1001 car is the go-to. “I'll keep going back forever.” Lee said. “If it worked out every year, it wouldn't be fun. It wouldn't be a challenge.”

Lee Sicilio's Hemi-powered Charger Daytona is the fastest naturally aspirated Classic Production car in the SCTA record books.

Bonneville is like nowhere else on Earth. The racing conditions are challenging, with air density, crosswinds, salt conditions, and traction each varying day by day.

Lee admits his Daytona race cars are clones, but every once in a while a purist assumes it's an original and is angry it's on the salt. That's when Lee assures them it's a numbers-matching car: the number on the left door matches the number on the right door.

Lee just sold one of his extra nose cones to a fellow racer who's going after his record.

The wing is a reproduction and can be found online. Lee said the difficult part is getting it mounted in the proper location. Its vertical stabilizers are the most important contribution to aero.

The Daytona's cockpit is filled with gauges, data-acquisition computers, and a fire-suppression system with easily accessible triggers.

This is the 498ci Ray Barton Hemi Lee used to go after the A/Production record at Speed Week 2016.

Engine tuner Scott Clark used a MegaSquirt MS3 Pro to tune each cylinder's fuel and ignition individually. That upped the output from its previous 900 hp to an even more impressive 990 hp. Scott told us engines with big cams and a shared plenum often show that sort of improvement.

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