You Won’t be Blowin’ These Candles Out!

WHEN THE CRESTS recorded their doo-wop classic “sixteen Candles” in 1958, songwriters Luther Dixon and Allyson Khent penned a timeless, poetic love song whose theme was about a young man’s professed love for “… the prettiest, loveliest girl I’ve ever seen …” on her sixteenth birthday. In 1984, John hughes wrote and directed “sixteen Candles,” a coming-of-age comedy starring Molly ringwald and Michael schoeffling. In the movie, samantha Baker (ringwald) struggles through an embarrassing and awkward set of social circumstances coinciding with her sixteenth birthday, a rite of passage that her family totally forgets to celebrate. The movie ends well with samantha sharing a kiss and a cake with her love interest Jake ryan (schoeffling).

Both the song and the movie have remained treasures in American pop culture. None of this was lost on Jason Richey when he started building his twin-engine alcohol-burning front-engine dragster. Early into the project, he settled on the name “Sixteen Candles” for his dragster: two engines with 16 cylinders and these cylinders would emulate 16 candles that not only would “make a lovely light,” but a beautiful serenade with its pipes as well. As Richey recalls, “The music and movie were a perfect setup for what I wanted to do with the dragster. I knew the old crowd could relate to the song by The Crests and the younger fans would recall the movie. Then I deliberately designed the dragster to look as nostalgic as possible. It looks great, but I am really snug in there.”

Richey’s 2,150-pound beauty, a twin inline blown SBC alcohol dragster, took four years to complete. Around nostalgia drag racing circles, Jason’s prowess as a driver is well documented. Possibly less known is his talent with a torch. The 43-year-old Livermore, California, resident was born and raised in nearby Pleasanton, California. He learned his welding skills at an early age from his father and has continued to hone his craft. Visiting Richey Motorsports in Livermore, one will see the jig Ric built to create the twin-engine 225- inch chassis. The 4,000-foot shop houses other race cars in various stages of completion: a blown Hemi Fuel Altered ’48 Fiat, his single-engine blown SBC 7.0 Pro dragster and an impressive inventory of engines, machines and tools.

Richey’s Sixteen Candles digger may be the only twin-engine dragster in NHRA-licensed competition today. Certainly, it is the only such dragster competing in the 7.0 Pro class. Although Richey’s twin runs on methanol, he wanted to recreate a dragster that was a testament to that era decades ago when the twin-engine gas dragster was a prominent and competitive vehicle on the drag racing landscape. To that end, Sixteen Candles reflects a dedication to authenticity. Richey tells us how the concept for the dragster took shape. “I had been racing my blown single-engine SBC Rob Sterling dragster in 7.0 Pro with good success and wanted to try something a little different. Those twin-engine Top Gas dragsters from the late ’60s always piqued my interest, so I decided to build a 7.0 Pro dragster based on that model. It is era accurate with the five-point roll cage and low cowl below the rear slicks. I am using the 12.00/16 old Top Fuel tires with a 3:90 gear ratio. The idea was to set up the dragster to run 6.90s at 210 or 212. But, in reality, it wants to run 6.70s, so I am constantly backing it down. All out, it could run 6.40s and over 220 miles an hour.”

I had been racing my blown single-engine SBC Rob Sterling dragster in 7.0 Pro with good success and wanted to try something a little different. Those twin-engine Top Gas dragsters from the late ’60s always piqued my interest … //—Jason Richey

Each engine generates approximately 1,000 hp fed by a single (big) fuel pump that flows about 15 gallons of methanol a minute. Littlefield 6:71 superchargers assist with 3% overdrive and Mallory 2-amp sprint magnetos spark the fuel. On a usual run, the engines will burn 8 gallons of fuel from the 9 ½-gallon tank. Until recently, Richey used 350-cid cast-iron Dart blocks. Those have been jettisoned for aluminum Brodix blocks, providing a savings of 200 pounds. GRP rods connected to a Cola crankshaft drive the Arias pistons. To minimize clutch maintenance, Richey went with a “short” Powerglide transmission mated to a Continental torque converter. A Ford 9-inch Mark Williams center section and narrowed rearend housing fit to the M&H slicks and 10-inch wheels from ET Wheels.

Richey is no drag racing neophyte. He has a wealth of experience driving front-engine dragsters and Altereds. “I started driving in the mid-’90s; just my dad and myself with a Robert Sterling race car in the Junior Fuel class. Later, we put a blower on it and jumped up to Nostalgia A/F dragster, winning class at the California Hot Rod Reunion two years straight in 2000 and 2001. Around that time, Dave Smith was looking for a new driver for his Nitro Fever Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster. I jumped at the chance and ended up driving for Smith for about eight years. Together, we ran a best of 5.81/264 and were inducted into both the 250 MPH Club and the 260 MPH Club. After my Top Fuel dragster years with Dave, I match-raced Rich Guasco’s Pure Hell Fuel Altered throughout the Midwest and Canada from 2009 through 2011.”

When asked about his plans for 2016, Richey replies, “I will race the twin in the 7.0 Pro Racers circuit organized by Mike Cross and hopefully get back east this summer or fall for the NHRA nostalgia reunion events. Sixteen Candles is a real favorite with the fans, and because of it, we sell a lot of T-shirts. Plans are in the works for a second twin-engine dragster, and I also want to get the Sterling FED back on the strip. I also bought a Fuel Altered ’48 Fiat and hope to debut it in time for the March Meet. I have always been fond of aviation, so to relax, I like to fly my radio-controlled airplanes and my UAV. My dream is to own and fly a T-6 trainer airplane, but for now, I want to continue to make beautiful music with my Sixteen Candles dragster.”

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