XTREME BIRD '70 SUPERBIRD BLOWN HEMI 6 SEC 200MPH SHAKEDOWNS BYRON

It's pretty cool to run across a blown '70 Plymouth Superbird testing at the drag strip. The thing that I found even cooler was the whole family is involved in the operation and not to mention, they all are racers even down to the younger children! The car itself is a new build and Steve and Keith Malek were pleased to lay down their best runs so far this year. With timing being held for 2 1/2 seconds, plus running a large pulley to reduce boost, this bird has way more in it and should really fly once it's dialed in! It's an interesting story behind the car and the family so I'll the driver Steve Malek and wife Christine tell the story... Steve has drag raced for 20 years, starting in high school at Great Lakes Dragaway in a 1974 Plymouth Duster that he and his father Keith built. This car is still raced by Steve in the pro and index classes in and around Byron Dragway. Steve and his Dad then built a 1932 Bantam Altered to race. Steve spent several years racing the altered but would eventually be kicked out of the driver seat by his wife Christine. The latest car build by the Malek Racing family is the Promod/Top Sportsman 1970 Plymouth Superbird. This is a car that was run over in Europe for several seasons in Pro Modified but would be sold to the Malek family as a rolling chassis in 2017. Steve and his Dad spent the next couple years putting together a blown alcohol hemi that is electronic fuel injected and completed the build for the 2020 season. The car was debuted at the 2019 PRI show in Indianapolis in the Redhorse Performance booth. The car is being tested currently and setup to run top sportsman where they plan to run a full schedule in 2021. Christine has raced for over 25 years starting with Jr. dragsters when she was 11 years old at Great Lakes Dragaway. After Jr.s, she moved up into her families 1982 Camaro where she competed in the high school racing program. After that she spent sometime in an Undercover dragster racing in super comp and super pro and is now driving a 1932 Bantam altered in super pro built by her husband Steve. She has had a successful career in racing winning races in every car she has driven. Steve and Christine met racing at Great Lakes Dragaway but disliked each other through their high school racing years. After high school they ended up putting their competitive differences aside and long story short got married in 2007. In 2009 their son Aiden was born. Aiden who is 10 now has been driving Jr. Dragsters since he was 4 years old. NHRA limits the competing age to be a minimum of 6 years old for kids so that was his official rookie season (on record!). Aiden has had an incredible young career racing, winning more races than his dad and mom combined already, plus won a track championship at Byron Dragway in 2018. Aiden has twin sisters, Rylee and Paisley who just turned 6. Both Rylee and Paisley are also into racing Jr.'s now and are finishing up with their license runs so they too can compete on the track. The crew for the Superbird is as follows: Owner: Keith and Sue Malek (Mom and Dad) Driver: Steve Malek (Son to Keith and Sue) Crew: Aiden Malek (Grandson to Keith and Sue) (Spark plugs, valve cover removal, wheelie bar adjustments) Crew: Jeff Bird (good friend) (Bottom end guy and any maintenance needing done in between rounds) Crew: Christine (Wife to Steve) (fuels car in between rounds) Crew: Jerry Wescott (Christine's dad, my father in law) (helps with setup and anything needed in between rounds) Crew: Bobby Wescott (Christine's brother's son, our nephew) (Helps with the plug and valve covers and occasionally gets to warm the car up under the watchful eye of Steve) Sponsor: Redhorse Performance Sponsor: Wildside Custom Trailer and Truck Conversions #superbird #roadrunner #promod

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