Ever since the advent of the motor car, people have had a favorite automobile manufacturer. They may have been a Chevy guy or a Ford fanatic but OSCA EZ Street racer John Carinci is a Mopar Man! He did not start out that way, but now with three Hemi powered muscle cars sitting in his Woodbridge, ON garage it is the only way to describe him.

Carinci started out a Chevy guy and was often seen in 1980 at what is now Toronto Motorsports Park running a ’68 Camaro in Super Pro. The car was developed until it ran in the 10 second zone on motor before Carinci moved on to something faster. When his first drag racing career came to and end in 1994 he sold off his latest Camaro that he had built in 1986. The car had been successful as he had taken wins at the J&P events in 1993 and 94. The car is still seen at TMP racing against Carinci with EZ Street regular Steve ‘Splash’ Damianidis behind the wheel.

All through his Camaro days John liked all the Hemi powered muscle cars. The retirement from racing came at a time when Carinci had gone into business for himself and was busy developing a series of coin car wash facilities in the Toronto area. In 2000 Carinci had found some time to spend on himself, his family were growing and he wanted to do something that all the family could enjoy. He located an original ’70 Hemi Cuda in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. Now with an original odometer reading of 15338 miles, John reckons that half of that was because of the spinning wheels. You see before John got it, it had a bit of a checkered history. Super Stock racer Wally Clark recognized the car when he was appraising Carinci’s EZ Street ride and told him of racing against it many times in the Welland area. John had already found out noted Hemi racer Don Cloake had also once owned the car and the legend is the car ran 11.90 on McCreary tires at TMP. The car is clean with only a few minor dings but considering the car is over thirty years old it is still a looker! The first event for the car was the Mopar Fest at New Hamburg, ON. While it was great sitting with an original Hemi Cuda amongst all the great looking Chrysler products it was not for Carinci. “Some of these guys are just too critical. It was a thirty year old car and other than maintenance it had never been touched. What do they expect? At that point I thought about getting back into racing but I still was not sure if that is what I really wanted to do?”

To ease himself back into racing he ended up buying a replica ’70 Hemi Challenger convertible. “I thought it would be cool to have a car we could take to the track and still be an everyday driver as well. The car was bought in Florida in 2001, we took it home stripped it to a shell, put it on a rotisserie and did everything right.” The Challenger is not all show, a home built motor provides the go and Carinci is never happier than when he is picking up his two boys from school. Oldest son James had this to say “most kids get picked up in a four cylinder; I make sure everyone knows we have a Hemi!’ When finished the Challenger was the vehicle of choice for Carinci’s return to the track. “I had been attending a few OSCA races at TMP and had started to seriously get the bug again. When we finished the car in 2003 we went to TMP and then decided to venture south and take in a couple of NSCA events. At the World Finals in Columbus we took the Best Convertible award and ran a best of 10.85 @126.6 mph in EFI Eliminator.” EFI I hear you say, yes EFI. Carinci had wanted the Challenger to be the best of the Old School but also to incorporate the best of what was now on the market. To that end he installed a pair of four barrel throttle bodies on the factory intake and wired in a Holley 950 Commander ECU. Another improvement to drivability was the addition of a Gear Vendors overdrive unit. As a package Carinci’s Challenger is the ideal dual purpose vehicle and a bunch of fun as well.

In the meantime, John had really got the racing bug bad! He sourced a California Hemi Cuda shell sitting in Michigan and delivered it to Luch Querin at LE Chassis in Woodbridge. John told us “I had people ask why I was using such a good shell as a base for the racecar. I told them if I am going to be running numbers in the 170-180 mph range I want a solid racecar under me. The way that Luch used the factory floor pans as a stressed member makes the car all that more solid. I know if I take a wild ride in that car Luch has built me one of the safest cars out there.” The chassis was the first 25.2 chassis built in Ontario, it may not have been the first out but Carinci wanted it to be latest spec so he did not have to make changes as he went faster. The car is now required to weigh 3200# in the latest OSCA EZ Street trim but it can get down to 2830# if required.

Power for the Plum Crazy hot rod is from a Steve Schmidt 99 Hemi Pro Stock motor. Schmidt counts racers like Jim Yates amongst his clientele but Carinci is over the moon about the support he gets from the Indianapolis based engine builder. “Steve has been very open with me, he let me hang out for a week and work on my stuff at his place, he hid nothing from me, and the guy is just amazing. I guess it would be different if we were going to run Pro Stock but so far things have been great.” The 500 cubic inch Hemi made 1310 horsepower on the dyno and Carinci was well happy with the numbers.

All that power is transmitted to the rear axle by a Donovan Torque-Link prepped by Hutch at Hutch’s Transmissions. A Liberty Extreme four speed and Coan converter backs that up, and by Carinci’s admission both are absolutely bulletproof. Ignition is by a MSD Digital Seven 7350T identical to what is used on Schmidt’s other Pro Stock motors. “We wanted to keep things the same as what Steve’s other motors use, it would be nice to have the advantage of the slew rate adjustment, but until we really need it we are sticking where we are.” was Carinci’s take on the ignition system. The car has gone as quick as 7.85 @ 173.50 at the Canadian Fastest Street Car Shootout but rule changes in EZ Street have backed the performance down to the low eight second zone.

Taking advantage of the OSCA’s rules for naturally aspirated racecars John and the Hemi Cuda appeared at TMP for the OSCA season opener. He had obviously done his homework well on the combination as he sat on pole with a 7.967 @ 173.5 mph pass. This not only earned him the pole but the $700 bonus for the first EZ Street car in the sevens. The dream weekend ended in the semis when an off the pace 23.392 second pass put him on the trailer. “It was a great debut weekend, I was not sure how I could handle it, and I had not raced competitively for nine years and was running way quicker than I ever had. It was satisfying for me, my family and my hard working crew!”

The second OSCA event saw John take the win he missed in the season opener. Lining up beside Carinci was NSCA standout Bill Travato. Travato from Rochester, NY has always been one to watch, especially when he is sitting next to you on the line. Uncharacteristically Travato went red and handed the win to Carinci, however the numbers showed the Hemi Cuda had the performance advantage by two tenths of a second. This was not to be the last we would see of these pair fighting for the winners spot. The EZ Street championship would go all the way to the wire and the OSCA Finals in September. A narrow fifty five point advantage handed the championship title to the Woodbridge driver.

As for the future, Carinci is talking with Schmidt about a nitrous program on a second short block currently in Indiana. “I think I would like to try Super Street with some nitrous, I am under no illusions as to being as competitive as quickly as we were in EZ Street. It is a tough playing field out there, but I think the rule stability will be better and we can focus on going faster without being handicapped once the season starts.” I asked about the pedestal wing on the rear of the car and if John reckoned it would work at the higher Super Street speeds. “It does OK at 170 plus, we will just try it and see, just now the car is so stable it is unbelievable. Luch did a great job with the car!” One thing Carinci was adamant on, was the nitrous program if it comes out will only be raced when it starts to show it is competitive.“

Carinci told us “If we make the class change it will be tough leaving the class. Running against the likes of Travato, Richardson and Martino is tough but they are a good bunch of guys and like to have fun as well. The other thing I would like to stress is that I could not be doing this without the backing of my wife and family. My oldest James is just awesome around the racecar, give him another year and he will be changing the valve springs all on his own. He is only nine and knows more at that age than I knew at twenty. My crew is superb, Paul and Franco are always there for me, Steve Schmidt has been great and the guys at Zex Racing have helped us out a bunch. Luch as I said built a great chassis and Hutch is the transmission master! Louie at Ultimate Auto is never short on support and all I can say to everyone is Thanks!”