2002 LS7 Z06 - Frisco Flyer

Corvettes and road racing have gone together since the first "SR" factory racing parts appeared on the Corvette option list in 1956.

And, as Corvettes have evolved, so have the courses--and types of races--they run. That includes open-road racing, which appealed to Tom Whalen when the Corvette in his garage was a '66 Sting Ray. "I was living in Flemington, New Jersey, and I was in the restoration mode at the time," he says. "Cruise nights, car shows, and stuff like that."

Those static events held Whalen's attention--until he read about a dynamic one. "I saw a magazine article about the initial Silver State Classic. I looked into it and thought, 'That would be fun,'" he recalls. "I was bored with the cruise night and show routine, and I initially thought that I'd modify the '66 for something like that. But every time I started calculating what the costs would be, they were prohibitive."

It wasn't long before Whalen began upgrading his Z06. "By the time I got around to my next race, I had headers on the car, and a better tune," he says. "Within two years, I had a Lingenfelter 500-horsepower head-and-cam package. But that's a little misleading--that's 500 hp at the crankshaft, which was probably 385 or so at the wheels."

The LS7 that's now under the Z06's hood is capable of even more. "When I talked to Katech about putting the engine together for me, the goal was 600 hp at the crank," says Whalen. That goal was reached, for all intents and purposes, when the Katech "Street Attack" LS7 was installed and tuned, and the Z06 placed on a chassis dyno, where 515.5 rwhp was the peak on its very first pull.

Along with the powertrain and chassis hardware, the '02 Z06 got plenty of needed safety equipment, like a Katech 10-point rollcage, Sparco seats with Simpson five-point harnesses, and a Katech onboard fire-suppression system. (You can also count the Motor City hood and Specter Werkes rear fascia and spoiler, which help hold the Z06 down at speed.)

Does the thought of hitting high speeds in your Corvette in an open-road event inspire you? "My advice to anybody would be to try it," says Whalen. "Once you try it, you're hooked!"

Don't expect to run in the highest-speed classes right away, though. "Most of the time, [people] want to start out in a class they're not allowed in. You have to pay your dues," he says, while noting that an SCCA or NASA license will enable you to move up the ladder easier.

He adds, "That way, there's less chance of an incident, and the fewer incidents there are, the more likely the race will be run the following year."

And, along with it, another C5 Z06 in the field. Maybe yours?