Crazy Train

By Brian McGurk
Photography by Rodrez

Chad Barber's 2001 Integra GS-R
Admit it, you wish you had a drag car. The high horsepower numbers, the smell of race fuel, the palpable tension when two cars rumble up to the Christmas tree. Any enthusiast worth their salt can at least appreciate a well put together track rat; although most probably salivate over single digit quarter mile monsters. Chad Barber out of Modesto, CA, is one of the lucky ones who figured out a way to turn his appreciation into not only a career, but a winning one at that. Chad started his legal racing career over ten years ago after falling for a fully built Comptech Integra. He recalls, "I used to do stereos for show cars, and at one show in particular, I saw a Comptech sponsored Integra and it was over. The very next day I went out and started piling up parts. That was just the beginning."

Chad's first Integra took him from one race to the next and from one coast to the other stacking wins along the way. The single car open trailer turned into a four car enclosed mobile garage, and the two man/one car team eventually grew into a fully stabled and amply staffed racing powerhouse. In short; Chad had made it. "It was nuts, I knew we were doing something right when ESPN came into the pits to talk to us. It was great!" Unfortunately Chad's racing dreams had the brakes put on when the economy took a definitive nose dive. "Some things happened and everything went away; the trailer, the 8,500-square-foot warehouse, everything. I found myself in Modesto with my three girls, no crew, garage, trailer, or anything. I had to start over. It really didn't bother me, and I felt like as long as I could race, I'd be fine," Chad reflects. Not long after Chad and his family settled into their new digs, he decided to start fresh with a new car. "I got a call from a buddy of mine and he'd come into an '01 Integra theft recovery. It was a rolling shell, and for $200 bucks it couldn't be beat-especially since we were going to tear it apart anyway and everyone likes seeing a newer chassis on the track." With the car secured, a crew was once again needed. Chad starting putting feelers out for a few good men...or women in this case. "I've got my kids now and can't spend all my time in the garage. I needed someone capable who I could count on; that's when I called Lisa Kubo. We'd met a few years back in the racing scene, and I knew she'd been thinking of throwing her hat into the FWD racing ring again, so I asked her if she wanted in on our team and she said 'Hell yeah!' Chad had never been a forced induction guy, but wanting to get Lisa into a car that could live up to her legacy meant he had to leave his all motor roots at the door and start learning all over again. "It was like starting all over from scratch. Thankfully, I've been blessed to have some of the most intelligent and capable people in the business assisting us to build the best car we can, from the engine builder, to some trusted consultants, only the best hands have touched this car."

With the Integra in his possession and a driver secured, Chad got to wrenching on his new track attacker's power plant. Under the hood is a fire breathing B18C1 taken to 1.9 liters and stuffed with the best go fast parts around; from the lightweight crank pushing a set of Arias pistons inside a Golden Eagle sleeved block, to the monstrous Bullseye power 372 turbocharger straddling a Portflow head packed with Supertech components. Essentially, no corners were cut. "The car hasn't been tuned yet, but we know similar setups have made upwards of 840hp. We'll be tweaking and tuning before this season and should make anywhere between there and 1,000hp. We need 8.60s to stay competitive so that's what we're shooting for." Helping get all 850-plus screaming ponies to the pavement are a set of Bogart racing Pro 4s; 13x8 up front, and 15x3.5 out back. Skunk2 Pro C coilovers up front and Penske running gear on the tail light end will help keep the car on the straight and narrow. Keepings Lisa safe and sound at 100-plus mph is accomplished with an NHRA-spec safety cage, and a MOMO bucket seat. Chad wanted this car to exceed everyone's expectations, so a simple "drag-ready" setup simply wouldn't do. "I never expected to get to this level of success, especially with such a small crew. But with Lisa on board I wanted this car to be really special, so instead of just shaving the rain gutters, Corey Shaw and I spent almost four weeks shaving the bay and everything in it; it came out awesome! I love the look, but I don't think I'll ever do it again." Chad finished off the body with a JCR three-piece fiberglass front end, a fresh silver paint job, and some advertising for all his sponsors. As you're reading this, the car should be at 100 percent, especially after the Rywire.com guys get their hands on it. In the meantime, Chad's working on setting up his and Lisa's debut for the car. The event is a grassroots, old school, cash prize shootout in the Sacramento area. "I've been working really hard on getting this event going. There won't be any huge corporate sponsors or million dollar cars. This is done by people like me and Lisa for the average enthusiast. They're the future of this sport and we need something like this."

Chad's got no overblown dreams of grandeur when it comes to his racing career, he's just happy to be here. "Lisa and I are kind of a two man/woman crew; we do most of everything. We have people who consistently help us out and we're super thankful for that, but it feels like more of an accomplishment when we do well since it's just us and no huge pressure from sponsors or anything. In my eyes, this is how it's supposed to be." Chad's been to the top of the pile and finds his new role as more of a team leader/planner a welcome change of pace. "I wish I could spend more time in the driver's seat, and when I get a chance, I do, but with my girls and my other responsibilities, I had to take a step back. That's why I'm trying to get these shootouts going, and keep my shop open. There's a whole group of guys who want to race and couldn't for years with the saturation of the field with the huge corporate sponsors; now it's going back to what it used to be, with guys wrenching in their garage." As far as the future goes, Chad's hoping for the best. "It's up to the racers where this sport goes. It went from huge money sponsors slugging it out, back to individuals doing "for racers-by racers" type events. The local small time guy buys parts from his local shop which eventually sponsors a racer, or an event; the racers keep this going and the more involved they are the better our industry gets. That's why I do what I do, because I love it."

McGurk, B. (2010). 2001 Acura Integra GS-R - Crazy Train. Honda Tuning Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/features/htup_1008_2001_acura_integra_gsr/index.html