This season, in an effort to help Chevrolet in the NHRA Manufactures Title points chase, the 2012 COPO was converted to a 2014 COPO. Aside from the face lift the COPO had a great year on the track. At the NHRA GatorNationals the SAM Tech COPO was the only COPO to run in the Factory Shootout class. The COPO ran a personal best 9.14 @ 145.58. A week later at the Cajun SportsNationals the COPO would go on to win the heads up CC/SA Class Race. After a month off The COPO ran at home, Royal Purple Raceway. The COPO would be a DragPak challenger in the first round but wouldn’t make it any further that weekend. A month later the COPO went over to Atlanta for the first Chevrolet Performance LSX Challenge race of the season. Leaving the NHRA for a weekend the COPO found success in the LME 5th Gen Camaro class. The COPO won the event running a 9.502 on a 9.50 index. Winning the event was a bit of a surprise since the car is set up for stock eliminator racing and we didn’t want to deviate too much from that and hurt the car. With no dial in it was up to driver Brian Massingill to make the right decisions at the top end of the track. It was the first event win for the COPO. The COPO would race several more times in the LSX Challenge, the closest to a second win was at the Holley LSFest where a red light in the finals cost Brian and Team SAM Tech the COPO Class Championship. At the LSX Challenge Finals in Indy the COPO won the first round but lost in the second; the Team SAM Tech COPO finished 5th in points out of 22 cars in the 5th Gen Camaro Class.
Back in NHRA racing the COPO found some success qualifying at the US Nationals in the 58th spot running 1.005 under the index and making the semi-finals in class eliminations where the COPO spun the tires. At the Texas Fall Nationals in Dallas, the COPO was the number 2 qualifier over all and made it to the third round where Brian would break out against Speedy Emmonds (the eventual race winner) by .002. At that same race, the COPO won the BB/SA Class. Look for the COPO to be running in the NHRA Factory Shootout races next season as well as Stock Eliminator races.
Specs
2012 COPO CAMARO
CAMSHAFT: Chevrolet Performance Steel Billet Hydraulic Roller
COMPRESSION RATIO: 15:1
CONVERTER: A-1 Performance Trans & Converters, Coan
CRANKSHAFT: Callies
CYLINDER HEADS:Fully CNC’ed Aluminum Cylinder Heads Based On LS7
DISPLACEMENT: 427 ci
ENGINE BLOCK: GM Performance LS7 Based 427
ET/MPH: 9.14 @ 145
EXHAUST: American Racing Headers
FUEL PUMP: Aeromotive
FUEL: C-25
HORSEPOWER– FLYWHEEL: NHRA Adjusted hp Rating: 454
IGNITION: Holley EFI
INJECTORS: 58 lb/hr @ 90 psi
INTAKE: Chevrolet Performance/Holley “Hi Ram” Intake Manifold
MANAGEMENT: Holley EFI
OIL: Royal Purple XPR 5W30
PISTONS: CP
REAR END: Strange Engineering 9 inch
ROCKER ARMS: Stock LS7 1.8 Ratio
RODS: Callies
SHOCKS: Double-Adjustable Strange Engineering Coil Over
SUSPENSION: 4-Bar With Adjustable Top Links
THROTTLE BODY: Whipple Billet Throttle Body – 102 mm
TIRES: Mickey Thompson 9.0/30.0 R
TRANSMISSION: A-1 Performance Trans & Converters, 350 Turbo
VALVE TRAIN: Stock LS7
WEIGHT: 3350 – Race
WHEELS: Bogart Racing 15×3.5 Front 15×10 Rear
Race Results
2013
NHRA O’Reilly SpringNationals CC/SA Class Winner
NHRA JEGS Cajun SPORTNationals CC/SA Class Finalists
IHRA San Antonio Nitro JAM Stock Runner Up
NHRA Division 4 Ennis, TX Number 1 Qualifier
2014
NHRA JEGS Cajun SPORTNationals CC/SA Class Winner
LSX Challenge Series Chevy High Performance Nationals 5th Gen Camaro Class Winner
NHRA Chevrolet Performance US Nationals number 58 qualifier 1.005 seconds under the index
NHRA AAA Texas FallNationals BB/SA Class Winner
