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          They say that records
are made to be broken. And in the world of drag racing, records rarely last very long. However, Ric Deschner owns a world record in drag racing that has stood for ELEVEN years and may never be broken.
          Deschner holds the record as the worlds fastest and quickest stock (cast iron) block car. His 427 powered Chevrolet Monza funny car set the record in 1978 when he turned a 6.50 second, 218 MPH quarter-mile in Atlanta, GA. Deschner says that the record could and should stand a lot longer since stock blocks are not being run anymore in cars capable of those speeds.
          Deschner, owner of RCD Racing Engines, Lindenhurst, NY built the car with no sponsorship in the early 70's and has been racing with it for 14 seasons now. His total investment in the car and engine was about $30,000.
          The engine is a pure stock block, (stock bore and stroke) with an 871 blower and two custom built fuel injection systems. The fuel is 55% nitro-methane, 45% methanol. He says he's taken a '60's technology engine about as far as it can go. The 427 was originally designed to get about one horsepower-

per cubic inch. Deschner gets over 1700 HP, or about 4 HP per cube.
Even with the record, he says that his operation is far from the world-class funny cars. Running without any sponsorship, Deschner's never been competitive with them, but he's been able to earn a good living the past 14 years as a "match-racer." Racing promoters, primarily at the smaller tracks where the top cars and drivers don't race, pay match-racers guaranteed money to appear and race as a special attraction.
I've raced all over the U.S. in just about every state and used to be on the road about 40 weekends per year," says Deschner. "But now the insurance regulations are so tough, that many of the smaller tracks can't pay the insurance required for the high powered fuel cars. Now I have to hustle to get a dozen appearances per year."

RCD Racing Engines is a one man shop that has been mostly a part-time job for Ric in between racing appearances. But now it's becoming more and more his principal business. He builds engines for all types of racing vehicles, from dragsters, boats, motorcycles, snow-mobiles to mud-racers. He says that the company name is somewhat deceiving since he also does chassis work, components and has even built a few trailers.
"It would be nice to be competitive with the big guys and run on the major tracks" Deschner adds, "but those guys might spend more in a day than my entire operation is worth. It's not going to happen without major sponsorship. I'll just have to be content with being one of the "dinosaurs of drag racing."