FEATURED CAR: A Love Like No Other
Quick Tech: 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle "Sally"
Chassis Type & Mods: 12 point cage 8.50 cert. Stock front suspension and ladder bar rear
Suspension & Brakes: AFCO BNC shocks in the front and AFCO Big Guns in the rear. Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners.
Body & Paint: Custom Quasar Blue by Cliffs Auto Body. Removeable fiberglass 6" cowl hood and deck lid.
Engine: 565 CI Dart Block with Dart 345 Heads, Sniper Jr. Intake, Callies Crank, Manley Rods, Venolia Pistons, Jesel valvtrain, 13.5:1 Compression
Induction and Fuel Delivery: Sniper Jr. Intake with a Holley 1290 cfm Dominator. Barry Grant regulator and a Magna Fuel pump.
Electronics & Ignition: MSD Pro Billet distributer and an MSD 7-AL
Exhaust: Super Comp 2 1/8 Headers into 3.5" collectors
Transmission & Driveline: Sepanek Turbo 400 with a super case. Dynamic 4500 stall converter. Custom driveshaft.
Differential: Moser 9" with Mark Williams center section. Moser 40 spline axles. 3:90 gears
Tires & Wheels: FRONT - Racestar 15x3.5 with Hoosier 28x4.5. REAR - Racestar double bead lock 15x10 with Hoosier 30x10.50
Special Thanks: I would like to thank my wife Sharon for all of her support and my children Jordan, Saige, and Jaina for all of their encouragement.
Scott Embley of Saylorsburg, PA has been the proud owner of this piece of iconic American muscle for the past 25 years. It all began while riding his BMX bike through town one day and had a love at first site moment. He fell so in love that he traded his 1987 lifted, Nissan pickup along with the $3500 he still owed on it and bought the Chevelle that same night. It is a very powerful thing when a young man not only finds his dream car, but makes a sacrifice and buys it as well.
Scott was raised by his mother "Jeanne" who knew her son all too well and took him under her loving wing and introduced him to drag racing the very next weekend. Jeanne was a long time bracket racer and figured if she taught her son how to race safely on the track, he would stay off the streets. That weekend the Chevelle now called "Sally" made her first pass with Mom cheering them both on. Scott's first trip down the track resulted in a very modest 14.80 at 93 mph and forever hooked him into drag racing.
Scott and his Mom worked hard making Sally a reliable street / strip car from that day on. After losing his drivers license a few times, Scott's mom decided it was time to buy him his first trailer (which he still has) and dedicate Sally to the strip. Scott started laughing while telling me this and admitted that he had 53 points on his license at one time. Jeanne taught Scott the basics of towing and bracket racing and the two of them had a lot of fun times together racing and working on Sally together.
Tragically, Jeanne lost her life at the young age of 53 to cancer but managed to get Scott and Sally into the 11.90's before she passed in 1996. Jeanne is forever immortalized on the back of Sally with a decal that says, "In Loving Memory Of Mom." To this day Scott and Sally share every pass down the track together with Jeanne and will forever remember the love and lessons they experienced together.
Fast forward to 2017 and Sally is both ferocious and stunning at the same time. She demands attention and respect wherever she goes. This Chevelle took a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and cash to get to where she is today. Scott had five different versions of it that ranged from its first days as a 14.80 car into 12.80's, then 10.90's, then 9.70's, then 9.20's and finally into its best pass of 8.90.
The heart of Sally is a 565 cubic inch Dart big block which houses a stout rotating assembly that includes a Callies crankshaft, Manley rods, and Venolia pistons. A pair of Dart 345 heads and a Sniper Jr. Intake sit on top of the 565 and keep the 13.5:1 compression contained during those 8 seconds of violence. Speaking of valve train, a Jesel billet belt drive and Jesel rockers are connected to a top secret cam and valve dimensions that Scott is not ready to share with the public.
The 112 octane racing fuel gets sucked out of the fuel cell by a Magnafuel fuel pump and is sent to a Barry Grant regulator before going to a 1290 cfm Holley Dominator. A complete MSD ignition provides the spark necessary to send the exhaust out of a set of Hooker Super Comp 2 1/8" headers.
Helping get the 1000 plus horsepower to the ground is a Dynamic 4500 stall converter that is connected to a Sepanek built TH400 with a Reid Super Case. A custom driveshaft connects the Moser 9 inch and Mark Williams center section that turns a set of Richmond 3.90 gears and Moser 40 spline axles.
Sally's chassis is 8.50 certified and has a rather simple ladder bar and custom valved AFCO Big Gun shocks in the rear, and the stock front end uses a pair of AFCO BNC shocks which help keep things smooth after those wheelies that she is famous for.
The final components that get this 3590 pound, wheel standing Chevelle down the track in under 9 seconds are the Racestar double beadlock wheels with a pair of Hoosier 30x10.50 slicks out back. A Wilwood master cylinder and disc brakes on all corners help keep Scott from breaking out and hitting the sand trap.
Part of what makes Sally so elegant is her true to stock appearance. With the exception of a 6" cowl, a removeable deck lid, and a lexan windshield her body is all Detroit Muscle. Breaking into the 8 second club required Scott to mount a parachute out back. After breaking a lot of parts during a monster 330 foot wheel stand, he decided to install a set of wheelie bars to prevent Sally from standing on her bumper during those violent launches and into her 1.2 second sixty foot of fun.
Keeping true to her classic look is a stock interior with a set of Autometer gauges, a B&M Pro Stick, G-Force 5 point safety harness, and rollcage.
Scott is a true bracket racer and is highly competitive in the Pro Footbrake class, representing Island Dragway in the bracket finals since 1995. Scott and Sally have won numerous races over the years but none as cool as winning The King Of The track at Island Dragways 50 year anniversary. Without any help from Scott, Sally won the Super Chevy's Top 10 Editors Choice Award two years in a row.
When I asked Scott if he has any power adders he said, "The only power adder Sally has is my Moms love. No nitrous, turbo, or blower can top that"! Having recently lost my own Mom, I tend to agree. There are a lot of different types of love we get on a daily basis, but a mothers love is a love like no other. Jeanne not only passed this love for drag racing down to her son Scott, unknowingly she started a family legacy and birthed a family racing team. Scott's wife Sharon races a mid 9 second 1971 Nova in the Pro Class, his 25 year old son Jordan is building an S10 Blazer, his 15 year old daughter Saige races her 1992 S10 Blazer in the Jr. Street class and was track champion her rookie year. While his 11 year old daughter Jaina is too young to race, she takes the role as crew chief for EFR (Embley Family Racing) and helps keep the cars ready on race day. Scott admitted that its a chore to run four cars on a limited budget and still stay competitive, but his family wouldn't have it any other way. While most families decide which country, island or amusement park they are going to spend their family vacation, the Embley's would rather attend a high paying footbrake race in another state.
Scott has plans on building a blown 1969 Chevelle station wagon as a tribute to the car his Mom used to race and use it as a tow rig to bring Sally to local races. They will never be for sale and will be passed on to his children to continue the family legacy that Jeanne started back in the spring of 1990 when she lovingly took Scott and Sally to the dragstrip for the first time.
Out of all of the cool cars on the track or at a show on any given weekend, I am honored to have been trusted with telling the story behind this 69 Chevelle. The story needed to be told and a Moms sacrifice, commitment, and love for her son needed to be shared with everyone. Sally and Jeanne are definitely "A Love Like No Other."
JT
