Super Stock Racer Bucky Hess and his Kandy Kuda
Super Stock racer Bucky Hess is a drag racing history aficionado. He is the owner, builder, and driver of the nostalgia-themed SS/AH 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, “Kandy Kuda”. His race car shop, Bucky’s LTD, is plastered with NHRA memorabilia and archival drag racing images of legendary Hemi racers like Ken Montgomery, Ronnie Sox, Dick Landy, Bill Bagshaw, Judy Lily, Joe Smith, Arlen Vanke, and John Hagen. Bucky can often be seen wearing a Sox and Martin racing jacket in the staging lanes, as if to recall Ronnie Sox’ dominance in Super Stock and Pro Stock racing.
A passion to preserve the past is not equivalent to being stuck in it. Bucky is constantly pursuing new technology that will make his Hemi A Body car faster. His respect for drag racing history shapes his quest for new advancements in engine, transmission, and chassis technology. He wants to win.
In addition to a host of NHRA SS/AA world records and class wins, Bucky has enjoyed significant career highlights. In 2001, Bucky won the Inaugural Hemi Challenge at Indy in 2001. In 2009, he won the Super Stock Eliminator at the NHRA National Event in Richmond Virginia, defying the naysayers who claim that Hemi cars cannot go rounds. In 2016, Kandy Kuda with the Bunker Hill resident behind the wheel was #1 qualifier at Indy for the Hemi Challenge. However, an internal engine component failure caused him to kiss the wall, abruptly ending his pursuit of his second Hemi Challenge win.
Bucky explains why he races, “Our goal is to be the fastest Hemi car in (SS/AH) class. We try to help people remember what fueled the fire of drag racing in the 60’s and 70’s… so we work to be fast while recalling the great paint work of that era.”
Being fast means that he races to win. Bucky continues, “A few years ago, NHRA allowed SS/AH guys to use motor plates. That permission loosened up the requirements for engine location, giving us freedom to lower the engine for safety and better launches. Further advancements came from innovative Jesel valvetrain components have addressed many of the inherent problems of running the Hemi engines at higher rpm.”
Bucky has worked with some of the best Hemi engine builders in the business. But the magic happened in 2009 when, fresh from the NHRA Richmond, Virginia National Event Super Stock win, Bucky approached NHRA Pro Stock racer Jason Line and Jeff Guenther at KB Racing about managing the Kandy Kuda engine program. Of course, they agreed, and have sent Bucky down the path of Hemi dominance. Jason, Jeff, and the KB Racing team are winners. They have successfully applied that winning mindset to the Hess’ Hemi Drag Racing Team, forming lifelong friendships in the process.
Though the paint might look a lot like yesterday, don’t look for Mopar Super Stock leaf springs. Observation of the stance and launch characteristics of Kandy Kuda will reveal that there is no wasted energy when the light goes green. A best 1.141-second 60-foot time certainly proves that the car works, and that its chassis is scienced out.
The Kandy Kuda chassis was built by Phil Mandella and his crew at Phil Mandella Racing Race Cars (PMR). Making full use of the NHRA rulebook, Mandella built a 4130 chromoly tube chassis/back half NHRA legal Super Stocker that maintains the stock front torsion bar suspension and stock steering box. A PMR four link rear suspension with Penske adjustable coilovers and PMR cross link bar serve to put the power to ground. Mandella employed his latest ideas on launch characteristics, with special focus given to weight placement, rigidity, consistency, and safety.
On the drag strip, Kandy Kuda is racing with style. Bucky’s son, Travis “Tuki” Hess, has become a rising star among automotive custom painters specializing in the wild and colorful paint schemes of the ‘60s and early-‘70s Funny Cars and Pro Stockers. Travis designed and performed the stunning Kandy Kuda paintwork, creating a medley of candies, lace, scales, fans, and flames to rival the legends of automotive custom painters.
Over the past year, Travis debuted and began racing his “High Anxiety” 1964 Dodge A/SA Stock Eliminator Hemi car that was built at Bucky’s LTD. Racing both cars together has proven to be the dream-come-true, ultimate father/son racing experience that is establishing lifelong memories for the Hess’ Hemi Drag Racing Team, an experience they share with Bucky’s wife Jeannie and Travis’ wife Lauren. In the process, their sweet as kandy race cars serve as a rolling tribute to the past.
Tech Notes
Who: Bucky Hess
What: 1968 Plymouth Barracuda SS/AH NHRA Super Stock Drag Car
Where: Bunker Hill, West Virginia
Engine: NHRA Pro Stock racer Jason Line and Jeff Guenther of KB Racing built the 426 Hemi engine for NHRA Super Stock racing in the SS/AH class. The World Products block received a 0.070-inch overbore. The rotating assembly consists of a Bryant crankshaft, Carillo Rods, and Diamond Pistons. Jesel valvetrain components, including rocker arms, rocker stands, and a timing belt drive provide both high rpm reliability and stability. “Deadbolt Dan” at KB Racing prepped the 1968 Chrysler Hemi cast iron cylinder heads, filling them with Manley valves. The intake manifold design is by KB Racing. The twin 770 cfm Holley 4160 carburetors were prepped by Jason Line. The valve covers were modified by KB Racing for access for valve adjustments.
Transmission: The Pro Trans three-speed automatic transmission is essentially a highly modified 727 Torqueflite case with 904 internals. The Pro Trans reverse pattern valve body features a clean neutral, and employs a reverse gear engaged by a transbrake button. Gene Strouse is Bucky’s “secret weapon” in the transmission department. Gene handles trans freshening and modifications. Various gear ratios of used, depending on anticipated air and track conditions. A number of Coan torque converters with a lots of stall speeds are available for duty, again dependent of desired combo and track conditions.
Rearend: A Mark William 9-inch differential is equipped with 40-spline axles, 9.5 ring gear, and a lightened spool. PMR four-link brackets keep the rear properly located. Multiple ratio Richmond Pro gears are used. As can be imagined, hitting the right combination of transmission ratios, converter, and gears can be daunting. But when a hundredth of a second can make the difference between a win and second place, the return is well worth the effort.
Body: Phil Mandella found the rust-free 1968 Barracuda Fastback body, which was chemically stripped and sealed, then sent to his chassis shop, PMR race cars. Phil and his crew performed the chassis modifications for NHRA Super Stock racing. As permitted by NHRA, aftermarket Cynergy Composite fenders and Hemi-style hood were bolted on and fitted to perfection. Paul’s Chrome rechromed the bumpers. Stephen Young restored the OEM Barracuda grilles. All trim and moldings were restored and perfected at Bucky’s LTD. John “Cooter” Shank prepped the body for paint. Travis “Tuki” Hess designed and painted the spectacular final product because “Tuki Paints It”. All paint and gold leaf lettering was also applied and designed by Travis, who is quick to express gratitude to the mentoring he received from lettering guru Nelson Grimes.
Interior: NHRA rules call for retention of a number of OEM interior items. For that reason, Bucky’s relatively complete interior features OEM door panels by Legendary, OEM dashboard, OEM style carpeting, and a neatly tucked funny car-style cage with a knee bar that runs behind the dashboard. Kirkey seats received black upholstered covers by Upholstery Excellence in Martinsburg, WV. Bucky painted the vintage Grant steering wheel to match the Tuki’s exterior. The PPP air shifter is complemented by Line-Loc button, reverse gear button, and two-step adjustment controller. Just behind the shifter is the data logger control switch. The air tank for the shifter is between the seats within reach of the driver. Bottom line: the interior is well thought out, giving the driver access to all necessary gauges, knobs, and driver controls.
Chassis/Suspension: The chassis is built from 4130 Chromoly steel tubing. Chromoly is an alloy steel combining chromium and molybdenum and is stronger than mild carbon steel. Used in a race car application, Chromoly tubing need not be as thick and heavy as mild steel tubing. Therefore, the Chromoly cage or chassis is as strong, but lighter than a comparable mild steel structure. Less weight means faster elapsed times. PMR used Chromoly tubing built to 25.4 spec in the construction of the Kandy Kuda. A complex front frame rail extension with X-shaped subframe connector assembly provides a rigid platform to make the suspension work as intended at launch and during the run. The rear frame section hosts a PMR four-link suspension with Penske coilovers and PMR cross link bar. Lamb Components 4 wheel “Conventional” disc brake system provides high tech stopping power. Though more costly, most competitors will agree that Lamb Components provide the best brake systems available for Sportsman drag racing. Bucky’s car also uses Lamb spindles, adjustable front shocks, master cylinder, and pedal assembly. With 160 mph trap speeds, Lamb Components has the “whoa power” sufficient to slow down the Kandy Kuda “go power”.
Wheels/Tires
The Hess’ Hemi Drag Racing Team exclusively runs Mickey Thompson tires. Fronts are M/T 28×4.5×15 mounted on American Racing Pro Series Torq Thrust gold anodized 15×4 skinnies. Rears are 15×14 Torq Thrust 15×14 American Racing Pro Series Torq Thrust rims mounting Mickey Thompson 31.25/12.2R15W ET Drag Radial Slicks.
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The Kandy Kuda is raced throughout the year, but the number one goal any NHRA SS/AH car is to win the Hemi Challenge at the Chevrolet Perfomance U.S. Nationals.
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Paint chores for the Kandy Kuda were handled by Bucky’s son, Travis “Tuki” Hess. Travis works at Bucky’s LTD in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and has established himself as one of the elite custom painters in the country.
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Travis did all the lettering, but he is quick to point out that he learned it from lettering genius Nelson Grimes. The typical Hemi AH car has about 54 percent weight on the front end. New chassis technology, working with today’s race tires have enabled chassis builders like Phil Mandella to get the car to hook with a lesser weight bias to the rear.
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The NHRA legal Super Stock 426 Hemi engine is built by Jason Line at KB Racing. Since 2011, Jason and KB Racing co-worker Jeff Guenther, have been hard at work giving Bucky the necessary engine program to rise to the top of the ranks of the SS/AH Hemi wars.
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The engine compartment is show-car clean, complete with paint accents on inner fender panels. A Lamb Components master cylinder is offset to make room for the elephant. The front bars designed for triangulation to give rigidity to the motor plate and withstand wheelstand landings.
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NHRA allows any intake manifold in Super Stock cars, giving rise to unique intake manifold designs. For that reason, Bucky prefers to keep the runners of his Jason Line intake hidden under his favorite beach towel.
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The 426 Hemi engine is located by motor plates front and rear. A Griffin Radiator keeps the engine cool during those quarter mile acceleration romps with engine speeds in the 9000 rpm territory.
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An MSD crank trigger ignition is driven by a Jesel distributor drive. The ATI Super Damper keeps the rotating assembly happy. The K Frame has been modified for strength and oil pan clearance. Dailey Engineering oil pump and Stef’s 8 quart oil pan provide oil delivery. The DRE engine diaper is installed to avoid oil downs at the track in the event of engine breakage.
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PMR created the funny car style cage part of the chassis built to 25.4 spec, creating ultimate driver protection. Legendary Interiors provided the door panels. Kirkey seats were covered at Upholstery Excellence in Martinsburg, WV.
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The stock Barracuda dashboard is in place, with an Autometer tach with shift light mounted on top of the dash in plain sight. The red button on the steering wheel bypasses the two-step during burnouts. Travis painted the vintage steering wheel to work with exterior paint scheme.
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A PPP shifter accommodates the Pro Trans Torqueflite with Coan converter. The Pro Trans is features a reverse pattern manual valve body with clean neutral and a remote reverse that is engaged with the Biondo transbrake button. The MSD Manual Launch Controller, aka “two step”, is right next to the shifter. The small button near the shifter cable turns on the Racepak data logger.
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Bucky started racing SS/AA Hemi cars (later to be designated “SS/AH”) in the early 90’s. He has since set multiple NHRA World Records, won the Super Stock Eliminator at the National Event in Virginia, and built an incredible following among Hemi car zealots. Bucky was the first SS/AA racer to establish the milestone sub-9 second NHRA World Record, setting it at 8.96 seconds.
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Owner of PMR and chassis guru Phil Mandella discusses chassis innovation with Bucky in the building of Bucky’s upcoming Comp Eliminator car that could debut next year. Phil is one of the most thoughtful and pioneering chassis guys in the business. His chassis expertise is greatly enhanced by his experience as a racer.
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The PMR chassis is constructed from 4130 chromoly tubing that joins the OEM front subrame and torsion bar crossmember to the rear subframe assembly. Power is sent to the rear via a Mark Williams 7075 driveshaft.
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The PMR four link bars and brackets allow for adjustability to track conditions. PMR uses National Aerospace Standard (NAS) bolts, a military grade bolt, for the ultimate fastener reliability. Penske coilovers are mounted closer to the axle centerline, which is higher in order to maximize their effectiveness. Racepak data logger sensor is positioned at the pinion yoke.
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Lamb Components provide stopping power with their four wheel “Conventional” Disc Brakes that feature billet calipers, twin calipers on the rear, special rotors, billet rotor adapters, and specially ground 7075-T6 brackets. Lamb Components also supplies the master cylinder and brake pedal assembly to round the state of the art braking system.
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“Freak Dots” on the “C” pillars join the collage of flames, fish scales, lace, fades, and fans in Travis’ spectacular paint work on Kandy Kuda.
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Hess Hemi Drag Racing Team is sponsored by Bucky’s LTD Auto Body in Martinsburg, West Virginia, KB Racing, VP Racing Fuel, and Mickey Thompson Tires. Crew includes Bucky’s wife Jeannie Hess, son Travis “Tuki” Hess, Gene Strouse, Jim Shank, Randy Smallwood, Vic Guillamo, and Mike Grimm. Bucky’s vintage Sox and Martin racing jacket provides ultimate Hemi swagger.
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The staging lanes at Indy are a whirlwind of last minute tire pressure adjustment and high pressure anticipation. Be certain that Jason Line and Jeff Guenther are standing nearby to cheer Bucky on to victory.
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The PMR chassis is set up for mild wheelstands in order that energy is not wasted on lifting the car too high. The PMR chassis provides a sweet, squat-go launch that has produced a best of 1.141 best 60 foot time.
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This is an ask blog based around my Digital Circus next gen AU
I guess I should go ahead and explain the characters who will be the major focus of this blog
Pomni: Once a very anxious jester, Pomni is now the new ringmaster of the digital circus and is married to Ragatha. Caine served as a sort of mentor for Pomni as she got more adjusted to being in the digital world. When she becomes accepting of her fate, Caine retires and lets Pomni take over as the new ringmaster (in a nutshell this is literally the Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia situation but with The Amazing Digital Circus). Pomni is Anni’s mother and she is very understanding of her daughter’s anxiety as she had gone through it herself years ago
Ragatha: Ragatha is Pomni’s wife and Anni’s mother. She is still the sweet optimistic doll she’s always been and she’ll often put her daughter in dresses based off of 70s and 80s ragdolls, much to the dismay of Anni but she loves her mother nonetheless
Anni: Anni is the daughter of Pomni and Ragatha. She is the anxious ragdoll jester of the circus and she goes on crazy adventures with her friends
Kandi: Kandi is a pink cat with wings made entirely of candy who quite frankly has her own little shop in the circus grounds called “Kandi’s Sweetery”. She specializes is making sweet treats and she is always enthusiastic and very friendly to everyone she meets. She is married to Sox and has two children, a son named Saito and a daughter named Katti that she loves more than anything else
Sox: Sox is a pink and white Venezuelan pup with anger issues who is married to Kandi and is the mother of Saito and Katti. She is highly protective of her family and will stop at nothing to keep them safe. She is fluent in both English and Spanish, speaking in a very faint accent and she even found a loophole that allows her to swear in Spanish without it being censored
Saito: Saito is the son of Kandi and Sox who is a few minutes older than his twin sister. He is temperamental and moody but he also cares about his sister and will do anything in his power to keep her safe
Katti: Katti is the daughter of Kandi and Sox who is a few minutes younger than her twin brother. She is very outgoing and cheerful, always eager to go on adventures with her brother and her two best friends
Keke: Keke is a wolf with brown fur and hazel eyes who is an artist with ADHD and autism that gets flustered easily around her wife Jinx. She is June’s mother and she taught her daughter everything she knows about drawing and art, knowing that June would one day be a very talented artist just like her
Jinx: Jinx is a female version of Jax and Keke’s wife who is flirty at times but she is also just as sarcastic as her male counterpart. She’s also June’s mother and although she teases her daughter sometimes, she genuinely cares for June and wants nothing but the best for her little girl
June: June is the daughter of Keke and Jinx who is a very introverted and shy wolf/rabbit hybrid who often keeps to herself and draws in her sketchbook. Whenever she starts getting really anxious, she hugs her purple stuffed lamb Lilac for comfort and to keep herself from having a panic attack. She keeps Lilac and all of her art supplies in her bag whenever she heads out to spend time with her small group of friends
That is pretty much everything about the AU that you should know so ask away and don’t be afraid to request me to draw your Digital Circus kiddos interacting with Anni, Saito, Katti, and June
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