James Reeves Drag Racing Omni GLH (photos)
When most people think of the Dodge Omni, they think of economical compact car, not drag racing. But then again, James Reeves isn’t like most people.
1. Meet James Reeves
Engineer and extreme car enthusiast James Reeves purchased a used turbocharged Dodge Omni GLH nearly twenty years ago. A drag racer from way back with a conventional rear wheel drive, V8 powered Chevy Nova, he was liked the challenge of making the light weight, front wheel drive Omni go fast. The car has gone through several iterations since then, with all work being done by Reeves and his friends, and over the years the car has gotten consistently quicker on the race track.
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2. James Reeves' Omni GLH
Reeves used to race with a 1970 Chevy Nova but went with the Omni instead because he wanted something different. In 1998, he picked up the Omni GLH (“Goes Like Hell” per Dodge) and he’s been tinkering with it ever since with his best run being clocked at 9.99 @ 143 mph.
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3. Under the Omni's Hood
The front wheel drive car has a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine under its hood, upgraded from the original 2.2 liter, and a TII top end, ported and polished. The last time it was on the chassis dyno the car made 577whp and 551ft.lbs at the tire. For a small, lightweight vehicle, it makes some great ETs and manages 30+ mpg while pulling a utility trailer with tools and tires to the track.
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4. Racing the Omni at Drag Week
Reeves has attempted Hot Rod Magazine's Drag Week 3 times, and completed it every time, but not without problems. At Drag Week 2016, Reeves torched the head gasket, but a late night repair allowed James to continue on. In 2013 it was survival mode just trying to finish the event — running on reduced boost, Reeves' Omni was still running low 11 second ETs when the alternator quit. He was able to find a replacement, and was still able to qualify for the Street Machine Eliminator class.
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5. More Bad Luck at Drag Week
Reeves returned to Drag Week in 2015 and started turning the boost up as the week went on, running mid 10s. The car was running great and at the heads-up shoot out in St Loius Reeves managed to run the car at his personal best pass of 9.99 seconds @ 143mph. Unfortunately, driving to the next stage of the event, Reeves' well-used trailer broke apart and flipped on the interstate, sending his tools, wheels, tires and supplies across the highway. The Omni took a small dent in the back and Reeves and his team were good enough to clean up the mess off interstate.
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6. A bad week of racing
In 2016, Reeve had problems from day 1, when the car started pushing water and missing. After limping through to Michigan, James met up with a friend and used his air conditioned shop to swap the headgasket on the car. At US131 the engine was still missing and it developed an issue going into third gear. In Indy, Reeves used another friend’s garage to rebuild the transmission. The next day back at the track, the car was still misfiring, and James finished off the week way off of his usual ET numbers, and chalked the event up as a loss. The problem? The o2 sensor had fouled and was flooding the car. Unfortunately, it was found long after Drag Week.
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7. Bright future
This year, Reeve doesn’t plan to bring the Omni on Drag Week, but that doesn't mean it isn't going to race anymore. Instead, he has a 96 Viper GTS that, as he puts it, is “just begging for some drag radials and nitrous.”
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