A young Man Is Gone

On Sunday March 3rd, in the first round of Pro 5.0 eliminations at the Spring Break Shootout, Steve Grebeck lost control of his record-setting 6-second Mustang and crashed at the top end of the track. The accident was one of the most violent we've seen and the results were fatal. In one shocking moment a racer, a friend, a car builder and most of all a human being, was lost. There are many icons in our sport that come to mind when reminiscing the historical moments in late-model Mustang racing. Gene Deputy, "Stormin'" Norman Gray, Ken "Papa" Boomsma, the Keen Brothers, Doug Mangrum, the Briantes, Steve Grebeck and Don Walsh are just a few that come to mind. Steve Grebeck was but a 15-year old high school student when his father Grant walked him through Carl Holbrook's shop, showing off Holbrook's new Super Comp car in the works. Carl "Mr. Cobra Jet" Holbrook built many Pro Stock and Super Stock cars and his son Chris has continued his legacy with similar feats by claiming the title of IHRA Pro Stock champ.

At the time, Dave Lyall, a famed drag racer, worked for Ford by day and did the chassis jobs for Holbrook by night. Lyall saw the glimmer in young Steve's eyes, the glimmer that special kids have, so he took him under his wing. Lyall immediately knew Grebeck was not just an ordinary kid; he was extremely bright, inquisitive, and instantly learned anything anyone showed him. "Steve was the only teenager I knew who had groupies. And of course, they included the prettiest girls in school," Lyall remembered. Steve was determined to learn everything there was to know about building, tuning and driving race cars.

Lyall's career was on the rise as Roush Enterprises drafted him from both Ford and Holbrook. Soon he was in charge of Roush's Special Vehicles Department, which was dedicated to catering to the special needs of wealthy bluebloods' dream cars. Lyall remembered the talents of Grebeck and was convinced that his attention to detail and meticulous craftsmanship could serve his team well. He hired Steve on as an apprentice because he lacked the proper certifications. With the resources at Roush, it was easy for Steve to blossom. Lyall praised him and even Jack Roush took a liking to Steve. "Never in my experience had someone so young and yet so talented come down the pike, and Jack recognized it too," Lyall added.

During his time at Roush, Steve built vehicles that set standards of excellence, and soon became the manager of the special projects section. This group built the Indy Pace Cars for PPG, Cobras for Auto Craft and even built and supported the team cars for the Trans-Am program; this was Jack's "toy shop" of sorts. His talents to tune engines, chassis and all other aspects of operations had him traveling near and far to service any problem the teams would encounter during race weekends or exhibitions.

One of those infamous projects was a white '87 convertible Mustang for a customer named Norman Gray. The car would revisit the Special Vehicles facility three times before receiving a "then experimental" 347-cube nitrous monster and a Doug Nash 5-speed. Steve's talents always included test-driving the cars so he could tune the chassis for his customers. Norman recognized Grebeck's talent behind the wheel and rewarded him by placing him in the seat at a few events. Grebeck took a win at the inaugural Stormin Norman Invitational Shootout at Maple Grove Raceway in 1994, where the now-notorious 347 ran an 11.00 on the motor and a blistering 10.29 at 138 mph on nitrous. After earning Mustang racing milestone designations of first in the 10-second and 9-second zones, the car would go three years undefeated at the skillful hand of Grebeck. In 1991, Steve was realizing he did not fit the "corporate culture," of regular hours, defined roles, and rigid rules so he went on to pursue his dream of being a full-time fabricator. He went to work for Watson Industries where his first project would be an '86 T-Bird to be used for NHRA Super Comp. Watson was contracted to build late-model Mustangs for the Shelby American Auto Club that would be sold at Ford dealerships around the country. Grebeck soon became project manager of the program.

The SAAC Car Co. had Richard Walker and Steve Grebeck team up to build a high profile billboard for the company, in the flavor of an all-out Shelby drag car that would stifle all other attempts to break the 8-second barrier (see MM&FF January 1993 for a complete story on this wild ride). The car wore the SAAC MK-1 uniquely numbered nameplate just like its street car cousins, but this one was appropriately dubbed XD-1, for experimental drag car.

This is where Grebeck met up with longtime friend John Meany, formerly of DFI, who handled the fuel injection program in the car. A quick test at Milan Dragway in preparation for the 5.0 Shootout World Championships equated to a 9.29, which was an incredible run for the time. The Englishtown Showdown Championships would have hosted the first 8-second pass if Gene Deputy's turbo beast hadn't beat them to it only hours before during a Texas test in preparation for the same race in E-Town. However, they did earn the designation as being the first nitrous car in the 8s with the 8.87 that they laid down in qualifying. By late '91 Steve had armed himself with a knowledge that would take a lifetime for most, and a shop of his own to offer his expertise to those who wanted the best.

Grebeck's intensity and versatility made him a sought-after man in the Shootout series world of drag racing. Meany called upon Grebeck for his first taste of the wonderful world of turbos. They started with an '82 Trans Am, added the motor right out of John Lingenfelder's 300 mph Bonneville car and bolted on twin turbos. They set their sights on the NMCA finals in Memphis and the first 8-second run in that sanction. Grebeck shocked the field with an 8.62 from the machine. Needless to say, that was the end of the twin turbos in that class. Grebeck again amazed the world by building a Plymouth Volare for Dan Smith, who owned an anodizing and plating shop. The car was the envy of the top competitors in the world of show cars yet this one was by no means all show and no-go. They ran in the 8.80s at the NMCA finals with the Mopar in Memphis and then set off to the Orlando World Street Finals for some 8.50s thanks to a healthy shot of juice--and all from a stock-block 440.

After building a slew of record-breaking cars for Pat Musi, Ross Stomp, Marc Dantoni and Tony Christian, Grebeck teamed up with Meany again. This time they would build a '97 Avenger to run in the coveted BB/Altered Turbo class in the NHRA in an attempt to give Hurley Blakeney's whirlwind T-Bird someone to race. The car won the Best Engineered award at the NHRA's Joliet stop as well as Best Engineered Car in all of NHRA's Division 3, a feat reserved for the finest pieces in the country. They set both ends of the record at 7.15 at 168 mph and backed it up with an amazing 7.02 at over 188 mph.

Out of all the feats that Steve is accredited for he always said that his invitation by Flowmaster to the "Super Bowl" of drag racing, held at the U.S. Nationals as exhibition to promote their Fastest Street Car Series, was the most exciting thing ever. He was hired by Pro Street standout Mike Moran to tune his "Casper" Camaro entry for the always sold-out crowd of the Nationals. Casper spooked the competition with back-to-back 6.95 runs at just over 200 mph in stout company of the world's best and fastest competitors in professional drag racing. Then, in more recent times, Grebeck teamed with Charlie and Steve Halprin, who were customers of Grebeck for more than 10 years. It started back when he built the renowned green Mr. Gasket car, which ended up in the hands of Pro 5.0 standout Don Walsh Jr.

As Walsh Jr. was tearing up the 10-inch tire competition, Halprin and Grebeck had an '82 sleeper in the works, cocked and loaded with ladder bars, a nitrous oxide-fed powerplant and a couple dozen of Grebeck's most heavily guarded secrets. They ran low 8s right out of the box but quickly switched to the more desirable ProCharger set-up. The car was capable of running deep in the 7s in NMCA Super Street, NSCA Modified Street or NMRA Pro 5.0 trim. They stayed competitive for a couple years until the "turbo wars" kicked in. The realization that it was time to throw the books away and make something so out of the ordinary, so over the edge, had finally come, and the new car would take the Pro 5.0 field past the level of Pro Stock and blaze new ground towards Pro Mod worthiness. This was a place that Steve was familiar with as he had wheeled Leo Utley's '94 Firebird to the 2000 NSCA Outlaw Street Championship in a hard-fought battle with Marc Dantoni that was decided in the final round of the season's finale.

The newest creation would start as a 2001 body in white atop one of Steve's finest Pro Mod-type chassis. Running a turbo was a given to anyone who wanted to be the fastest and Steve was no stranger to the unbridled power they offered. Jon Bennett supplied them with another ace in the tune of 375-inches of mean Windsor. Harry Hruska of Precision Turbo knew where the sport was going and helped it along by making nearly 2000 horsepower and achieving torque numbers that unbelievably surpassed that with his turbo setups.

The first FFW race of 2001 birthed the first 200-mph run in a Pro 5.0, and the second race would lower ET into the 6s. Halprin and Grebeck wheeled the unfinished car to good friend and fellow Pro Mod racer/chassis builder, Tim McAmis, near St. Louis. They finished the car for a taste of the colossal $35,000 payout that the World Ford Challenge offered. The car rolled off the trailer to the tune of a 7.02 during a test-and-tune pass on Friday. Even though they only qualified at 7.20, a blistering 7.01 at 202-mph run in round one followed to wow the crowd and show the world that Grebeck was back.

Although they lost a close 7.19 to 7.18 battle to friend and Michigan neighbor, Don Walsh Jr. in the second round, they were by no means done. The next stop would have them strapping on the DOT's and heading to the NSCA Rising Sun Shootout in Maryland to rattle some cages in the Outlaw class, a class that is mostly reserved for Roots-type blown big-blocks in Pro Mod-type cars. When they qualified second with a 6.83, the shockwaves could be felt across the country as all wondered if the car was anywhere near the 2800-lb. legal weight of a typical turbo Pro 5.0 car.

When they arrived in Maple Grove for the NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals, they pacified all those in disbelief as they hammered out an astounding 6.77 at over 208 mph. The rulemakers were headed for many a sleepless night. Grebeck's amazing creation went on to make runs of 6.65 and 6.67 at mind-boggling speeds that exceeded 213 mph to once again make Mustang racing history. Up to this point, we have outlined the deep history that Grebeck had in the roots of 5.0 Mustang racing. These are but a handful of the history-making cars and driving feats that he was responsible for. From what we know, Grebeck was an individual who possessed the confidence, knowledge and ingenuity that made all of his creations one of a kind. Racing was his life. He was capable of building, designing or servicing any part of a car. It didn't matter if it was tin work, setting up the rear end, changing the tranny gears, popping a new piston in, welding up the chassis or a manifold, he did it all with style.

At 36, Grebeck was just becoming nationally recognized for his talents, as a fabricator, as a racer, as a mechanic, as someone who never said no to his friends, when fate cut his life short. Steve Grebeck died as he lived, doing what he loved, doing what he felt compelled to do, and doing it all under his own terms. When you are that good, you can only do it that way. We will all miss Steve Grebeck. We will miss his talent, his friendship, his smile, and his youthful exuberance with which he pursued everything in life.