Bahus was an Active Duty Specialist in the Army and began traveling the world. About two years into his service, however, the unthinkable happened on a trip back home.
“ I had just got back to the states from a tour in Bosnia and we were getting ready to head to NTC in California. Some friends and I were out messing around on our dirt bikes like we always did and I was probably going about 80 miles per hour, somehow lost control and wiped out. All I could remember was seeing the white light and having a fuzzy feeling. I came as close to death as you could without dying. I ended up breaking my back, three ribs, three vertebrae and punctured my lung.”
The accident left Bahus a paraplegic, obviously changing his life forever.
“ Every day since then it’ s just been what can I still do or how can I get around and make things happen?” he says.“ A year after I got hurt, I went out to Long Beach, California, for these wheelchair games for disabled veterans. I’ ll always remember one day in particular while I was out there. A few buddies and I went for a drive up and down Long Beach in a 1970-ish model K5 Blazer. We had the top off, beverages in hand and just had the time of our lives. Ever since then, I knew I had to own a two-wheel drive K5 Blazer someday.”
THE DRAG STRIP IS A REAL EXTENSION OF FAMILY. YOU CAN PICK YOUR
FRIENDS AND YOU CAN MAKE NEW ONES AT EACH TRACK YOU VISIT.
Fast forward about 12 years and Bahus finally had a chance to make his dreams of owning a K5 come true. He came across a restored Blazer for sale at a used car dealership in Washington State.
“ We made the long trek from Missouri to go pick up this Blazer, and needless to say it wasn’ t exactly what it was supposed to be,” Bahus laughs.“ I traced it back to the guy who restored it and come to find out he was so blind he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. He had painted the car and the Chevy bowties that were embroidered in the seats were backwards! Man, it was something else. Once we got it back, the OCD part of me made me start pulling it apart. I took the body off the frame and went through it all. I welded up everything to make it as solid as possible. I think I replaced everything down to the nuts and bolts over the course of a year in my shop.”
Once satisfied, it was time for Bahus to get the Blazer running, so he contacted good friend Brendan Patten, owner of LT1swap. com, to help install a Dart 454 LS7 into the truck.“ Brendan is a wiring guru that is amazing at LS swaps” Bahus says.“ He helped me wire everything and it fired right up. We took the gas pedal totally out and installed full hand controls for braking and acceleration. We are running an M & M Turbo 400 transmission, M & M 4500 stall axles, a Strange driveshaft and a Precision Performance N2O air shifter.”
The next weekend Bahus brought the Blazer to Ozark Raceway Park in Rogersville, Missouri, where he showed up with no cage, no arm restraints, no window net, no nothing. Surprisingly, he was still allowed to make a few 330-foot passes down the track, which convinced Bahus his new ride needed a full roll cage and safety equipment.
Now on the hunt for someone who could make his Blazer as safe as possible, Bahus wound up tracking down Steve Harrah, owner of Huey’ s Fabrication in Greenbrier, Arkansas.“ I caught him at the right time when he was quitting his day job and we had the cage installed in just a couple weeks after bringing the truck to him.” Bahus says.“ I gave Steve a vision and he put his tweaks on it and it came out awesome. He helped me get the cage in and then we installed Kirkey racing seats and full Stroud harnesses.”
Bahus knew he wanted to race the Blazer from day one, but says he mostly built it for a good time. Though the“ Open Container” name reflects the truck’ s no hood, no roof configuration, Bahus says it actually originated from late nights spent in the garage with friends. And although he has a catch can made out of a used Bud Light bottle( that his little brother swears was his); Bahus insists the name is not really about the alcohol at all.
“ It’ s not about drinking; it’ s more just about hanging out, late nights in the shop working on hot rods, talking about life and having a couple of beers with your buddies. It doesn’ t get any better than that, just being a rebel about stuff and doing it because you love it with no filter.
“ I don’ t go anywhere that I don’ t make friends in life,” he continues.“ The drag strip is a real extension of family, you can pick your friends and you can make new ones at each track you visit. To be honest that’ s how I got discovered this past year. I ran into David Cunningham, owner of the infamous Cadzilla, while we were at the first Street Car Takeover in St. Louis. We were checking out the two-step in the Blazer and it got the attention of Kyle Loftis and Garrett Mitchell( of 1320Video) from
38 STREETRACE