We’ve written about the positive impact that the GoPro and similar-style video camera have had on drag racing as a whole. They are unmatched in terms of data collection as they can be mounted just about anywhere and provide a view of components that were previously impossible to see in action. 

So when ATI Racing‘s JC Beattie, Jr. posted this video over on the Class Racer.com Facebook page, we had to check it out – and we’re glad we did. Beattie, Jr.’s COPO Camaro has been written about here on Dragzine before; it features a Virginia Speed-built Whipple-supercharged 327 cubic inch powerplant and runs solidly in the eight-second range.

In the video, which is shot from an under-the-hood perspective and is focused directly on the belt tensioner, we get a good look at exactly what happens when a car of this caliber jumps up on the two-step on the starting line. Put simply — it’s insane!

The video runs from the burnout through the launch. As soon as the car comes up on the chip, the tensioner starts doing the Texas Two-Step, bouncing from side-to-side quicker than the eye can register — and showing the reason that superchargers shouldn’t run a spring-loaded tensioner. 

Frankly, we find it amazing that the belt didn’t pop off the pulleys and take out the camera on its way out of the engine compartment and through the hood. It appears that the spring in the tensioner is just strong enough to keep the whole works under some semblance of control, but we have to wonder whether it’s giving up some power through belt slippage on the top end. Maybe that’s why Beattie had the camera under the hood — and we’re sure he won’t give up his secrets even if that is the case. 

For more information on the complete line of ATI Racing line of driveline components, check out their website.