Bill and Judi Bureski are on a mission: They want to win an NHRA national event in Stock Eliminator for the first time, just as their son Daryl did May 22 at the Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Daryl, 46, who lives in Elgin, Ill., and works for United Airlines at O’Hare International Airport, drove to victory Bill and Judi’s unique 1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertible, an Indianapolis 500 Pace Car model that actually was on the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Daryl’s win improved upon on his two runner-ups in 2001 and 2009 at other NHRA events. He also scored an IHRA national-event win in 2002.

Bill and Judi Bureski are on a mission: They want to win an NHRA national event in Stock Eliminator for the first time, just as their son Daryl did May 22 at the Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Daryl, 46, who lives in Elgin, Ill., and works for United Airlines at O’Hare International Airport, drove to victory Bill and Judi’s unique 1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertible, an Indianapolis 500 Pace Car model that actually was on the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Daryl’s win improved upon on his two runner-ups in 2001 and 2009 at other NHRA events. He also scored an IHRA national-event win in 2002.

Should Bill and Judi, both 67 and retired residents of Dixon, Ill., eventually stand in the winner’s circle, they will have arrived by her expert driving and the performance of their second car. It is another ’70 442, but it is a hardtop.

Each 3,895-pound car has a 455-inch engine with a 370 hp. factory rating and Turbo 400 transmission. Both cars run in F/SA and have the capability of switching to E or D.

The Bureskis may change classes but never brands. “I know these cars inside and out, and at one time I worked for Olds,” Bill Bureski said. “These are real Stock Eliminator cars that are old school. They are maxxed out. Other cars can run farther under the index, but they have replacement heads, intakes, and valvetrain parts. If there isn’t a heads-up run, all is equal. Everybody is capable of winning a national event or a division points race. It’s much more competitive today than 20 years ago.”

He and Judi ought to know, since they have been competing since Bill hit the quarter-mile in the 1960s, first with Pontiacs. The Bureskis switched to Oldsmobile when they bought a brand-new ’68 Hurst Olds and immediately turned it into a race car. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in 1976 after rolling off their trailer while traveling down an interstate.

With insurance money the convertible was purchased and converted into a race car by Bill and his brother Rick. It first saw track action in spring 1977 and has been raced nonstop. Daryl began driving the car in 1980 and has registered best numbers of 11.21 at 117.

The Bureskis bought the hardtop in November 1979 from three Californians who raced the car since new at San Francisco-area tracks. It has not missed a racing season the past 31 years, hitting a best of 11.09 at 118. Judi drove the car to the 1990 National Muscle Car Association season title in Super Stock trim.

Although GM discontinued Oldsmobile in 2004 after 107 years, the Bureskis are among a few NHRA Stock racers nationwide keeping the brand going fast forward. “The original factory parts are getting scarce, but we saved a lot of stuff through the years so we have a good stockpile to keep us going,” Bill Bureski said. “We’ll keep racing as long as our health holds up.”

That may make other Stock competitors ill.