Ken bought a Top Fuel chassis from Tom Hoover in Minneapolis and built himself a Top Fuel Dragster, the Mid-West Express. The car was powered by a blown, nitromethane burning 354 Chrysler. Ken turned the Top Fuel car into a business venture, charging $700 a weekend to race locally against famous American Top Fuel drivers, making a name for himself. Ken ran this car for for three years, sweeping every race he entered in Canada. He set the low elapsed time and top miles-per-hour marks at the Canadian Nationals in 1968.