American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 7 | Page 14

'Big Chief' makes NHRA debut

Story and Potos | NHRA.com

Justin “Big Chief” Shearer, star of
the reality TV show Street Outlaws,
made his official NHRA debut during the first qualifying session of
the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod
Drag Racing Series at the Chevrolet
Performance U.S. Nationals.
Shearer’s ’68 Firebird, running a
turbocharged 455-based iron Pontiac engine in a class in which billet
Hemi-powered behemoths rule,
recorded an early-shutoff 7.12 at
160.27 mph that placed him in the
No. 23 spot after the first of four
qualifying sessions. The run was
later disqualified for a fuel infraction,
Before Shearer’s debut, he met
with the media in the famed Parks
Tower to discuss his goals and
plans and how his lifelong dream to

become a professional drag racer
and run at the biggest drag race on
Earth became reality.
“Being good at something most
people frown upon has evolved,
and before you know it, you’re seeing your dream of being a professional drag racer right in front of
you,” he reflected. “Then you’re at
the U.S. Nationals with a 30-foot
piece-of-crap trailer and a truck
with 260,000 miles on it. Sometimes I think I’m in the wrong
place, and then I wake up, and I
know I’m supposed to be here.
“When I pulled in, I couldn’t believe how many cars are at this
race, which just shows you how
many people want to be at this
race and work their whole life to be
at this race. This is the biggest,

most prestigious drag race; it’s hallowed ground.”
Shearer had to spend a lot of time
and money to upgrade safety components on his car, including a
$16,000 upgrade to carbon-fiber
brakes, but he quickly admitted
that when his parachute failed to
blossom on his first 200-mph quarter-mile pass last weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park, he was
grateful for the rules. “They were
worth every penny,” he said. “It’s
all going to all be worth it when I let
off the button to go down this
racetrack.”
Shearer, whose best run in licensing so far has been 6.42 at 223
mph, has no allusions of being able
to run with the top cars in the series, some of which are running the