We’ve been a fan of NHRA’s Stock, Super Stock and Competition Eliminator classes for years and the variety of cars make it a great place to race for beginners or seasoned racers. The performance of the Hemi engines in the SS/AH class continues to impress as well as the advances made in late model car construction. The factory wars have also returned in NHRA with the roll out of the Ford Cobra Jet and Challenger Drag Pack cars.

One car builder’s sticker we continue to see on many of the record breaking Comp and Super Stock cars is B&B Race Cars. A few months ago, we started to do some research on the company and to our surprise we found out that they were located in our old stomping grounds of Middle Tennessee. Over the Christmas holiday we made the short trip west on Highway 412 to visit their shop in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Darren and Anne Breaud own B&B and is located southwest of Nashville in a 15,000 square foot building complete with an in-house paint shop.

B&B got its start in 1999 after Darren, a pipe fitter and welder by trade, decided to open his own chassis shop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 2,500 square foot shop was a busy place building Heads-Up cars for the growing Outlaw classes that raced in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. After building several cars for racers in the Southeast and earning a reputation for on-time delivery at a reasonable price, engine builder and Sportsman racers Alan and Todd Patterson commissioned B&B to build a 2005 Cavalier for NHRA Competition Eliminator.

In competition, the Patterson’s did well with the new Cavalier and gave it great reviews. Oklahoman and Patterson engine customer Robert Freeman was next in line for a B&B built car. Later that year Darren went to the US Nationals in Indianapolis and took 8-race car orders at the event. Since the success with the two original cars, B&B has built over 20 Cavaliers, Cobalts and Pontiac G5s. The cars small yet aerodynamic shape make it the perfect drag car and when combined with a killer engine the combination is consistent and fast. Five of the B&B built cars currently hold Competition Eliminator or Super Stock NHRA national records. Record holders include; Adam Hickey C/SMA, Lee Sharp D/SMA and SS/CM, Arnie Martel I/SMA and James Caro SS/BM. Recently, Justin Jenkins won NHRA’s Division 5 Super Stock title driving a B&B built Cobalt.

Photo Credit: Team Jegs John Coughlin and Team Jegs campaign a B&B built Super Stock Cobalt in the NHRA.

Cars that are built for Competition Eliminator or Super Stock “Modified” class are pretty complex builds. They typically start from a stripped down front wheel drive street car and undergo a rear wheel drive transformation that includes; an extensive chrome-moly roll cage, drag race tubular front k-member, front strut suspension and a four link rear suspension anchoring huge drag slicks. The factory frame rails are kept intact but room must be created for a small block or big block V8 and race transmission where an inline 4 cylinder once resided. In building these cars, Darren has created several welding jigs and build manuals to help speed-up the process.

With the car building business taking off in 2005, B&B was looking for a larger shop somewhere closer to the center of the Southeast. After an intense search for real estate, Anne located a shuttered denim factory in Middle Tennessee for a great price. After striking a deal with the building owner, Darren and Anne packed up the family and equipment and relocated to the shop in Hohenwald with plenty of room for expanding the business.

Anthony Bongiovanni has a Super Stock Cobra Jet in the works to match his Stock Eliminator CJ.

When we visited the shop, two Drag Pack Challengers and a Cobra Jet Mustang build was underway. Die-hard Mopar racer Jeff Teuton has a Drag Pack Challenger in the shop for completion. The ground-up Super Stock Cobra Jet build is for New Jersey racer Anthony Bongiovanni. The Ford racer plans are to race the car in Division 1 and at select National events in 2010. B&B also built at matching Stock Eliminator Cobra Jet that Bongiovanni’s daughter will drive. Directly across from the Cobra Jet was one of the Drag Pack Challengers that was a Christmas surprise from Allen Johnson to his dad Roy Johnson. The in-house B&B paint shop painted both cars with a show quality paint job with design direction and lettering help from Scott Brown Graphics.

When we visited the shop the B&B crew were finishing up Roy Johnson’s Drag Pack Challenger

While the NHRA Sportsman builds have been keeping B&B busy, Heads-Up cars are still a big part of their business. The “house car” that Darren raced in 2008-2009 is an ORSCA Limited Street Pontiac GTO. The car features a 25.2 certified chassis and a big cube small block Chevy running on 3 stages of Nitrous. When time permitted, Darren raced the car at ORSCA events and other Heads-up races in the area. Darren has also competed in several NHRA National and divisional events driving several of the Comp cars he built.

Photo Credit: B&B Race Cars Darren Breaud at the wheel of the B&B Shop Car, a ORSCA Limited Street GTO

With all the late model projects in the shop it was nice to see Paul Soliz’s ORSCA Limited Street Fox Body Mustang on jack stands for some chassis updates. The turbocharged terror runs a lot of heads-up races in the Southeast and was at B&B to get the chassis tuned to help the small 10.5-inch tire keep up with the big power.

Photo Credit: B&B Race Cars Henrik Serrano from Norway gets fitted for his new B&B built Cynergy bodied 68 Camaro.

For the ultimate in Heads-up racing, the B&B Race Cars surface plate was set-up for a future Cynergy Composites Pro Modified Camaro. Last year B&B built a 1968 Cynergy Camaro for Henrik Serrano of Norway. Serrano and crew came over to the states to learn car set-up before shipping back to Norway. Jimmy Cowan also commissioned B&B to build a new Top Sportsman/ADRL car using the new 1970 Camaro Cynergy body. Darren told us that he enjoyed the challenge of building a full tube chassis car and that both Cynergy Camaro bodies were a work-of-art when they arrived. The fit and finish helped complete the cars in record time.

Don Baskin’s 2010 Camaro NMCA Pro Stock Camaro in its early stages, which has since been completed.

For late model Camaro fans, B&B is building one of the first 2010 Camaro’s for NMCA Mean Street Champion Don Baskin. Don plans to race the car in NMCA’s Pro Stock class and this should be one of the first 2010 Camaros in the NMCA next year. Power will come from a Bischoff Racing small block and all eyes will be on this car to see how it performs.

After spending a few hours touring the B&B Race Cars shop with the Breauds we saw that they have their plate full of interesting car builds. From Stock Eliminator to tube chassis Pro Modified Camaros, the team can do it all. The in-house paint shop also helps on the turnaround time for a car build. If our ever in the market for a complete car or chassis update on your current ride, B&B is a one stop shop that does quality work at a fair price.