Drag racing at its quickest levels is a game of progression — if you aren’t getting faster, chances are everybody else is. John Gentry and his Oldsmobile Cutlass, known as the “Baron” showed up on the popular Discovery Channel show Street Outlaws in season five, and held his own against the boys from the 405. Now, Gentry is looking to make some moves with his G-body, and has sent it out to get some big chassis upgrades to make it competitive against anybody he lines up with.

Gentry has been dropping his elapsed times as he made improvements to the Baron, and those improved times created a need to do a chassis update for safety reasons. “The car has gotten much faster over the years and the current cage is only certified to 8.50. It was just time to update the entire car and make it safer to match how quick it can go,” Gentry explains.

The chassis upgrades go beyond the need to be safe, though, as Gentry plans on using this time to shed some weight from the car, too. “We’re upgrading the car to a 25.2 cage, good for 3,200 pounds and 6.00 in the 1/4-mile. The car should be around 2,700 to 2,800 pounds race-ready with me in it,” Gentry says.

To make all of these updates happen, Gentry took the Baron to Don Dial Race Cars in Seminole, Oklahoma. Dial has built several cars for stars on Street Outlaws, including a new version of the Murder Nova that will be debuting in the coming months.

After the car is complete, Gentry plans to hit as many No Prep races as possible, and maybe even partake in some radial tire racing if time allows. There’s also the possibility that the Baron could make an appearance on Street Outlaws, as well, if he is offered another shot at “The List”.