Jason Enos Resurrects Familiar Nitrous-Fed Small Tire ’66 Nova

20150416_155100

In 2010, well-known small-tire racer Jason Enos was putting the finishing touches on his state-of-the-art 1967 Shelby Mustang at DMC Racing, complete with a 670 cubic inch, twin-turbo ProLine powerplant under the hood. Despite a significant setback after putting the car into the wall shortly after its debut, Enos was soon back on track with the Mustang and was, in short order, among the performance leaders in the category in what was then a race to the three-second zone on 10.5W tires.

painted in 1990Enos later bolted a set of 315 drag radials onto the stunning Shelby to partake in the wildly popular Radial versus The World action, achieving some solid success with the car originally built for the larger tire. The demands of his business, Empire Prototype, however, slowed his racing schedule and the Mustang was soon put up for sale — eventually making its way overseas into the hands of its new owner.

But Enos was far from done with racing. He’d opened Victory Racecraft in Massachusetts, with top notch fabricator Billy Gilsbach a main ingredient in the shops’ success. And while he was no longer in the Outlaw 10.5 and Drag Radial game, his departure from the seat was a mere temporary hiatus. Now, he’s preparing a whole different kind of animal, but one that he’s quite familiar and comfortable with.

20150318_085511Enos has owned the 1966 Chevy Nova you see here since childhood — 28 years he tell us — going through a number of transformations, from a street car to a full-on racing machine. Enos would drive it to high school and then street race or track race it on the weekends. What was a 13-second car in the beginning progressed through each increment along the way to its high point of clicking off seven-second quarter-mile runs. And as Enos tells us, the one thing it always had was nitrous oxide, and despite the boosted combination he’s gotten familiar with in recent years, he’s not about to change that tradition with his beloved Nova.

“It had a 632 with fuel injection from Scotty G and we were very competitive back then in NSCA Super Street class. The car was a handful to drive — fun but a handful — and I started to worry that I’d crash it at some point and decided to retire it due to the sentimental value of the car,” says Enos. “It’s been sitting in my shop now for a very long time.”

20150115_095604Gilsach and Enos’ friend Steve were at his shop one day and saw the car in the corner with bicycles leaning against it, at which he points he says, “they gave me a ton of shit for the way it was being stored, so they rolled it outside and cleaned it all up and that’s all I needed to get re-motivated.”

Enos had just sold the Shelby and decided it was time to resurrect the Nova. Unfortunately, as drag racers have a tendency to do, things got a little out of hand. “It was supposed to be just thrown together to go have fun. But I can’t roll like that,” he says.

11150242_10204173173190525_1528824612083239408_n

At that point, the trio “went nuts” adding a complete new strut front end, a new double framerail chassis, a full carbon fiber interior, and a number of other updates to bring the car up to modern standards. The powerplant, a 540-inch big block with twin Holley Dominators on top and a single nitrous kit, is something he says was just around laying around the shop and would make plenty of power to have some fun with. He’s backed it up with a Lenco transmission admits he’s not sure how long that’ll stay in the car, but says, “Billy and I wanted to play around with a clutch car on small tires for fun.”

10914731_880108292040883_8971031560369082929_oEnos isn’t planning to do any organized class racing with the sleek Nova unless a big-inch nitrous motor happens to fall into his lap, but instead, simply wants to avoid the pressures of cut throat heads-up racing and enjoy a fast car for what it is.

“I credit Billy for all of the amazing work, per usual, that he did to this car,” says Enos. “This car means more to me that any vehicle I own and he rescued it. I also have to thank my friend Stevie for getting me to do this; the bastard cost me a ton of money bringing this back to life and I owe him a hell of a ride on the street.”

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
Read My Articles

Drag Racing in your Inbox.

Build your own custom newsletter with the content you love from Dragzine, directly to your inbox, absolutely FREE!

Free WordPress Themes
Dragzine NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

We'll send you the most interesting Dragzine articles, news, car features, and videos every week.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Dragzine NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...


Street Muscle Magazine
Hot Rods & Muscle Cars
Diesel Army
Diesel Army
Engine Labs
Engine Tech

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...

  • Streetmuscle Hot Rods & Muscle Cars
  • Diesel Army Diesel Army
  • Engine Labs Engine Tech

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Dragzine

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Dragzine - Drag Racing Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Loading