[1]The car-guy contingent collectively gasped when footage aired of Brian “Chucky” Davis and Justin “Big Chief” Shearer crashing on the last season of Discovery Channel’s juggernaut street racing reality show Street Outlaws. Primarily because the crash was serious for both drivers and could have easily left one or both of them gravely injured, or worse. But, also because two legendary hot rods were simultaneously demolished in the process.
Shearer’s LeMans-turned-GTO and Davis’ ultra-trick Fox body Mustang were both totaled beyond repair.
While the story of Big Chief’s return to the track and the street has been well documented, Davis has taken a lower-profile approach to getting back up and running … but the cat is out of the bag, just in time for his return to OKC for some long-awaited races.
While many in the blue oval camp will be distraught at the loss of a true grudge legend from their ranks, Davis and longtime friend and sponsor David Zimmerman of Team Z Motorsports [2] both list the 1969 Camaro as one of their dream cars, so that’s what the pair decided to build. With time at a premium, Davis and Zimmerman decided to start with a mail-order chassis instead of converting a stock Camaro chassis or building one from scratch. The pair discussed reputable, dependable chassis builders and both agreed Rick Jones Race Cars [3] was the ideal candidate for the job, so a phone call was made and an order was placed
[4]
Jones gave Davis an anticipated start for the build, and ended up delivering the chassis before it was scheduled to even start — a testament to the RJRC process. Jones would also build the cage for the Camaro and hang the rear end, while also mocking up the motor plate and mid plate before sending the chassis out the door.
[5]Zimmerman and his crew at Team Z went to work doing the final assembly. The Team Z duties included hanging the Glasstek body, installing the Strange front suspension, installing the brakes, the tin work in the interior, wheel tubs, wiring, plumbing and dropping in the engine and, basically everything else needed to get the car ready to hit the road.
Team Z knocked out the assembly phase in no time thanks to their hard-working staff and Rick Jones’ component supply warehouse, QuarterMax Chassis and Racing Components, which filled the orders for most of the build in prompt fashion. As of this writing, Davis has already spent two nights in Oklahoma with the Street Outlaws cast.
Look for the outcome to be revealed down the road on an upcoming episode of Street Outlaws, or pay close attention to social media, where details of these big races tend to leak after some time!