Rob Cox displayed extra patience as Jerry Bickel Race Cars built his trick new Pro Modified 2018 Camaro following the devastating shop fire at Bickel’s Moscow Mills, Missouri facility last year.

Following the fire that destroyed a large building containing multiple customer cars at Jerry Bickel Race Cars, Cox received “the unlucky call” in March 2017. Jerry told Cox his race car was part of the devastation and was a total loss.

“I bought a 2007 Bickel car from Jake Harrison and had it down there for some updates,” Cox says. “It was personally tough seeing the emailed photos of my new race car in ruins. You could barely see the car among the burned debris inside the building. Jerry performed above and beyond to make up for all the problems. While JBRC built the replacement Camaro, I raced my drag radial Firebird last summer.”

So, 10-months later Cox has a goal to get his car on the track by May. He intends to compete in various NMCA and PDRA events near his Michigan home. Fresh from the Bickel paint shop, the Camaro boasts an Elite Motorsports-built 529 cubic-inch, five-inch bore big-block Chevy setup. The engine is equipped with a Haltech fuel injection system mated to twin 94mm Garrett Gen-II turbochargers. Cox says the proven engine design now uses a lower compression ratio piston as the combination steps up from the previous 88mm turbos.

A five-speed Liberty Gears transmission backs a Quick Drive torque converter drive. The drivetrain is finished out back with a Bickel-fabricated, Ford-style housing for an 11-inch ring and pinion combination.

Cox is ready to get the car on the track but noted, “I’m anxious to race as soon as possible, but both my trucking company and industrial trailer manufacturing business have me very busy this spring.”

The car is currently receiving the wiring and finishing touches at fellow Pro Modified racer Steve Summers’ shop.