Tina Pierce To Debut New Chevy Colorado Pickup At Drag Week

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Popular Oklahoma racer Tina Pierce, who has made a name for herself in recent years on television and at events around the country, is set to debut her newest racing machine in St. Louis in just over a week with the kickoff to this year’s edition of Drag Week. The new pickup, a one-of-a-kind Chevrolet Colorado, has been in the works since March, when Pierce’s Chevrolet S-10 was heavily damaged in an incident in Louisiana when a blown head gasket spilled fluid under the rear tires, rendering her a passenger as the truck climbed over a guardrail and landed upside down.

11951109_522453697906092_2551161323691553896_nAfter the incident, a decision was made to go an entirely new direction, rather than make repairs to the familiar S-10 that Pierce had become so synonymous with.

“The more power we put to the S-10, the more that it didn’t like it,” said Pierce’s husband, David. “It was becoming kind of unstable, and it was a mild steel chassis, and after the crash, we decided that we weren’t going to rebuild it because we didn’t want to continue to deal with the same issues. So we thought why not go ahead and build something new that’s stronger, that’s chromoly, something a little more modern from front to rear, and something that nobody else had.”

After researching and kicking around some ideas for a unique body style, the Pierce’s purchased a 150,000-mile, used Chevrolet Colorado off a dealer lot and had it stripped down to virtually the bare shell. Rodney Durbin from Rod Works In Tuttle, Oklahoma then constructed the chassis and handled all of the fabrication work that went into the build.

“The worst thing that I had to do was go buy a vehicle from a car lot, drive it home, and completely disassemble it. We paid full price for it,” David says. “But Tina is a country girl and she really likes trucks, and after some considering some other options, like a newer Camaro, we decided to go with the Colorado.”

11904649_522453807906081_3982819698492603755_nThe truck’s chassis is built to 6.50 certification, with a chromoly roll cage and a back half construction that’s tied into the stock framerails. In between the fenders is the very same powerplant that was in the S-10: a 427 cubic inch LSX built by Henson Racing Engines paired with a set of Turbonetics 72mm turbochargers. The power is transferred to the third member via a Powerglide transmission prepared by local builder Larry Wilson, with a PTC torque converter. Out back is a Moser 9-inch rear end housing with 3.73 gears and Moser brakes. The 4-link rear suspension is set up with QA1 double-adjustable shocks, while the front is a fully custom setup built by Rod Works with upper and lower control arms with double-adjustable shocks.

Rod Works built a 17-gallon fuel tank, with five gallons of the tank partitioned for race fuel and the other 12 for pump gas. Ball valves and switches are then used to switch between a pair of fuel pumps (the race pump being an electric model from Aeromotive) depending on the situation.

Inside the cab reside a pair of Kirkey Pro Street seats, while all of the interior pieces, from the dash to the door panels, remain in place. A Kicker radio and stereo system will also give the truck a little added atmosphere on the long drives between Drag Week stops.

Pierce made her first runs on the truck last weekend at the Thunder Valley Raceway Park, making a best pass of 5.81 at 123 mph in the 1/8-mile, leaving on five pounds of boost and peaking at 10 pounds. While the new truck weighs just a hair shy of 700 pounds more than its predecessor, David shared that it’s already nearly as quick, simply because the chassis and the suspension work so much better than the S-10.

“I love the truck. It is completely different than the S-10. For one, they built it for me, so everything is right were I need it to be—the switches, the levers, the pedals, the steering wheel, everything—is built round me, and so that makes it far more comfortable. And it handles 10 times better than the other truck. I’m sure that’s because of how it was built, but it doesn’t twist or do anything crazy. I like it a lot better.”

11828563_515143321970463_6300514642595531992_nIn an effort to avoid any mechanically-related incidents, the Colorado has had all of its overflow and puke tanks placed behind the rear tires. The engine will also have a diaper mounted to contain any parts and fluid.

The Pierce’s will debut the new ride in the Pro Street Power Adder category at Drag Week, where a year ago, Tina successfully completed the week-long event in fifth place in the Unlimited category. From there, they’ll target grudge races, truck events, LS-specific events, and perhaps even Street Outlaws, if they’re extended an invite to return.

“We just built a truck that we could do any kind of event. If we want to bracket race, grudge race, index, heads-up, car shows, whatever it may be, we can do a little bit of everything,” David says.

Tina echoed those sentiments.

 

“We’re racers, and we race—that’s what we do. Whatever we feel like doing, we can. And I feel that in this truck I can be competitive in anything that I do. And it gives me the opportunity to enter into different classes, instead of just something with a tube chassis.”

“We really couldn’t have afforded to do this build without all of the people that have sponsored us and helped us along the way. It really helped us a lot,” David points out. One such backer, Western Door and Plywood in Oklahoma City, provided some considerable support to the project.

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.
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