Justin Martin has been a perennial frontrunner in the Limited Drag Radial (LDR) class, and he’s ready to challenge for a championship in 2021 thanks to his partnership with Callies and Energy Manufacturing.

Martin has worked with Pete Harrell, owner of Harrell Engine & Dyno (HED), for some time and the duo had seen a fair amount of success working with cast big-block Chevy parts. But to really take the team’s LDR program to the next level, Martin and Harrell made the switch to the big-block billet jewelry that Callies and Energy offer. This allowed the team to become more aggressive with tune-ups, make more horsepower, and have an easier time servicing the car between rounds.

Harrell cooked up his recipe for horsepower using an Energy billet block, billet 14.5-degree heads, a billet intake, Jesel steel rocker arms, and an Ultra Boost big-block Chevy crank from Callies. This combination motivated Martin’s 1972 Nova to a 3.94 e.t. in LDR trim during testing for the U.S. Street Nationals this year.

For Harrell, making the switch to these parts was about more than just potential horsepower, it was about making sure the big Chevy would live a longer and healthier life.

“The main reason we use these parts would be durability. Cast stuff just doesn’t do that well when accelerating a 3,325-pound car into the 3-second zone. The billet will take the abuse, and it will hold a head gasket better. On the engine-building side, these parts save me a ton of work, since they will pretty much just bolt together. With the cast stuff, I will often have hours and hours of work to do to get everything meshing together. Not to mention flow…this stuff flows great right out of the box, saving me time in that department,” Harrell explains.

Martin and Harrell learn something every time they take this combination out and plan on refining it even more, this year. With enough track time, Martin thinks they will be able to run consistent 3.90s without putting a lot of stress on this new engine package.