Street Outlaws star Justin “Big Chief” Shearer was met with more than his share of skepticism when he announced that he had plans to run Radial vs the World at Lights Out 7 last month. Shearer had only a week to test before heading to SGMP for Donald Long’s wild-west shootout, resulting in a DNQ despite running a solid 4.18 in qualifying. Chief then decided to take another shot at radial racing’s premier eliminator at the Outlaw Street Car Reunion III in Memphis.

Shearer showed up ready to do battle with the quickest radial cars on the planet, and even the most stringent cynic would have to say he held his own. Justin wasted no time making waves, landing at the No. 5 spot on the ladder with a stellar 4.03 from his Butler Performance-powered ’68 Firebird, dubbed the CrowMod. He then ripped off another 4.03 in round one to take out the nitrous-injected Corvette of Shay Loveday. Shearer received a bye in round two when Tim Slavens was unable to return after his win in the opening frame.

Shearer was primed to take on Marty Stinnett’s brand new twin turbo Mustang in the third round, and would have won, as Stinnett had to back off the line as Chief was staging, but the tree malfunctioned. The delay for the tree gremlins allowed time for the track to cool, thus ending the racing for good.

With his pair of 4.03 passes, Shearer surpassed his engine builder, Rodney Butler, to take the title of quickest Pontiac-powered doorslammer in history, and he held his own against the quickest radial tire cars on the planet. “The fans and kids in Memphis were great. I’m very proud of my team and my friends, I wish we could have finished the race,” said Shearer of his weekend. “I do feel like with my performance this weekend, and my driving, we had a shot.”

Video credit: Urban Hillbilly Videos