Jerry “Monza” Johnston, one of the OG’s of the “Street Outlaws” television series, has been known since the very beginning for the 1972 split-bumper Camaro he has updated, upgraded, and transformed into a thoroughbred race car over the last decade. But last year Johnston, recognizing the need for a more purpose-built car, commissioned CJ Race Cars in Lakeland, Florida, to build him a new piece for the “Street Outlaws: No-Prep Kings” series. The subsequent creation, dubbed “Bad Attitude,” rolled out of the shop this weekend for all to see, and it’s even more eye-catching than the famed black Camaro.
Johnston’s 1970 Chevelle has the best of the best when it comes to fabrication and components. The powertrain of choice is one of Pro Line Racing’s MH7 billet Hemi engines, which is the latest and greatest from the engine builder and features a new port design on the cylinder heads, upgraded lifter size, and a different cam profile than the MH6 design. This changes are said to be worth 150-200 horsepower in Outlaw configuration, with the MH7 producing around 3,400-3,500 methanol-fueled horsepower.
Boosting the Hemi is a ProCharger F4-140-1 supercharger and an M&M Transmission Turbo 400 transmission and torque converter delivers it to the track.
The carbon-fiber doors and front end were sourced from Glasstek, and safety equipment came from White Safety Equipment. Aeromotive is onboard to keep the two sets of fuel injectors flowing, and the Chevelle is rolling on Race Star wheels.
With the Chevelle set to debut in just a matter of days, however, Johnston, one of the series’ top stars, dropped a bombshell Tuesday, revealing to his fans on social media that financial constraints will keep him from participating in the “No Prep Kings” series in 2023.
“Due to some unfortunate circumstances Team Monza will not be doing NPK this year,” Johnson stated. “This sucks, we finally got a car that would compete. I guess life happens. This is a heartbreaker for me. Sorry to all [of] our fans, but it’s out of our control. Just isn’t in the budget this year. Seems we lost about two-thirds of our budget. We will take some time and figure out what’s next for us. Thank you to our fans for always being there for us.”
Whether Johnston’s decision prevents the Chevelle from racing at all remains to be seen. With the grueling “No Prep Kings” schedule and the costs associated with keeping cars of this caliber running, there are certainly a number of intriguing racers that any prospective sponsor could and should partner with, and Johnston is certainly one of them. Jerry and his son, Brandon, have fought the good fight for five seasons of “No Prep Kings” with a car a step behind the rest in technology, and it’s no doubt a shame to see their efforts halted while on precipice of newfound competitiveness with this new car. We all certainly can’t to see this Chevelle in the wild, and likewise see what it can do, so we hope this isn’t the last of we see of it or the Johnson’s this season.