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The bang for the buck is hard to beat.” But Harvey didn’t settle for just any LSX build - he located a stunning and capable piece on the used market that was coming out of a late-model, drag-and-drive Corvette. “It’s so easy to find parts because they are so popular. “I wanted to do drag-and-drive, and the LS reliability is so much better,” Harvey said.

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He then updated the front suspension with aftermarket control arms, switched the steering linkage to manual rack-and-pinion steering setup (yes, the entire front end was still stock Corvette) and fitted Strange Engineering disc brakes to all four corners.įor the powertrain, Harvey continued with the modernization theme and chose an LSX-based engine. On the outside, Harvey kept the original 4-link-suspended Ford 9-inch rearend in it, which is stuffed with Mark Williams 3.89 gears and 40-spline axles. In general, it’s a pretty tight cabin, especially with the 6.50-specified amount of roll cage tubing inside.

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A Big Stuff 3 digital dash provides the driver with the necessary engine information, and a set of Kirkey low-back aluminum racing seats hold the occupants firmly in place. The detail-oriented renovation began with the wiring, as Harvey re-wired the car with help from Drag Week alumnus Shawn Fink and Prodigy Motorsports. It was nice looking, but had no detail inside or underneath.” It was a 7.50-certified chassis and I updated it to a 6.50. “I pretty much tore into it right away, disassembled it, grabbed what I could use. I upgraded it to the LS drivetrain and brought it into the 21st century,” Harvey explained. I changed the drivetrain, color, interior, updated it to my specification. “It’s an old NMCA nitrous car that had a turbo small-block Chevy in it for the last two years,” Harvey said of the C2 Corvette that was a complete car, unlike the Nova when he bought that. He then purchased this 1965 Corvette to build specifically for drag-and-drive events, and he was planning on collecting far quicker time slips than 9 seconds at a hit. Once the pandemic was behind him, he decided to get back in the driver’s seat and focus his efforts on the drag-and-drive events. When Covid hit in 2020, Harvey doubled down on his towing business and sold the Nova to make sure he was able to get through whatever was coming. “I also tried my hand at some street racing during 2019 and raced with Team Wyoming on “Street Outlaws Fastest In America” with JJ Da Boss - that was fun,” he said of his time on the Discovery Channel reality show. He spent the next two years building it and then went out and collected two more outlaw championships in 20. “I was hooked on that style of racing, but I wanted to do it on a higher level.”Īfter that, Harvey decided to build another race car, and picked up a basket case Tim McAmis-built Chevy Nova that was partially finished. “It was awesome - the people, the places, and the cars were very cool,” Harvey said of the experience. The shoebox was a solid 9-second performer.

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“We qualified number one and won every race in the Rocky Mountain Summer Series that year.”ĭuring the 20 racing seasons, Harvey decided to try out the drag-and-drive format and entered a 1955 Chevy at Rocky Mountain Race Week. “I raced with the PSCA and eventually won an Outlaw championship in 2016 with a perfect season,” Harvey said of his exploits. From that, he raced a ’41 Willys with a blown Brad Anderson Hemi engine and did some A/Gas racing before moving into the heads-up realm and racing in Outlaw 10.5 competition. Ready for his next challenge, he stepped up to a blown alcohol combination and raced in the 7.0-second Nostalgia class. Like many teenagers, he started out street racing, but later moved into bracket racing with a small-block-powered dragster. Harvey has had quite an interesting and diverse history in drag racing, to be sure.

Needing a suitable platform for his first drag-and-drive build, Harvey opted for something a little different and purchased this 1965 Corvette as his foundation.

Collins, Colorado’s Kelly Harvey has spent plenty of time on the dragstrip, but saw the drag-and-drive style events as a new challenge. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc., 17030 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614, -and-drive events are no doubt on the rise, and there are more of them held throughout the year than ever before.

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