In addition to the “cool factor” of mega-horsepower cars traversing distances once thought inconceivable, the drag-and-and-drive movement has also been defined by fast cars with show-car good looks. And newcomer Jackie “Jax” Kirtley’s 1966 Chevrolet Nova is precisely that, with both the performance and aesthetics to make it a instant crowd-favorite when its debuts in 2024.

Kirtley, the fiance of Gerald Goad, brother to Street Outlaws star James “Reaper” Goad, has steadily climbed the performance ladder in drag racing, with her next move behind the wheel of this potentially 6-second-capable beauty.

“When we first met, she had a little Subaru WRX, and she wanted to go the track and race,” Gerald explains. “She had a blast, and so she tells James that she wants to go faster. We’re driving back from James’ house in Edmond [Oklahoma] one night, and in that span of time, James calls and tells us we’ve got to go San Antonio, he found her a drag car. So four o’clock that same morning we take off and she buys this big-tire ’64 Chevelle with a naturally aspirated big-block. It ran 5.70s, she had fun in it, but then she heard about drag-and-drive racing and wanted to go compete in, and win, one of those major events. So that’s when we started building this thing.”

Goad says the car “kind of snowballed” into what it is now. “It just evolved — it was never supposed to be this super, pretty little car. It was supposed to be a drag car. But my buddies that paint all my cars wanted to take the project on, and they put this amazing Velocity Blue Candy Pearl paint job on it, in three weeks time, and it came out way prettier than it needed to be.”

Gerald and James’ other brother, Chris, built the chassis at his Shawnee Metal Works business. The Nova is powered by a 434 cubic inch small-block Chevrolet built by Thitek Performance, featuring a Dart Iron Eagle block, Brodix symmetrical port heads, billet rods, and other components designed to make big power. Boosted is provided by a set of 86/85 Precision turbos, an ATI Pro Mod Turbo 400 drivers the power back to a Strange Engineering 9-inch rearend via a Dynamic Drivelines carbon-fiber driveshaft, and the whole thing rides on Santhuff shocks front and rear.

The car, Gerald says, utilizes virtually everything out of Holley’s catalog, including the EFI system, chassis wiring, headlights, and so on. It has two completely separate fuel systems, and can be driven on pump gas and methanol. “The Holley will manage all that for us. We set it up very simple — we wanted a pump gas tune to drive the car on, get to the racetrack, put it on methanol, and go full-boogie with it.”

Roadrunner Performance provided all of the plumbing hardware for the Nova — a partnership which brought Gerald, Chris, and Kirtley all to the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show to display in its booth.

The hood and deck lid are carbon-fiber, the bumpers fiberglass, and the rest is all steel. The finished dry weight was just a hint over 2,800 pounds, and it tips the scales at just 3,000 pounds with Jacky in the seat and the tanks loaded with fuel for the long trip.

Gerald and Jax are eyeing the Ultimate Iron class, which they’ll run on 315 drag radials.

“I don’t think we’ll have to lean on the car real hard to run 6.80s, and it should be durable and dependable,” Gerald says. “The reason we went with the small-block, as much as I’m an LS guy, I like the strength of a conventional small-block short block, and the airflow of this engine. This engine has a lot of the same characteristics as an LS as far as valve angle, airflow, so it’s a lot like an LS. I think it’ll give us the horsepower you get out of an LS, with the durability you get out of an old-school small-block.”

The Nova currently has five road miles on it, and hasn’t yet been final-tuned for the track. “We’ll probably spend the spring months trying to get the car lined out,” Gerald shares. “I’ve talked to a couple of seasoned Drag Week guys that might get involved to help us do some of the tuning and chassis setup. And we need to get her in the car and get her comfortable — she’s going from a car that ran 8.80s to one that can go 6.80s, and that’s a big step. She likes road racing, too so it’s just matter of finding time to get out and test. We’re hoping this summer we can do Sick 66 or one of those other events in the summer or fall.”