Greetings Tuned lovers, for this post I decided to take a more serious, factual approach. Why? Lord knows, but here we go. I came to the realization that while I often post about my racing exploits, I have never posted any pictures, or much info, about my Nova. Well I decided to change that. Hollywood and I filmed an episode documenting the Nova and its 80% edited and soon should be up. But today I want to talk about my team. Because behind every awesome driver, is an awesome team. So here they are.
Let's go left to right shall we? First, we have Rags our number 2 mechanic. Rags is old school. He's been doing this since the 1960s. He tuned Mr. S. back in the day and is a fan of doing things the really old school way. Need proof? He likes to use Orange Soda as traction compound. "It's sticky isn't it?" Yup, mind officially blown. He's also our leading safety advocate, and like everyone else is horrified by my "never lift ever" driving style. Most of Rag's warnings end with "or else will be cutting you out of that damn thing!"
Next is Mr. S. himself. The true man behind the horsepower. The without whom none of this would be possible. He owns Sincavage Lumber and half our team. He's our sponsor and team boss. He's the Roger Penske to my Mark Donahue. He drove a chevelle in the late '60s and was a pretty decent driver. He's more focused on the manager role now, refusing any seat time (so far) and instead trying to tame my insanity with reason and team orders. He is a ri\dculous amount of fun, especially when he and Rags go off about touring back in the day. His Steve McQueen type persona is also quite neat. We have one of the few teams where the owner has as much (if not more) charisma than the driver.
Speaking of which, next in line is me, acting like the disinterested driver and pulling off the look like a boss.
After me is the Old Man, co-owner and crew chief. The Old Man has over 35 years experience spinning wrenches, and has been crew chief on several race teams, including a Pro Mod team during the early period of the class. He often found adjusting suspension setting and tire pressures and screaming at me for some small offense behind the whell that only he sees. He's also our number two driver and will get behind the wheel to dial in the car's baseline so I can hop in and run banzai laps, which I prefer.
Last, but not least, we have Neil. Neil is another mechanic, and my driving coach/therapist. He has the unenviable job of talking me down from the bell tower, day in and day out. Neil will often be found sticking his head in the cockpit, trying to keep me from killing someone. Poor bastard. He is a superb driver in his own right pedaling a '76 Nova with a dyno proven 768bhp that runs 10.90s.
Now every driver claims they have the best crew in the world, but I actually do. Know why? Because they put up with me. I'm a diva, a prima donna, whatever you want to call me. I'm never happy with the car, ever. I yell, I scream, I bitch, and they put up with it and go to work, giving me the fastest mount possible. Kinda sweet of them, they could set the car up to kill me, but they resist that temptation. They are better men than me.
Speaking of my mount, the video will be up soon, promise. Stayed Tuned!
On the inside nothing much has changed. The same interior that was used the last few years. Oddly enough the impala comes standard with the 5 passenger floor mounted shifter. If one wants to upgrade to a 6 passenger sedan with column mounted shifter it is an extra $200.00. Quite backward in my opinion being that it is probably cheaper to mount the shifter on the column then build a center console. 
Now for the best part the new 3.6 liter DOHC, VVT, direct injected engine V6. This engine makes 300 horsepower and 262 lbs of torque. The past V6's were a 3.5 V6 which made 211hp and the 3.9 which made 230 hp (which I believe is in the current Impala police interceptor cars). This new power plant also makes 1 less hp and 71 fewer pounds of torque then the dead V8 SS Impala. This engine is in GM vehicles across the lineup such as in the Traverse, CTS, Malibu and Camaro. The car also features a new transmission from a dated 4 speed to a new 6 speed.
I told the owner of the car you did a great job building the car, i like the fact you didn't put a Chevy V8 in it. He was quick to respond "it is not that hard to put a Ford in it." and he appreciated the comment. Don't get me wrong the 32 in American Graffiti had a Chevrolet engine in it and that is by far one of my favorite movie cars. I just have more respect if it is built with a engine of the same manufacture. 
