Renowned chassis builder Larry Larson is going back to his roots for season seven of Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings, and Drag Illustrated recently visited his shop in Oak Grove, Missouri, for an exclusive look at the progress on his brand new ‘66 Chevy II.
“It’s kind of been my go-to for 30-plus years,” Larson said regarding the body style. “I tried to make the car as light as we could, which I’ve never done. Every time I build one, I try to make something a little bit better, a little bit nicer. It’s got a few new little things – people will just have to look and see if they can find it.”
While the car won’t be ready in time for the season opener April 19-20 at Maple Grove Raceway, Larson says he hopes to have it done in just over a month. That would allow him to debut it May 24-25 at Flying H Dragstrip, his home track just outside Kansas City.
The current plan is for the Chevy II to sport the same paint scheme as his original steel street car that garnered him an unprecedented five consecutive Hot Rod Drag Week titles. It will feature an MH7 Hemi under the hood, but a decision on the potential power adder is still up in the air.
“I’ve got it set up where I can run a centrifugal supercharger, or I can put either a single turbo or twin turbos on it,” said Larson. “I’ve left myself open on a lot of those areas. If the tracks are anything like they were at the last 4-5 races, the turbo cars will do really well. If we go back to how the tracks were 3-4 years ago – not very good on the big end – then the turbos will fall off again.”
Over the past few seasons, Larson competed in his gorgeous Cadillac ATS-V. But with a buyer waiting in the wings for the last year, Larson finally decided it was time to make a change – by going back to where he started.
“I really liked the car, but it was a good time to do something different,” Larson said about selling the Cadillac. “It was an all-steel car, and it was a little overweight for NPK. I wanted to build something lighter and take advantage of the 25 lb. weight break for an older body style.”
In addition to racing on the NPK circuit, Larson is also setting up the Chevy II for multiple styles of racing, with some unique chassis adjustments available to him depending on where he wants to compete.
“I made it where I can move the motor up and down a couple inches, move it front to rear a couple inches,” said Larson. “That way I have some things I can try, and if I want to put small tires on it and do some of this crazy small tire stuff going on, I can really shove the motor back and maybe be competitive in that too.”
Larson’s new car is just one of many that have debuted over the past couple seasons of No Prep Kings. With an increasingly brutal schedule and big money on the line at every event, the race to remain competitive is never-ending. Larson has been a part of it since the fourth race of season one, and learned to adapt as the series continues to evolve.
“It’s come so far from where it started,” Larson said. “It started out as a bunch of street racers from the 405. But like with any heads-up series out there, money always starts to float to the top. Now it’s to the point where almost everybody is paying a tuner or crew to come in. They’re bringing two different cars with two different combinations so they can run whatever they think will be fast that weekend. The team deal put a new spin on things last year, but going back to an individual series this season, your destiny is in your own hands. It’s probably better for everyone in the long run.”
This story was originally published on April 12, 2024. 
