For more than a decade, the name Larry Larson has lived more in legend than in lanes when it comes to drag-and-drive competition. That may be about to change.
Fresh signs of life from Larson’s infamous 1998 Chevy S-10 – a truck that once redefined what “street legal” meant – have reignited speculation that the five-time HOT ROD Drag Week champion could be preparing for a long-awaited return to the drag-and-drive arena.
If that turns out to be the case, the implications are massive.
Larson’s résumé in drag-and-drive competition is unmatched. During his reign at Drag Week, he not only collected overall wins, but rewrote the record book entirely – recording the first six-second pass, the first 200-mph run, and ultimately becoming the first street-legal competitor to dip into the five-second zone. His S-10 didn’t just win events; it changed expectations.
But while Larson never truly left the drag-and-drive scene, his focus shifted. Over the past several years, his attention moved toward no-prep competition and television-driven racing, including prominent appearances on Street Outlaws and No Prep Kings. Drag-and-drive, meanwhile, evolved without its most dominant figure.
Now, signs point to unfinished business.
Behind the scenes, Larson has been quietly developing a radically updated version of his iconic S-10 – and recent testing suggests the combination is not only real, but terrifyingly capable. The truck was recently put through durability testing on a Mainline hub dyno, where it produced an eye-opening 3,500 horsepower at the rear wheels with conservative boost levels according to HOT ROD Magazine.
That number alone would be headline-worthy. But it’s what sits behind it that has the drag-and-drive world buzzing.
At the heart of the S-10 is a 598-cubic-inch billet engine developed by Visner Engine Development. The package is built around a 5.00-inch bore spacing – significantly larger than traditional big-block Chevrolet architecture – allowing for increased displacement while prioritizing stability and longevity. Larson reportedly selected a bore-and-stroke combination designed to favor rod angle and durability, a key consideration for any true drag-and-drive effort.
Notably, the engine utilizes wedge-style cylinder heads rather than the Hemi-style layouts common at this power level. The decision was deliberate, aimed at maintaining valvetrain stability during long street drives. Water jackets in both the block and heads further underscore that this isn’t just a dyno hero – it’s an engine intended to survive real-world miles.
Boost is supplied by a pair of Hart’s 102mm turbochargers, and even at a conservative 50 psi, the combination is already making substantially more power than Larson’s previous setup – the same one that propelled the S-10 to 5.80-second passes at more than 250 mph. Engine management duties are handled by a FuelTech FT600 system, a platform Larson has firsthand experience with dating back to FuelTech’s earliest days in drag racing.
The rest of the drivetrain is equally serious: a Rossler TH400 three-speed with a Pro Torque lockup converter feeds power to a Strange Engineering 11-inch rear housing with a Quick Performance center section, ultimately planting the power through Hoosier slicks.
Put simply, this is not a project that features parts and pieces lying around Larson’s Missouri-based shop.
If Larson does indeed return to drag-and-drive competition – whether at Drag Week, Sick Week, or beyond – the bar for the Unlimited category would move yet again. With five-second capability clearly within reach and durability engineered into the combination, the S-10 instantly becomes a threat to every existing benchmark.
For now, Larson hasn’t publicly confirmed a specific event or timeline. But with testing underway, dyno numbers climbing, and one of drag-and-drive racing’s most famous machines back in motion, the question feels less like if – and more like when.
And if history is any indication, when Larry Larson shows up, the record book won’t be safe for long.
This story was originally published on January 7, 2026. 
