Deep in the heart of North Texas, where 1,000 horsepower—on methanol of course—is table stakes, the NASROD was born. Well, not so much born as fashioned, in line with Jessie Jewart’s vision of a ’30s pickup infused with modern motorsports tech.
Mastermind of the NASROD, Jewart is the proprietor of Jessie’s Performance, a modification shop outside Dallas. He took over the 1932 Ford project from a friend in Wyoming who’d tired of it, and he spent the following year fitting the NASROD with, in his words, a “stirring pot of everything.”
Applying learned skill and what he calls “redneck math,” Jewart created a vehicle that appears both haphazard and highly engineered, and—if he’s not judicious with the throttle—can snap an axle like a sycamore tree in a Blackland Prairie twister. Indeed, at the time of filming, the drivetrain was still a work in progress, as you’ll see on the opening episode of American Tuned series three.
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Jewart reveals the NASROD makes four figures’ worth of horsepower from a 500 cubic-inch, naturally aspirated LSR V8 built by Steve Morris Engines of Muskegon, Michigan. With a solid roller 0.800+ lift camshaft and 14.5:1 compression, it’s a powerhouse created as much for show as for speed and smoky performances. A Tremec Magnum six-speed transmission with an S1 sequential shifter puts power down through—wait for it—an SCS billet “mud truck” transfer case. Yes, in defiance of the NASCAR rulebook, the NASROD can light up all four gumballs thanks to a Duramax front differential.
Then there’s the pushrod suspension, the trophy truck steering rack, and other bits that give it a sense that its home state’s entire motorsports legacy, from Texas Motor Speedway to Southwest Texas Off-Road Racing’s El Paso 200, exists somewhere within the NASROD, at least in spirit.
With inspiration from stock-car and open-wheel racing, a few truck parts, and the patina-dappled body, this “NASCAR hot rod” is a testament to the power of stylistic fusion. It’s a vehicle that could only spring from the creativity, ingenuity, and passion that defines the Lone Star State’s multilayered car culture. Just be careful with those axles.
1,000hp NASROD on American Tuned:
More photos of the NASROD:
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
