After a Solid Year of Results, Brian Acton’s Nova Getting Updates for Upcoming Drag-and-Drive Events
It all started by purchasing a 1970 Chevrolet Nova in 2003 for Brian Acton. Just two years later, the first Hot Rod Drag Week was held, and the drag-and-drive life hooked Brian instantly.
“I have been following Drag Week since 2005,” Brian said. “These events have always been on my bucket list.”
With his kids off to school and life and an empty house in 2017, Brian decided it was time to put a plan into action for making the Nova into a single-digit contender.
Together with his “partner-in-crime” Christie Klever, the 1970 Nova project was underway. They decided to compete in their first Drag Week in 2018, wheeling a 1988 Ford Mustang, and scoring a 10.23 average in the Street Machine Eliminator class, finishing just outside the top ten.
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Fast-forward to 2021, and the Nova was complete with a late-model LS-swap, a single turbocharger and enough power to crack single-digit passes. Brian brought the Nova to the Midwest Drags that year, but his first event would unfortunately end short of the finish line with problems.
Brian would try his hand at the 2021 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week, and in the highly-competitive Street Race Small Block Power Adder class, a best pass of 8.77 at 153 mph and an 8.87 average gave Brian an eighth-place finish out of 34 entries in the class.
By the 2022 season, Brian and co-pilot Jay Blanchard had made some improvements to the Nova, and countered his Did Not Finish result from the Midwest Drags one year earlier with a stellar 8.516 average and a class win!
The duo would look to back up the winning efforts at Hot Rod Drag Week, and they battled it out with Dustin Trance to the wire, finish second with an 8.53 average to the 8.514 of Trance.
This season found Brian and Jay starting their season a bit earlier than before, bringing the Nova from Michigan to Florida for the 2023 edition Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, entering the Sick Street Race class.
Starting the week with an 8.68 put Brian a bit behind the leaders in the 8.50-limited class, but he rebounded very well, with four passes with 8.51 and 8.55 to net an 8.57 average and the third spot in the class.
Earlier this week, Brian made a Facebook post stating “we feel like it’s time to not be so secretive about the ‘upgrades’ we’ve been discussing for the last few months.” Trick Tuning and Performance handled an intercooler upgrade, sliding a Garrett – Advancing Motion cooler into place to combat elevated temps and dropping pressures on the old core.
Brian also changed shocks to a set of AFCO Racing units, and the testing results have been promising, showing 60-foot times only three hundredths of-a-second off personal-bests with the power turned down.
“These events are the ultimate test of man and machine and that’s what drives me,” said Brian. “The sense of accomplishment when you finish the week is SO satisfying!”
“The drives between tracks are always great, and there is always a story and great memories from each day,” he continued. “We have also met some great people during these events that have become true friends!”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Brian Acton and Sick the Magazine.