Twice As Nice – This 8-Second Sleeper Nova Gets a Second Turbo in Preparation for the Street Race Class at Sick Week 2025
Although some may recognize this 1972 Chevrolet Nova as a regular participant on Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, its performance still catches a lot of people off guard.
The ‘plain brown wrapper’ appearance, complete with hub caps instead of flashy wheels, doesn’t give the appearance of 8-second potential. And for 2025, the Boosted By Rhino and Jimmy Rinehart-tuned Nova will kick the performance up another level in time for Sick Week 2025.
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Jimmy was tasked to put this Nova together for owner Drew Fleming, the car’s owner, who normally joins Jimmy in the co-pilot seat. Jimmy chose a Texas Speed 5.3-liter short block with a BTR camshaft, topped the short block with Trick Flow cylinder heads, a Holley Mid Ram intake, and a 76/75-millimeter turbocharger.
An overdrive 4L80E transmission with an FTI Performance converter sends the power to the Quick Performance 9-inch rear end. Jimmy added an 8.50-legal chromoly roll cage to the interior, but kept the sleeper theme with a full factory interior featuring the stock column shifter, and added in a Dakota Digital dash and Vintage Air.
When the car participated in the first Sick Week in 2022, it was in the new Bulls Eye Challenge class. Using a different 2-digit number to crown a new winner at each track in the event, Drew’s Nova scored the second place finish on the Gainesville Raceway and Bradenton Motorsports Park days. Jimmy coaxed the Nova to a 10.58 average for the week.
“Sick Week 2022 was our first event with the car, and it performed flawless and we ran 10-second passes all week,” said Jimmy.
For round two at the 2023 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, Jimmy made a few changes, got his NHRA competition license, and turned up the Nova’s power output to jump into the Sick Street Race class.
The Nova delivered a trio of low 9-second passes, but at the end of day three at South Georgia Motorsports Park, they discovered a broken ring land and decided to call their week a bit short.
The car was fixed in time to make the first Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes in 2023, and completed the week in the Pro Dial Your Own (DYO) class with a 9.23 average and a fourth-place finish.
The Nova also participated in some races local to Jimmy and Drew, including the Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship.
Returning to Sick Week in 2024, the Nova cracked the 8-second world wide open, with an 8.65 at 155 mph on day one. They nipped a head gasket in the process, but thanks to fellow competitors Randy Fuller and Cole Sammartino, they got it fixed and completed the week with an 8.92 average.
“The goal was to get that 8 second pass,” said Jimmy. “We’d been 9.04 at 145 mph before Sick Week, and I think we're about at the limit of the turbo.”
So, for the 2025 edition of Sick Week, Jimmy is making some changes, ditching the single turbo for a pair of 67-millimeter versions to crank up the power and boost a tad more.
Jimmy also handled the installation of an air-to-water intercooler, plus the new piping for the twins. “We’re just hoping for 8.5-second passes without hurting it,” Jimmy said.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Jimmy Rinehart.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com