“There is nothing like nitro methane power, the kind that makes 11,000 HP and flames coming out of the pipes,” NHRA Funny Car Driver Alexis DeJoria tells the guys in a candid pre-race sit-down. “We accelerate quicker than a fighter pilot does.” High adrenaline and outsized levels of risk run hand in glove, putting tremendous pressure on the crew chief, the DC Motorsports team, and herself. The ability to maintain laser focus while piloting a 300 mile per hour rocket can mean not just the difference between winning and losing, but between life and death. It’s a physical and emotional rollercoaster ride at maximum speed. “You have the highest highs with this kind of racing and the lowest lows.”

Godzilla is Ford’s latest monster engine, their supersized response to the wildly successful LS platform. Kevin likens it to an LS on steroids with more cubic inches, while today’s guest Doug DeLong of Well Sorted offers it up as further proof of the adage, “there’s no replacement for displacement.” Recently relocated from Denver to Atlanta, Well Sorted is on the forefront of installations and different applications for this powerful beast, “the culmination of a lot of lessons learned” along the way.

Finding a powerful powertrain for an old hot rod or truck is no longer the difficult challenge it once was. Nowadays it’s finding the right rear end that’s the real challenge. Have no fear though, Jon Henson of Currie Enterprises has a plan. “We want to take the voodoo out of a rear end and basically make it an easy purchase, an educated purchase, and something that now you can spec out based on your build and how you’re gonna use the vehicle,” he tells Willie and Kevin. “The ultimate goal is to make sure that at the end of the day when the customer gets in his car and he’s driving and he just wants that freedom, that he’s gonna get that feeling.”