Car Craft Teases Jeff Lutz’s New Drag Week ’57 Chevy

Defending Drag Week champion will pull the covers off his new build this weekend at Beech Bend.

In the world of fastest street-car drag racing, Jeff Lutz stands as one of the true titans. Outside of his occasional appearances on Street Outlaws, he’s become a legend at HOT ROD Drag Week™. This week, Car Craft Magazine teased Lutz’s newest build, a super-light ‘57 Chevy, that will debut this weekend at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Kentucky and the Tri-Five Nationals.

The Pennsylvania native made a name for himself in an all-black 1957 Chevy on HOT ROD Drag Week™. Over several years, Lutz’s black ‘57 went back and forth with the Chevy Nova of Larry Larson, one of Drag Week’s other heavy hitters. Lutz eventually built a second ‘57, this one all composites and called it the “Evil Twin.” That car took him to his first Drag Week victory.

Lutz upped the ante in 2015 by converting his 1969 Camaro Pro Mod into a street car. At least, it had a license plate and drove on the streets. That Pro Mod remains the quickest and fastest car ever at Drag Week: 6.051 seconds and 251.95 mph.

But now, Lutz has mothballed all of those cars for a fresh ‘57 build. Car Craft’s John McGann visited Lutz Race Cars in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago. He surely will have the scoop when the car goes public.

However, McGann mentioned that Lutz will run a twin-turbo Big Block Chevy displacing 540 cubic inches with output expected at more than 3,000 horsepower. With a total weight somewhere around 2,400 pounds, we wonder if Lutz might finally stick a Drag Week car into the 5s.

One thing’s for sure: A whole lotta eyes will be looking for updates from Beech Bend this weekend.

See the rest of Car Craft’s photos right here.

[Photos: Car Craft Magazine]