Jake Nolan 16, Florida, USA

When it was announced that Summernats was teaming up with Cleetus McFarland’s Freedom Factory to stage the first-ever ’Nats USA event in Florida earlier this year Jake Nolan and his dad decided to whip together a cheap burnout beast for the event. What happened next surprised everyone.

First published in the August 2026 issue of Street Machine

Jake, your dad tells us Summernats USA was your very first time driving a burnout car.
How did you do?

I did pretty good – I won first place and $500 in the Development class! Then I came fifth and won another $150 at Burnout Rivals a few weeks later; that’s when I called out Cleetus.

Wait, you called out Cleetus?

Yeah, we made a video after Summernats and I called out Cleetus to challenge me in the Open class with a naturally aspirated car, but he brought out Lumberjack instead, which has a turbo LS, and he smashed his driveshaft. He told me afterwards that I did a great burnout and he was trying to keep up with me and went too hard. When I asked if that meant I won the call-out, he said that I’d won.

That’s awesome! So, what is your car? It doesn’t look like anything we have in Australia.

It’s a 1989 Chevy Cavalier, which is normally a front-wheel-drive car, but my dad and I mounted it to an S10 chassis we had here. We also fitted a 6.0-litre LS engine and a 4L80E to it, and the rear end is out of a Chevy Tahoe. It cost us about $2000 to build.

Was the conversion difficult?

Dad reckons the hardest part was the firewall and making it work with the LS, but we kept the stock Cavalier floorpan and welded it to the pick-up chassis. We built it all in just three weeks.

Summernats USA was your first event; then you did Burnout Rivals – also at the Freedom Factory – not long after. Have you been anywhere else?

Yeah, we also went to the Burnout Rivals event up at Indy in May, and then took the car across to New Jersey and flew home for a couple of weeks before we went back for the Burnout Nationals in New York.

So, you guys have been doing some serious miles then – that can’t be cheap?

Yeah, we’ve been doing some fundraising for tyres and fuel and stuff. We’ve also been looking for sponsors to help out. The truck blew a radiator on the way up to Indy, so that made things more expensive.

Are you planning to do the next Summernats USA event in Indianapolis in September?

Yeah, we just got done doing test hits in the driveway. We’ve got some new upgrades for the car from Texas Speed – some lifters, pushrods and a stage two cam – and we’re getting ready to go up to Summernats in Indy. I just want to thank everyone that donated; it’s been awesome.

BE A YOUNG GUN!
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