NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Multitime NHRA Top Fuel national event winner Doug Herbert has his eyes set on a 500-mph tribute to his late father, Chet, and sons Jon and James when he powers his The Beast NextGen streamliner on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, in the not-too-distant future.

While the streamliner is still under final construction, Herbert will bring it to Bonneville this Friday, July 31, to gain the blessing of the Southern California Timing Association’s (SCTA) technical staff before the machine’s build is completed. Although The Beast NextGen will not run during the 2026 Bonneville Speedweek, it will preview what piston-powered, wheel-driven fans can expect in the near future. The Beast NextGen’s specs qualify it for AA/BFS, SCTA’s top-tier piston-driven, supercharged fueled streamliner class.

The story behind The Beast NextGen project may sound familiar. Many father-and-son build projects have dotted hot-rodding history, strengthening relationships across generations. Chet Herbert was a hot rod innovator, who, beyond his drag racing success in the 1950s–1970s, built record-setters for Bonneville. Many of those creations have shared the Beast name. Discussion and plans for The Beast NextGen were well underway when Chet Herbert passed away in 2009. Chet’s passing came a short time after the unimaginable loss of Doug’s teenage sons, Jon and James, who lost their lives in a tragic car crash and led to the founding of the B.RA.K.E.S. teen safety driving course.

“I imagined this latest The Beast NextGen as a final project for me and my aging father to do together,” Doug explained. “I was overwhelmed when so many reached out to me at the lowest point in my life.”

NASCAR legend Ray Evernham volunteered to help with expert engineering support. Dr. Eric Warren, now VP of General Motors Racing, performed the aerodynamic analysis. Greg Fornelli, president of Stock Car Steel & Aluminum, provided materials. And Jeff "Pancho” Weaver has taken on the chassis fabrication along with Sprint Car champion Brad Noffsinger.

“I am so fortunate to have many great friends and experts involved in my project,” Doug stated. “It has been absolutely incredible to work with these extremely talented and dedicated folks. And this car could never have gotten to this point without the help of Tim Rose and Rodger Comstock; it just would have never happened.”

The four-wheel-drive streamliner is 35 feet long, while very narrow at only 36 inches wide. It is powered by twin Dodge Viper, ProCharger-supercharged, V-10 engines, which run on methanol fed by Fuel Tech EFI (electronic fuel injection). Each will produce an estimated 2,500 hp. They will drive through twin 6XD Transmissions, custom B&J differentials at the front and rear supplied by Mike Strasburg, with Goodyear racing tires putting the power to the ground. The limited-travel suspension is controlled by JRI shocks, while aerodynamic carbon fiber body panels have been produced at Symmetrix with RevChem composites.

Along the way, the project has also received valuable assistance from David Grubnic and the John Force Racing team, Steve Watt and the Speed Demon team, Wayne Jesel and Jesel Valvetrain, Keith and Jeff Dorton’s Automotive Specialists, and NASCAR Champion Mike Wallace, who loaned the trailer that is transporting the vehicle to Bonneville.

Per SCTA rules, the driver is protected by a steel roll cage. Within that cocoon, a custom-fitted seat has been built by Randy Lajoie’s Lajoie of Seating company, and driver restraints will be provided by Trevor Ashline, president of ESS - Engineered Safety Systems.

Herbert is eager to get the input of the SCTA technical staff to identify any additional necessary precautions. “Lee Kennedy [SCTA’s Car Technical Committee Chair] encouraged me to bring The Beast NextGen here this week, even if we are not ready to race, to give it a proper inspection, before I got too far along,” he explained.

In addition to attempting to be the world’s fastest in its class, Herbert is looking at other ways to deploy The Beast NextGen, including as a STEM program to educate young students, or to be displayed at B.R.A.K.E.S. training sessions across the country. Ultimately, Herbert would like to find a brand that could take advantage of this incredible opportunity as a marketing program, possibly streaming the record-setting event live from Bonneville.

“I believe The Beast NextGen project can have reach beyond just going fast,” he said. “I’m searching for ways it can be used to excite young people about racing and the technology of building things by hand, just as I was, by what my father did years ago.”