Photo by Jim Tate Mike DeVos is shown with his pride and joy, a 1971 Chevelle SS.

The Chevelle SS owned by Mike DeVos of Marshall is not your grandmother’s version of the automobile, which was introduced to the American public in 1964.

Your grandmother’s Chevelle, for instance, did not include two parachutes mounted on the back, to help slow it down after reaching a speed of 160 miles per hour in the eighth-mile drag race.

There’s where DeVos’ 1971 Chevelle SS differs from other vehicles. And while there’s many Chevelles that have been restored by car enthusiasts across the country, there’s few that have been modified to the degree that DeVos has modified his.

DeVos is the owner of Mike’s Flooring, which he started in 2001. He built the current shop on South Eighth Street in 2018, and that’s where he stores his Chevelle.

“We handle all types of flooring — carpet, tile, hardwood,” he said. “We do both commercial and residential.”

Mike’s Flooring doesn’t sell the project, but installs it. He has one full-time employee.

DeVos is a Marshall native who started out professionally as a pipe fitter with Brownlee & Hayes of Marshall.

“I was spending a lot of time on the road and the kids were young. I was looking for something else,” he said.

He took a job with Floor to Ceiling in Marshall and “Lowell (Matthys) gave me the opportunity to attend flooring school in Austin,” he explained.

That career shift was an important one for him, and eventually led to him starting Mike’s Flooring.

As for his Chevelle SS, it’s a continuation of an interest in that model that he had way back in high school.

“I had a couple of them in high school that I raced,” he explained.

The Chevelle SS is the same car he had last year, but there’s been numerous improvements since then, starting with the chassis, which has been both lightened and strengthened. “It looks like the same car but it’s totally different,” he said. “Last year I’d run about 4.50 (seconds) in the eighth-mile, which is about 160 miles per hour. I’m not quite sure what this one will do yet. I’m anxious to find out.”

The engine is 565 cubic inches and runs on alcohol, he said. “It has three nitrus kits and produces about 1,780 horsepower.”

DeVos got out racing for many years, but the love of the sport percolated to the surface when he purchased the Chevelle in 2019 from a seller from Kentucky.

He wan with his cousin Jason Dwire at a race in Casper, Wyoming, when they found the vehicle. “Jason is the main tuner for the car now,” said DeVos.

DeVos leaves it to the experts to tune and set up the car. It’s his job to get behind the wheel and keep it straight going down the drag strip. The interior of the vehicle reminds you of a fighter jet. “It’s an adrenalin rush,” he said. “I just go along for the ride and hope everything goes right.”

He competes in both quarter-mile and eighth-mile events, both regionally, and across the country. “Grove City, Thunder Valley in South Dakota, Humboldt, Iowa, and a couple down south.” He also has run in Arkansas, and Wyoming. “The bigger races, and bigger purses, are in the south.”

His season runs from the start of May through October.

“There haven’t been any bad accidents so far,” he said, knocking on wood.

This year’s vehicle looks similar to last year’s, “but pretty much everything is new,” he said. “It hasn’t been on a track yet. It has a new chassis and refinements.”

“The technology is the most updated you can get,” said DeVos. “It’s the latest and greatest.”

The changes to the car are an attempt to “get rid of weight. This chassis is lighter, stronger and more forgiving.”

The chassis was built by Brando Speed in Fairfax, Iowa. “We hauled it down to him a year ago.” The car set-up is done by Mark Niebes from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “For big races, Mark will come with us,” said DeVos. The body work and paint were done by Kent Willms of Kent’s Auto Body from Willmar.

The words “Flirting’ With Disaster” are on the air scoop, the name of a 1979 southern rock anthem by the band Molly Hatchet. “I had a car in high school with a mural of that on it, and it fits this car,” said DeVos.

The sport isn’t cheap, he said. “Like anything else, it gets more expensive. Back in high school you’d beg and borrow for parts.”

DeVos has three children — Jessica Guetter, Marshall; Spenser Christensen, Marshall; and Chancey DeVos, Marshall. He has five grandchildren — from age 19 down to 5 months — and is engaged to Malinda Searcy.