Fans of Discovery Channel’s car-building and street-racing reality show Street Outlaws were saddened to learn that Shawn Ellington, aka Murder Nova, had split up with his long-time racing partner, Justin Shearer, aka Big chief. They have been each other’s wingman for many years. With the show now in its 13th season, fans have invested in the well-executed engineering tango between Shawn and Chief.
Murder Nova and Big Chief.
The two have been building and tuning racing cars together since the 2000s. Just like Batman and Robin, they are a dynamic duo with complementary skills in car building. Consequently, their partnership resulted in the birth of some of the fastest street racing cars that could take on almost any chest-thumping competitor. The two have built some great cars like OG Murder Nova, Murder Nova, The Crow, and The Crow Mod.
Why did Murder Nova and Big Chief split up?
Their split became apparent when the two stopped posting pictures together on social media and also started attending races separately. For example, Shawn went to the Pro Mod Races alone while Big Chief went to the No Prep Kings Races by himself.
Additionally, Shawn’s social media pictures are lacking the Midwest Street Cars Automotive watermark and tags. Now, his pictures contain the 187 Customs watermarks and tags. Moreover, Shawn and Phantom (who does social media) recently opened a shop named 187 Customs.
Consequently, fans have been worried that Big Chief and Shawn experienced a fall out with each other and that their friendship had come to an end. However, there’s more than meets the eye.
Firstly, we want to confirm that the two haven’t ended their friendship. To illustrate, Big Chief went on record to clarify that they absolutely still love each other with Shawn, enough to be willing to go separate ways to chase bigger dreams.
Moreover, Big Chief clarified that the two have different passions when it comes to cars; Shawn is more into the DIY restoration of old cars, while Big Chief is more into drag racing since he was young. For Big Chief, his love for old cars is a by-product of his passion for drag racing, while Shawn’s love for drag racing is the result of his love for restoring old cars.
As such, the dynamic duo chose to follow their hearts to realize their dreams and goals. Fans can rest easy knowing that the two may be apart professionally, but they are still together at heart.