This article is courtesy of Engine Builder.
Chris and Malissa Jervis are two prime examples passionate industry folks looking to compete in the market as a family-run diesel shop. They share their passion and investment in the community, which gets so many of us excited about the industry. Both the diesel and performance automotive community exudes a love that often travels through generations for exactly that reason.
That’s certainly the case for Chris and Malissa. The couple initially went to high school together. However, it wasn’t until later on that they reacquainted out on the racetrack.
“Her family is big into street racing, and at the time I was racing,” Chris Jervis says. “Low and behold, here we are 11 years later with junior dragsters. It’s definitely a family affair for us.”
The Jervis’s now own their own shop named Crucial Diesel Performance, which just celebrated its fourth year is business. Crucial Diesel Performance covers everything from basic fleet maintenance, oil changes, and front-end work to differential rebuilds, engine and transmission work, and lift kits.
The 1,985 sq.-ft. facility may be on the smaller side with only two bays, but the team at Crucial puts in just as much work as the larger operations. Jervis says that himself and his two journeymen often work 60-65 hours a week to keep up with all of the work at the shop.
Before opening his own business, Chris worked as a shop foreman at Full Throttle Diesel Performance, which was his first dive into the aftermarket and performance world. While at Full Throttle, the shop purchased a ‘96 Ford F-150 off racingjunk.com with a 427 small block Ford engine in it that Jervis began to work on heavily. Flash forward to current day, Jervis co-owns the truck and is constantly working on upgrading it.
