Why did Big Chief Leave Street Outlaws? Is he Ever Coming back?

Claiming that he knows what really happened with Big Chief, Reaper uploaded a video on his YouTube channel to let fans know the truth and falsify the lies that they have been fed. Reaper revealed that he reads all hundreds of messages that he gets on his Facebook and tries to reply to most of them with a thumbs up.

When Chief was let off the show, many fans messaged him, saying that the production was doing the same thing with Chief as they did to Reaper. However, Reaper said that it was not the case. Let’s learn what really happened.

All about Big Chief

1980 saw the birth of Big Chief, a.k.a. Justin Shearer, amid the gently sloping hills of Louisville. In 1992, Chief relocated to Oklahoma. Chief is said to have ridden his two-wheeler to Old Route 66’s street races when he was just nine years old to witness them.

In the vicinity of Oklahoma City, Chief is now the go-to man for street racing. Everyone must go through Chief in order to compete for a position on the list.

In terms of his formative days, Big Chief was reared with his brother on the hillside of Louisville, by a single mum whose identity and occupation are undisclosed because his dad died when he was very young. When Big Chief turned 12, his mum got remarried, and the new family relocated to Oklahoma City.

There, they settled near Putnam City High School, where Big Chief graduated in 1998. From a very young age, Justin was exposed to street car racing.

Justin’s road racing career has gone on to become increasingly successful over time. It was expected that the Discovery Channel would recognize his skill and choose him to anchor a new program called “Street Outlaws.”

Because of the program, Justin is quite well-known and has a sizable fan base. On June 10, 2013, the first season’s debut aired. Every season, Justin has dependably made an appearance. For the millions of motor racing fans who avidly watch the show, he has become a recognized figure.

Without the Big Chief, “Street Outlaws” would be difficult to fathom. In fact, there are a lot of worries and speculation among the fans anytime he skips an episode.

Big Chief is among the fans favorite street car racer

Big Chief was undoubtedly a fan favorite cast of the Street Outlaws; he was raw, manly, and did not back up to race against whoever. This personality made him a favorite of the male viewers of the show. He also owns a dual twin turbo GTO which is accepted to be the baddest on the planet.

Many fans of the show also commented that Big Chief was the only reason they started to watch the show and that the show would be nothing without him.

Big Chef Sudden Departure from the show left Fans wondering and Guessing

Chief, a well-known cast member of the show Street Outlaws, had mysteriously disappeared from the fourth season, prompting many fans to wonder where he was headed.

He wrote on Instagram regarding his preparation for the program before the upcoming season’s production, which led many to think that he’d be rejoining the ensemble as normal. Sadly, he hasn’t appeared in even one of the segments yet, which has some fans wondering if he was fired from the program.

Chief, earlier this year (2022), recorded a clip to justify his absence from the program. He cited the tv production guidelines as the cause of his extended absence.

And according to the media, Chief’s reason for the leave was that Big Chief appeared to have trouble with the production group’s “race your way in” approach, which is believed to be the underlying cause of his absence from Street Outlaws. According to this approach, the champions of a few preseason competitions could then be chosen to replace certain members in Street Outlaws.

But Big Chief saw that while some Street Outlaws: Memphis riders were absent, a large percentage of them had participated.

Some fans also pointed out that Chief is taking some time off to focus on his family and whatnot. But that is far from the truth.

Street Outlaws cast Reaper Talks about Big Chief

Reaper stated that while other cast members would arrive at the filming location at the call-of-time (6-7 PM) but the racing began from 10/11 PM or even midnight, all because Chief was not present, and the filming could not be started with one less member.

According to Reaper, Big Chief would come for filming whenever he felt like it, and the rest of the cast members had to work till the morning.

Reaper claims that Big Chief was not a competitive racer and did not have it in him to be one of the best. Reaper also pointed out that Big Chief would treat his team members badly, pointing out that when production wanted the cast members to find ten people to race with, Jeff Lutz actually got ten racers from Florida. However, Big Chief treated him very poorly in the episode.

Hard to Deal with Chief

The production team also asked the cast members to find out-of-town race tracks, but when Reaper and Ryan found a track worthy of racing and filming, Big Chief did not approve of it. Not only was Big Chief not doing any actual work by himself, but he was also being hard to deal with and dismissed the choices of his colleagues.

Among the production crew, Big Chief was also known to shut down downtown races. Downtown races were special for the show since the show is named Street Outlaws, and downtown racing would be the perfect venue for street racing.

But it is not easy to legally race downtown as the production needs a legal permit to film and must shut down the road temporarily to avoid any accidents. However, every time the production would manage to get the permit, Big Chief would always find a way to cancel the idea.

He would also find ways to cancel most out-of-town races making excuses such as “racing those guys has no point” or “it’s a waste of time.” Once, Chief also made everyone lie about their car being broken so that he did not have to race on asphalt.

Another such instance where Chief was just hard to deal with was the episode of small tires. So, Reaper came up with the idea that the show must do something new to keep the engagement going, and he proposed that all the cast members should go with small tires as dudes with big tires often look down on small tires.

The idea was accepted by all the members, including Big Chief. On the day of the shooting with small tires, all the members show up with their own cars, paired with small tires, and then Chief shows up with big tires. Big Chief did not think it was important to let anyone know that he was not going to change his tires.

Big Chief’s ungratefulness and unfaithfulness

Reportedly, Big Chief told Reaper that it was his own skills and showmanship that made him the star he is today. Totally discounting the support of his personal fans and the fans of the show itself.

Moreover, in a personal conversation with Reaper, after a race supported by super stoked fans, Big Chief said that he hates the fans. “Once you turn your back on them, they steal your stuff,” he added. To which Reaper was just shocked to hear.

He went on to say that the show was a success because of what they had done and what he had done for the show. At one point, Chief thought of himself as the big man, bigger than Pilgrim who paid them.

Basically, Pilgrim was working for Discovery Channel; Discovery would pay Pilgrim, and Pilgrim would pay the cast members of the show. That was the existing chain of command.

So, after Chief got famous, he got a little boastful and tried to make a direct contract with Discovery. The direct contract was probably denied, and he skipped a couple of episodes and went on to do something else.

And finally, the production team had enough of him and told him to stay off for a couple of episodes and to “rethink if you really want this job.” Shawn Ellington stepped up for him and told the production that if Chief is out, he is out too.

Reaper called Shawn, asking him why he stepped up for a guy who was clearly on the wrong side. Shawn then replied that Chief was his best friend and it was the only right thing to do.

The production was not entertaining any of this drama, so they decided to put off Shawn as well. Shawn stayed off the episodes where Big Chief was not going to appear and a couple more as punishment. But did Chief stay off when Shawn was put off for two episodes as punishment? The answer is “No.”

From Reaper’s point of view, Big Chief does not care about the production or the fans or the show; the only thing he cares about is himself. In a nutshell, Chief thought that he was making power moves, but in reality, he was destroying the show and the relationship among the cast members.

What Happened on America’s List?

So, Jackie, Chief’s wife, manipulated Precious into beating her ex. When the production found out about this, he reasoned the act by saying that he was scared that Precious was going to hurt Jackie.

What is Big Chief doing now as of 2023?

After his departure from the show, he has not left his love for working on cars. In his latest YouTube video, he can be seen working on his car, going shopping, and buying car parts.

And during this hard time, he has his wife, who is always there for emotional support. She is with him when he makes his videos and also when he works on modifications.

is big chief coming back to street outlaws?

Sadly, no. There’s no news about big chief’s return on the show. Honestly, Big Chief may never get back to the street outlaws. if you would like Big Chief to return to the show, comment yes on the comment section as a petition.