Kris Starnes took delivery of the Coyote 5.0 sourced from Ford Racing. He ported the heads and handled assorted fabrication work and assembly. Turbosmart supplied the wastegates, blow off valve and boost controller for the twin Garrett GTX 3582R setup.

Updates to the car include mini tubs, new Strange 9 inch rear and 25.5 chassis upgrade by Hector De Santiago at Quality Chassis Shop in Oviedo, Florida. Baer brakes reside at all four corners to get the car hauled down from the estimated 180 plus MPH blasts safely. Photo courtesy Chris Escobar Racing.

Eleven time True Street champion Chris Escobar is updating his tried and true SVO Mustang for the 2012 True Street season. After the 2010 season, Chris decided to update the car and took the 2011 season off as the competition was getting faster, an updated chassis and more horsepower were in order. The Mod motor that provided him with such success over the years would be replaced with a new Coyote 5.0 from Ford Racing prepped by Kris Starnes Racing and fitted with a pair of the new Garrett GTX 3582R turbos. These are easily capable of over 1600 horsepower which is currently uncharted waters for the new 5.0.

Due to the limited aftermarket support for the engine, quite a few items were custom ordered or fabricated. The engine will utilize stock, reground cams with custom cam locks to eliminate the variable timing.  The short block will contain the stock block and crank with Manley H beam rods and CP Pistons custom designed for this application with Starnes’ assistance. Kris also handled the porting on the heads which still retain the factory valves. With a target in the sevens, this will be a true test of the Coyote platforms reliability as well as a showcase for the performance capability.

A look under the front reveals the exhaust routing prior to coating, and UPR suspension. Other long time sponsors include Garrett Turbochargers, Dynamic Racing Transmissions, Dynamic Performance Fluids, and DDD Parts Grabber.com among others. Photo courtesy Chris Escobar Racing.

Tremec True Street is certainly a very popular class with over 100 entries at some events. The format allows a wide range of vehicles to compete and have a lot of fun while doing so. First the competitors go on an approximately 30 mile drive on local roads to verify the streetability, then come back to the track for three back to back runs that are averaged together. Anyone falling behind the chase car or not completing the three runs is disqualified. That average is computed with all the other racers to determine the overall winner, runner up and various index winners. Trophies and awards are given out to racers for running closest to certain ET’s starting at 9.00 and following up to 15.00 seconds in one second intervals, with the fastest average being crowned “King”.  The NMRA season opener is just around the corner, kicking things off March 1-4 in Bradenton, Florida. The event is always well attended with the top cars in the class looking forward to set the stage for the coming year.

The prep and assembly on the car is and always has been done by Jake LaMotta at LaMotta Performance out of Longwood, Florida, in fact he purchased “the baddest car on the planet” back in 2004 from his long time friend and shop owner. Brian Macy handles the tune on the FAST engine management. Photo courtesy Chris Escobar Racing.