Matusek Thrilled With Pro Mod Debut And His Mustang’s Potential

Images courtesy: Steve Matusek/Aeromotive Inc.

Aeromotive Inc. President and founder Steve Matusek made the long-awaited debut of the new twin turbocharged Rough/Yates engine combination in Pro Modified at last weekends NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals in Houston, and despite coming just a few hundredths short of making the show, he and his team view the maiden outing as a clear success.

“The really exciting thing from our perspective is that the valvetrain isn’t moving around, the engine is happy, the bearings are happy, and the car is responding to the changes that we made,” Matusek explains.

The Aeromotive crew opened qualifying on Friday afternoon with a tire-chattering and pedaling 6.623 at 222.25 miles per hour, but made some changes between rounds and came back out in the later session to improve significantly to a 6.236 at 235.89 that was good for 15th on the provisional qualifying sheet. In Saturday’s final session, however, Steve was bumped from the field and like many others in the class, couldn’t get ahold of the starting line on his last attempt and was unable to improve.

“Unfortunately on the first pass, we had a problem and lost power to the boost controller, so we were behind the eight ball after that session,” explained Matusek. “On the second run when we went 6.23, that really should’ve been our first run. And if that had been the case, it would’ve put us in a much, much better position because the track really went away on the third pass. But all in all, we were extremely happy with how the car is performing and how its responding when we make changes. We changed rear end gears, transmission gears, and different boost strategies between runs, so we’re not even close to having a baseline yet, but we’re a lot closer.” After their earlier debut was scrapped to tend to issues regarding the brand new, untested engine combination, Matusek and company shook the new machine down at  nearby Tulsa Raceway Park before green-lighting the trip to Houston.

There, Steve made four passes down the race track, with the goal in mind of reaching a different point in the gear change with each successive attempt. On the first pass, they simply wanted to get the car into second gear, and did so with a coasting 7.20 elapsed time. On the next two passes, he took the car halfway through second gear and then into third gear. On the final run, Steve clicked it at 1,100′ and recorded an impressive 6.31 at 222 miles per hour.

Explained Matusek, “We tried to test in Houston some weeks back and we just had problems. I mean we had problems that we had to address, and we just weren’t ready yet. So we had to redo some things on the car, change some things around, and unfortunately, we lost the first two races of the year, but that’s what happens when you go into a new engine program. If you go in with a cookie cutter-type engine combination and other peoples’ power, you don’t have these kinds of issues, but at the same time, it’s a lot more fulfilling to us to take some new programs, partner up with some new people like Roush/Yates, and do things that no one has ever done before. And that’s why we’re so excited about this program.”

In the development of the new race car and engine combination, Aeromotive has developed a one-of-a-kind prototype fuel pump for such an engine, capable of moving  21 gallons per minute. Based on the results seen not only at Houston but during testing, Matusek and company see ample potential in the new engine combination and in their new 2010 Ford Mustang. “The ratios that we had in the car weren’t what we wanted, and we’ve got a lot more power that we could put in it,” said Matusek. “We were basically at 35 pounds of boost, so we didn’t have much power in the car. It was a very fat tuneup with no timing, and a very, very loose clutch setup, so there are a multitude of areas that we can go to to throw power in it. But it was more important for us initially to just get the car from A to B and start making laps and accumulating data so that we could project a strategy going forward so that we can go faster, as opposed to blowing the tires off because we’re trying to rotate the earth.”

Matusek’s biggest concern going into the Houston event wasn’t the performance of the car or whether or not the team made the qualified field, but rather, that they could bring everything home in one piece and be ready to forged ahead with the combination. “It’s not like we can call an engine builder and say ‘hey, we hurt it and we need a sleeve and a piston’ or something like that. This is the only engine like this in existence, and until we feel comfortable that we have a good combination that we feel can be reliable and durable enough, we’re not going to build another one. So it was a real testament to what’s been done so far, because we can’t go out there and get aggressive with it until we know it’s going to live. Right now we’re feeling a lot more confident with it, but we’re still going to continue to sneak up on this thing and see what it can take.”

Although spectators come Saturday afternoon, Steve and his team did pick up a little hardware to commemorate their first weekend in Pro Modified. So impressed were the NHRA officials with the ingenuity and keen attention to detail put into the Aeromotive Mustang, that the team was honored with the prestigious Best Engineering Car award. “We’re excited. We entered Atlanta so that’s going to be our next stop, and we’ll probably head to Tulsa and test again before that, but we’re extremely excited about what we’ve seen so far.”


Moving ahead, the Aeromotive team’s goal is to continue shaving that valuable elapsed time away, and Steve believes it would be a huge step in the right direction for their program to qualify at Atlanta in two weeks. From there, they’ll enter the car in Competition Eliminator in Topeka and pull out all the stops to entertain their employees and their families at their home event before embarking on what they hope to the balance of the NHRA Pro Modified schedule.

And after their first experience in the always-exciting world of Pro Modified racing, suffice it to say that Steve and the rest of the Aeromotive and Roush/Yates team are looking forward to what the future holds.

“This is as excited as I’ve been about racing in the last few years,” states Matusek. “We have something that I think is really competitive and we’re anxious to get back out there. The Pro Modified guys are great to race with. Sure there’s competition out on the track, but there’s also a camaraderie there, and we felt fortunate to be a part of that. These guys seem to have a different kind of bond, and it’s neat to be around.”

“Hopefully we can go some rounds and win some races; that’s ultimately where we want to be.”

Article Sources

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
Read My Articles

Blue Oval Muscle in your inbox.

Build your own custom newsletter with the content you love from FordMuscle, directly to your inbox, absolutely FREE!

Free WordPress Themes
FordMuscle NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Ford Muscle - The Ultimate Ford Mustang Magazine

FordMuscle

We'll send you the most interesting FordMuscle articles, news, car features, and videos every week.

Ford Muscle - The Ultimate Ford Mustang Magazine

FordMuscle NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Ford Muscle - The Ultimate Ford Mustang Magazine

Ford Muscle

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...


Muscle Car & Hot Rods
Muscle Car & Hot Rods
Drag Racing
Drag Racing

Ford Muscle - The Ultimate Ford Mustang Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...

  • Muscle Car & Hot Rods Muscle Car & Hot Rods
  • Drag Racing Drag Racing

Ford Muscle - The Ultimate Ford Mustang Magazine

Ford Muscle

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Ford Muscle - The Ultimate Ford Mustang Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Loading