For Coyote Stock racer Drew Lyons, we bet he didn’t think it would take him 11 years to get his first NMRA win, but that’s just how it worked out for him. It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying or effort on his part. He is most famous for his on-the-back-tire 1-2-3 shift from last year’s NMRA World Finals, but his first win had eluded him up to that point. Thankfully, that monkey is off his back.

Lyons’ car is an ’88 LX he’s owned since 1998. “I drove it in high school and college,” he says. “My first NMRA event was running True Street at Bowling Green in 2004, then I dabbled in a few races in Open Comp for a couple years and ran the entire circuit in OC in 2007,” Lyons adds.

Wanting to run heads-up, he took off most of 2008 to put together a Pure Street engine, which he debuted at Bowling Green in 2008. “I ran Pure Street until it was temporarily eliminated after 2011. I then ran my street car in Super Stang at Bowling Green 2012, just to keep the Bowling Green streak alive. I threw together the Coyote Stock combo in 2013 and debuted halfway through the season at Norwalk. I finished out that year with a couple semi-final finishes, which had me hooked to push it even further the next season.”

For 2014, with help from NMRA standout Bruce Hemminger, the two really started working Lyons’s set-up. “I started off the year strong with a runner-up finish at Bradenton, then ran into some mechanical failures, which derailed the season a bit,” Lyons says. Once those failures were corrected, they focused on the car’s clutch, which is the focal point for every Coyote Stock racer. “We had at least 12 different clutch setups in it throughout the year, trying to find the holy grail,” Lyons says. “We finally dialed-in on what it really liked by the end of the year and it paid off with another runner-up finish at Bowling Green.”

This what you need to run the NMRA’s Coyote Stock class; a solid chassis and a Ford Racing Coyote sealed engine.

The guys came into the 2015 Spring Break Shootout with high hopes, but transmission issues kept them from contending for the win. Between Bradenton and Atlanta, Lyons did some testing to iron out those issues. “At Atlanta a 10.45 test hit right off the trailer showed some real potential. We didn’t end up qualifying at the very top of the pack, but the 3rd round of qualifying showed us the data that we needed in order to make one final tweak going into eliminations. That tweak paid off. We broke the current ET record in the first elimination round with a 10.34 pass, and backed it up 2nd round with a 10.36. The car ran within .02 sec each pass on Sunday, all with almost identical 60ft and 330ft times.” Lyons beat Joe Marini in the final to get his first win of his NMRA career.

Of course, a racer doesn’t win a race all on his own. “I definitely have to thank my crew chief Bruce Hemminger. His ability to read the track and analyze the clutch data is the primary reason for our success at that race. I have no doubt that as long as he’s willing to help, and I do my job as the driver, we’re going to be tough to beat. Tim Donathen has also been a huge help to my program over the years, so big thanks to him too. Also can’t forget my wife, Kristen. Her support is key in this endeavor. She’s the voice that says ‘when are we going testing’ before we even make it home from a race. Also want to thank Ace Racing Clutches, Strange Engineering, Hubbard Racing Inc. and Team Z Motorsports.”

In the ever-tough Coyote Stock class, there could be a different winner at each race, but many times all a racer needs is that first win. The rest of the season will tell us the way Coyote Stock plays out.