Images Courtesy: NMRA

As one of only two NMRA Factory Stock competitors to dip into the ten-second range at this past weekend’s NMRA/NMCA All Star Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, 2013 class champion Matt Amrine had a leg up on the competition from the word “go”.

Amrine’s ’98 Mustang uses a complete front-and-rear suspension setup from Team Z Motorsports underneath, which he credits to helping him land in the winner’s circle. His Ford is motivated by a Two-Valve Modular engine and placed him on the top of the qualifying sheets after three sessions with a stout 10.832 elapsed time at over 123 MPH, where he claimed the elapsed time record but was unable to back it up on any of his subsequent passes. “I missed backing up the record by nine thousandths of a second,” he says. “I needed to run a 10.940 or better to back it up and ran a 10.949 in the first round of eliminations.”

Factory Stock requires the use of a drag radial tire, and although the rest of the competitors in the class have switched over to the Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial, Amrine still uses the ancient BFGoodrich Drag Radial to achieve his performances. In fact, he records regular 1.50-flat 60-foot times with the combination, which is quite the challenge when track conditions aren’t at their best. 

The combination of the known performances of the BFG tires and Team Z suspension pieces along with the expertise of crew chief Brandon Alsept enabled Amrine to outpace the competition this weekend and take home the event win over Alan Cann in the final round with a 10.98 elapsed time to Cann’s 11.14. Amrine is a perennial contender in the class and finished the season in the Top Ten in five of the last six seasons.

For more information on the complete lineup of Team Z Motorsports suspension products, check out their website.