Any drag racer who has wheeled a car that makes big power and has a healthy respect for the car, understands that things can go wrong, and when they do the outcome can be violent. Memphis Street Outlaws team member “Mustang” Mike Gage has been racing on both the street and the track for a long time behind the wheel of his Mustang known as “Unpredictable”, and recently had one of those violent encounters. But, with the help from his fellow team members, Gage was able to secure a new car after his crash and is ready to start racing again.
Mike and his car took a pretty serious beating in the crash, but the safety gear did its job.
Gage was out testing and racing his Mustang at an undisclosed location when things went south in a hurry. The catastrophic crash that occurred during testing banged Gage up quite a bit, and damaged his Mustang beyond repair. The accident didn’t dampen his desire to race at all, however, and he quickly began the process of searching for a new car so he could get back to racing.
Through one of his team members, Gage was able to locate a 1995 Mustang in Tennessee that was the perfect fit for the direction he wanted to go. “This new car is 400 pounds lighter than my old car and is well built; actually, it’s built much better than my old one, for sure. The car has a steel body and roof so it will be legal for all the Cash Days races and other events I want to try and run. I was never happy with the fact that I couldn’t run the old car in those events because of the fiberglass roof and body panels, so it will be great to be able to compete in those races now,” Gage says.
Within a few days of getting the new car the big-block Ford is already home.
Powering the new car will be a 598 cubic-inch big-block Ford built by Oakley Motorsports. The motor is based on a 460 cubic-inch block and uses custom Diamond Pistons that were designed by Oakley and a set of Trickflow heads top off the motor. The same nitrous system designed by Monte Smith that uses two kits and Nitrous Express solenoids will be added back to the motor. All the electronics will remain the same, including the MSD Grid system and Davis Technologies Profiler. Woolf Aircraft Products is assisting with other fabricated parts and a JW powerglide along with a Neal Chance torque converter will put the power down.
Gage is already looking ahead to next season with this new car and making some big changes for a power adder. “I have just picked up a sponsorship from Vortech so we will be moving away from the nitrous setup this winter and going to a blower.”
A large setback like this might cause some racers to evaluate how much racing they do in the future, but for Gage it’s full steam ahead. “We will continue to be a part of the filming of Street Outlaws, for sure. I was supposed race in the All-Star Shootout at Outlaw Armageddon, but since the car won’t be done and tested in time, that’s out. We are going to hit as many No Prep races as we can, including the Winter Meltdown, one of Shannon Morgan’s races, and some Cash Days events, as well.”