Sean Lyon and his yellow Fox coupe were one of the most feared opponents in NMRA drag radial just a couple years ago. However, the class’ performance was surpassing the 7.50-second threshold, which meant many guys either had to redo their cars’ chassis and cage, start fresh with a new build, or reconfigure their car into a slower class. We know that last choice isn’t anything a real racer would choose, so they were left with either building a new car, or having their existing car redone to 25.3 specs.

Lyon was at that crossroad with his drag radial Fox. He felt it would be easier to sell the existing car and build a new one, therefore, he contacted Mike Duffy Race Cars to get started, and as you can see, the new car is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Duffy built the chassis to 25.3 standards with the necessary cage work; and outfitted the car with a nine-inch rear filled with Strange Engineering and Mark Williams components. The car wears the usual retina-burning bright yellow paint for which Lyon has become famous.

For power, Lyon stuck with his engine builder and tuner of choice, Mark Biddle at Panhandle Performance. Panhandle whipped up a 400-inch combo using a Dart block, Bryant Racing crank, MRP rods, Ross pistons, and a custom cam made to Biddle’s specs.  Up top is a pair of Ultra Pro Machining/Don Losito heads and a Marcella intake, while Lyon’s power adder of choice is a Precision Turbo Pro Mod 85mm single. To get the power to the aforementioned nine-inch rear, Lyon’s coupe features a Proformance Racing Transmissions Turbo 400 with a Neal Chance converter.

Lyon was working on the car, getting it ready for testing at SGMP when we caught up with him. In talking to him about this new car he says, “This car makes the old yellow car look like a dinosaur.” Knowing the build quality of his previous coupe like we do; that’s quite a statement. If you want to see Lyon’s new car in person, you can see him at Lights Out 6 – Buzzin’ the Tower at SGMP , and possibly a few NMRA races, as well.