You might remember Vinny Palazzolo and his 2009 Shelby GT500 a few years back when the car first debuted to compete in the X275 and NMRA Street Outlaw classes. With the exception of a much larger Precision turbocharger, not much has changed on the bright yellow Shelby. Vinny’s Mustang stays competitive all the way into the high-6-second range thanks to that same Bennett Racing Engines’ 400-cube small-block Ford combination.
Naturally, he and his team (The Ortiz brothers) have always been fans of the Mustang and Shelbys alike, so choosing a stout platform for modification like the GT500-based S197 was a no-brainer for the crew, as proven by its trap speeds of more than 200 mph. In the video above brought to us by 1320Video, the final race at last year’s Import vs Domestic: Haltech World Cup Finals coverage showcases a competitive matchup. Vinny is paired up against another Shelby heavyweight, Brian “The Iceman” Devilbiss, who also pilots a 6-second GT500.
The two champions lineup for the X275 vs. Hotrod final, with Palazzolo taking the win with a 6.81-second pass at 200.05 mph quarter-mile pass. When Vinny isn’t participating in Shelby-on-Shelby crime, you can find him at various drag strips across the nation competing in the NMRA’s VP Racing Fuel Street Outlaw series.
One thing’s for sure, whether these cars are powered by their original 5.4- or 5.8-liter DOHC engines or a completely-custom small-block Ford configuration, the platform itself has proven to stay competitive with the big dogs, and that’s a fact.