Mustang Week Texas has continued to pick up momentum as the week continued (see yesterday’s coverage here), including attendance. It was a packed house at Houston Motorsports Park (HMP) for Drag Day, presented by TREMEC. True Street filled the staging lanes, lines grew for drifting ride alongs on the oval, the stands were packed during the open test n tune, which some also used to view the drifting demos and the spectator drags – both of which were a thrill to watch.
Coffee & Camshafts kicked off day three, as the official pre-party that led a cruise following the event to HMP. Modified Muscle hosted the event, which is a unique muscle car listing platform and marketplace made for real enthusiasts, and provided some giveaways to attendees. It’s another casual hang with fellow Mustang owners, which provided the opportunity to get to know your fellow Mustang Week goers. That’s really what Mustang Week is all about, hanging with your buds and making new ones that all love Mustangs.
At HMP, the afternoon started with a drifting test session on the oval. Drivers came around the first and second turn on the embankment, and then after the straightaway, made 180-degree turn into the infield and then another 180-degree turn back onto the straightaway before finishing the lap on the oval. Although RTR headlined the drifting, several teams offered ride-alongs, which was fortunate because some mechanical issues forced both cars out of service by the end of the day. Thankfully TREMEC had some parts on hand to help get one of the cars repaired, so we should (hopefully) see it back in action at Moody Gardens. Walking through the pits, it was interesting to see the different combinations – blown Coyotes, mod motors, and even a Godzilla swap.
Drag Racing
After all the vehicles went through tech inspection, they were turned over to the staging lanes for drag racing test n tune. The cars ranged from 5-second eighth-mile turbo Mustangs to blown F-150 daily drivers. Scott Segura made a half-dozen or so passes in his show-winning ‘68 Mustang fastback and took home some hardware by the end of the day. And Mike Murrillo made a few passes in Lawfawnduh, his first of the season. Test n tune and Grudge racing went on throughout the day, but the main event was True Street, which featured two special classes within it as well – Street Tire (for 200+ treadwear tires and no skinnies) and the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout for the top four stick cars. Anyone competing in True Street who completed the 30-mile cruise, three back-to-back passes, and didn’t open their hood between could qualify. Eleven custom-designed awards were up for grabs along with a TKX transmission for the winner of the Stick Shift Shootout, courtesy of TREMEC.
Paige Davies not only traveled one of the furthest, but she also took home the overall win in True Street. The Belton, MO native piloted her turbocharged 2019 Mustang, scoring the fastest pass in True Street (5.94) and a 6.179 average. Bryan Anderson from Pearland, TX took Second and the 6.50 average with a 6.58 average in his 2012 Mustang. Sagera of Abbeville, LA took the 7.00 award with a 7.14 average. Michael Davis from San Antonio, TX took the Street Tire win in his 2025 Mustang. He ran an 8.009 average to also take the 8.00 award as well. Saul Contreres Torres took the win in the Stick Shift Shootout in his 2025 RTR Mustang, Edgar Sanchez took Second (on a street tire) in his ‘13 Mustang, Jesse Rodriguez took Third in his ‘24 Mustang, and Gilbert Martinez in his ‘23 GT500 rounded out the bunch.
Spectator Drags
Fun runs on the oval not only gave anyone a chance to put the wind in their hair on a ⅜-mile, high-banked oval, but it was also a great chance for testing for anyone competing in the Pizza & Beer Spectator Drags. If you aren’t familiar with this sort of racing, it begins with a standing start on a flag drop on the oval with two cars side by side. No intentional contact is permitted, as the name implies – this is just for fun. The first one across the stripe wins on a single lap, the winner advances and the other is eliminated. There’s no time for repairs and very little cool-off time either, so it keeps the competition honest. You need a durable car to win, not something that’s high-powered but temperamental.
We had a 10-car field in the Pizza & Beer Spectator Drags. First up was Eric Ritter versus drifter Chris Leonard, who had a mechanical issue and quickly ducked out of the oval. What a shame as it might have made things interesting as someone drifting their way to victory. This put RItter into a bye run on round two. Cody Phillips in the Grabber Blue GT350 took the win over Jeremy Jarrett in the Rattlebox Fab “shorty” F350, who advanced to face Jason Brozak in the custom-dipped S550 who defeated Darren Murphy in the S650. Defending champ Ryan Aillet in the ‘65 Mustang beat Tim Thomas in the white EcoBoost S550 to advance against Nick Leal in the black S197, who beat Andrew Nancio (red S550) after a red flag start.
Brozak and Aillet took victories in round two, which meant Ritter would face Brozak and Aillet had a bye run. It was a close start, but ultimately Brozak got the win to face Aillet in the final round. The final round was a best two out of three, and Brozak took an early lead in the first race and simply held on with a challenge from Aillet. The second race is where things got interesting. Aillet had the holeshot, but Brozak pulled around him to take the lead. On the final turn Aillet was laying it all out there, and nearly caught him. Brozak took the win by a half a car length and celebrated with some pizza, beer, the checkered flag, and a trophy.
The Home Stretch
It was a successful day at HMP, as smiles could be seen throughout the pits and the stands by all. But now it’s time to head to Moody Gardens for the big show. Friday kicks off with the All-Ford Cruise-In, rolls into the evening show with burnout competitions, and finally the grand finale on Saturday for the Car Show, awards and Mustang Mayhem. We can’t wait!
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