Few could’ve ever imagined it, but the five-second barrier for a Ford Modular-powered machine is, after what we witnessed this weekend in Chicago, literally right around the corner. And by right around the corner, we mean about .027-seconds.
For the second year in a row, the Modular Mustangs Racing (MMR) team of car owner Mark Luton and driver Greg Seth-Hunter made the long trek out to Chicago for the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing to take on the big boys of the Pro Mod category and attempt to set some records, this time tagging along with fellow West coast racer Scott Oksas and also bringing on former Pro Mod racer Brad Personett as crew chief.
In the opening round of eliminations on Saturday, in perhaps the best conditions racers experienced all weekend long, Luton and Seth-Hunter let it all hang out, making the quickest pass in history by a real Ford Modular-powered race car, going 6.026 at 243.37 MPH in a run that had everyone talking, both at the track and back home on the internet. The record-setting run surpassed the 6.04 runs that Seth-Hunter had recorded last fall and again earlier this season. The MMR clan then followed it up a round later in a loss to eventual winner Steve Summers, going 6.033-seconds at 242.36 MPH.
A far cry from the big all-billet motors their peers are running, the MMR Mustang runs a modified 2013 GT500 Mustang 5.4L, 331 cubic inch production-based Modular engine, based on a factory alloy block with proprietary aftermarket MMR bore sleeves, ported production GT500 DOHC cylinder heads, custom MMR camshafts and valvetrain components, and a couple of 88mm Garrett turbos.
Video credit: Victoryredcolorado