Last week we told you about the Strange Engineering Coyote Stock “Bonus Bucks” program to be offered at this weekend’s upcoming NMRA World Finals. In the days leading up to the race, all of the prominent competitors are doing last-minute checks, tweaks, and tune-ups, in an effort to take home the big prize. One of those racers is “HiPo” Joe Charles, who campaigns his 2002 Coyote Stock Mustang out of Tim Matherly’s MV Performance shop in Winder, Georgia. 

Charles is the current class points leader, heading into the NMRA event at Bowling Green with a substantial gap over second-place Justin Burcham. Anything can happen on race day, though. “This whole year has been a learning experience for me. I have been blessed to have a group of people that believed in me and lent their support to my program,” Charles explains.  After an entire season of testing, Charles feels that the team has finally gotten a handle on the clutch. “I ran a 10.79 at 128.66 MPH with the car two weekends ago. These cars normally run 122-123 MPH and the record is 124-something from Michigan earlier this year.”

“We learned a lot of information in that test session – we’ll be bringing both gearsets, both transmissions, and plenty of sticker tires to Bowling Green. I know everyone else will be bringing their A game. It should be a good old-fashioned dogfight to the end. I don’t know what I’d do without my guys; Tim Matherly, Paul Dishroon, and Joey Angrisani have been the ones making me look good,” he explained. He wasn’t shy with his predictions for the event, either. “I think she’ll run in the .50’s at around 126 with great air, which we’re hoping to have.” The current class record is a 10.820 held by Charles, but he, as well as some of the other class regulars have been quicker than that during test sessions.  Will Charles pull out some ‘Moe Joe’ in Kentucky this weekend?