The Bluegrass Super Shifters is a new group centered around promoting stick shift racing in Kentucky, and they held their first race this past Saturday on April 19th at Thornhill Dragway in Morning View, Kentucky. The series is run in a bracket-race format with racers dialing their own elapsed time, with the S-Stick class running 8.49 and quicker in the eighth-mile and the D-Stick class running 8.50 and slower. 

The S-Stick class competes on slicks, while the D-Stick class is based around a DOT radial tire with no slicks or cheater slicks permitted. D-Stick also requires mufflers and working lights. The simple rules package is designed to get as many racers as possible out on the track to compete. No delay boxes, clutch magnets, or other trickery is permitted, and all shifts must be performed by the driver, with no electric or hydraulic aids permitted.

NMRA Coyote Stock racer (and last season’s #2 points finisher) took his shot in the D-Stick class, as the rules package allowed him to take his gorgeous Fox Coyote-powered coupe and sign right up. Not only did he compete, he won the class, using the skills acquired as a heads-up and index racer with the NMRA to put his ride right into the winner’s circle. 

Don’t think it was easy, though. “I had to go four rounds and we were racing on a .500 sportsman tree. My lights were in the .050 range. But the biggest challenge was the 8.5-inch slick. My last pass I was sideways the entire time and never lifted,” he says.

“This was the first race and we had some heavy hitters from the UMTR. Three of the cars I raced are regular contenders in the UMTR and one of them is a two-time Champion. We raced at Thornhill which I had never been to. I’m not sure how many races I can attend, but plan on going back on May 10.  I ran on the 8.5 inch Mickey Thompson slick. My car was a little off pace from normal, but I’m sure that was from the smaller tire. I really went for some testing and ended up winning. I guess the old Mustang still remembers its days as a Mod Muscle car.”