It usually takes quite a while to get a new class car built, unless you’re Derek Kernodle. As a longtime NMRA Modular Muscle racer, Derek decided he wanted to go a little bit quicker this year, and after some consultation with longtime friend and NMCA Mean Street champion Brandon Alsept, a decision was reached that will change Kernodle’s racing life for the foreseeable future.

According to Alsept, “Right before Bradenton, we talked about a bunch of upgrades and switching from his current Kenne Bell [supercharger] over to a ProCharger setup. We got all the numbers together, and realized that it would be money better spent doing the Coyote Stock swap instead.”

As Kernodle has always wanted to go class racing, the affordable option of heading into Coyote Stock seemed like a match made in heaven. Just after the NMRA’s season opener this year, he took the plunge and ordered up a class-spec Coyote engine and Control Pack setup from Rick Riccardi at Downs Ford Motorsport in New Jersey. Since Derek spends his days at his regular job, and his off-time running his businesses, he doesn’t have a whole lot of time to dedicate to building and racing a car, and that’s where Alsept and the team at Easy Street Speed & Kustom in Milford, Ohio came into play.

Alsept and the gang have been tasked with switching the car over to Coyote Stock specs – in the two month span between the NMRA’s opener and the race at Maryland International Raceway, May 5-7, 2013. Not only will the Coyote Stock engine be going into the car, but Alsept says, “we have a Liberty TKO500 transmission we plan on starting with and will be testing a T-5 later in the year to see if it actually is faster. We will also be switching to a full array of race specific parts such as the brakes, suspension, and interior.”  

The aforementioned work schedule will keep Kernodle busy this year, but Alsept will be stepping right into the driver’s seat, and with his heads-up racing experience he should be able to take the car right to the front of the pack.

“I expect it to be a extremely fun challenge, it is going to come down to some areas that I feel I know a lot about in the clutch and suspension aspects of it. I am hoping that it will hone my driving skills to a higher level as I only have so much power to work with,” Alsept says. We look forward to seeing this team as a force in Coyote Stock in 2013.