With any race car, one of the keys to making big power is the exhaust system. More importantly, in a tightly contested heads-up category like NMRA’s Factory Stock, every racer is looking for that extra couple-hundredths of a second, and a car’s exhaust is that much more important.

For Krista Elyse’s first foray into heads-up action, she chose the Factory Stock class since it’s the NMRA’s entry-level category. That doesn’t mean it’s an easy class to compete in and win, though. There will be a learning curve, but one manufacturer looking to ease Elyse’s transition into heads-up racing is Kooks Custom Headers.

For Elyse’s Factory Stock program, Kooks recommended and sent its 1-5/8-inch stainless steel long-tube headers with a three-inch slip-on collector. These are Kooks’ own long-tube headers designed to help swap a 2011-’14 Mustang GT Coyote engine into a Fox Mustang. Kooks long-tubes are designed to be compatible with either a UPR Products or Racecraft tubular K-member. Elyse’s Fox has a complete UPR front and rear suspension so that makes the Kooks headers feel right at home. Along with the long-tube headers, Kooks sent Elyse a thre-inch intermediate pipe and the company’s three-inch Bullet-style race mufflers.

This is the same setup you can get for your Coyote swap Fox, but as we’ve stated, Elyse’s Fox is drag car-aimed at the NMRA’s Factory Stock class, where times are in the high 10s. JPC Racing’s Eric Holliday hopes for a 10.999 at the NMRA Spring Break Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park the first weekend of March, which is the season opener.

For the first couple races, the car will have a Ford Racing Sealed Coyote engine in it just like what the Coyote Stock competitors run. However, RGR Engines’ Rich Groh already has a Coyote engine in his possession from JPC, and he’s in the middle of the planning stage to see what can be done in accordance with Factory Stock rules.

The car Elyse will be piloting is one of JPC Racing’s Fox Mustangs. The car definitely knows its way down the track.

Elyse also hopes to promote Autism awareness in the motorsport community through the charity Team True Blue for Autism. You can support the charity by purchasing shirts or hoodies, or by simply making a donation. According to the CDC, 1 in 88 children are autistic, including Elyse’s nephew Ben, which explains her desire to get the word out.

We’ll be at the NMRA Spring Break Shootout to bring you all the action, including Elyse’s first venture into heads-up drag racing.