Bradenton, FL was the place to be March 6th-9th, as the NMRA and thousands of Mustang and Ford lovers descended on Bradenton Motorsports Park for the 20th Annual Spring Break Shootout, and Team Vortech Racing came to the season opener prepared for some serious drag racing action.
Andy Manson has shocked the 275 world in 1/8-mile racing with several runs in the 4.50s using Vortech’s latest billet Xi supercharger. For NMRA competition, the team can bolt on the bigger vortech XB105 unit, and Manson said it makes more boost and more power so that’s what they want to run. The team qualified second with a 7.048, mere hundredths off the top qualifier, but if his crew chief Chris Acors of Acors Performance has it his way then they will push that number even quicker by the next race, knocking right on the six second zone, which will be new territory for Street Outlaw.
Edelbrock Renegade was a fun class to watch as Bart Tobener eclipsed the unofficial all-time Renegade ET record by two hundredths of a second, only to have Brian Mitchell come back two pairs later and better it even further, carding an insane 8.211 at over 167 miles per hour – the quickest pass ever in class history. “We turned it up all the way on that pass, and it was right at the edge. We didn’t hurt the motor, but looking at everything after the run, if we put any more into it, we would have,” Mitchell said. Most important to note about Mitchell’s combo, is that he hasn’t taken advantage of two major parts allowed in recent Renegade Class rules changes…
– He still runs an 8-rib belt and no intercooler. -
“I have so much data on this combination, and obviously it still gets the job done, so why would I change it? I have probably 400 runs on this chassis alone,” Mitchell said. With competitors running cog drives and intercoolers and still not being able to best Mitchell, there is no doubt his combination, topped off by the efficient boost provided by his Vortech V-7 YSi, is why he has called the Winner’s Circle home not only at this event, but on so many occasions in the last several years.
Terry “Beefcake” Reeves came out for the inaugural running of the new Coyote Modified class sporting brand new Vortech Racing livery. “With short time to get the combo ready and no testing time do to snow, we showed up and qualified 3rd. The converter was way too tight, and the cars 60′s were off by about 5 to 6 tenths. We were still able to qualify in the 3rd place position with a 9.81, with a 1.81 60′. 
With nothing to lose in the semi finals, and running against the #2 qualified car (9.20′s) we opted to not use the 2 step, and push the converter as high as we could get it. We were rewarded with a 1.51 60′, and a 9.33 e.t. @ 151 mph. That, combined with a great reaction time of .046 on a .400 Pro Tree, we were able to cross the finish line first against a quicker 9.27, due to a 1.55 reaction time advancing us to the final round where we lost to a 9.10 pass.
When asked how Reeves and crew will prepare for the next event, he replied “For the next race we will have the new converter in and expecting some 8.9 to 9.0 ets!”
AJ Wyce rolled out his badass Renegade SN95 Saleen with a few new modifications under the hood. The 314ci engine continues to employ Brodix Track 1 cylinder heads but a new Edelbrock Super Victor intake manifold and in-car air-to-water charge cooler. Wyce & crew are still dialing in the new combination, but benefit from a significant gain in the horsepower department. A Vortech YSi still makes the boost and a Proformance C4 is inside the bell housing.
Trouble abounded the entire weekend for the Clements family, with engine issues for Valerie and driveline issues for her brother Alton, keeping them both out of major competition. We expect both of them back and ready to rock by next month’s event.
Newcomer Shawn King came out to run the Renegade Class with Vortech power under his hood. We’ll be on the lookout for Shawn at the upcoming events this season.
Thanks to NMRADigital for additional photography.
