Just one week ago in Orlando, Shawn Ayers made his first few test passes in a brand-new, screw-blown '67 Mustang. He left the track feeling impressed and confident as he and his Fletcher Cox Racing teammates promptly headed north, destined for Lights Out 11 at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Actually completed in summer 2018, the Racecraft-built ride originally carried a roots-blown Hemi up front, but remained on the sidelines throughout last year as Ayers and Cox continued to rack up accolades with "Gold Dust," the ProCharger-equipped,  Fox-bodied Mustang in which they won the 2018 NMCA Street Outlaw championship.

"The car has been done for a while, but it was my choice to not run it at the time. I was having a bunch of really good times with the gold car, we were winning a bunch of races with it, and I just honestly didn't want to deal with the frustrations of a new car and trying to run two cars at the same time," explained team owner Cox.

"I decided last year to switch from the roots to the screw blower just because of the direction the (RVW) class was going. It was kind of what we needed because I don't think it was going to be competitive in this class with the roots. RVW is getting faster all the time, so I wanted to be ready."

The wait paid off for Ayers in qualifying for LO11 with a 3.654 at 208.49-mph pass, good enough for a fourth-place start in the 32-car RVW field.

Once eliminations began, Ayers opened with an off-the pace, but fortunate 4.41 win over a redlighting Craig Sullivan, but rebounded in round two with a 3.76 at 200.89-mph win over Canadian Enzo Pecchini. He then faced another Canuck in the quarter finals and returned to form with a 3.66 at 206.10 to beat Paolo Giust's 3.69 effort.

The semis saw Ayers face off against number-one qualifier Stevie Jackson, with Jackson leaving with a slim two-thousandths advantage over Ayers' excellent .019 light, but a fading 3.89 at just 155.27 mph was no match for Jackson's 3.56 at 213.81 combo.

"I'd never driven a screw-blown combination before, so it's been a learning curve for me. But so far I think I've adapted to it pretty good and we're just inching down on the E.T. every single round. I'm just trying to not overstep her boundaries," the Corinth, MS-based driver said.

He also agreed with Cox, who called the car "a work of art," adding it features the best fit, finish and attention to detail in any race car he's ever driven.

And understanding the need for good team chemistry and execution, Cox assembled an "A" list of companies and talent to build and work on his new entry. In addition to Racecraft, among others he cited DiSomma Racing Engines, engine tuner Mark Savage, Mark Menscer for setting up the shocks and chassis, Shannon Davis of Davis Technologies, and longtime crew chief Nick Bruder along with his brother Rick at Bruder Brothers Racing.

"It's a big team effort," said Cox, also a defensive superstar and Super Bowl champion with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. "I think communication is the biggest thing when it comes to any race team. And everyone has to get along, you know, even when things are not going so good. Communication, driver talking to crew, crew talking to driver; it's crucial. Just that back-and-forth to make sure everyone's thinking, everything's taken care of."

As a hands-on team owner, too, often seen with a headset on to communicate with Ayers while staging, Cox appreciates the opportunity of sharing the experience of witnessing another great pass or hard-fought-for victory.

"Even the driver, he usually has to wait for us to tell him the results. So I think you have more fun celebrating with the guys at the starting line," he said. "When the win light comes on it just makes you feel proud because it's been such a big team effort for everybody involved: me, Shawn, all the guys, all the sponsors. You know, everybody."