Steve Matusek was looking to make a change, some kind of change. The NHRA's decision to elevate the Pro Modified division to professional status made his choice easy.

“We had looked at the ADRL and while we have a neat and pretty fast package, it just didn’t fit,” Matusek explained. “You just couldn’t make a big enough engine to compete with those cars. Now that everything has fallen into place with the NHRA, we decided it was time to step forward and build a new car.”

Matusek, owner of Aeromotive fuel systems and a Competition eliminator racer, sold his potent BB/AT Cobra Mustang to racer John Mihovetz, another turbocharged Comp eliminator driver who recently crashed his own Mercury Cougar.

Steve Matusek was looking to make a change, some kind of change. The NHRA's decision to elevate the Pro Modified division to professional status made his choice easy.

“We had looked at the ADRL and while we have a neat and pretty fast package, it just didn’t fit,” Matusek explained. “You just couldn’t make a big enough engine to compete with those cars. Now that everything has fallen into place with the NHRA, we decided it was time to step forward and build a new car.”

Matusek, owner of Aeromotive fuel systems and a Competition eliminator racer, sold his potent BB/AT Cobra Mustang to racer John Mihovetz, another turbocharged Comp eliminator driver who recently crashed his own Mercury Cougar.

To replace the old Cobra Mustang, Matusek recently took delivery of a new Roush-prepared Mustang body and the configuration of his current chassis prevented re-skinning with the new shell; which is why he sold the Cobra Mustang to Mihovetz.

“I think the decision by the NHRA was huge. I think [Pro Mod] is the most exciting class out there. You have all the combinations, suspended cars with different engine platforms and different combinations and different drivetrain. It’s an exciting quarter-mile program.

“I think the consumer can relate more to that type of package than they can to just about anything else out there because the cars are so different. There are different brands and different years, and different flavors, that is just fun. It reminds me of the olden days when I grew up in drag racing. You get those kinds of racers where their hair is on fire and they are still in the throttle. It’s like the Fuel Altereds.”

Matusek will run one of the newly developed engines from Ford, but instead of the Hemi design to be run by the Ford Pro Stock teams in 2010, he will stick with the Wedge design. The engine will employ twin turbochargers.

“Ford has come out with two different configurations,” Matusek said. “We’ve been talking with Kenny Duttweiler and it appears the Wedge will be more conducive with what we are trying to do.

“It’s new and different, and that is what we like to do. We like to get into those things that no one has ever done before. That’s what we are excited about.”

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