Nitto Tire U.S.A., Inc., and sponsored driver, John Urist, debuted a retro Mustang at the NMRA season opener in Bradenton, Fla., on March 6-9, 2008. Despite a shaky start adjusting to the new vehicle, the team went on to win the event, campaigning in the Super Street Outlaw class. The season win comes on the heels of the team’s 2006 and 2007 back-to-back championships.

Bradenton posed two challenges for Urist: driving a new car and vying for position against twelve other teams. The team built the 1993 Mustang in completely secrecy over the winter. Urist said: “I wanted to do something different. We had great luck with our 2000 Mustang, but I wanted to put that engine onto a different chassis.” Providing the vehicle’s power is a 420 cubic inch windsor motor, fed by a Procharger F3 supercharger. To take advantage of the added boost, Urist added Edelbrock Glidden SC1 heads, which were ported by Kuntz and Company and a Motec fuel injection system tuned by Urist himself. The end result is roughly 2,000 horsepower and pound-feet of torque in a vehicle weighing just over 3,100 pounds.

Despite the vehicle’s tuning, Urist faced new-car challenges in qualifying and submitted a 7.60 sec. @ 190 mph, a time that earned him 5th place. Nonetheless, Urist rallied in the elimination rounds. In the second round, he faced and eliminated Phil Hines, who had qualified in the number one spot on Friday. In the final elimination round Urist was pitted against Richard Lelsz. As the tree turned green Urist turned in both a fast reaction time at 0.036 to Lelsz’s 0.174 and a faster lap time at 7.573 to 7.610.

“It’s great to come out to the track with a new vehicle and turn in the times that we did,” stated Stephen Leu, a representative of Nitto’s marketing department. “It really shows how consistent John is as a driver. It’s obviously too early to call the season, but we see this as the first of many victories this season.”

“Winning Bradenton really boosted my confidence,” stated Urist. “It’s always difficult to learn a new car and being able to adapt so quickly means that the season is off to a very promising start.” Nitto and Urist see the win at Bradenton as an indication of what the upcoming season will hold. The team looks forward to defending its back-to-back championships.

Look for Nitto Tire and John Urist at the remaining 2008 NMRA events.

Nitto Tire develops performance tires for all uses, including racing, off-road and street. Using state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facilities in both Japan and the United States, Nitto strives to provide innovative and high-quality performance tires for the most demanding enthusiasts. For more information about Nitto Tire or its products, visit the company’s web site or contact the company directly. Nitto and Fueled by Enthusiasts are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nitto Tire U.S.A., Inc., located at 6021 Katella Ave., Ste 250, Cypress, CA 90630.