Supercharged Swap – Darin Hendricks Takes a ’93 Mustang Cobra from a Championship Race Car to Drag-and-Drive Ready for Sick Week!
As trends come and go, one thing that’s shown staying power is the drag racing world and the history behind it. As each year rolls by, the history of racing, as well as the cars that participated as part of it, become talking points at more benchracing sessions and staging lane gatherings.
It’s just cool to see cars with history come back into focus once again, and for Darin Hendricks, he’s ready to write the next chapter of a storied history for this Ford Mustang Cobra, on the 2025 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
The first drag-and-drive of 2025, Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, is just a couple weeks away! Combine winter temps with great tracks (and traction), and you get a truly awesome experience! Four tracks, two states and five days of beautiful views and quick runs! For more details on Sick Week, CLICK HERE!
Now, the fact this is a real deal 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra, one of 5100 originally built for the model year (including the rare Cobra R models). Teal was the rarest color of the three offered, with just 1355 built. But despite its collectability, Darin was anything but gentle with it.
“It has spent most of its life as a race car,” said Darin. “First in normal bracket racing and test and tune nights. From there, I campaigned the car in the National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA) Pure Street class for several years.”
After his stint in heads-up NMRA naturally-aspirated racing, Darin decided to take a break. “The car sat idle for eight years while my time was focused on my family and my business,” he said. But the lure of racing came calling with the new Coyote Stock class, which used Ford’s new modular engine and a tuner, in a sealed package, in an aim to keep heads-up racing slightly more cost effective.
Darin couldn’t resist the urge, and the Cobra would ditch the pushrod powerplant for its second stint in naturally-aspirated heads-up racing. “In 2014, I brought the car out in NMRA Coyote Stock, and continued in the class until 2021,” said Darin. A multi-year record holder, Darin also scored the class championship in 2018 while rowing the stick shift ride to 9-second time slips.
Many would enjoy this level of racing, but Darin was itching for the next level while he was still competing in Coyote Stock. “A championship in 2018 and 4 straight years of holding the ET record was not enough to keep me from becoming bored,” Darin said. In 2017, he contacted Pro Tree Race Cars about upgrading the roll cage to 25.5-SFI specs for future plans quicker than 8.50-second trips on the quarter mile. “That same year, I had Troy at Racewires wire the entire car front to back. At that point, I had the thought to have him run wiring for a trailer just in case I decided to pursue drag-and-drive.”
About three years later, Darin made his last laps without a power adder, and was ready to start the next phase of the Cobra’s life. “During the 2021 season, I found a 2018 Ford Cobra Jet motor for sale, still in the crate,” said Darin. “I purchased it, and soon after my drag-and-drive plans were set into motion. It has been a very slow build, with multiple setbacks and some delays, due to my indecisiveness on various aspects of the build.”
The 2018 5.2-liter Cobra Jet took the place of the naturally-aspirated Coyote in the Cobra’s engine bay, and got topped with a Gen 5 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger to whip up more ponies. The engine will get a steady diet of E-85 from a Fore Innovations fuel system, and the fumes are expelled by a custom set of headers from Calvin Elston, and a HARM 3.5-inch diameter aluminum exhaust.
Because old habits don’t die, Darin retained the third pedal for stick shifting duties, and a G-Force G5R manual transmission sits behind the engine, with a Black Magic Defiant adjustable clutch and Browell bellhousing completing the package.
A Gear Vendors Overdrive joins the party to cut down the revs on the road, and connects to a 9-inch rear end. The Cobra sits on UPR Products suspension front and back, and there are RC Components wheels at all four corners.
Nearing the completion of the build, Darin got the final push from Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2024, but in a new role for him, co-pilot. “I met Steven Winningham through good friend Ed Curtis at an NMRA event in Atlanta,” said Darin. “Steven was a true drag-and-drive veteran and fellow stick shift racer. We became friends, and have stayed in contact over the past few years.”
After first committing to riding with Steven as co-driver for Hot Rod Drag Week, work obligations prevented Darin from completing his role. But when Sick Week rolled around, Darin was going to make it work, despite a last minute snafu. “It almost didn't happen when I came down with Covid the week prior, but thankfully it was mild and I recovered quickly.”
“I flew into Atlanta, and Steven picked me up at the airport. I was still tired from being sick and really didn't know what I was in for. The week started out well and actually ended well. It was, according to Steve ‘the easiest, most relaxed drag and drive he had done.’ We ate well, got decent sleep, and the car was flawless all week except for a bad starter at SGMP.”
“I'm not sure this was a true representation of what I'm signing up for, but I can say, it was the time of my life. I had as much or more fun being co-driver of sick week than a full season of heads up racing.”
That experience got Darin to finish up the Cobra with a bang. With a complete Holley EFI system, and Redline Motorsports tuning the beast, the Mustang cranked out 1026 horsepower on the Mainline hub dyno at Redline. Although Darin planned to try and get in an event in 2024 to shake down the car, work once again halted his efforts.
“I've been able to put about 400 miles on the car, with about 140 of them pulling the trailer,” said Darin. “I'm super busy with work, so I never really got the car out to an event. I did make a few passes to get the clutch sorted out. Nothing spectacular, but it went a 9.15 at 151 mph on an easy pass, granny shifting. Realistically, it should go 8.50-8.60 on a decent track. I'm looking forward to Sick Week. Hopefully the cobra makes the full trip!”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Darin Hendricks and KWS Images.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com