Although His Mustang Might Be in Camo, Matt Moore Isn’t Hiding That He’s Coming to Play in Rowdy Radial
Matt Moore was introduced to the drag-and-drive life in 2016, when he participated in the Hot Rod Drag Week event with a 1998 Chevrolet Camaro, a low 10-second ride. But with Matt in the process of building a businesses, combined with being on a college student’s budget, that Hot Rod Drag Week would be the last drag-and-drive event Matt would attend for a while.
Fast forward a few years, and Matt had successfully launched Moore Race Chassis & Fabrication, and started a family. But the desire to get back into racing never left him. “We finally we were able to put together a car for 2022,” Matt said.
Starting with a 1989 Mustang notch, the crew at Moore Race Chassis put together an SFI-spec 25.2 chassis, and did nearly all in house, only farmed out the engine, transmission and wiring in the build.
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Nicknamed “The Shop Car” for obvious reasons, Matt was able to take the Mustang to a pair of drag-and-drive events in 2022.
His best finish in the car came at Rocky Mountain Race Week, placing third in the Ultimate Radial class, then winning the shootout at the end of the week. The Mustang has also run several eighth-mile events, collecting some high 4-second time slips, which made his class decision for the 2023 Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive an easy one.
“We will be running Rowdy Radial,” said Matt. “Keeping the car in eighth-mile trim will allow us to go right into racing for the 2023 season.” Powering the Mustang will be a LS-based engine checking in at 388 cubic inches, and a single 98-millimeter turbocharger for the extra boost.
“Running a drag-and-drive is the true challenge, both mental and physical,” said Matt. “Lack of sleep, no huge crew to help, the guys around you. It all make it very appealing for us. And we learn a lot about what we build at the shop to make improvements to customer cars.”
“This will be our first time on Sick Week,” Matt continued. “My goals are winning Rowdy Radial! And finishing of course!”
- Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Motion Raceworks and Matt Moore.