Former Sick Summer Class Winner Recovers From Crash to Build New Ride – Plans to Attend One Guy’s Garage Drag Weekend Event in September
One year ago, Travis Larson was riding high after attending the inaugural Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes. Wielding a 1990 Ford Mustang Travis has owned since his junior year of high school, Travis compiled an 8.56 average to secure the Street Race 275 class win.
But just three months later at a race during Labor Day weekend 2023, things took a turn for the worse, sidelining Travis.
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“On Labor Day weekend last year, we were racing at Brainerd and had a guy cross the center line and crash into the side of me,” said Travis. “I got the car stopped before hitting the wall, but he came back across and hit me a second time.”
After taking time to review the damage and what it would take to rebuild the car, Travis came to an unfortunate conclusion. “I made the decision to find another chassis and swap everything over,” he said. “That's the reason we didn't sign up this year for Sick Summer.”
Luckily, Travis didn’t have to look too long to find a suitable candidate. “My friend Nathan Shaw at One Guy's Garage was going to build this Mustang for one of his customers,” Travis said. “I bought it from him as an 8.50-second legal roller with Holley ECU. I redid everything on the car, minus the cage and paint/body.”
Starting with the trunk floor, Travis rebuilt and modified it to accommodate a 20-gallon fuel cell, as well as making a trailer hitch for his drag-and-drive trailer. “Then swapped out the front suspension, cut out the transmission mount and motor plate mounts to fit my small block Ford motor plate and Powerglide since the car was setup for an LS and Turbo 400,” said Travis.
“I had to remake the turbo mounts, and complete passenger side of the hot side since that was damaged in the crash. I re-wired the entire car, completely re-plumbed every line and hose, etc. Long story short, I had it down to a bare chassis with nothing bolted to it and started over.”
The 334 cubic inch small block Ford engine and twin S366 turbochargers took their place in the new chassis, and upgraded to a Holley Dominator. The new car is close to the 3200-pound weight of Travis’ Fox Mustang, allowing him to participate in a class he normally participates in at Brainerd International Raceway.
What are his plans and goals for the new car? “The plan is to go testing at the end of July,” said Travis. “We will race Labor Day weekend at BIR, and then we are entered in the One Guy's Garage Drag Weekend in True Street.”
He also wants to stay competitive in the 8.50-second capped classes. “I'd like to run a 7-second pass once. The old car on 20-pounds of boost would consistently run 8.33-8.36. I think it's a realistic goal.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Travis Larson.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com