The El Toro – Motion Raceworks’ Coyote-Powered Mustang – Will Return to Sick Week, With a New Driver at the Controls
Associated with the drag-and-drive community since its inception, Motion Raceworks is not just about the products though. Doug and Andy Cook have been onsite, or in most cases, behind the wheel competing at the events.
For the 2024 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, the Coyote-powered Mustang known as ‘El Toro’ will return after an absence in 2023, but with newly-licensed driver Blayne Stark behind the wheel.
Sick the Mag will give away a ‘71 Chevy dually pick-up, plus a Harley bike AND $5000 CASH! We’ve got special multiplier offers, which gets you awesome merch and increases your entries! Click here for all the details!
A New Year’s Eve purchase in 2016 for $400, the clean virgin 1993 Mustang originally served Motion Raceworks for parts creation and fitment, including steering columns and parachute mounts.
“It was just a body, but it was the perfect platform to make sure our stuff fit and worked right,” said Doug. “Then one day I pop the trunk and found a complete UPR suspension. At that point I said ‘maybe we can make a project out of this.’”
The car became the subject of the build ‘8 Seconds in 8 Days’ series, where Doug and crew took the Mustang, installed a used Gen 2 Coyote, a single 76/75 Precision turbocharger, Haltech ECU, Powerglide transmission and 26-inch Mickey Thompson drag radials.
For more about the project, here’s the introduction video:
The car was completed just in time for the 2020 edition FL2K event, where it garnered low 9-second passes. Since then, the Mustang has done several drag-and-drive events, including Rocky Mountain Race Week and the first Sick Week, where it finished third in 235 Outlaw Street Race with an 8.56 average.
But at the recent Cleetus McFarland Christmas Tree World Championship event, the Coyote stopped howling. “We thought it broke a sleeve, but turns out it got a head gasket instead,” said Doug. The engine was torn apart for inspection, and can still be repaired, but Doug decided to step up El Toro’s gameplan.
“We were on a time crunch to make Sick Week, and Brett LaSala was starting to help us out with tuning. We thought we could be a bit more competitive in Rowdy Radial this year, so we stepped up to a Fast Forward Race Engines (FFRE) Coyote long block.”
Based around a Gen 3 block, the engine will get a ported Boss intake, the existing T4-flange 84-millimeter Precision turbocharger, and Brett will lend his tuning hand to the new combination.
Now, the question was who would pilot El Toro. Doug said it was an easy decision: Blayne Stark. For those that may not recognize the name, Blayne and his father Tom have done several drag-and-drive events in Tom’s ’55 Chevrolet 210 station wagon.
Now with Blayne recently hitting 16 and holding his driver license, he’ll get to wheel El Toro with TBM Brakes’ own Tanner Stover in the passenger seat. “We’re going to help him get his National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) license, then let him run Sick Week in Rowdy Radial,” said Doug.
Being a single turbo and Powerglide set-up, it’s a simple set-up so Doug has no hesitation about letting Blayne drive. “So many people have driven El Toro and said it’s a simple and easy to drive ride,” said Doug. “Blayne deserves a shot in the seat.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Motion Raceworks.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com