NMRA's Coyote Stock

There is a new class in NMRA this season, and it’s generating quite a stir on message boards and YouTube, yet as we write this, the season’s opening race is still one month away. Strange Engineering Coyote Stock presented by 5.0 Mustang Magazine and Super Fords is the official title of the class, and there are several reasons to be excited about it. First, it was created to simplify an existing NMRA class and make it more affordable than the class it evolved from. Second, the rules dictate the use of a sealed, 5.0 Coyote crate engine, which is available from a number of distributors for about $6,000—a great price for the level of performance it delivers. In the words of one builder we spoke to, “You couldn’t piece together a better engine for less money.” Third, the engine is legal in any ’54-or-newer Ford and can be backed up by any Tremec manual transmission or a C4 automatic, which satiates our appetite for drivetrain swaps. Fourth, it’s heads-up racing. Early testing we’ve seen shows the cars nailing down high-10-second e.t.’s in shakedown passes. This class should be fun, fast, and competitive.

According to our research, Coyote Stock was the brainchild of NMRA Pure Street racers Steve Gifford and Ken Bjonnes. In a conversation with Ken, he described his frustration with what had become of Pure Street, an N/A Modular-powered class. A myriad of weight breaks and a rules guide as thick as a phone book made a competitive car expensive and difficult to build. Bjonnes described one racer showing up a couple of years ago with a huge-budget ringer car that instantly put everyone else on the trailer. That type of racing isn’t fun. He and Gifford began kicking around ideas of how things could be better.

At about the same time, Ford Racing Performance Parts released the crate version of the ’11 Mustang’s stellar 5.0L engine, and the plans started to come together. Bjonnes said he lobbied both FRPP and the NMRA with what he calls a simple set of rules. Both parties liked the idea, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, more like history in the making. As of early February 2012, we’ve heard of just a handful of cars being built to compete in this new class, so there is a chance this whole Coyote thing could chew off its own leg. NMRA’s first race will be held in Bradenton, Florida, before this goes to press, so we’ll know more then. We are optimistic, however, and applaud the notion of a stripped-down set of rules governing a heads-up class of newer engines in older cars. We’d like to see Dodge and Chevrolet come up with similar spec-engine programs; then the Big Three could all throw down in some sort of late-model engine-swap class, possibly sponsored by us here at CC. Innovation, modern technology, and heads-up racing on a budget sound like a great combination.