First was the Extender-a simple plug-in, hand-held tuner that allowed the user to increase the factory rpm rev limiter and adjust the air/fuel ratio. It paved the way for GSR's next computer, the EPEC, or Extreme Performance Engine Controller. EPEC is a system that piggybacks onto the factory EEC IV box and gives the user complete control, much like a stand-alone fuel injection system. Both items have since been discontinued, but Wolfe's Mustang was the first to test both products.
As the Mustang shootout scene became quicker and faster, so did Wolfe. His car received a Super Stock-style rear suspension setup with a four-link, tubs, and 31x13-inch tires. A stroked 302-style engine was stuffed under the cowl hood as well. A 331ci engine with NASCAR take-off C302B heads pushed Wolfe into the 9-second zone. He would eventually add Yates heads and build a custom intake manifold with twin 90mm throttle bodies. The car ran 9.69 on motor alone, and the intense Pro 5.0 competition at the time forced him to add nitrous. A two-stage Compucar nitrous system was wired into place, and eventually Wolfe ran 8.35 at 165 mph.
Progression is the name of the game in Pro 5.0, and the scene was rapidly changing. "Eventually I couldn't keep up," Wolfe says. "The cars were becoming real race cars, and the turbos were pushing them faster." Life had also taken a toll on his Pro 5.0 racing days, and personal and career changes forced him to park the car in 1999. The legendary '86 Mustang GT sat until last year when he got the bug to put it back together. "I had come back to Michigan from Germany [he had moved there for a new position at Ford] and built a house," he says. "Once that was done, I started to piece the car back together. I had stuff stored in a few different places."
Today, Pro 5.0 is a six-second class, and Wolfe's car certainly isn't fit for that action. Nevertheless, he wanted to rebuild it and have fun with his friends. He also planned on attending the Stormin' Norman Reunion race. A new engine combination was spec'd out, and he grabbed one of the early production pieces of the Ford Racing Boss 302-block. The bores were punched out to 4.125 inches, and a 3.500-inch stroke crank was dropped into place. Final displacement sits at a robust 374 cubes. The induction system was then transferred from his 331ci engine, including the Yates heads (updated by Jerry Arnold) and a wild custom intake with dual throttle bodies. This time he left the nitrous disconnected and con-centrated on naturally filling the cylinders with air.
The first reunion race was rained out, and Wolfe showed up to the second one, held at Atco Raceway in June 2007. This is where we caught up with the father of the 5.0L movement. His best time on the new combination has been a 9.19 at 151 mph, naturally aspirated, in 2007. Wolfe is no longer chasing Pro 5.0 glory, but his competition nature still lurks inside. He's looking at possibly turning his '96 Cobra into a heads-up race car. "I like NMRA Hot Street, but they don't allow Yates heads," he says. While he's considering building a new car, one thing is for sure; he isn't abandoning the car that started it all. "My goal is to run in the 8s on motor alone," he says. He also noted that the real fun in drag racing was "just being at the track with your buddies. I've met a lot of great people, and being with your friends is what it's all about. You revert back to being a teenager when you're at the track. Just racing and not worrying about anything else." You also need an understanding wife like Nancy Wolfe.
Wolfe sums it up by saying, "I always thought I was born 10 years too late for the musclecar craze, but I was born at just the right time, as I'm lucky to have been in the middle of all the Mustang stuff."