Burcham claimed, "I love another...
Burcham claimed, "I love another gear to go for. The more gears, the better in my opinion. Gear multiplication gets you down the track and is more effective at keeping the car in its powerband, which is critical to better acceleration. Having to shift into Fifth under WOT is a different task, to say the least. It's like trying to hit Third all over again, only it's further away. I think the new six-speed and 1:1 Fifth gear is going make it tougher to get the car down track for most drivers-shifting to Fifth will bring on a new and additional challenge."
Would it be enough? That question was answered three hours later as we departed for Maryland International Raceway (MIR). Originally, Burcham was going to head north to Cecil County Dragway's Wednesday night test-and-tune program. The plan changed given the secrecy of the project because a rival shop was likely to be at Cecil. So Burcham called in a favor from Jason Miller at MIR, who set up a private rental. Miller hustled to prep the track, and get his ambulance and emergency crew assembled.
The night started off with two naturally aspirated runs, both far from expectations. The first hit resulted in a missed shift, and the second run just didn't feel right, so Burcham aborted.
"I was thinking too much about driving the car and watching the tach. I was trying to hit the gear precisely before it hit the factory rev limiter at 7,000 rpm, which was actually closer to 6,850 on the factory tach. The throttle blade would close shut between the gear changes-even under full throttle, no lift shifts-because we were so close to the rev-limiter." He went on to say, "The car pulled the hardest close to red line, so every shift was crucial. I messed up the first couple passes because of this, but I said 'screw it,' let's get right down to business and spray this bitch."
Some call it extreme, we call...
Some call it extreme, we call it insurance for making history. In a last-minute decision before loading up on the trailer, the JPC guys added a Kirkey seat on the driver's side and removed the passenger seat. Race weight was 3,561 with driver.
They drained the pump gas by jumping the fuel pump relay and then added VP 110 octane. As Burcham put it, "The high-octane fuel was our only safeguard on nitrous because we couldn't change to colder plugs or alter the ignition timing."
"I made one non-powershifted pass on the juice so we could at least check the air/fuel and get the car to the finish line under full power. That resulted in an 11.31 at 122 mph." He made one change and upped the nitrous jet by 0.004-inch in order to lean the mixture out. By an experienced estimate, the nitrous hit was the equivalent to a 125hp shot.
Metco lower control arms were...
Metco lower control arms were combined with a Metco upper adjustable arm, adjustable Panhard bar, relocation brackets, Eibach drag launch kit, and adjustable rear shocks. Burcham kept silent about the adjustment, but whatever it was worked as evident by the 1.46 60-foot.
The next run would seal his name in the record books of Mustang drag racing. He used the same launch technique as earlier by leaving at 6,000 rpm. The car left with both front wheels dangling and it dug in for a 1.46 60-footer. Burcham breezed through the gears, power-shifting each one with accuracy at 6,800 rpm.
"I could feel the throttle letting up on each shift," commented Burcham. He kept his foot in it and only lifted slightly when he banged it into Fifth. "I didn't want to risk missing Fifth." He got it into gear flawlessly and the scoreboard lit up: 10.96 at 125 mph-mission accomplished!
A simple single-stage wet...
A simple single-stage wet nitrous system was plumbed into the intake manifold, and was worth an estimated 125 hp, based on the nitrous and fuel jet sizes. It was the biggest shot Burcham was willing to try because the air/fuel ratio was out of whack on nitrous, and he couldn't retard the ignition timing or add colder plugs.
"I would like to give special thanks to all the guys at the shop for busting their humps to get this done-it would not have been possible otherwise; Shannon Murphy for finding me the perfect car, other than having a six-hour round trip to go get it! Bill Talley Ford (Richmond, Virginia) was also great in making the purchase and pickup super-easy. My wife, Melanie, and our kids for not killing me after buying another Mustang, and also letting me totally rip it apart in my personal quest for another Mustang barrier. She's a saint.
"We also couldn't have done it without Jason Miller and Maryland International Raceway. He dropped everything for us."
The car had just 223.3 total...
The car had just 223.3 total miles and Burcham only drove it for 117.9 miles.
Editor's Note: We also send thanks to the author of this story, Mike Galimi, for traveling 10 hours round trip to cover this wild fiasco. There were no guarantees we would get this done with a brand-new beast that we really knew nothing about.