The TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout’s first event of 2026 was Mustang Week Texas, with Jesse Rodriguez with his 2024 Mustang GT taking home the victory and a brand new TREMEC TKX 5-speed transmission. For the first time the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout raced in the eighth-mile at Houston Raceway Park.
This TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout takes the quickest H-pattern shifted manual transmission cars either from a True Street class or individual qualifying, then puts them in a heads-up drag racing format using a pro tree. For Mustang Week Texas 2026, the eight stick shift drivers with the lowest elapsed time average from their three True Street runs received a special TREMEC award, with these four racers originally qualifying for the shootout:
When the time came for eliminations, Tim Gee was unable to make the call to the lanes, so Edgar Sanchez took his place because he was the fifth lowest qualifier.
TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout Eliminations:
Saul Contreras 2025 RTR Mustang (7.723 E/T average eighth-mile)
Edgar Sanchez 2013 Mustang GT (8.867 E/T average eighth-mile)
Jesse Rodriguez 2024 Mustang GT (8.238 E/T average eighth-mile)
Gilbert Martinez 2023 GT500 (8.370 E/T average eighth-mile)
First round pairings saw number one qualifier Saul Contreras face off against Gilbert Martinez, and Jesse Rodriguez running against Edgar Sanchez. Contreras defeated Martinez with an 8.26@101.21 to Martinez’s 9.53@81.61 to get his spot in the final.
Then Rodriguez and Sanchez squared off, with things tight out of the box to the 60-foot mark before Rodriguez pulled away, punching his ticket to the shootout final with an 8.17@88.92 over Sanchez’s 8.89@85.36 pass.
Coming into the final, both Mustangs were pretty evenly matched, promising to be a good race. But when the tree flashed green Contreras bogged off the line giving Rodriguez a head start and what would turn out to be an insurmountable lead. The black 2024 Mustang broke the beams first with an 8.33@88.88 run with Contreras posting a 8.90@101.99 pass on the scoreboard shortly after.
With the win Jesse Rodriguez took home the winner’s trophy and a band new TREMEC TKX 5-speed transmission.
Jesse bought his 2024 Mustang GT brand new, the sixth Mustang he’s owned (so far) and the only one currently in his stable. The car’s 5.0L Coyote V8 is still naturally aspirated, but Jesse took it to P1 Underground for a full performance tune on the ECU. After that, Jesse put the Mustang on a diet to lose weight for more speed. The back seat was replaced with a back seat delete kit and the front passenger seat has been removed. In the trunk Jesse removed everything he could to save more weight. Future plans for more improvements include upgrading the Mustang’s stock manual transmission to a TREMEC Magnum XL 6-speed.
