Scott Triolo made it two in a row TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout wins at NMRA Norwalk, thanks to great driving skills and his well-built, well-tuned 1985 Ford Mustang GT. His four-eye Fox Body wasn’t the fastest in the field, but it was consistent, predictable and the perfect steed to put Scott back into the winner’s circle.
Scott has owned his 1985 GT since the turn of the century when he was just 19. He originally went to buy a used blower at a guy’s house for a different Mustang he owned at the time. The seller of the blower had this GT he had set up for auto crossing and road racing. It was love at first sight for Scott, and besides the blower, he ended up taking the Mustang GT home.
The Mustang’s current iteration is a major progression from how the car was when first purchased. Horsepower is now generated by a Gen II 5.0L Coyote V8 with upgraded oil pump gears and a 2018 intake manifold. It also has a set of full-length BBK headers. The engine is tuned by Kevin Hand at Wicked Motorsports for best performance running on E85 fuel with a 100 shot of nitrous. Making sure fuel is delivered properly is a BBRC fuel tank with Aeromotive A1000 pumps sending the E85 mixture through BBRC fuel rails.
Behind the Coyote is a TREMEC Magnum 6-speed transmission from Hanlon Motorsports topped with a Hanlon short-throw shifter. The clutch is a Mcleod Racing RXT unit. The rear axle putting all the power to the pavement is an 8.8 with 9-inch ends, Strange axles and S-Trac differential. The front suspension was upgraded to UPR control arms, then UPR subframe connectors tie the front and rear together for extra chassis stiffness. Viking Warrior shocks front and rear cushion things, while Baer Brakes up front slow things down after the finish line, helped by factory SN95 Mustang rear discs.
Behind the Coyote is a TREMEC Magnum 6-speed transmission from Hanlon Motorsports topped with a Hanlon short-throw shifter. The clutch is a Mcleod Racing RXT unit. The rear axle putting all the power to the pavement is an 8.8 with 9-inch ends, Strange axles and S-Trac differential. The front suspension was upgraded to UPR control arms, then UPR subframe connectors tie the front and rear together for extra chassis stiffness. Viking Warrior shocks front and rear cushion things, while Baer Brakes up front slow things down after the finish line, helped by factory SN95 Mustang rear discs.
The Mustang’s best ever run is a 10.3 elapsed time at 136 mph in the quarter-mile. For the 2023 TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout at Summit Motorsports Park, Scott knew he would have to run near perfect passes every time for a shot to even make the shootout finals, let alone win. His GT was the slowest qualifier (11.387 average E/T in the eight-car field) with five 10-second and one 9-second cars ahead of him. Despite the disadvantage, Scott lit the win light both times on the way to the final. Facing off against the 9-second car of Stick Shift Shootout veteran and multi-time winner, Jeff Smith, the pressure was on to post a new best-ever run. The staggered start format gave Scott the early lead, but Jeff rapidly made up the distance and was a growing threat in the mirror as the finish line got closer. Scott ran a 10.490@135 that gave him the win over Jeff’s 9.387@155 run.
Besides his usual racing, Scott plans to be at Beech Bend Raceway for the 2023 NMRA World Finals in September and to try and make the final TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout of 2023.
