While we're used to seeing Alex Hays hot-shoe his Mustang in Ultra Street at tracks across the country, he has his sights set on Wiseco Street Outlaw and the 15th Annual NMCA World Street Finals featuring the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series, Aug. 26-28, 2016 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
He'll rely on his powerful and proven Uratchko Racing Engines-built and maintained 585 cubic-inch Chevy engine, and while he has gone as quick and fast as 4.82 and 144 mph with the stout piece he purchased three years ago from fellow racer Butch Kemp, he's looking to coax more out of it to compete in the class where the current elapsed-time record is the 4.36 laid down by Joel Greathouse.
The car is running really well, but I definitely do think there is some ET left in it, said Hays, of Canton, Michigan, an emergency room nurse. It may take some time to test parts and find it, but we'll get there.
Rounding out his combination are BMF heads massaged by Slick Rick Racing Heads and a Sniper intake, also massaged by Slick Rick Racing Heads. All of it is fed fuel via a 2.800 billet BRX, Sr. carburetor by Book Racing, and helping the car which rolls on Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Pros put all of the power down is a Turbo 400 maintained by fellow racer Van Geibel and a Neal Chance converter.
By all accounts, Hays has had an action-packed 2016 season, beginning with a wild wheelstand while testing in February in Georgia. He followed that with a semifinal finish against Butch Kemp in Ultra Street at the Outlaw Street Car Reunion in March in Tennessee, and then motored to the second round in Drag Radial in Milan Dragway's Heads Up Series race in May, and a runner-up at the Take Down at Cecil County Dragway in May in Maryland. On that pass, however, he hurt his engine and promptly turned it over to Chris Uratchko of Uratchko Racing Engines to be repaired, while John Marcella of Marcella Manifolds gave his heads a valve job. He was back in action in Drag Radial in Milan Dragway's Heads Up Series race in early August, where he exited competition in the first round.
After living it up and laying down laps at the NMCA event at Summit Motorsports Park this weekend, he'll prepare for the YellowBullet.com Nationals, Sept. 1-4, 2016 at Cecil County Dragway, where he'll enter Ultra Street-275, and the Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown at the Summit presented by Mickey Thompson Tires, Sept. 16-18, 2016 at Summit Motorsports Park, where he'll enter Team Z Motorsports Ultra Street.
We've qualified well a couple times and we've made a couple final rounds, but our focus is on trying to get a win, said Hays, whose dedicated and diehard crew includes his dad, Pat Hays, plus Amber Milton, Tim Hall, Tommy DeLago, Dave Dimitri and Butch Kemp, a consultant for the team. The competition everywhere is tight and it's hard to win a race, but we're giving it everything we have.
Photos courtesy of Moto Lenz and Alex Hays
By all accounts, Hays has had an action-packed 2016 season, beginning with a wild wheelstand while testing in February in Georgia. He followed that with a semifinal finish against Butch Kemp in Ultra Street at the Outlaw Street Car Reunion in March in Tennessee, and then motored to the second round in Drag Radial in Milan Dragway's Heads Up Series race in May, and a runner-up at the Take Down at Cecil County Dragway in May in Maryland. On that pass, however, he hurt his engine and promptly turned it over to Chris Uratchko of Uratchko Racing Engines to be repaired, while John Marcella of Marcella Manifolds gave his heads a valve job. He was back in action in Drag Radial in Milan Dragway's Heads Up Series race in early August, where he exited competition in the first round.
After living it up and laying down laps at the NMCA event at Summit Motorsports Park this weekend, he'll prepare for the YellowBullet.com Nationals, Sept. 1-4, 2016 at Cecil County Dragway, where he'll enter Ultra Street-275, and the Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown at the Summit presented by Mickey Thompson Tires, Sept. 16-18, 2016 at Summit Motorsports Park, where he'll enter Team Z Motorsports Ultra Street.
We've qualified well a couple times and we've made a couple final rounds, but our focus is on trying to get a win, said Hays, whose dedicated and diehard crew includes his dad, Pat Hays, plus Amber Milton, Tim Hall, Tommy DeLago, Dave Dimitri and Butch Kemp, a consultant for the team. The competition everywhere is tight and it's hard to win a race, but we're giving it everything we have.
Photos courtesy of Moto Lenz and Alex Hays