There’s no question that racing is something that gets into your blood and never truly leaves, and Mario Orsini is proof of this. The Chicago-area racer has been going fast in door cars for over 35 years in various fast outlaw street-style cars and shows no signs of slowing down.

Being in the Pro Street and Pro Mod game over the better part of a decade, Orsini is about to step up his game with a slick 1963 Corvette with some big billet power under the hood.

Orsini’s Shoe Box Pro Mod was capable, but could not reach that 5 second zone.

Orsini comes from the old school world of Chicago street racing and has competed with the Chicago Outlaw Super Stock class that’s famous for their fast, wheels-up style racing. Orsini’s most recent ride has been a stunning 1957 Chevy Pro Mod.

“We ran consistent six-teens at 244 mph, but that Shoe Box won’t go through the air to run the 5.80’s at 250 plus like we want. The car still holds the mph record at two local tracks.”

To overcome the aerodynamically-challenged 1957 Chevy, Orsini decided to campaign a 1963 Corvette that is being built by Stroupe Race Cars, with a Harrys Glass carbon body. Carl Stevens Jr. at Xtreme Race Cars is a building one of his Xtreme 521-inch Hemis with NRE cylinder heads and a Xtreme billet intake. All of this will be contained in a BAE Brad 8 block and will use a Bryant Crank as a backbone. Boost will be provided by a pair of ball bearing Garrett 88mm turbos. Dave Klaput from Proformance Transmission is building the transmission that will be matched to a Pro Torque converter and will send the power back to a Strange 9-inch floater differential rear end. Patrick Barnhill from PTP Performance will tune the BigStuff 3 system that controls everything.

New billet heads on the 581 ci mill will help to make that 5 second power.

Orsini plans to race in the NMCA, PDRA and with his local Chicago Wise Guys friends. “I couldn’t race at this level without my sponsors, crew and fiancée, Mary Harris. The guys at Turbos by Garrett, Xtreme Race cars, Proformance Transmission, PTP Performance, Finish Line performance, and Mike Miller Performance help keep us going,” says Orsini.

Look for Orsini’s high-powered Corvette to make its debut in 2015 and become a player quickly with the quality people backing it.