Exceeded in popularity only by cat videos and footage of things exploding, videos of Fox-body Mustangs at the drag strip are a dime a dozen. It takes a special sort of video to really grab our attention, and rare are the videos that can hold our attention all the way through. How many times can you watch the same Mustang zoom down the track in single digit times?
As it turns out, many, many times, especially with the many possible camera angles offered by modern technology. Dave Ongano sent Bangshift this footage of his Fox-body Mustang, nicknamed Quarterhorse II, tearing down the drag strip in the single digits from all sorts of angles. You’re going to want to see this one all the way through.
Powered by a naturally-aspirated 331 cubic-inch small-block, Ognano slams the stick-shift through the gears, sending the Quarterhorse II down New England Dragway in as little as 9.94 seconds at 137 MPH. No nitrous. No turbocharger. Just a bad-ass stroker engine and an experienced driver who can bang through gears like it’s just another afternoon in the office.
So what makes this Mustang video special? It’s all about the angles, and the no BS cuts from one pass to another. We’re not sure how many passes Ognano made that day, but so many angles are covered that the footage never gets old. The sound track is the glorious barking of that 331, and the Ognano’s power-shifting capability. We watched this twice and never got tired of seeing this car hang the front tires, or hearing the gear changes executed so well.
Besides the many awesome angles showing this mechanical marvel in action, there’s something inspiring about watching a real racer rowing through the gears of a manual transmission. Forced induction and automatic transmissions rule the drag strip these days, but there are still guys like Dave Ognano out there racing it old school style.