While David Witt introduced himself and his 2005 Mustang to NMRA in 2010 and sailed to 10-second elapsed-times in Roush Performance Super Stang and then Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle, he decided to make the move to ProCharger Coyote Modified in 2014.

“Of six Modular Muscle races in 2013, I red-lit twice and broke out twice, so I figured that moving to a heads-up class would be good for me because I wouldn’t have to worry about breaking out or going red on the quick tree,” said Witt, with a laugh.

So, he parked his 2005 Mustang in favor of a 2011 Mustang and purchased a Cobra Jet engine topped with CNC-ported Boss 302 heads and a Whipple 2.9-liter supercharger from Ford, and paired it with a 4R70 transmission.

He pushed his car to 9.20s, but was off-pace as his fellow drivers were popping off high eights and low nines; so the Kansas City, Kansas driver made plans to replace his Whipple supercharger with a larger Kenne Bell 3.6 supercharger for 2015.

“I wanted to go faster with the new supercharger, but I was having trouble keeping my transmission together,” said Witt, who went as quick as 8.48 in 2015. “I had gone through three transmissions by the end of 2015, and finally, I got with Rodney Massengale at RPM Transmissions and he set me up with a Turbo 400, and boy, was it a good one.”

At the end of 2015, Witt hired Modular Motorsports Racing in California to build him a 302 cubic-inch Coyote engine.

“It was built on a Coyote block, but it was sleeved and filled, and it had Coyote heads that were highly modified,” said Witt. “They also put a Kenne Bell intake on it.”

He debuted the new combination at the NMRA season-opener at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida in March of 2016, where he began laying down low eight-second passes, and he followed that with his first round win in the category at the second race of the season at Atlanta Dragway in April, but his momentum was thwarted when his car’s cooling system failed and resulted in a bent crank, broken rods, and damaged pistons.

“I sent the engine back to Modular Motorsports Racing, and because it was going to take some time to repair, I went back to my Cobra Jet engine, which Watson Racing tuned for me, and the 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger, and raced NMCA Factory Super Cars,” said Witt. “Unfortunately, I struggled the rest of 2016.”

With his sights set on stepping up in the category in 2017, Witt delivered his car to Justin’s Performance Center in Maryland in February, where his previous engine management system was replaced with an AEM Infinity engine management system, and Eric Holliday was brought onboard to design a tune.

With confidence, he headed to the 23rd Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida in early March, where he qualified fourth with an 8.38 and made it to the final round, where he trapped an 8.19 — his personal best elapsed-time — and earned a runner-up finish.

He followed that with the 9th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Steeda Autosports at Atlanta Dragway in early April, where he qualified sixth with an 8.26 and exited in the second round of competition with an 8.25.

“Justin’s Performance Center continues to work on making the intake air temperature cooler so that we can increase the timing on the engine and allow it to make more power,” said Witt, who’s currently in third place in ProCharger Coyote Modified points. “We have to get the car running in the sevens to be truly competitive, and while that will be challenging, we really want to show that our blower car can do it.”

All eyes will be on Witt to see if he scores his first 7-second pass at the 17th Annual WyoTech NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals, May 4-7, 2017 at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania, which also can be viewed via live feed offered by SpeedVideo right here, and brought to you by presenting sponsor Edelbrock, along with, E3 Sparkplugs, SCAT Crankshafts, PRW Industries, Covercraft, Hellion, TBM Brakes, Moser Engineering, Quickjack, and Royal Purple.