Having good brakes on any fast car, whether street or drag, is vitally important. Next to other safety equipment like a roll cage, parachute, harnesses, and the like, brakes are one of those areas racers fixate on to make sure their car is safe for competition.

For Rebecca Starkey, her NMRA Coyote Modified 2011 Mustang GT utilizes Baer SS4 brakes. This brake package is designed for heavy drag cars that also see street action. The SS4 package consists of Baer’s S4 4-piston caliper, 11-inch two-piece rotors, and designed for S197 hubs and spindles. The directionally-vented rotors are drilled, slotted, and zinc-plated, and the system is designed for 15-inch wheel applications.

Starkey needs all the braking she can get, since her GT features a Ford Racing Aluminator 11:1 engine, a VMP Tuning Gen II 2.3 TVS supercharger, Doug Thorley Tri-Y headers, a Fore Precision fuel system with ID1300 injectors, and Brisk USA plugs. The stock 6R80 transmission and converter are still in the car, but the rear end is outfitted with 33-spline axles, a Detroit Locker Truetrac differential, and 2.73 gears.

Rebecca Starkey and her 8-second ’11 Mustang GT. Photo courtesy of Baer.

The car has Strange Engineering front struts with Afco shocks out back with TRZ-valving, and many BMR Suspension components. Since Starkey’s husband Justin owns VMP Tuning, he handles the tuning via HP Tuners software.

“My car is very much a street/strip car. Most of the cars in Coyote Modified are dedicated race cars. I drove to the NMRA event at Bradenton, about 120 miles. I don’t have a transbrake — I launch off idle on a footbrake, and my best sixty-foot has been a 1.24. It’s very important to me to keep the car streetable, which means it has a full interior, air conditioning, and stereo. At the same time, safety is important and it meets all of the NHRA safety requirements. I want my car to be relatable to any Mustang driver. It’s so exciting to me when a spectator can relate to my car,” Rebecca says.

Starkey just ran her best time ever in the car, which is an 8.95 at 150 mph. “In order to get to the mid-8s, we’re working on a Darton-sleeved block with MPR (Tim Eichorn). The new engine will have 2015 heads,” Starkey adds. Brakes will be even more important when that takes place.