A longtime supporter of NMCA Xtreme Street champion and Ultra Street racer Jessie Coulter, RC Components proprietor Rick Ball is set to enter the small-tire ranks with his very own car, this Gotta Have It Green-hued Ford Mustang Cobra.

Making its debut at the 2023 Performance Racing Industry trade show and displayed in the RC Components booth, the Terminator Cobra Mustang has been equipped, not with a Ford engine, not with an LS, but with a Gen III HEMI built by Kevin Mullins at TKM Performance. It’s a factory block that has been sleeved and dry-decked for durability.

“My cylinder head theory, it has to be a HEMI motor, because of the valve angles going straight through,” Ball told us, keeping the specific details of his theory close to the vest. “It goes back to Indy cars in the late ’90s and a guy was talking to me about it. I went to Byron Hines, because I was a motorcycle guy, and I was asking Byron about it and he was explaining what the guy just told me. It’s got to be a turbocharged motor and a HEMI motor, because of back-pressure. That’s the secret to it all, and if you can relieve the back pressure, which is what everybody tries to do, it’s going to make more power.”

Ball’s Mustang will be hitting the dyno this week and sounded hopeful that his engine combination will deliver the big numbers he’s looking for.

“To be competitive, it’s got to be in the 1,600-plus range, maybe even 1,700 to go 4.40s, so 1,700 will put a smile on my face, and 1,800 will make me smile more and more and more. The big theory will be if it makes 30-35 pounds of boost and back-pressure is only 40 pounds, it’s doing its job, because I couldn’t do it all the way I wanted to because the casting was already so big. If I went to a billet cylinder head, I’d be able to make the port smaller to speed up the airflow, but I didn’t want to have to spend the extra money and then I’d have to run X275. If the theory is working, it’ll still drop the back-pressure.”

The engine utilizes a Dailey Engineering dry sump oiling system, a Smallwood Race Development camshaft, a Harts 76mm turbocharger for boost, and a steady dash of methanol for fuel.

Ball purchased the 2003 Mustang Cobra from Stephen Floyd as a running and driving, twin-turbocharged and Mod motor-powered machine with a stick shift, and had Jessie Coulter of Jessie’s Garage complete the renovation. Coulter handled installing the HEMI powerplant, wired and plumbed the pony, and added the FuelTech FT600 electronic control unit. He will also be handling the tuning side of things and will shake the car down before its first race in Florida this winter.

Beneath the RC Components Impulse wheels-shod, bright green exterior is an RPM Transmission-built two-speed Turbo 400 coupled with a ProTorque converter, and Tin Soldier Race Cars built the entire chassis, as well as the fabricated 9-inch rearend. Ensuring the ultimate in control is a set of Menscer Motorsports shocks and struts.

While Ball has had experience racing motorcycles, he’s never competed in anything quite this fast, according to Coulter, who said he might step in to drive it during NMCA events in the Xtreme Street category. Coulter also noted that Ball’s wife, Louise, may jump into the seat, and Shawn Riggsbee is also a contender to pilot the Mustang in Ultra Street competition.