John Mihovetz came within a few scant thousandths of a second – six to be exact – of pushing his 281-inch Modular Motor-powered Mustang into the five-second zone last weekend. Competing in NHRA’s Competition Eliminator class at The Strip in Las Vegas. Mihovetz, wheeling his sleek Lucas Oil and Accufab-sponsored Mustang, knocked a full two hundredths off the previous record of 6.02, held by Greg Seth-Hunter from the MMR camp, while streaking to the No. 1 qualifying spot in the uber-competitive Comp field with a 6.009, followed by a pair of 6.006 elapsed times, all at 244 mph!

For those not familiar with Comp Eliminator, it consists of index-based classes that race each other on a handicapped-start tree. NHRA mandates the index for each combination, some of which are rather unusual. The index for Mihovetz’ Mustang is 7.20, meaning he ran almost 1.2 seconds under his index. In Comp, a run even six or seven-tenths under the index is big, so what Mihovetz accomplished is just beyond words.

Mihovetz’ S-197-body rides atop a purpose-built tube chassis, and tips the scales at 2,525 pounds. The powerplant, legendary among the blue oval contingent, features a shocking number of factory components. The block is a factory-cast 4.6L aluminum block and crank, while the heads are GT500 pieces. The combination survives under extreme conditions, such as 52 pounds of boost from the twin Garrett turbochargers, thanks to years of intense research and development by Mihovetz himself.

John will continue his run at the elusive five-second zone at the NHRA World Finals in Pomona. While most of the fans will be watching Top Fuel and Funny Car, you can bet there will be a dedicated crowd of Ford fans that race to the stands when Comp Eliminator is called to staging to see if Mihovetz can indeed push a stock displacement 4.6L into the fives. We certainly wish John the best in his quest!