The car a racer pilots is easily their biggest calling card at the track and is the face of their racing operation. Jacky McCarty has amassed an impressive resume of wins with his fearsome 1992 Mustang in the small-tire world, and he’s ready to continue winning with his new 2016 Mustang GT-based machine. The new car is nearly ready to see fire in the pipes and start its career in the NMCA Street Outlaw division.

McCarty has owned his famous Fox Body Mustang since he was 16 years old, but decided it was time to build a new car for competition using the newest Mustang body style. The majority of the chassis and other items had to be hand-built at his shop, McCarty Performance. After his 1992 Mustang experienced catastrophic engine failure at the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl in Chicago, McCarty enlisted the help of Tim Nicholson Race Cars to finish the build. According to McCarty, work on the car is on schedule and of the highest quality.

Powering the new-generation Mustang is an LSX-based engine from Pro Line Racing that will use a set of Mast Motorsports heads and Thompson Motorsports intake manifold. Providing the boost is a giant F1-X ProCharger, and the shifting duties will be taken care of by a TH400 transmission from Mark Micke at M&M Transmission.

In the process of getting the car built, there have been a few surprises, but McCarty and his team are excited to get it back to their shop and ready for action. “We’re working hard on getting weight out of the car. It was 4,200 pounds when we started, so that’s been a challenge. The goal is to win another championship with this car in the NMCA in Street Outlaw next year,” McCarty says.

McCarty plans on having the 2016 Mustang ready for the NMCA World Finals at Lucas Oil Raceway at the end of September. He also plans on keeping his Fox Body around to race in the NMRA’s Street Outlaw division in the future.