Stage Set for Team Z Motorsports Coyote Stock St. Louis Shootout

When the NMRA welcomed Coyote Stock to its legendary lineup in 2012, racers came from all corners of the country and Canada to experience the heads-up class for cars with sealed Coyote engines.

With wheels-up launches and wicked laps, Coyote Stock racers showed what they and their cars could do, and people paid attention.

After the NMRA ceased operations at the end of 2024, Coyote Stock racers scrambled to find a new home. Raul Torres, owner of South Georgia Motorsports Park and a former NMRA racer, welcomed Coyote Stock to the inaugural and second annual Spring Break Ford Nationals presented by Whipple Superchargers in 2025 and 2026, and the inaugural Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Whipple Superchargers in 2026.

“Raul Torres definitely stepped up, and we appreciate that very much,” said Aaron Worstell, former NMRA Coyote Stock racer who earned a win at the inaugural Spring Break Ford Nationals presented by Whipple Superchargers in 2025 at South Georgia Motorsports Park in his Mustang powered by a Ford Gen 3 Coyote engine, G-Force G101A four-speed transmission, and Team Z Motorsports suspension. “We are having conversations as a group on how to keep the class alive, and we have ideas, but with the engines being a sealed unit that we can’t work on, we need Ford to provide a new Coyote Stock engine that we can buy, and an organization to pick us up.”

Plans were recently finalized for the highly anticipated inaugural Team Z Motorsports Coyote Stock St. Louis Shootout, with additional support from Schicker Automotive Group, HPJ Performance, Kelly Klean, Gateway Heads-Up Mafia, Auto Air Garage, GS Performance Automotive and Stickergeek Graphics, June 20, 2026 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The Team Z Motorsports Coyote Stock St. Louis Shootout will be held in conjunction with the Gateway Heads-Up Mafia event.

There are currently ten Coyote Stock racers committed to taking part in the inaugural Team Z Motorsports Coyote Stock St. Louis Shootout, and Worstell is counting on other Coyote Stock racers to join in the fun. Fans will be fascinated by the cars that leap off the starting line with Ford Gen 3 Coyote engines and G-Force G101A four-speed transmissions, and achieve mid-9-second elapsed times on 28×10.5 or smaller tires.

“I can’t sit back and watch what I think is one of the best classes in drag racing die, and I want to do my part, so I contacted Brad Cannon at World Wide Technology Raceway, and I asked him for help,” said Worstell. “I also contacted Dave Zimmerman at Team Z Motorsports, and he didn’t hesitate to jump on board and help us get a race together. With those two on my side, I was pretty sure I could get this done. Then I started talking to local businesses and friends for support. Anyone who has been around Coyote Stock understands how special it is. It is a great entry-level class for heads-up racing. It has high-rpm wheelstands and races that come down to reaction time, car setup, and the driver’s ability to hit shift points, and races are decided by slim margins. The rules keep the cost down to an extent. We need classes like Coyote Stock to stick around.”

In addition to the event on June 20, 2026 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Coyote Stock will be combined with other categories as NA Factory Stock, July 17-18 at Mason Dixon Dixon Dragway in Maryland, and as Factory All Motor at the Misener Motorsports Summer Shootout, Aug. 8-9, 2026 at St. Thomas Dragway in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. It will run as its own class at the Holley Ford Festival, Oct. 2-3, 2026 at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky.

“I love Coyote Stock, a limited class with the engine, and you have to work on every part of the car, and this makes chassis and suspension tuning a huge part if you want to be a front-runner,” said Dave Zimmerman, owner of Team Z Motorsports in Taylor, Michigan. “When it was an NMRA class, I would say 90 percent of the cars were running Team Z Motorsports front or rear suspension, and it was a great group of guys and hardcore racers. I look forward to trying to get the class established in another sanctioning body like the IHRA. Coyote Stock is a great class, and the sealed engine and computer make it a little more affordable, relatively speaking, to get started in a heads-up class. I hope Aaron Worstell and the guys can bring it back to life.”