Motley Crue has been touring lately, but they've got nothing on our own Nitto Tire KOTS motley crew. This is how you get over 8,478 horsepower in one photo. Besides being a great group of guys, we had a blast with this year's KOTS cast. Everyone had a good time, new friendships were formed, and future ideas were spawned at every bench-racing session. Hiding in the back with the hat on is KOTS winner Ryan Vitiritto.
We've heard the phrase "junk in the trunk," but this is taking it to a whole another level. How do you keep a high-horsepower Mustang from spinning the tires on a small-roller Dynojet? Stuff two fat guys in the trunk, that's how! With the turbocharged KOTS cars, the boost would hit so hard it would cause the tires to spin on the dyno. Evidently, this is not an issue with large-roller Dynojets, but The Horsepower House's Dynojet worked perfect when we inserted a little body mass in the trunk.
Jerome Shumate's Four-Valve Fox coupe won the Drag Race portion coming a hair short of setting the KOTS Drag Race record with a 10.33 at 129 mph. Mark Magnuson proudly owns the record with a 10.31 during the 2006 KOTS while at the wheel of Ben Ripstein's '03 Cobra. Mark stalks us when he's not in the KOTS to make sure no one beats his record. We were secretly wishing Jerome would break it on his second run. Instead, Jerome blew a fuel pump fuse, making him shut it down, and leave Mark with the record and a continued big head.
The popular vote segment is one of our favorite parts of the KOTS competition. The Popular Vote segment allows those in attendance to vote for their favorite KOTS Mustang. We're sure the competitors do their fair share of lobbying, self-voting, and bribery. Some of them need to run for public office they're so good at "earning" votes. Jerome Shumate, seen here slipping in a vote, won the Popular Vote category since all of his Alabama kin folk drive over for the event, and the fact that his coupe strikes a chord with fellow Mustang owners thanks to its Four-Valve Cobra/4R70W transplant, and quality build. Our boy Chuck Hamstra is giving Disco Dan Schoneck the rabbit ears while "Cornholio" stuffs his face.