Mustang50 Magazine Homepage 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords

2001 Ford Mustang GT - Little Brother

Joseph Gullett Is Making A Name For Himself With His Own Present

writer: Michael Johnson
photographer: Steve Turner

 Mustang Brothers

Drag racing is a family affair. Names such as Mark and Joe Mainiero, Gabe and Jarad Large, and Robin and James Lawrence are all ate up with racing. Back in the day, Mark Mainiero raced Pontiacs until the 5.0 Mustang came out, while son Joe seemingly exited the womb tearing up the streets. Gabe Large taught little brother Jarad everything he knows about drag racing. Jarad must've listened well. James Lawrence has his uncle Robin to thank for his drag racing prowess (or lack thereof). James must not have listened to Robin's sage advice.

As with Joe Mainiero and Jarad Large, Joseph (or JoJo, as he is more affectionately known) Gullett has followed in his elder brother John's footsteps behind the wheel of this '01 GT.

JoJo received his True Blue GT for Christmas in 2000. He was one of the first kids in his Orange Park, Florida, hometown to have one. "I couldn't wait for the first trip to Gainesville, so I had to run it at local eighth-mile Jax Raceway," JoJo says. He knew he had a fast car on his hands when he beat a '99 Cobra and ran a best of 8.69 at 82 mph. "I called my brother from the track asking him to tell me what that would equal in the quarter-mile," he says. "I had to know. He said not to get my hopes up-that it was probably a mid-14."

John's obviously had one too many 200-mph runs, because a couple weeks later at Gainesville, his younger brother's first pass equaled a 13.86 at 100 mph. JoJo was so excited, he went back to the pits and removed the passenger-side seat and air filter. Through much practice with his launch, he had the car running 13.50s that first night at Gainesville-with a fistfull of timeslips to prove it.

With the car's abnormal power, JoJo couldn't resist getting his street freak on. It's hard to believe, but he says no one around his hometown knew who he was when he first started out. "All they knew was that I was John Gullett's little brother," JoJo says. But the locals came to know him real fast because he was "beating all the cars around town," as he puts it.

With such a yearning for speed and the desire to remain undefeated, JoJo purchased a pair of street slicks to keep him ahead of the competition. Adding the slicks enabled him to get out of the hole quicker, but it also took out the stock clutch. So his friend Charles Gann replaced the clutch with a Cobra unit.

Even though the car was running strong, JoJo still had unfinished business on the street. There were a few cars giving him trouble, so he looked to nitrous to settle the score. "Then I started hearing about how I couldn't do it with a returnless fuel system," JoJo says. He decided to try the nitrous anyway, but he didn't want anyone to be able to tell he was running the stuff. So he ran the nitrous line through the fenderwell and plumbed a dry-shot nozzle into the air intake where the filter is. He initially plumbed in a 75 shot using NOS solenoids. He was at the wheel with his friend Ross in the passenger seat the first time under nitrous. "I was hooked," JoJo says. "The way the extra horsepower came into play was sweet. We went through one bottle in less than 30 minutes." He had that bottle filled with nitrous, and then another. "The people who were giving me trouble had their doors blown off that night. We went through both bottles."

It was around this time the car developed a surge when under nitrous. After Joe Mainiero and Bart Tobener from UPR helped diagnose the problem, JoJo made the repairs and soon returned to the track. With the 75hp jets, he ran a best of 12.86 at 108 mph. However, he became greedy and threw in the 125hp jets. "The car came out of the hole real good," JoJo says, "so I grabbed the nitrous, and all I heard was grinding and rpm coming up real fast. That night, Ford Roadside Assistance was called to pick up the car and tow it to H.P. Performance, a local shop." Charles Gann replaced the rearend spider gears and H.P. Performance added 3.73s into the mix while the rear was apart.


1  | 2  | 3  | Next
Get Adobe Flash player
Get free and easy new car price quote in minutes.

Related Articles

 
2001 Ford Mustang Dyno - Proof of Life
Check out the performance stats of our 2001 Ford Mustang GT project car as we take its Livernois short-block, heads, and cams under the hood for a high performance dyno test!... more
 
2001 Ford Mustang Bullit - Wildcatting Bullitts
Ballistically speaking, hot rodding cartridges with more powder or more efficient bullets is known as wildcatting. It's done by... more
 
Ford Mustang Comparison - Team Players
Check out our indepth comparison on acceleration, handling, braking, and overall conclusion as we examine the 2003 Ford Mustang Mach 1, 2003 Ford Mustang Bullitt, and a 2001 Ford Mustang Cobra!... more
 
2001 Mustang Bullitt - Locked and Loaded
This 2001 Mustang Bullitt is ready to take on all challengers-in fact, it already has... more
 
2003 Ford Mustang Cobra - First Fangs First
Check out this amazing 2003 Ford Mustang Cobra as it is reportedly the first 2003 Cobra to break into the ten second quarter mile!... more
 
1993 Ford Mustang Coupe - Wiley Fox
As we had predicted (hoped?) from the beginning, NMRA's 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords Real Street class has proven to be a competitive venue that has attracted an ever-growing and strong field of... more
 
1997 Ford Mustang Roush - Green And S Een
There's nothing like cruising the local hangouts as soon as summer hits-just getting out in your favorite Mustang, whether it's an old classic or a cutting-edge modular, and associating with fellow... more
 
Turbo 1990 Ford Mustang 5.0 LX - Skittles Racing
5.0 Mustang such as the one here owned by David Marroquin reinforces what we already know about these cars-they're here to stay. And new race cars are constantly coming out of the construction phase... more
 
1988 Ford Mustang GT - Favorite Fake
We don't know of many people who buy a Mustang to leave it stock, but Lynbrook, New York's Adam Dugger told himself that's what he'd do. Prior to getting the '88 GT seen here, his intention was to... more
 
1991 Ford Mustang LX Coupe - Racing Kane
U.S. Army Senior Drill Sergeant Mark Kane's 1991 Ford Mustang LX coupe is ready for speed... more

More Related Content

 

Get Adobe Flash player