JPC Racing’s Tommy Godfrey takes his cue from pro athletes; you are never retired no matter what you’ve officially declared to your family, teammates, front office suits, or the media. This past weekend Godfrey put his 3-time championship winning NMRA Factory Stock coupe back on track but it wasn’t in F/S trim but rather with a Mean Street setup. Ryan Hecox made the switch to 275 Radial action with a new chassis and turbo setup built by Billy Laskowsky. That left his complete Pure Street powertrain sitting in the corner of his garage. Godfrey had the car, Hecox had the combination and just like that retirement for Godfrey was over.
The coupe needed very little to make the conversion to a Mean Street badass with the highlights being the new Weld Racing wheels and Mickey Thompson 26×10-inch slicks. Naturally the rear-gear ratio was swapped for something more in tune to the 9,000 rpm redline of the Rich Groh Racing (RGR) engine. The 311ci powerplant has been in the 9s in exceptional weather while in Hecox’s 2003 Cobra-clone. The 8.2-deck engine features Trick Flow Twisted Wedge cylinders with custom porting by RGR and a special .500-inch camshaft that defies logic. A Trick Flow R box manifold helps feed the hungry engine at the high rpm levels. Godfrey is preparing for the NMCA-Flowmaster event at Maryland International Raceway (MIR) as he looks to play spoiler for the Mean Street regulars. He sent a warning shot over the bow of the competition by unleashing a 10.08 right off the trailer. The engine combination was a proven piece but the coupe was originally built for Factory Stock and had some variables for him to contend with in the real world. Hecox and Godfrey poured over the data and made a few adjustments. The car eventually stopped the clocks in just 10.03 seconds at 133 mph and he backed it up with three runs that were no slower than 10.14.
