Even though he won the 2020 season championship title in NMRA Street Outlaw, Dom DiDonato’s 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 had never been professionally wired. So, when an opportunity for an upgrade presented itself, DiDonato moved forward with making his red ride even more race-ready.
DiDonato had been running the red S197 in the X275 category at Cecil County Dragway in June of 2022 when he hurt his last remaining spare engine. Undeterred, he ordered up a new Ford 5.8-liter powerplant from MPR Racing Engines in Florida and had Wiseco design a set of special 12:1 compression pistons for his GT500.
While at the track, though, DiDonato met Troy Baum from RACEWires and decided to have the man tackle the task of getting the spaghetti sorted out. “Troy did an outstanding job. He completely rewired the whole car and added a bunch of new features like interior lights, hooking up all the side marker lights, and other things,” shared DiDonato of the great service he received in just three weeks. “He also wired in our new MSD Pro 600 CDI ignition box to go along with the Holley EFI system.”
Although DiDonato had hoped to run his 2008 GT500 in the special X275 category at the 2nd Annual Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival Presented by Force Engineering at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, in July, he had to sit out the race while he waits for the new engine to be completed.
Once MPR buttons up the bullet, DiDonato will install it between the frame rails of the Rhodes Custom Auto-built 25.3 SFI chassis and add a new set of Atomizer injectors to the mix. "Special thanks to Craig and Daniel Pachar at Triangle Speed Shop for tuning the car. I would be nowhere without them," DiDonato added.
Looking ahead, he plans to continue running the Forced Inductions turbocharged entry – which also utilizes a ProFormance Turbo 400 transmission with a ProTorque EV1 converter torque and an M&M shifter, Menscer Motorsports shocks and struts, and Racecraft 9” rear end – in major small tire races throughout the country.
DiDonato had been running the red S197 in the X275 category at Cecil County Dragway in June of 2022 when he hurt his last remaining spare engine. Undeterred, he ordered up a new Ford 5.8-liter powerplant from MPR Racing Engines in Florida and had Wiseco design a set of special 12:1 compression pistons for his GT500.
While at the track, though, DiDonato met Troy Baum from RACEWires and decided to have the man tackle the task of getting the spaghetti sorted out. “Troy did an outstanding job. He completely rewired the whole car and added a bunch of new features like interior lights, hooking up all the side marker lights, and other things,” shared DiDonato of the great service he received in just three weeks. “He also wired in our new MSD Pro 600 CDI ignition box to go along with the Holley EFI system.”
Although DiDonato had hoped to run his 2008 GT500 in the special X275 category at the 2nd Annual Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival Presented by Force Engineering at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, in July, he had to sit out the race while he waits for the new engine to be completed.
Once MPR buttons up the bullet, DiDonato will install it between the frame rails of the Rhodes Custom Auto-built 25.3 SFI chassis and add a new set of Atomizer injectors to the mix. "Special thanks to Craig and Daniel Pachar at Triangle Speed Shop for tuning the car. I would be nowhere without them," DiDonato added.
Looking ahead, he plans to continue running the Forced Inductions turbocharged entry – which also utilizes a ProFormance Turbo 400 transmission with a ProTorque EV1 converter torque and an M&M shifter, Menscer Motorsports shocks and struts, and Racecraft 9” rear end – in major small tire races throughout the country.