Two-time and defending JDM Engineering Limited Street Champion Bill Putnam certainly made his mark on the relatively new NMRA heads-up Limited Street class. The longtime NMRA racer swept all five events in the 2020 season, and won four out of six events during his 2021 campaign. Those efforts secured him a Driver of the Year award in 2020, and Limited Street championships in 2020 and 2021. Entering the 2022 season, Putnam had already been thinking about the direction of his racing program for some time, and it didn’t take long for him to see the signs that it was time to make the change.
“After having an undefeated season in 2020, I was looking at the evolution of the car/our program and wanted to move up a class, but the timing wasn't right,” Putnam recalled. “We fought through the '21 season and won a second championship and I was looking at the future, but didn't have the time to switch the car over after the additional events we ran in '21. However, in NMRA Bradenton we hurt the engine, and [with] the cost of fuel jumping up daily, we just felt it was time to make the change and do it right and not rush it,” Putnam said of his decision to switch gears for the 2022 season.
“In Limited Street trim, we had to carry a lot of weight in the car and it's not easy on parts. Last year, we ran World Cup and took a bunch of weight out and the car handled totally different and gave us a taste of what we would be looking at in Renegade/Ultra trim. That event was a lot of fun to run and that was in the back of our minds coming into this season in regards to converting the car over.”
With the plan in motion, Putnam and his team pulled the 1994 Mustang apart to get it ready for NMRA Edelbrock Renegade and Ultra Street competition.
“Tig Vision Fabrication is doing all the chassis upgrades and will be finishing up in the next week or so,” Putnam told us. The Mustang, which has already been fitted with a 25.3-certified roll cage, will be receiving a new narrowed rearend and accompanying mini-tubs, and to facilitate that change, the shock and lower control arms mounting locations are being altered as well. Putnam will turn to longtime sponsor UPR Products for the new control arms, among other things.
At the forward end of the ponycar, Putnam plans to continue with his MPR Racing Engines-built, 314ci Coyote-based powerplant, albeit with a 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger providing the pressurized atmosphere.
“We've been very happy with the Holley EFI,” noted Putnam of his choice in engine management. “In fact, I've been running the same ECU for 8-plus years with different engine combinations and multiple power adders.” Veteran Mustang racer and tuner extraordinaire, Jim Larocca has been the tuner for the combo since the start, and Putnam also gets help from Brian Friedentag as well. Behind the bullet, Putnam will continue using his Turbo 400 transmission and Protorque converter.
If all goes smoothly and parts delays don’t hold things up, Putnam is hoping to have the Mustang back up and running around August to get some racing in this year.
“We are aiming for No Mercy in late October, Snowbird Nationals, US Nationals, NMRA in Florida and Lights Out.”
“After having an undefeated season in 2020, I was looking at the evolution of the car/our program and wanted to move up a class, but the timing wasn't right,” Putnam recalled. “We fought through the '21 season and won a second championship and I was looking at the future, but didn't have the time to switch the car over after the additional events we ran in '21. However, in NMRA Bradenton we hurt the engine, and [with] the cost of fuel jumping up daily, we just felt it was time to make the change and do it right and not rush it,” Putnam said of his decision to switch gears for the 2022 season.
“In Limited Street trim, we had to carry a lot of weight in the car and it's not easy on parts. Last year, we ran World Cup and took a bunch of weight out and the car handled totally different and gave us a taste of what we would be looking at in Renegade/Ultra trim. That event was a lot of fun to run and that was in the back of our minds coming into this season in regards to converting the car over.”
With the plan in motion, Putnam and his team pulled the 1994 Mustang apart to get it ready for NMRA Edelbrock Renegade and Ultra Street competition.
“Tig Vision Fabrication is doing all the chassis upgrades and will be finishing up in the next week or so,” Putnam told us. The Mustang, which has already been fitted with a 25.3-certified roll cage, will be receiving a new narrowed rearend and accompanying mini-tubs, and to facilitate that change, the shock and lower control arms mounting locations are being altered as well. Putnam will turn to longtime sponsor UPR Products for the new control arms, among other things.
At the forward end of the ponycar, Putnam plans to continue with his MPR Racing Engines-built, 314ci Coyote-based powerplant, albeit with a 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger providing the pressurized atmosphere.
“We've been very happy with the Holley EFI,” noted Putnam of his choice in engine management. “In fact, I've been running the same ECU for 8-plus years with different engine combinations and multiple power adders.” Veteran Mustang racer and tuner extraordinaire, Jim Larocca has been the tuner for the combo since the start, and Putnam also gets help from Brian Friedentag as well. Behind the bullet, Putnam will continue using his Turbo 400 transmission and Protorque converter.
If all goes smoothly and parts delays don’t hold things up, Putnam is hoping to have the Mustang back up and running around August to get some racing in this year.
“We are aiming for No Mercy in late October, Snowbird Nationals, US Nationals, NMRA in Florida and Lights Out.”