Fox Mustang Drag Car - Fire Storm

MotorTrend published "Fox Mustang Drag Car - Fire Storm" on August 1, 2008, a feature on Raphael Morkvenas' NMRA Super Street Outlaw Fox Mustang with J.R. Granatelli as its driver. The story was written by Michael Johnson, with photos by Steve Turner.

From Chevelle to Fox Body

According to the article, Morkvenas started out as a Chevy fan racing a Chevelle, which he still owns. Growing up around racers Bob Kurgan and Mike Post pulled him toward Fords, and he bought a 5.0 Mustang of his own. Over time it gained a 351 Windsor, a Vortech T-Trim supercharger, a C4 transmission and a TRZ Motorsports suspension.

Kurgan pushed him to join the NMRA EFI Renegade class, but Morkvenas did not want to race against his friends, so he aimed for Super Street Outlaw instead.

Starting Over and Profile Racecraft

The article explains that his upgrades took so long they were outdated before the car was finished. Morkvenas responded by cutting the car down and starting fresh. That rebuild led to his side business, Profile Racecraft, created so he could get work done on his own schedule. Rob White of LRT Chassis in Streamwood, Illinois, helped him with chassis measurement and alignment, and Morkvenas credits much of the work to White. His main business, Automated Solutions, builds machinery used to make countertops and cabinets.

J.R. Granatelli Takes the Wheel

Once the car was done, Morkvenas wanted to focus on maintenance and let someone else drive. Kurgan knew J.R. Granatelli, owner of Granatelli Motor Sports and a former owner of Paxton Superchargers, wanted to get back into a race car, and he put the two together for at least the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The article notes that J.R.'s family has deep Indianapolis 500 roots.

Morkvenas said in the article, "I couldn't have found a better person to drive the car," praising J.R.'s conservative approach.

The 2007 Season

According to the article, the car's best 2007 pass was 7.70 seconds at 186 mph. Aside from a small fire at the NMRA race in Reynolds, Georgia, it came through the season unharmed. The team's stated goal was to become the quickest car in NMRA Super Street Outlaw.

About the Original Article

The full feature, including its tech spec sheet, ran on MotorTrend in August 2008. We were not able to find a working link to the original article.

Written by JoJo Granatelli — third generation at Granatelli Motor Sports in Oxnard, California, and the one who drives what the company builds. He set a quarter-mile record of 7.06 seconds at 157 mph at Famoso Dragstrip in August 2026. More about JoJo.