>>>> The story of John Urist's racing career starts over ten years ago, when John was just a college student attending the University of New Mexico. At the time, he had a 1990 Ford Mustang coupe with a 351 and a C-4 transmission that he would race on weekends. After hearing about the Fun Ford series through a friend of his, he decided to go to a race and give it a shot. Not wanting to bracket race, he entered the Street Outlaw class at the Fun Ford event in Bradenton, Florida and ended up advancing all the way to the final round. Needless to say, he was hooked, and continued to haul around the country and race, finding himself in 3 final rounds in his first year.

After a long look at his combination (and one particularly spectacular nitrous backfire at the final NMRA race of 1999 - earning him the nickname "Fireball") John decided that nitrous was not in his best interest. He got in touch with Alan Dudley and Wayne Young and built a turbocharged 358 cu. in. combination that changed the face of heads-up Mustang drag racing. The engine produced an
unheard of 1,641 horse power, and catapulted John to
the top of the heap in the racing world. After a
successful campaign with the turbocharged
coupe, John's sponsors decided that it was
time to step up the image, and provided him
with a body in white 2001 Mustang. It was
with this car that John would win 3 world
championships (4 total) and firmly place
himself atop the world of Ford drag racing.