This wicked Pontiac Firebird loses traction right after the start, but the turbocharged LSX helps the Trans Am run down the Fox Body Mustang.
This turbo vs. turbo drag battle comes to us from the Drag the Earth YouTube channel, and it features a quarter mile battle between a 4th gen Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and a Fox Body-era Ford Mustang. This race was filmed at the Street Car Takeover at Lucas Oil Raceway on May 7th, 2017 and it perfectly showcases these two American muscle cars.
The Competitors
While the details are short on the 4th generation Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and the Ford Mustang in the video above, it is obvious that these are not your average street cars. While they are participating in a Street Car Takeover event, that only means that they are street legal somewhere, but in all reality, these are purpose-built race cars that can be legally driven on the street.
We know that the Firebird is owned and driven by a guy name Josh Pratt, with a turbocharged LSX V8 under the hood. The Mustang is also powered by a forced-induction engine as well, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if it also packed LS-power, but we don’t know that for sure.
In any case, both of these cars are crazy-quick.
The video begins with the Firebird and Mustang already in the staging beams with the Pontiac’s V8 engine working hard on the two-step. We don’t see the lights come down, but we can clearly see that the Trans Am gets out to a much better start, roaring away from the line as the Mustang driver sleeps at the tree.
A short distance out of the hole, the Firebird roasts the tires and the driver has to pedal, allowing the Mustang to catch up and pass. However, the Pontiac appears to pull even just past the eighth-mile boxes and on the top end, the Firebird takes the big win.
Thanks to what had to be a massive reaction time advantage, the Firebird wins with a 9.06 at 170 miles per hour while the Mustang runs a losing 8.98 and 158 miles per hour.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
