The one owner N/SA 1988 Mustang LX, is currently and always has been owned by division three runner Steve Sullivan. In 1988, Steve Sullivan purchased the 1988 LX Mustang that is now his current ride in Stock. I’m very curious about how each driver got started into drag racing, so I asked Steve. Steve replied, “I read how to bracket race in an article from Car Craft Magazine, and two weeks after I got my license I started to bracket race my mom’s Fairlane 500.”

Since he owned it from new the transformation from street car to race car had to take place. When the Mustang was fully paid off, it had just been sitting in the garage, and in the back of Steve’s head knocked the thought of turning it into a stocker. Then one day his wife said, “Do you think it would make a good stocker?” Then he finally knew where the future for his 1988 Mustang. One year after that, the conversion to racecar began. He started out by stripping the car, doing the motor and the transmission and started racing it in 2000. Steve does all the work himself on the car. The second year that Steve was running the Mustang, mother nature struck. The car went underwater to the headrests. So a full rebuild had to take place.

Steve started taking apart the Mustang, replacing and rebuilding the parts that had been ruined. This car has a Port Injected 302, with means it has EFI. Surprisingly, he dried out the computer and it was good to go. The motor was checked over, water and engines don’t mix very well as we all know. Then the car went off to be repainted and then put back together and he had the car back out in 2002. The rebuilt car was doing better than ever and in 2003, Steve Sullivan won the Division Three Stock Championship. His hard work of making the car faster, more efficient, and to be able to qualify at the top of the field paid off. Not replacing the water consumed computer did finally have its failure though. During the 50th Anniversary at Indy, the computer finally failed. He did have a new one at home in Ohio, so he called up his neighbor, told him to break in and grab it, and head his way. Once receiving the computer, an all-night thrash had begun. Modifying the wiring harness to make it compatible with the new computer, he did it, and also qualified for the race.

The core of the computer was given back to the manufacturer and they said they have never seen a computer that corroded. Meanwhile, he won a championship with it. Now it is one of the fastest N/SA cars in the country. He made this one special person in his life responsible for a lot of his success in his racing, his wife. He stated that, “the only thing that she won’t do is drive the motorhome.” She kept him balanced when it came to racing, telling him enough is enough when tinkering with the car. Even giving him the go ahead to buy parts that would knock a couple hundredths off his E/T. Family is such an important part of racing, the support that they give makes the world of difference.