July 2005 Featured Ride:

Congratulations: Krista Sulkowski (Ks2000gt)

I acquired my automatic 2000 Mustang GT in November of 2000. I guess you could call it a gift of sorts from my dad. He and I made a deal. If I received a basketball scholarship, he would buy me any car I wanted. This mustang happened to be just what I wanted. I had the car, interior and exterior colors picked out about a year before I even knew I was getting it. Now the funny thing is, when I decided I wanted this particular car, I had no intention of building it as a race car or modding it, or anything of that sort. When my dad and I were at the dealership picking out my mustang, I didn?t even know the difference between a V-6 and a V-8. The way my dad explained it to me was ?the 8 cylinders have two tailpipes in the back,? so for the longest time that is the only thing I recognized as different about the two models. I still extend a huge thanks to my dad for insisting that I must get the V-8 model. I drove it off the lot that November brand new for $19,000.

Back to the story, I didn?t start racing my car until August 2003. My dad suggested one day that I take my car down to Atco Raceway where I can go ?really fast legally.? I thought that was a great idea so we took the trip Friday August 22nd. It was the best think I had ever done. My first race against another car at Atco, I won. I was so excited; I think I ran a best of 14.0 that day. In addition, I met Dave that same day, my boyfriend of 2 years who I plan to spend the rest of my life with.
From that day on, the mods started. First a K&N FIPK cold air short ram intake, then came the Flowmaster American Thunder catback exhaust. After running a 13.7 on just those two mods I was so amazed I just had to keep modding. Since I am a college student and I don?t have a tremendous amount of money to spend, these next mods happened over the next two years. I added a Magnaflow catted x-pipe, a C&L trueflow plenum, a 70mm Accufab throttle body, 4.10 gears, and finally an Autologics chip tuned by JMS. My current best run is a 13.6@102 spinning the entire way down the track.

This thing that started out as a hobby turned into an obsession. Eventually, I plan to turn this car into a strictly track car when I am able to by another one. Currently, my dad and I are building a 1988 GT hatchback as a track/street able car. The current plans for this car include a Ford Racing 347hp crate motor and a blower. We eventually plan on getting this car into the 10?s.
I am very fortunate to have come this far in a hobby dominated by men. Being female in this sport makes it hard to be taken seriously many times, but thanks to those who have had faith in me, I am now able to give many guys advice and share my knowledge with those who need it. I was also extremely fortunate to be included in the June 2005 issue of Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords where they highlighted a few women who were into the sport of racing mustangs.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone who has helped me and given me a chance in this hobby. A special thanks goes out to my dad. He is the one who started this entire thing and the one I can thank for my life being the way it is today. I owe him everything. Also thank you to my Dave who puts up with my rants at the track when I get so upset that I don?t run the time that I think I should. And thanks to my friends who have helped out in small ways building this car and giving their expertise, including those at Controlled Insanity. Finally, thank you everyone from Svtsnake for letting me be such a huge part of a great thing. It is definitely much appreciated.

Mustang enthusiast for life,
Krista Sulkowski (Ks2000gt)