Justin Burcham: Breaking Barriers isn
Justin Burcham: Breaking Barriers isn’t Magic Nor is it Easy.
Determined. That is probably the best adjective to describe one of NMRA’s most prolific racers and personalities, Justin Burcham. His day job is spent being the front man at his business, JPC Racing (officially registered as Justin’s Performance Center) as he leads the staff in building street cars and racecars for enthusiasts across the country. Intertwined between the layers of operations at JPC, between the showroom and dyno cell and shop, he carries the tasks of marketing and R&D. JPC Racing is a typical small business where the owner wears many hats in order to keep the lights on and continual growth. The marketing and R&D hats that Burcham wears is what led him to breaking barriers and solidifying his name in the archives of Mustang drag racing.
“I bought the car to keep up with the modern muscle cars for our customers. That way I could test the parts, push the limits, and explore everything about the Coyote 5.0 in order to benefit our customers,” Burcham said as we managed to sit him down for an interview, a rather daunting task as he is not one to let the grass grow under his feet. The car would serve both as an R&D project to push the outer limits of Coyote street cars as well as a content marketing tool. It is the same path he chose when he embarked on a street car mission with his 2005 Mustang GT when those cars first hit the scene.
Marketing and R&D are what led Burcham to build the world’s first ten-second Coyote 5.0 car—all within 24 hours of purchasing it brand-new at the dealership. The JPC team got to work within hours of Burcham picking up the car from the dealer. They modified the suspension and cobbled together a Zex wet nitrous system. He chose a wet shot because there was no computer tuning available due to the platform only being on the market for one month. Less than 24 hours later and just 180 miles on the odometer Burcham ran 10.90s. He hasn’t stopped since that fateful night three years ago.
The car was modified as quickly as the aftermarket was producing the parts and pieces. Burcham also began immediately collaborating with his engine builder, Rich Groh Racing, to create engine packages, ported cylinder heads, camshafts, and even the first stroker engine—a 318ci bullet. Burcham would go through a few engine variants over the past few years, including a custom Wiseco 351ci development project. But the biggest challenge the JPC crew took was building a turbo kit. The company is probably best known for its centrifugal combinations but the single turbo system was a pet project of Burcham as he wanted a big menu of options for when someone dropped off their car. The shop has built plenty of custom systems but this was the first time they were mass-producing a kit. Little did Burcham know that his turbo system aspirations would change the marketplace, forever.
The shop has built probably close to a dozen Coyote 5.0 street cars in the 1,000 rwhp realm and as Burcham puts it, “a 1,000 rwhp just seems to fall out of these things.” The shop car once again paved the way, first with 1,032 rwhp with a Paxton Novi 2200 and then over 1,100 rwhp with a Vortech YSi supercharger, both results were through a Tremec six-speed. After going 9.00s at 157 mph Burcham decided it was time to add the single turbocharger kit they had been bolting on several customer cars. Naturally, he went right to a Precision 7685 CEA—76 denoting the 76mm inducer diameter and the 85 representing a 85mm turbine wheel.
The car might have a racecar wrap on it but to prove it is a legit street, he made a 1,000 mile round trip to Myrtle Beach for Mustang Week. The icing on the proverbial cake was the car knocked down 27 mpg on the way there and that’s coming from a car that laid down 1,240 rwhp through the Tremec transmission. “I ran some low nines at 158 mph with the stick and turbo engine,” Burcham recalled. He continued, “I just couldn’t get the front-half figured out but I knew the combination was quicker.”
Life was good with the turbo street beast until the guys in the shop began chirping in his ear. “The guys in the shop are the ones on the forums and interacting with the community and they felt for marketing it was best to add an automatic,” said Burcham. The JPC team took it upon themselves—with the boss’ credit card in hand—to order a Powerglide transmission and torque converter. “The guys all stayed late a few nights to get the car converted, I knew it would be fast with the automatic but I didn’t expect it to be that fast.”
Immediately, off the trailer the car unleashed an 8.59 at 159 mph but the best was yet to come. The team loaded the trailer and made their way to the NMRA World Finals to compete in the 5.0 Shootout. Burcham dialed in a little more boost and the car left so hard he was almost shocked as he quickly slammed the two-speed transmission into high gear and streaked through the lights in quick fashion. “It felt like it was a fast run,” said Burcham as he reflected back on the 8.16 performance. He continued, “I didn’t expect it to run teens but once I saw the 8.16 and the crazy sixty-foot time, I was beyond shocked. I knew right there it had sevens in it.” As the emotional high of going low eights with a street car wore off, Burcham reached into the glove box for his Modotek boost controller to dial in a little more boost. The result was an 8.02 at 170 mph—“I made three runs in under 20 minutes trying to go sevens but all I did was cook the transmission,” Burcham lamented as he shook his head.
Back in Maryland the transmission was immediately pulled, freshened, and reinstalled as the team targeted a Friday track rental at Maryland International Raceway (MIR)—it rained all weekend long. It gave Burcham time to reflect back on the 8.02 run and the mind numbing 1.19 sixty-foot time from a single turbocharged 3,450-pound street car on Mickey Thompson 275/60-15 radial tires. As the weather cleared, MIR’s Jason Miller invited Burcham down for a track rental. He needed just one hit to make history as the Coyote gulped 19 psi of boost and chugged down track in a barrier-breaking 7.94 at 173 mph. A week later at Capitol Raceway the car would go even quicker with a 7.87 at 174 mph. It is the only seven-second stock-suspension 2011 Mustang GT right and just one of three Coyote powered cars in the sevens—the other two are twin turbocharged variants.
“The crazy part is that the MAF sensor was maxed out on the 7.87 run causing the throttle blades to shut right before the finish line. Kevin MacDonald (JPC’s in-house tuner) has since altered the tune and added a Pro-M Extended Range Sensor to solve the problem,” Burcham explained. In Burcham’s estimates keeping the engine WOT for all 1,320 feet of track would have yielded a few more hundredths off the 7.87 but he isn’t complaining. He did want to point out that the factory ECU is still being employed and they are relying on DiabloSport tuning software. It goes back to his goal of pushing the limits on the shop car and let the proven and reliable modifications trickle down to customer cars.
There has been debate and banter about a few things with Burcham’s seven second run with nitrous being at the top of the list. His response to us was to laugh and say that he pulled the bottle out of the car long ago when he added the blower. As for the future of the car, “I have toyed with the idea of going Coyote Modified racing but I kind of like having a seven-second street car. I will probably add some nitrous and go 7.60s next year.”
Justin Burcham: Breaking Barriers isn’t Magic Nor is it Easy.
Determined. That is probably the best adjective to describe one of NMRA’s most prolific racers and personalities, Justin Burcham. His day job is spent being the front man at his business, JPC Racing (officially registered as Justin’s Performance Center) as he leads the staff in building street cars and racecars for enthusiasts across the country. Intertwined between the layers of operations at JPC, between the showroom and dyno cell and shop, he carries the tasks of marketing and R&D. JPC Racing is a typical small business where the owner wears many hats in order to keep the lights on and continual growth. The marketing and R&D hats that Burcham wears is what led him to breaking barriers and solidifying his name in the archives of Mustang drag racing.
“I bought the car to keep up with the modern muscle cars for our customers. That way I could test the parts, push the limits, and explore everything about the Coyote 5.0 in order to benefit our customers,” Burcham said as we managed to sit him down for an interview, a rather daunting task as he is not one to let the grass grow under his feet. The car would serve both as an R&D project to push the outer limits of Coyote street cars as well as a content marketing tool. It is the same path he chose when he embarked on a street car mission with his 2005 Mustang GT when those cars first hit the scene.
Marketing and R&D are what led Burcham to build the world’s first ten-second Coyote 5.0 car—all within 24 hours of purchasing it brand-new at the dealership. The JPC team got to work within hours of Burcham picking up the car from the dealer. They modified the suspension and cobbled together a Zex wet nitrous system. He chose a wet shot because there was no computer tuning available due to the platform only being on the market for one month. Less than 24 hours later and just 180 miles on the odometer Burcham ran 10.90s. He hasn’t stopped since that fateful night three years ago.
The car was modified as quickly as the aftermarket was producing the parts and pieces. Burcham also began immediately collaborating with his engine builder, Rich Groh Racing, to create engine packages, ported cylinder heads, camshafts, and even the first stroker engine—a 318ci bullet. Burcham would go through a few engine variants over the past few years, including a custom Wiseco 351ci development project. But the biggest challenge the JPC crew took was building a turbo kit. The company is probably best known for its centrifugal combinations but the single turbo system was a pet project of Burcham as he wanted a big menu of options for when someone dropped off their car. The shop has built plenty of custom systems but this was the first time they were mass-producing a kit. Little did Burcham know that his turbo system aspirations would change the marketplace, forever.
The shop has built probably close to a dozen Coyote 5.0 street cars in the 1,000 rwhp realm and as Burcham puts it, “a 1,000 rwhp just seems to fall out of these things.” The shop car once again paved the way, first with 1,032 rwhp with a Paxton Novi 2200 and then over 1,100 rwhp with a Vortech YSi supercharger, both results were through a Tremec six-speed. After going 9.00s at 157 mph Burcham decided it was time to add the single turbocharger kit they had been bolting on several customer cars. Naturally, he went right to a Precision 7685 CEA—76 denoting the 76mm inducer diameter and the 85 representing a 85mm turbine wheel.
The car might have a racecar wrap on it but to prove it is a legit street, he made a 1,000 mile round trip to Myrtle Beach for Mustang Week. The icing on the proverbial cake was the car knocked down 27 mpg on the way there and that’s coming from a car that laid down 1,240 rwhp through the Tremec transmission. “I ran some low nines at 158 mph with the stick and turbo engine,” Burcham recalled. He continued, “I just couldn’t get the front-half figured out but I knew the combination was quicker.”
Life was good with the turbo street beast until the guys in the shop began chirping in his ear. “The guys in the shop are the ones on the forums and interacting with the community and they felt for marketing it was best to add an automatic,” said Burcham. The JPC team took it upon themselves—with the boss’ credit card in hand—to order a Powerglide transmission and torque converter. “The guys all stayed late a few nights to get the car converted, I knew it would be fast with the automatic but I didn’t expect it to be that fast.”
Immediately, off the trailer the car unleashed an 8.59 at 159 mph but the best was yet to come. The team loaded the trailer and made their way to the NMRA World Finals to compete in the 5.0 Shootout. Burcham dialed in a little more boost and the car left so hard he was almost shocked as he quickly slammed the two-speed transmission into high gear and streaked through the lights in quick fashion. “It felt like it was a fast run,” said Burcham as he reflected back on the 8.16 performance. He continued, “I didn’t expect it to run teens but once I saw the 8.16 and the crazy sixty-foot time, I was beyond shocked. I knew right there it had sevens in it.” As the emotional high of going low eights with a street car wore off, Burcham reached into the glove box for his Modotek boost controller to dial in a little more boost. The result was an 8.02 at 170 mph—“I made three runs in under 20 minutes trying to go sevens but all I did was cook the transmission,” Burcham lamented as he shook his head.
Back in Maryland the transmission was immediately pulled, freshened, and reinstalled as the team targeted a Friday track rental at Maryland International Raceway (MIR)—it rained all weekend long. It gave Burcham time to reflect back on the 8.02 run and the mind numbing 1.19 sixty-foot time from a single turbocharged 3,450-pound street car on Mickey Thompson 275/60-15 radial tires. As the weather cleared, MIR’s Jason Miller invited Burcham down for a track rental. He needed just one hit to make history as the Coyote gulped 19 psi of boost and chugged down track in a barrier-breaking 7.94 at 173 mph. A week later at Capitol Raceway the car would go even quicker with a 7.87 at 174 mph. It is the only seven-second stock-suspension 2011 Mustang GT right and just one of three Coyote powered cars in the sevens—the other two are twin turbocharged variants.
“The crazy part is that the MAF sensor was maxed out on the 7.87 run causing the throttle blades to shut right before the finish line. Kevin MacDonald (JPC’s in-house tuner) has since altered the tune and added a Pro-M Extended Range Sensor to solve the problem,” Burcham explained. In Burcham’s estimates keeping the engine WOT for all 1,320 feet of track would have yielded a few more hundredths off the 7.87 but he isn’t complaining. He did want to point out that the factory ECU is still being employed and they are relying on DiabloSport tuning software. It goes back to his goal of pushing the limits on the shop car and let the proven and reliable modifications trickle down to customer cars.
There has been debate and banter about a few things with Burcham’s seven second run with nitrous being at the top of the list. His response to us was to laugh and say that he pulled the bottle out of the car long ago when he added the blower. As for the future of the car, “I have toyed with the idea of going Coyote Modified racing but I kind of like having a seven-second street car. I will probably add some nitrous and go 7.60s next year.”
