It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Hollywood Ray Johnson on the track – he sold his Outlaw 10.5 Fox body Mustang a few years back when the economy went south, instead choosing to focus on his business to ensure its health. Last June, once he was sure that things were on the upswing, he purchased the former Conrad Scarry/Kenny Seeger Motorsports 2004 Mustang and immediately disassembled it for an update. The car has been in the winner’s circle numerous times over the years, but since Johnson had planned to update the engine and turbocharger package to current standards, the feeling was that the chassis needed to be upgraded to a double-rail piece for safety and performance.

We caught up with Ray recently to chat about Outlaw 10.5 and his direction for the new car. When he purchased the car, it had an NMRA-spec 550 cubic-inch big-block Ford engine powered by a pair of turbochargers, and Johnson will continue with the same basic package. However, the decision was made have Proline Race Engines upgrade the engine to 632 cubic inches, and strap on a set of Precision Turbo 94mm turbochargers to ensure its viability in the ultra-competitive northeast Outlaw 10.5 wars.

Jamie Miller performed a bunch of chassis upgrades in Ray’s shop, including a double framerail upgrade, new anti-roll bar brackets, new fire bottles, and moving the gas and brake pedals around to better fit Ray’s requirements. Ron at Santhuff set the team up with new front struts and rear shocks, a new Tom’s 10-inch center section has been installed, and the car has been freshly painted. The former Bruno/Lenco transmission has been removed and the car will sport a two-speed Rossler transmission.

“We were hoping to make it out to the Yellowbullet race, but that’s never going to happen. I’m just too busy with work right now. We’re shooting for a springtime debut with the car,” Ray explains. If the work we’ve seen so far is any indication, this car will be worthy of a full feature when it finally arrives. We can’t wait to see how it comes together!