MARTIN CONNELLEY
ley has worked with Mitchell for far longer than 10 years , but this group has come into its own in recent seasons and Connelley can ’ t help but marvel at what they ’ ve accomplished .
It ’ s the complete opposite of a high-budget team , but it ’ s a group loaded with talent , ingenuity , and a remarkable knack to outwork just about everyone .
“ We joke that we have a team that a lot of big teams can ’ t pay to get , and it ’ s just like whenever we go over to the track and do something , if somebody is better at something , they roll up , do it and get it out of the way ,” says Connelley , who also credited sponsors RPM Transmission , T & D Rockers , Red Horse Plumbing , TRZ Motorsports , Menscer Motorsports , and ProTorque Converters .
“ We all decide that one person is going to make that decision , and then that person makes the decision . If he ’ s right or wrong , it was everybody ’ s decision , because we all agreed that person is the best to make that decision . We all wear it as a team whether it goes good or bad , and that is one thing we ’ re pretty good at . We don ’ t point fingers , but everybody holds themselves accountable .
“ We have a very good understanding , and you never hear somebody say , ‘ Well , I was doing that and somebody else come over here and pushed me out of the way ,’ because we understand what each other ’ s strengths and weaknesses are . That makes for a really , really good team when you have people that understand that about each other , and everybody ’ s working on a common goal .”
CONNELLEY WASN ’ T necessarily seeking a new challenge , but he did want to go wherever the top competition was , and therein lies the main reason why he jumped headfirst into Ultra Street .
While he enjoyed immense success in 2020 , winning in both DXP Street and Limited 235 at Lights Out and making one record run after another in DXP Street , his eye was on Ultra Street . If he wanted to be considered the best with the style of racing he ’ s passionate about , that ’ s the class where he needed to be entrenched .
“ That ’ s one reason why we committed to Ultra Street is that I think it ’ s the healthiest class right now in the racing that we do , and it has got the biggest following right now , I believe , as far as racers ,” Connelley says . “ Everywhere you go there ’ s always usually a 16-car field at least , sometimes 32 . I think that class has a really good potential to grow and be bigger .
“ You get so many guys together that just absolutely refuse to quit or refuse to lose , and that makes for a heck of a race . It makes for a heck of class , and that ’ s what we got right now . We ’ ve got a lot of those guys that are coming together that had that same attitude .”
Count Connelley as one of those refuse-to-lose types , a common theme in Ultra Street . That was part of the intrigue , as was making the total overhaul on the silver Mustang .
They went from a nitrous-assisted engine to ProCharger , the key change in an offseason filled with them on the car . The goal , though , is never to stand pat .
For Connelley , that ’ s boring , that ’ s uneventful and , worst of all , it ’ s creating a stagnant mindset , which might as well be a four-letter word .
“ I ’ m a firm believer in progression . You never sit still , and if you do , something ’ s wrong ,” Connelley asserts . “ The E . T . s always move . I was taught by a guy years ago that if you ’ re winning , you tend to relax , and you just ride that , and somebody catches you . That stuck with me . He said , ‘ Never quit digging ,’ and we always keep digging . We ’ re digging to get there , and we understand that ’ s where it ’ s going . We want to be right there with the frontrunners whenever it happens .”
Connelley ’ s 4.57 at 154 in Virginia puts him in a good spot , but looking at the progress of the class , it ’ s running full speed ahead and not slowing down .
A year ago , it was a big deal to go in the 4.60s in Ultra Street and earth-shattering if you managed to dip into the 4.50s . Now , it ’ s an every-race deal and par for the course . Connelley is confident it will be in the 4.40s by the end of the year — and that he ’ ll be among that group .
“ We ’ ll go 4.40s at the end of the year . In the fall , when the weather comes back to us , Ultra Street will go 4.40s and we ’ ll be there ,” Connelley says .
With such an ambitious goal and set-up , and diving into an entirely new class , Connelley knew campaigning two cars wasn ’ t feasible in 2021 . That was the practical side of the vast number of changes , but also the reasonable one .
He admits he was spread thin trying to run two cars a year ago , especially considering the work schedule of everyone on the team . So Ultra Street , along with a bit of the NMRA Renegade class in NMRA , where Connelley will also drive the silver Mustang , is the current plan of attack and at the forefront of his mind .
Connelley wants success against the best and he ’ ll stop at nothing until he reaches it . Based on his progress in Virginia , when he qualified 16th due to arriving late but beat the No . 1 qualifier and impressed his way to the finals , it may come sooner rather than later . He likes where the team is headed and Connelley is confident a breakthrough is coming .
“ This is kind of the E . T . we like to be in , and what they ’ re running , and we feel more comfortable ,” Connelley says . “ We like the tires and there ’ s a lot of things about it we like . We ’ re enjoying it because it makes us really dig in and work hard .
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