A Clutch Decision - Brett LaSala Converts ‘Snot Rocket 3.0’ Mustang to a Stick Shift Transmission - Will Debut in Stick Shift Challenge Class at Great Lakes Dragaway in September 2026!
Since his first Mustang in high school, a 1990 Mustang that clocked elevens with a hint of nitrous, Brett LaSala has been a fan of the Ford pony car. Some years later, a 2013 edition Mustang, packing a twin turbo coyote engine and slathered in the unique ‘Gotta Have It Green’ color, put LaSala’s name on the map with a 6.98 at 206 mph pass in a fully street-legal ride.
This year, LaSala put his latest Mustang, ‘Snot Rocket 3.0’, to the test of winning a championship in the competitive Limited Drag Radial class. But after a second-straight victory, setting the class record, and jumping into the points lead in mid April, LaSala’s combination was hit with multiple rule changes, including a 200 pound weight increase, and the removal of his intercooler and lock-up converter.
Just days later, LaSala announced he would no longer compete in the series, listing “we would not be able to race the car competitively under those terms with any amount of effort” among his reasons. After a few months of speculation, LaSala announced that ‘Snot Rocket 3.0’ will get a manual transmission, as he preps the car for its first event in stick shift competition in six weeks!
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“Stick shift has always been in my mind since I bought Joel Steele’s car,” said LaSala, referring to the Mustang that would become ‘Snot Rocket 2.0.’ Joel Steele set the stick shift record with that 2012 Ford Mustang with a 6.81 at 208 mph pass at World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway in November 2021. Just a month earlier, Steel became the first domestic stick shift car to clock a 6-second time during FL2K at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
LaSala and ‘Snot Rocket 2.0’ would rack up multiple wins, including a pair of Gear Vendor Overdrive Sick Week Modified class titles, with his best performance in 2024 including a 6.26 at 227 mph on the final day at Orlando Speed World Dragway, and an average of 6.34.
By late summer 2024, LaSala made the announcement that Snot Rocket 2.0 was sold, and his next Mustang was nearing completion at Moore Race Chassis under the watchful eye of fellow drag-and-drive competitor Matt Moore.
Since its debut at FL2K in 2024, Snot Rocket 3.0 has followed in the footsteps of 2.0, winning races and setting records in multiple classes and events. Included in that tally is the quickest radial tire run in drag and drive history, a 6.07 at 236 mph, at the 2025 edition of Gear Vendor Overdrive Sick Week. Earlier this year, LaSala laid down the quickest and fastest pass on 275 drag radials in TX2K history, with a 5.87 at 242 mph run at Texas Motorplex in route to winning the 2JZ Versus The World class for the second year in-a-row.
One of the reasons for building Snot Rocket 3.0 was to able to run the car in multiple configurations, and after proving the car was a real-deal street car with low 6-second performances, LaSala and crew decided to chase a championship in the Limited Drag Radial class in 2026. But once LaSala was hit with the massive penalties following his win in Alabama, it was time to consider the next goal.
“After, that thought (of going stick shift) popped into my head because I’d always wanted to do it,” said LaSala. “When we put it all down on paper, it took the least amount of changes to the car to fit into a competitive racing class.”
Currently, most stick shift classes only have one requirement: a clutch-assisted ‘H-pattern’ manual transmission. Some also require a max tire size of a 28-inch-tall x 10.5-inch wide slick, or a 275/60/15 drag radial, and no big block engine platforms.
“The car will not need to change much (on the part side),” said LaSala. “The mounting of the transmission and the clutch operation is the only physical changes that will happen.” FFP Customs will provide the pedal to control the clutch.
On the transmission side, LaSala selected a Tremec Transmissions-based Grannas Racing Atlas T-56, built by Nth Moto. “I felt that the T-56 was more in the spirit of the class,” said LaSala of his transmission choice.
The clutch set-up comes from Eric Luzinski of EZ Clutch, which is a unique triple disc, nine-inch set-up, similar to a NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Pro Stock style clutch. “This is all one-off stuff, because there really isn’t a proper clutch set up like this for the engine and our power level,” LaSala said.
The team at Mark Williams Enterprises will whip up a new driveshaft to connect the manual trans to Snot Rocket’s existing 9-inch rear end, and Mark Williams is also designing an all-new 1480 slip yoke for the transmission, which will be offered to the public for sale in the future.
After waiting on the list of parts, LaSala estimates the switch over will take him about two weeks to accomplish and be ready for testing, giving him about a month before competing in his first stick shift race, the third annual Stick Shift Challenge at Great Lakes Dragaway, as part of the Wisconsin Outlaw Series, September 11th–12th, 2026.
“I don’t know of any extremely effective quick automatic cars that have put a stick in it and seen the difference,” LaSala admitted. There are some similarities between the set-ups, but LaSala detailed a few things he knows will change for the manual transmission.
“The power interruptions between gear shifts, as well as the gear drops in ratio, those will be different versus our automatic set-up,” he said. “The firmware will change a bit, and the tuning strategies will change. The rest is going to be the learning curve on the clutch tuning, and pre/post round maintenance and set-up.”
As before, LaSala and team will handle the suspension set-up and changes. To offer assistance on the clutch, Orlando, Florida native Luzinski of EZ Clutch, as well as Tinsey from Elite Motorsports, will be tapped.
“I’m not going to say we’re going to run a certain number or dominate right away,” said LaSala. “We have a car that is more than capable of being fast enough to run with them (the top players). I want to start at the bottom and work my way up.”
And although LaSala is switching to the manual transmission, don’t expect the automatic stuff to be on marketplace anytime soon. “All the automatic stuff will bolt right back in, and I will be keeping it,” LaSala said. “Nothing is ever permanent.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick The Magazine, Motion Raceworks, Moore Race Chassis and Brett LaSala.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com