Billy Hoskinson, Tess Wood and Tony Politano Team Up on a Stick Shift Ford Mustang to Tackle Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, August 17-23, 2026!
With over a decade of experience, and winning, in the no-prep arena, Billy Hoskinson started to branch out a few years ago to tackle more ‘street car friendly’ classes. His first drag and drive experience came at the 2024 edition of Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, where he finished the week with a big block 1955 Chevrolet.
Since then, he’s done a few more drag and drive events, as well as entering his familiar Chevrolet S-10 pick-up in the Street Car Shootout class at Street Car Braggin Rights.
But the Ohio native will try out a new approach for his fourth drag and drive event, as Billy will be joined by Tess Wood (a.k.a. Miss Midnight Maverick) and Tony Politano to embark on the Sick Michigan Miles event, presented by Driven Racing Oil, in a 1985 Ford Mustang giveaway car!
Sick Michigan Miles presented by Driven Racing Oil is getting close - August 17-23, 2026! Join us for a week in Michigan, combing drag racing at four tracks, and street cruising! Sick Ward and discount advance spectator tickets are available; CLICK HERE for details on Sick Michigan Miles!
Billy first discovered Tess and Tony through YouTube, watching videos of street racing and no prep in their Fox Mustang and Maverick. He never expected that one day, Tony would reach out to him. “I had been watching videos of Tony and Tess for a while,” Billy said. “One day, Tony reached out to me, and we all became fast friends.”
The small tire no-prep racers also shared time on some drag and drive outings, with Tess participating in the 2025 and 2026 edition of Gear Vendors Overdrive Sick Week with her 1973 Ford Maverick. This year, she finished the week with a 9.40 average, and a top five result, in the competitive Stick Shift class.
Billy has done some car builds / giveaways in the last few years, and for his latest one, Billy turned to Tony and Tess for assistance. “Tony and I wanted to do a joint giveaway,” said Billy. So, the hunt was on, and they discovered this 1985 Ford Mustang, now dubbed ‘Arctic Fox.’
The car ad been sitting for about ten years. “It was a really nice find,” said Billy. “Someone painted it right before it was parked. Not sure why it was parked, but we got a great car to start this project with.”
It still retained most of its factory equipment, although the 302 cubic inch small block Ford engine had been treated to a cylinder head and camshaft upgrade, and the interior got a roll bar and some Auto Meter dials. The Weld Draglites, a small cowl hood and the Saleen-style ‘whale tail’ rear wing are all staples of the 1980s and 90s when many a Fox Mustang got those among a list of ‘go-to’ upgrades.
After driving the car a bit and getting a 13.98 at 97 mph baseline in ‘as-acquired’ form, the Mustang got a host of upgrades. “We pulled the engine apart, and put new (Trick Flow Twisted Wedge) heads, new (Trick Flow stage 2) camshaft, new intake, and some nitrous from NX,” said Billy.
Getting the engine out also give them a chance to check out the Mustang’s engine bay, wiring, and underpinnings. After some cleaning and fixing some of the subjective wiring, the engine was reunited with the 5-speed manual transmission, along with a new clutch assembly and flywheel.
The car also got a front K-member from Team Z Motorsports, and a fuel system upgrade from Aeromotive.
The first trip for the updates was Darana Raceway (formerly National Trails Raceway) in Hebron, Ohio for some testing. With both Billy and Tony getting shots behind the wheel, Billy clocked the best run, a 13.25 at 105 mph with a 2.08 60 foot, without the nitrous in play.
Since then, they scored a used 8.8-inch rear end with a 4.10 ratio, a solid update from the one that came with the car packing 3.08 gears. The T-5 transmission was also rebuilt, and they installed the 8.8-inch rear with a full Team Z Motorsports rear suspension kit.
Unfortunately, their next outing was cut short with rear end breakage on the starting line, and the Arctic Fox would return to the shop for its next round of upgrades. A set of Strange Engineering axles, c-clip eliminators, and a spool took up residence in the 8.8-inch rear end.
“We’re trying to do this build fairly on a budget,” Billy said. “People can relate to that I think. There’s just something to driving one of these Fox Mustangs with a 302 and 5-speed,” said Billy. “They are a lot of fun.”
Since then, the Mustang has seen some street driving, but no nitrous-assisted time slips. “When we first got it, I said (in our first video) I’d love to kill three seconds off that,” Billy said. Those goals have been further defined as mid-to-low twelve second runs on the motor, and in the tens on the nitrous.
Now, Billy, Tony and Tess will embark on their first drag and drive event in the same car, as they will travel to Michigan for the Driven Racing Oil Sick Michigan Miles event, their final event before the car will goes to a lucky winner as the contest ends.
“We’re going to alternate back-and-forth in the driver seat,” said Billy. Tess will get primary driver status, with Billy and Tony jumping behind the wheel as time allows. “It’s all fun, although competitive, but we enjoy doing it. Tony is really competitive behind the wheel.”
Join us for a week racing and street cruising through Michigan – Sick Michigan Miles presented by Driven Racing Oil, August 17th through the 23rd! We’ll start on Day Zero, the 17th, at Mid Michigan Motorplex, with tech for all competitors, plus test and tune in the afternoon.
Then, we officially start the 6 days of racing and driving in the land of 10,000 lakes, on August 18th at Mid Michigan Motorplex. Discounted advance spectator tickets, as well as Sick Ward entries, are still available! CLICK HERE to visit the Sick Michigan Miles event page!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Street Racing Channel, and Motion Raceworks.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com