With four races remaining in the American Drag Racing League (ADRL), Todd Tutterow still has his sights set on a Pro Extreme championship.

He’s also pulling out all the stops to try to achieve it.

The former “Battle For The Belts” winner unveiled a new, Jeffers Pro Cars-built ’67 GT Mustang earlier this week, hoping it will be the trump card to spring him to the points title and a world championship.

Currently fourth in points, Tutterow advanced to his second final of the year at the Ford Drive One Summer Drags VII earlier this month at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, but he thinks the stunning new Mustang could be the key to put him over the top.

“I want to win,” Tutterow said. “I’d certainly like to win the rest of the races, but we’re just going to focus on one race at a time.”

The next race is on Aug. 12-13, as the Speedtech U.S. Drags IV take place from Virginia Motorsports Park.

Tutterow expects the car, crafted by Larry Jeffers, to debut at the race.

While there might be some trepidation debuting a new car in the heat of a points race, Tutterow seemed fine with it.

He plans to test the car later this week and again at Rockingham Dragway during the week of the ADRL race.

In fact, a new car might be a good thing for the North Carolina native.

A new ride was behind his BFTB championship in 2009 and Tutterow is hoping for a similar result in 2011.

“When we won the Battle For The Belts (in 2009), I took a car that had just one race on it,” Tutterow said. “I’m familiar with the Jeffers car and I know how it needs to be set up. I really like the way his cars drive. I’m pretty excited to get this one running.”

Tutterow was in awe of the car the moment he laid eyes on it, a testament to the work Jeffers and his team did on it.

It’s the second car Tutterow has received from Jeffers and it quickly became his favorite.

“I was very pleased. It looked very nice,” Tutterow said. “I’ve always liked the body style and there’s so many Camaros and Corvettes out there, I really wanted to do a late-model Mustang.”

Driving a ’67 Mustang has actually been in the back of Tutterow’s mind for a number of years after first having a discussion with Jeffers.

He convinced the PX standout to try it and it’s a decision that couldn’t have gone any better.

“I picked up a Corvette there years ago and he said, ‘You know what would make for a cool Pro Extreme car? A ’67 Mustang.’ I told him I agree and this is exactly what we wanted,” Tutterow said.
“He made us a pretty light car, the lightest one we’ve ever had, that’s for sure.”

Besides the amazing look of the new car, the performance improvement should be significant.

Tutterow said this car will be a “couple-hundred pounds lighter” than the blue PX car that went to a pair of finals in 2011.

Thinking of the possibilities in the new Mustang has Tutterow itching to get to the track.

“The performance difference should be immediate,” Tutterow said. “The old car had a lot of runs in it and there were several cars that were lighter.”

Now, a lighter, new and powerful car matched with Tutterow’s natural ability and prowess at the starting line could make for an incredible combination during the stretch run of the 2011 ADRL Tour.

In a thrilling side-by-side race, Tutterow narrowly fell to points leader Jason Hamstra in the Ford Drive One Summer Drags VII final, a repeat of the first race of the season.

Still, Tutterow found plenty of positives in Martin – and hopes more are about to come.

“I was very pleased with our performance at Martin,” Tutterow said. “We ran consistent and the whole crew did a great job.”

Now, courtesy of Jeffers Pro Cars, they’ll have a new toy to prepare.