Following a 2025 season that resulted in a No. 2 finish in the Super Street points standings, Austin Vincent and the Vincent Performance team went to work over the offseason converting their nitrous-fed ’88 Mustang over to a FuelTech EFI setup. Those efforts paid off this weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment PDRA East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech at Darana Motorsports Park – Benson, NC, where Vincent earned a decisive win over reigning world champion and No. 1 qualifier Connor McGee in the final round. McGee left the line first, but Vincent powered ahead with a 4.517 at 167.01 to McGee’s 4.569 at 156.35.
“It took a ton of hard work over the offseason,” said Vincent, who thanked FuelTech, Vincent Performance/Vincent Racing Engines, Ron G. at Afterworks, Nitrous Express, Diamond Pistons, Davis Technologies, Jesel, and the team’s other partners. “We finally made the switch over to EFI, which has been a long time coming, and the second race in and already in the winner’s circle, which is great. We ran really good at the first race. Of course, it got postponed and it kind of threw us for a loop with the different weather, but we were able to get through it and get here, so that was really good. We work – of course, everyone works their butt off – but we really do put in a lot of work and it just shows it’s paying off.”
Vincent qualified No. 2 and fired off a 4.622 at 152.97 to dispatch returning fan favorite Brad McBride in the first round. He was uncharacteristically late in his second-round match with Mike Freeman, but Freeman slowed to a 4.901 while Vincent charged to a 4.549 at 167.34. Newcomer Ryan Altman went red by .014 in the semis against Vincent, throwing away a 4.647, but Vincent was ready with his 4.528 at 166.70.
The final round was the latest in a series of late-round battles between Vincent and McGee, who were the two contenders for last year’s Super Street world championship.
“It’s always a really good race,” said Vincent, who finished second in the championship hunt by around three rounds. “My first win, we ran him in the semis. I know it wasn’t the final, but I won by one ten-thousandth on a holeshot. That was one of the greatest races you’ll see. Then last year I ran him again in the final when I won here. I was perfect on the tree in the final, and he unfortunately went red, but it just shows that we’re always up on it against each other. Right now, we’re the two best teams in the class and it’s always fun getting to race them. What makes it really cool is that Brian [McGee, Connor’s father] and my dad [Samuel] actually used to race together against each other.”
Saturday’s performance was validation for Vincent that his team made the right moves over the offseason. Now second in the points standings behind McGee, who won the season opener at Darlington, Vincent is eager to chase another win, starting in about a month at the PDRA Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix, May 21-23, at Virginia Motorsports Park.
“You win, it pushes you; you lose, it pushes you,” Vincent said. “That’s the life of all us racers – we always want to do better. We were already talking about when we’re going testing before the next race because we’ve got to find something. I feel really good about our offseason changes. I know it’s only going to get better from here, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season holds.”
This story was originally published on April 20, 2026. 
