NO-PREP HERO

Austin Shepherd's budget-built RX-7 defies gravity, wins races, and pleases crowds.

- JOHNNY HUNKINS

The first time you see Austin Shepherd's 1985 Mazda RX-7 fly down the track, you'll ask yourself, "Did I just witness that?" "The second thing you'll think is, "I gotta take a closer look." Lil Heavy, as it's known in the rural hamlets and backwoods tracks of northern Indiana, is not possessed of huge amounts of power. On the contrary, it's relatively modest and somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200 hp by Shepherd's own admission. The thing it's good at is getting down a rotten road fast and doing it straight as a string.

What you see is definitely not what you get as the bruised and battered beer-can of a car pulls to the line and its 5.3-liter LS begins to build boost. But it's 100 percent subterfuge. Lil Heavy leaves the line with all the drama of a loaded UPS truck, its twin Forced Performance 7275 turbos barely making any boost, but within a car's length the Mazda's front end is fully extended and the front tires begin to float inches above the pavement. It's here where many high-powered track cars make their first mistake, either overpowering the track with tire spin or continuing an upward trajectory into certain disaster. If you are in the opposite lane from Shepherd, this is also the moment when it dawns on you the error of your ways. This is not a car to be trifled with.