If you happen to watch the racing at the Texas Invitational April 10-12, don’t blink. You just might miss forum member yumaverick and his rocket ship of a Porsche 911.
Evolution Motorsports has had a lot to do with yumaverick’s car’s transformation. The shop added its EVT 1700 package, which includes an enlargement of the Porsche’s stock flat-six to four liters, a race-spec cam set, upgraded pistons, and custom turbos, intercoolers, and fuel injectors. A custom-tuned Syvecs ECU processes and maximizes the output of all of those changes, which add up to 1,518 awhp on the dyno.
In extreme high-performance builds such as yumaverick’s, sequential gearboxes are gaining popularity. His 997 has a Holinger Engineering transmission built by Bill Rader Motorsports. It’s coupled with a Guard Transmission limited-slip differential and a Tilton racing clutch.
All of those components will be put to the test in a couple of weeks because yumaverick is hoping to hit 190 mph at the Texas Invitational. Let’s wish him the best of luck and safe passes at the event.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
