CLAYTWP— Reaching the top of the National Mustang Racers Series was hard enough. Staying there might be harder.

But Team Powerhead, which is headed by Butler County residents Michael DeMayo and his son, Mike Jr., is preparing to do just that.

The elder DeMayo, 66, runs Blackbird Industries, a company that builds boating engines. He and his son build drag-racing Mustangs on the side, fulfilling their own need for speed.

DeMayo's car is driven by Michigan resident Ben Mens, the head of engine development for Roush Racing, where the DeMayos get their drag racing engines. Mike DeMayo Jr. drives his own car.

Part of the same race team, they won five of the 10 races on the NMRAcircuit this season in winning the points championship in the Hot Street division.

"We've been at this for six years now and this is our first points title," Michael DeMayo said. "We've got the fastest all-motor Mustang in the world.

"We might have won points last year, but Ben was nearly killed in an automobile accident before the season started. He missed the first three races and wasn't 100 percent for some others."

Team Powerhead finished fifth in points last year and placed eighth in points in 2005.

Both cars set the division record for speed this season as well. Mike Jr.'s car set the record first at 8.77 seconds, or 155 mph

His father's car snapped that mark recently by posting a time of 8.72 seconds, or 158 mph. The racetrack runs 1,320 feet.

"You win or lose races by a thousandth of a second in this sport,"Mike Jr. said. "It's a game of inches. Everything is so precise and the technology is changing constantly.

"People are always finding ways to get faster. And when the top five cars are separated by a hundredth of a second, you can't afford to fall behind."

To be competitive in the NMRA series, DeMayo estimates a car owner has to sink at least $150,000 into the car.

"That's before you even get to race day, where you may tweak things for the track or weather conditions,"he said. "The rear shocks alone cost $10,000."

Cabot resident Tim Wetzel serves as crew chief for Team Powerhead. Pit crew members are Justin Kobler and Casey Fieck while the truck driver is Jack Blair.

Wetzel works in the machine shop at Blackbird Industries with Mike Jr. This was his first year working with the racing team.

"I've always been mechanically inclined and it doesn't take long to catch on with these cars,"Wetzel said. "I've known Mike for a while and I wanted to get in there with them and help out."

This year, the NMRAseries took the team to Reading, Atco, N.J., Columbus, Ohio, Bradenton, Fla., Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago and Bowling Green, Ky. The season begins in late March and runs through the beginning of October.

Team Powerhead is headed to Las Vegas and California at the end of the month to compete in two Pacific Street Car Racing Association events. Mike Jr. will drive in those two races.

"We're looking forward to that because we've never raced out west before,"he said. "The car needs refreshed between now and then. We're constantly working on these cars throughout the year."

Michael DeMayo has been involved in drag racing off and on since he was 16. He quit driving race cars in 1972.

He said Team Powerhead was formed six years ago because "we finally had the financial ability to compete.

"Seventy percent of our race cars are put together right here," he said of Blackbird Industries. "We build our own chassis and suspensions here."

Their mission statement is simple.

"Just find ways to go fast,"DeMayo said. "There's about 20 other race teams out there trying to do the same thing."

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