Sometimes when we get to meet people at events, we uncover some pretty cool Mustang stories. If you ever wondered if your first car can influence your ownership decisions later in life – wonder no more. Check out this Fan Spotlight on Jessie Ringley of Tennessee. He tells us that after being weaned on four-cylinder turbo power in his youth thanks to a Ford Probe GT first car, he eventually got into mechanical engineering. That not only helped him build his 2015 EcoBoost Mustang into an 8-second screamer, but also helped him build a business around modding cars! We’re sure your spirits will get a boost reading his email to us below:

“Hello Ford Performance! My name is Jessie Ringley and I live in the beautiful mountains of Rogersville, Tennessee. I’d like to share the story of my 8-second 2015 Mustang EcoBoost, but first, I need to tell you a bit about myself. My journey to small engines and lot of boost started with my first car, a 1990 Ford Probe GT. My parents bought me this car so I could have something a bit sporty, but not powerful enough to get into any trouble -- even though they had a ’65 Mustang and a 2003 Mustang at the time. Well, as you probably know, the 1990 Probe GT was powered by a turbocharged 2.2-liter 4-cylinder engine. It didn’t take me long to realize that the car was actually a torque-happy, tire-shredding machine! Then as I began to understand what manual boost controllers, intercoolers, and blow-off valves were, the car began to make a name for itself -- and my parents realized the futility of their efforts to keep me away from acceleration. This experience as a teenager pretty much molded me into a turbo 4-cylinder guy for the majority of my teenage years and into my 20’s.

“I took a brief hiatus from cars to road-race motorcycles all over the Southeast United States. While this was an absolute blast, it quickly took its toll on me physically with the broken bones and metal inserts adding up quick. This led to me deciding to give up the bikes and get into cars again. At the time, I had no idea what I was going to get. I knew I loved road racing, and wanted something RWD because I would possibly do some track days with the car at VIR or Road America. When I saw that Ford was giving the S550 Mustang an independent rear suspension, I was instantly drawn to the car. But when I realized they were offering a turbocharged 4-cylinder variant, I was sold! I purchased my 2015 Deep Impact Blue EcoBoost Mustang in June of 2015. This was very odd to most of my friends and colleagues. ‘Why wouldn’t you get the Coyote V-8?’ I had nothing against the Coyote -- the engine’s results speak for themselves, but it was not what I was interested in playing with. I wanted turbo noises. I wanted that torque-happy turbo power band. However, I very quickly realized… wow, technology has really changed, and these things are really quick! This made me start to mod the car, but I soon realized that while these engines could produce insane torque, they couldn’t quite support that crazy torque. And so it began…

“After blowing up my OEM engine while trying to push 36psi of boost, I knew I could not just put it back together with OEM components and expect a different result. At that time, I was an engineer for Mahle Engine Components and was working while going to school to finish my Mechanical Engineering degree. I had worked at Mahle from the age of 18, and had slowly worked my way up through the company. So when it came time to build my engine, I knew which pistons I was going with; I knew very well how much care and effort go into Mahle Motorsport pistons. I matched these up with some H-beam rods and some stronger head studs -- and back together my new engine went! We pushed that one for a year or so and finally hurt it going lean at 40psi of boost. During this time, the Mustang had gained a lot of respect at the dragstrip and in the S550 EcoBoost groups on social media. I was constantly finding the limits and then finding a way to push the limits further! I was constantly upgrading turbochargers of the vehicle using Precision Turbo and Engine 5862,6062, 6466, and a 6870. With each upgrade I was changing what we thought was possible as a community.

I had taken a Graduate Research Assistant position as a Mechanical Engineer at the University of Tennessee, my Alma Mater, at about the same time that people in the EcoBoost social-media groups started asking me to build engines for them. This was the start of Engineered Motorsport Solutions Inc. (EMS). I started building engines and word began to travel fast that I was building EcoBoost engines that could produce ridiculous power and not go eco-boom! Our racing program at EMS is not only about having fun and setting records, but also to make sure we understand when parts are going to fail in a high-stress situations. This has allowed us to provide solutions that get past the inherent issues pushing a stock EcoBoost and make it an absolute rocket when paired with the correct supporting mods.

We have continued to push the limits and have recently reset our own EcoBoost world record three times this year! After upgrading to the PTE 6785 and making it a much more track-dedicated vehicle, we managed to get the car to an 8.77 1/4-mile time and 152 mph; the 1/8-mile was 5.59 @124 mph. Then in July of 2023, Precision Turbo and Engine came on board as a sponsor and gave us a 8085 Next Gen turbo! With this turbocharger we reset our record with an 8.50 @ 156 mph in the 1/4-mile and a 5.3 @ 128 mph in the 1/8-mile! The engine currently revs out to 9,500 rpm and sees 45psi of boost regularly -- with trips over 55psi at times!

We’re in the process of changing our cylinder head over to the now-obsolete 4-port-exhaust cylinder head from Ford Performance. We plan to pair this with a compound turbo setup featuring PTE turbos and set our sights for the 7’s. Follow us in the EcoBoost community for more – and thanks for letting me share my EcoBoost Mustang story.”

Here’s How YOU Can Get In The Spotlight: For more than 15 years now, one of the most popular features on FordPerformance.com and in our weekly Fast News e-newsletter continues to be "Ford Fan Spotlight," where readers can send in their own reasons why they're fans of Ford Motor Company and its vehicles. You know who they are: Ford "superfans;" grassroots Ford racers; unique Ford vehicle owners; loyal Ford enthusiasts; notable Ford club people; special Ford families; and/or any avid supporter of Ford, Ford vehicles, Ford motorsports or Ford Performance who deserves a little bit of special recognition.

All you need to do to get you, your car or candidate considered is to send in a brief description (200-500 words or less) and a few photos (in .jpeg format, preferably around 1 mb in size) with the owner’s full name and hometown, please. Just tell us about the vehicle(s) and why you think Ford Performance should feature it (them) in the "Ford Fan Spotlight" for an upcoming installment of Fast News as well as for posting on FordPerformance.com. Then email it to: ClubHub@Ford.com with your contact info. Your submission allows us the rights to use your words and images (along with any edits) for editorial purposes; we’ll choose one submission in random order to post online. We hope to see YOU and your Ford in our Spotlight soon!