Fun Ford Nationals - Atlanta Georgia - Street Stampede

During a busy weekend that included the Mustang's 40th birthday party in Nashville, and the 19th Annual Fabulous Fords Forever at Knott's Berry Farm, the hardcore Mustang enthusiasts converged in Commerce, Georgia, for the 14th Annual Peach State Fun Ford Nationals.

While some of the heads-up classes offered the largest fields ever, it was the Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords True Street contingent that crowded the track with 95 registered entries--82 of which were able to complete the 30-mile cruise and subsequent three back-to-back, quarter-mile runs.

Baron Yarber of Meadowview, Virginia, was the top cat of the day, having posted a phenomenal three-run average of 9.71 seconds. He was also the low 9-second winner, though DeWayne Stiles was hot on his heels with a 9.75 average. Styles' puzzling pony evidently stepped up its nitrous-assisted performance of 10.59 from last year.

This event was the first time out for Baron's '88 coupe, which used a healthy dose of naturally aspirated horsepower from its 408ci powerplant to get the job done. The Mustang also uses a Powerglide transmission and a serving of 112-octane fuel to feed it. And he hasn't even used the NX fogger system yet. In third place was the low 10-second winner Edgar Negron of Enterprise, Alabama, who drove his '86 Mustang to a three-run average of 10.51 seconds. Negron's square-light Mustang uses an owner-built, 349-inch Bullitt feeding on a copious 250hp worth of nitrous oxide to rotate the pavement beneath it.

Jeff Harris of Dallas, Georgia, pilots a rather elegant and innocent looking faux state patrol Mustang that blitzed the 1320 in a best of 10.84 seconds. The average of his three passes, 11.10 seconds, made him the Low 11-second winner. A Petty Racing powerplant topped off with a Paxton Novi 2000 huffer offers plenty of power, and Jeff bangs the Tremec TKO transmission to get it down the track in a timely manner.

Hailing from McCalla, Alabama, Gary Bullock drove his nitrous-sniffing '90 GT to an average of 12.03 seconds for the low 12-second honor, while Chad Stone of Franklin, North Carolina, secured the low 13-second prize with a 13.00 performance in his 347-powered, '89 Mustang GT.

Kelly Sparks of Cisco, Georgia, had a busy weekend, as she drove her '03 Mach I Mustang to Nashville to check out MCA's birthday celebration. She then headed back home and entered the True Street Competition and was the low 14-second winner at the end of the day with a 14.01 performance.

Norris, Tennessee-resident Randy L. Roddy joined the True Street gang and even though this was only his second time racing at the track, nabbed the low 15-second trophy with an average of 15.07 seconds. Randy's '94 Mustang GT still has its stock powerplant in place, as well as its T-5 manual transmission.

Bryan Lester took home the Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords Editor's Choice award for his elegant, but most deadly black and silver notchback. Powered by 342 inches of small-block Ford iron, the coupe is capable of 11.50s on the motor, and mid to high 10s on the squeeze.

Judging from the vast number of cars, as well as the single-digit elapsed times of the top two performers, Fun Ford Atlanta's True Street competition is as serious as it comes. Make sure you check out www.musclemustangfastfords.com for our extended Web coverage and photos. Next stop on the Fun Ford calendar is Houston, Texas, which is equally well-known for fast street cars. See you there.