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Fun Ford Weekend - Texas Motorplex - Crowning MomentThe Fun Ford Weekend points chase comes to a close at the Texas Motorplex. From the November, 2010 issue of Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords
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Kenny Compton smokes the hides... Kenny Compton smokes the hides of his Street Bandit coupe. Compton scored a runner-up finish in the battle at Ennis, but he won the war by taking home the championship. With a Glidden Racing engine under the hoodscoop, the car was good for 8.7-8.8 performances. There are rumors Compton might be stepping up to Street Renegade next year. It seems like yesterday that we were hanging out in Orlando at the MM&FF Hooters Kick-Off Party. The MM&FF staff had the camera and luggage bags packed quite a bit this season. Continental Airlines took us all over the United States, from the tracks in the South to the asphalt in the Northeast to a few facilities in the Midwest, as we followed the Fun Ford Weekend '04 points series. We finished the whirlwind tour of the country in Texas-specifically Ennis, a small town outside Dallas-where champions were crowned and record-setting performances were made at the finals. In Mr. Gasket Pro competition, the championship had been sealed a few races earlier, but there was still big money up for grabs along with bragging rights. In what has become typical fashion, Chuck Samuel qualified number one and then went on to take home the winner's check. His turbocharged Mustang produces more than 2,000 hp, and that's enough to push the 2,500-pound car into the 6.60 range. Right behind Samuel was Chuck Simons with his 798ci behemoth that inhales loads of nitrous. Simons checked out of competition after qualifying when he hurt some pistons on his final qualifying run. That left Samuel as the sole 6.6 performer to hold off the field. He beat John Mihovetz in the finals, 6.64/214.28 to 6.89/205.44. Chuck Samuel closed out the... Chuck Samuel closed out the championship season with a number-one qualifier position and the event win in Pro. The Kevin Marsh-owned Mustang performed flawlessly all weekend long. Despite the track conditions (due to the heat), the team posted an impressive 6.64 in qualifying. Samuel beat John Mihovetz in the final round, 6.64 to 6.89. Billy Glidden sealed his championship in ProCharger Street Outlaw with his '90 Mustang GT. The Indiana native qualified number one and won the race. He ran 7.28 in the final round of qualifying. His black car was nearly two tenths quicker than the next quickest competitor. Glidden squared off against the ProCharger-powered car of Travis Franklin in the final round. The Edelbrock Nitrous-sponsored ride ran another stellar 7.28 to take the victory over Franklin who limped to a 7.89. Creda Young took the ProCharger Street Renegade class one step closer to the 7s by running 8.19 at 171.58 mph. The ProCharger-powered coupe knocked through the field with consistency, and Young found himself in the finals against the '04 Street Renegade champion, Manny Geno. Young opened up the laptop before the money round and stepped up the tune. The car responded with an awesome 8.11 at 172.81 mph to beat Geno. The nitrous car broke the transmission in the finals. The "Black Car" is no stranger... The "Black Car" is no stranger to the winner's circle. Billy Glidden pounded out a 7.28 in qualifying and sat on top of the ladder as a slew of turbocharged and supercharged entries tried to knock him off. Glidden used his bag of tricks to pop off a 7.28 at 190.16 mph and grab the win over Travis Franklin. Rod Houck used sheer power to win the last race in Edelbrock Street Bandit. The orange '04 Cobra runs a B.E.S. engine under the hood and outran the field with times in the 8.60s. He beat the newly crowned series champion Ken Compton in the finals, 8.66 to 8.79. Once again, Dwayne "Big Daddy" Gutridge stood on top of the qualifying ladder in BFGoodrich Drag Radial. He grabbed the top spot in the last qualifying round because he spent the first two repairing a broken transmission. Unfortunately for Gutridge, a problem staging the car in the semifinals resulted in a DQ. The car pushed through the lights and the timing system was not activated. That left Dennis Lugo to run uncontested in the final round of Drag Radial. The Probe Street Warrior finals were over before they began. Number-one qualifier John Scaro faced Rich Groh in the finals. The Chicago racer was a little quick on the Tree and turned on the red light, thus handing the victory to Scaro. Local racer Creda Young runs... Local racer Creda Young runs only a handful of FFW events each season. Despite that, the car is well known due to its quick times. Young qualified number one in Street Renegade and beat the newly crowned champion, Manny Geno, in the finals. Geno broke and Young whipped out a sick 8.11 at a scorching 172.81 mph. In the Open Comp-style classes-Steeda/SHM Mod Motor, Vortech Focus Frenzy, and JDM Tough Truck-the competition was fierce and there were championships still to be decided heading into eliminations on Sunday. Robert Hindman won Mod Motor on a double-breakout victory. He blew past his 11.81 index with an 11.79, while his competitor, Gary Parker, slipped past his 11.18 index with an 11.14. Hindman broke out by less so he was declared the winner. In Tough Truck, not only was the race on the line, but the championship was as well. Lacey Gassaway performed under pressure and took the victory in the finals by beating Paul Gamino, thus becoming the Tough Truck series champion. Owen Spry won Focus Frenzy when he pushed his three-door Focus to a win over Mark Adkins, 14.64 (14.38 index) to 16.07 (15.42 index). Spry also took home the championship this season. | '04 Fun Ford Weekend Champions | | Mr. Gasket Pro | Chuck Samuel | | ProCharger Street Outlaw | Billy Glidden | | BFGoodrich Drag Radial | Dwayne Gutridge | | ProCharger Street Renegade | Manny Geno | | Edelbrock Street Bandit | Kenny Compton | | Probe Street Warrior | Darrell Peterson | | Steeda/SHM Mod Motor | Robert Hindman | | JDM Tough Truck | Lacey Gassaway | | Vortech Focus Frenzy | Owen Spry |  Manny Geno has been banging...  Manny Geno has been banging gears all year with his G-Force five speed transmission. In the finals, however, a little too much power was sent through the transmission and it broke. Geno sealed the Street Renegade championship for 2004 by winning three races this year.  The Drag Radial final was...  The Drag Radial final was a weird one as Dennis Lugo went uncontested. Dwayne Gutridge had problems getting his car to stage in the previous round, and he was out of competition. Lugo's turbocharged coupe runs high eights.  The '03 Street Bandit champion...  The '03 Street Bandit champion Rod Houck arrived with a killer tune-up in his '04 Cobra. The powerful B.E.S. engine was wearing a set of controversial, but legal, cylinder heads. Houck ran in the 8.60s and took the class win by beating Compton in the finals, 8.66 to 8.79.  It was an emotional roller...  It was an emotional roller coaster for Dwayne Gutridge in the finals. He entered the event with a lock on the championship, but he struggled a bit in qualifying. A broken transmission forced him to miss most of qualifying, and he put his coupe in the top spot on the last round with an 8.55. On Sunday, the car had problems staging in a bye run that was to send Gutridge to the finals. The coupe pushed through the lights, causing a red-light start. The bad part was that he had to be DQ'd because he officially did not take the green. That put him out of competition. In typical Gutridge fashion, he was smiling despite the starting-line problem.  JDM Engineering Tough Truck...  JDM Engineering Tough Truck was an all-out melee all year. The championship came down to several competitors, who had to do well at the final race. There could be only one champion and that person was Lacey Gassaway with his F-100 pickup. In order for him to win the championship, he had to win the Ennis event. His index was a 12.15 and he ran a 12.13, but the good news was that his competitor broke out by a larger margin. That handed Gassaway the event victory and the championship.  It's safe to say Robert Hindman...  It's safe to say Robert Hindman is a professional racer. His C&L-backed Cobra ran flawlessly, and he performed amazing feats behind the wheel with victories and championships in both Ford sanctioning bodies. Hindman devotes a lot of time traveling the Mustang circuit racing Mod Motor and winning lots of money. He took home another victory at the FFW finals and had one of the most lucrative years in the industry-and he won yet another brand-new Mustang, courtesy of FFW and the Ford Mustang Brand Team. | True Street Ennis '04 Top 25 | | Driver | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Average | | 1. John Bryant | 9.387 | 9.381 | 9.504 | 9.424 W | | 2. Owen Spry | 9.738 | 9.537 | 9.547 | 9.607 R/U | | 3. Brett Thiess | 9.822 | 9.638 | 9.636 | 9.699 | | 4. Matt Monroe | 9.811 | 9.866 | 10.900 | 10.192 Low 10 | | 5. Brian Wilson | 10.635 | 10.532 | 10.514 | 10.560 | | 6. AJ Zabojnik | 10.990 | 10.669 | 10.899 | 10.853 Ed. Ch. | | 7. Brian Warwas | 11.079 | 11.035 | 11.072 | 11.062 Low 11 | | 8. Sean Omert | 10.364 | 11.457 | 11.788 | 11.203 | | 9. Chuck Hoestra | 11.577 | 11.263 | 11.158 | 11.333 | | 10. Chris Hamilton | 11.243 | 11.281 | 11.482 | 11.335 | | 11. Mike Harris | 11.269 | 11.430 | 11.329 | 11.343 | | 12. Scotty Hobbs | 11.392 | 11.331 | 11.360 | 11.361 | | 13. Micheal Holleck | 10.879 | 11.612 | 12.210 | 11.567 | | 14. Robert Vasquez | 11.755 | 11.577 | 12.638 | 11.990 | | 15. Rance Reynolds | 11.958 | 12.005 | 12.294 | 12.086 Low 12 | | 16. Burl Bourns | 11.493 | 11.569 | 13.658 | 12.240 | | 17. Larry Fulkerson | 11.952 | 12.369 | 12.441 | 12.254 | | 18. Thomas Eaton | 12.522 | 12.035 | 12.233 | 12.263 | | 19. Mike Aertoriz | 12.299 | 12.283 | 12.339 | 12.307 | | 20. James McPhail | 11.919 | 11.962 | 13.060 | 12.314 | | 21. Eric Coley | 12.144 | 12.493 | 12.588 | 12.408 | | 22. Jack Kutzer | 11.814 | 11.765 | 13.707 | 12.429 | | 23. Garth Sanich | 11.903 | 11.934 | 13.688 | 12.508 | | 24. Earl Holder | 12.222 | 12.902 | 12.410 | 12.511 | | 25. Danny Gordon | 12.559 | 12.649 | 12.578 | 12.595 | | | Low 13-Second Winner | | | Larry Drozo | 12.712 | 12.960 | 13.540 | 13.071 | | | Low 14-Second Winner | | | Lloyd Turner | 13.455 | 14.544 | 14.200 | 14.066 | | | Low 15-Second Winner | | | Tim Withers | 14.799 | 15.380 | 14.928 | 15.036 |  Joe DaSilva pushed his Precision...  Joe DaSilva pushed his Precision Gear-sponsored Pro car into the 6.70s during qualifying. A broken head gasket sent the team into thrash mode, and they repaired the car for Sunday's eliminations. DaSilva shook the tires hard in the first round and lost to Doug Mangrum.  Travis Franklin hurt his engine...  Travis Franklin hurt his engine while trying to lay down a sick number in Street Outlaw. The supercharged entry had to limp through eliminations. Franklin managed to make it to the finals and finished as runner-up to Glidden. The red rocket blasted off a 7.89 at only 156 mph in the finals, while Glidden ran a 7.28.  Don't let the sedate looks...  Don't let the sedate looks of Richard Lelsz's Street Bandit car fool you. The '03 Cobra runs in the eights without a power adder and is simply flawless in every detail. Lelsz vowed to be back running even quicker next year when he adds a dry sump and gets a better clutch tune-up, along with a few other tricks.  Paul Gamino is no stranger...  Paul Gamino is no stranger to the Tough Truck ranks, and here he is smoking the hides in preparation for the final round. The weather changed dramatically for the finals, and he overshot his dial in by a few hundredths of a second. That proved to be the deciding factor in the finals as his competitor, Lacey Gassaway, also broke out. Gamino ran a 12.994 on a 13.2 dial in while Gassaway ran a 12.135 on a 12.51 dial in.  Gary "Hollywood" Parker grabbed...  Gary "Hollywood" Parker grabbed a runner-up finish in Mod Motor. He ran under his index with an 11.14 on an 11.18. As with so many others in the index/dial-in category, there was a double-breakout situation. Parker happened to be on the losing end of the breakout and went home with the runner-up cash.  Focus Frenzy Class champion...  Focus Frenzy Class champion Owen Spry weeded his way through the front-wheel-drive class and into the finals. He faced Mark Adkins and each car was vastly different. Adkins had a 15.42 index while Spry was a bit quicker with a 14.38 index. Both racers slowed down in the finals-Spry ran a 14.64 on his 14.38 index and took home the win.  Mark Adkins grabbed the runner-up...  Mark Adkins grabbed the runner-up spot with his three-door Focus. He dialed in a 15.42. Unfortunately, he encountered some prob-lems in the final and slowed to a 16.02. You can't win an Open Comp or bracket-style race being six tenths off the mark. But Adkins did leave with the runner-up money.  The final round of Street...  The final round of Street Warrior paired Rich Groh (pictured) against number-one qualifier John Scaro. Groh was running 10.2-10.30 and needed all the help he could to catch the 10.1 car of Scaro. He tried to hit the Tree hard but ended up turning on the red light. Scaro saw he had the win light on his lane and just shut down his car early and rolled to the win.  The Sean Hyland Motorsport-powered...  The Sean Hyland Motorsport-powered Cougar of John Mihovetz blistered into the 6s with consistency. He went to the finals by beating Chuck Simons and Doug Mangrum. He ran 6.89 against Samuel in the finals, but it was not quick enough to beat the champ, who had gone 6.64. True Street/Ennis '04
There were 82 cars that finished the MM&FF/Tremec True Street tour and all three drag passes, making it one of the biggest, most competitive fields in recent history. One of the favorites was famed Outlaw racer Mike Murillo, whose new street car sported a mild turbocharged powerplant along with a squirt of the giggle gas. His first two passes were in the nines, but on the third run the tech officials realized he hadn't been running with the required fire pants and he was disqualified. John Bryant held off bracket magnate Owen Spry and his familiar orange notchback for the top honors in the class, while Matt Monroe, Brian Warwas, Rance Reynolds, Larry Drozo, Lloyd Turner, and Tim Withers cleaned up in the other classes. A.J. Zabojnik of Rowlett, Texas, took home the coveted MM&FF Editor's Choice award with his '93 LX coupe. The twin-turbocharged, 331ci Stang sported shaved door handles, a Jerico four-speed gearbox, and an air-to-water intercooler. - Steve Baur  Early in the season, it appeared...  Early in the season, it appeared as if Ronnie Wilson was going to walk away with the Street Renegade title. His nitrous-equipped Mustang ran consistently in the 8.40 range. As the season wore on, however, the competition stepped up and Wilson finished second, collecting three victories along the way.  Chuck Simons brought 798 cubes...  Chuck Simons brought 798 cubes to the show and then added a few stages of nitrous from Nitrous Express. The gorgeous Cougar qualified with an awesome 6.64, Simons' best time to date in Pro competition. Unfortunately, a bad mixture of nitrous, fuel, and ignition timing ended his weekend on Saturday. A few melted pistons can put quite a damper on a fun weekend of racing.  Local hero Doug Mangrum spent...  Local hero Doug Mangrum spent the weekend trying to harness the ProCharger-blown powerplant. He and his crew worked hard in an attempt to hook the 2,000-plus horsepower to the ground. They escaped the first round when their competitor, Joe DaSilva, had more tire-shake problems than they did. Their day ended in the second round when John Mihovetz unleashed a 6.92 run and they ran mid-sevens as Mangrum pedaled the car in hopes to get the tires to stop shaking.  Heath, Texas, resident John...  Heath, Texas, resident John Bryant converted his Mustang from a former sound-competition entry into a track-burning missile. The supercharged Mustang stormed to a 9.42-second average for the win. Bryant was shooting for the 8-second zone, but a greasy track hampered traction, thus limiting the Mustang's performance.  The winning '89 GT features...  The winning '89 GT features a Keith Craft R-block stuffed with 347 ci of rotating assembly topped off with ported and pol-ished Victor Jr. heads. A ProCharger F-2 and six-core air-to-air intercooler offer a tornado-inducing 30 pounds of boost, all of which is tuned using a Ford EPEC. A JW Powerglide and converter is employed to put the power to a Strange Engineering-spooled 8.8 rear.  Your '04 Fun Ford Ennis True...  Your '04 Fun Ford Ennis True Street winner, John Bryant.  Carrying the flag for the...  Carrying the flag for the four-eyed Foxes was Matt Monroe, whose GT charged to a 10.19-second average.  Brian Warwas eliminated the...  Brian Warwas eliminated the 11-second class competition with bracket-like consistency. An 11.07, an 11.03, and another 11.07 rewarded him with an 11.06 average for the class win.  Piloting his father Larry...  Piloting his father Larry Reynolds' '89 LX was Rance Reynolds, who took the ProCharger D-1-boosted, stock 302ci Mustang to the 12-second win. The pony has run a best of 11.33 at 120 since the event thanks to a better torque converter.  The supercharged Cobra convertible...  The supercharged Cobra convertible of Larry Drozo nabbed the Low 13-Second award.  AJ Zabojnik's clean LX was...  AJ Zabojnik's clean LX was selected as the MM&FF Editor's Choice. It also ran quite well with a 10.85 average thanks to its twin-turbocharged powerplant.  Lloyd Turner's SN-95 ran a...  Lloyd Turner's SN-95 ran a 13.45, a 14.54, and finally a 14.20 to manage the Low 14-Second money. Tim Withers scored a 15.03 average to receive a trophy and a check.  Don't forget to check your...  Don't forget to check your lug nuts. We happened to inspect the parts afterward and two of the four studs were already on their way out when the other two let loose.
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