17th Annual Fords at Englishtown - The Fall Classic

A Mustang traffic jam-nice! For once, we didn't mind sitting in New Jersey traffic. Having 44 Mustangs idling all around you is cool.

Michael Mohring tagged his Mustang with the license plate "ITS SLO." He had a 10.95 average with a supercharged engine under the hood-that's not slow in our book! The tires spun during the first run, and he ran 11.08. The GT hooked hard on the following two runs-10.87 and 10.90.

Mahzad Nazirbage of New York always shows up to Englishtown with a few friends to run in the Real Street Road Tour. Thanks to some nitrous, he was the quickest car in his group with an 11.67 average. That was good for Sixth Place overall.

The Real Pure Street class combined the quick, naturally aspirated Mustangs with Real Street- style Mustangs. Real Street cars feature out-of-the-box components and off-the-shelf super-charger systems. Justin Burcham beat his naturally aspirated rivals with his ProCharger-powered Real Street entry. He ran 9.82 in the first round but broke the transmission in the finals. He got lucky because his competitor in the finals, Ed Leonard, went red.

Pennsylvania resident Jeff Hughes endured five rounds of tough competition in Open Comp. He consistently ran in the 10.40s (on a 10.39 index), and his great reaction times kept him in the game. He beat Craig Walls in a double breakout situation. Hughes broke out by only 0.02 second, while Walls blew past his index by 0.06 second.

NMRA Factory Stock hitter Mike Washington began his day in the 11.70s, but by Sunday evening he had propelled his '92 notchback into the 11.60s. He beat Eric Laferriere with an 11.61 to Laferriere's 11.65.

When the name Mike Sodano is on the qualifying sheet, you know it's a tough Open Comp field. The die-hard stick-shift racer went three rounds before going red against eventual runner-up Craig Walls. Sodano was close to a green light with a -0.014-second reaction time.

Open Comp regular Bruce Parker was a second-round victim to Craig Walls. The Capri had been deadly all weekend long by running close to Parker's 9.09 index. In the second round, he slowed to a 9.16 and lost.

Here is Craig Walls leaving the starting line in his '90 Mustang GT. The car served double duty at Fords at Englishtown as it finished 11th in the Real Street category on Saturday and runner-up in Open Comp on Sunday. Walls took down some serious hitters on his way to the finals, namely Mike Sodano and Bruce Parker.

Bob McDonald of Jesel Valvetrain bolted a ProCharger F2 blower to his Drag Radial car, and the results were mid-8s at speeds more than 170 mph. McDonald set the high mph of the DOT Drag Radial class with a 172-mph charge. He ran 8.51 in the finals and was runner-up.

Ed Leonard's Real Pure Street car had been in the 9.70s at other tracks, but he kept it 10.00 and slower because he didn't have his NHRA competition license. He settled for runner-up, as he kept his foot out of the gas on the top end each round. In the finals, Leonard tried to get a jump on Justin Burcham, but he went red and ended his hopes for a victory.

Greg Bowser squeaked into the 10s with a 10.93 in qualifying. He unfortunately had to face Ed Leonard's low-10-second machine in the first round. Bowser drilled Leonard on the Tree but could not keep up with the supercharged car.

Coming off his second straight championship in NMRA competition, Mark Morales made it to Englishtown for one more weekend of racing. His Ranger won a second-round meeting with Jim Henke, but it then broke and couldn't make the third-round lane call.

The '03-'04 Cobra Shootout was interesting, to say the least. NHRA required a car to be fitted with a six-point rollbar if that car goes quicker than 11.99 in competition (that rule has since been relaxed somewhat). None of the competitors possessed any type of rollbar, so they were all in violation of the rule if they eclipsed the 12.00 barrier. Brian Kelly acted more like a bracket racer as he got on the brakes on the top end of the track. The car is definitely an 11-second ride, but he held himself back and survived the competition. He ran 12.02 at only 79 mph to take the victory over Manny Delello, who had gone 12.20.