1st PLACE
Richard Lelsz
9.43/146.34 mph
Coming into the shootout, we knew Richard Lelsz of Strictly Performance was going to be the fastest. Almost two years ago, car owner Ken Biscamp brought his then-new Cobra into Strictly with a simple set of instructions: Beat Nitrous Pete's best time and make this car the quickest '03 Cobra, period. Lelsz soaked up the challenge and took the yellow Cobra to the top of the list. (Check out "King of the Snake Pit," Nov. '03, p. 62, for the full feature on this car.) The only significant changes since the feature have been more tuning, more nitrous, and a custom intake elbow.
Lelsz's best time to date has been a 9.33 at 149 mph. He had intentions of lowering that number, but he quickly found out that leaving with more power smoked the tires-even on a killer track. He still ran an impressive 9.43 at 146.34 mph despite the traction woes. Upon returning to the shop, a set of 29x105Ws were added and Lelsz vowed to never have a traction problem again. Expect an 8-second timeslip from the King Cobra next spring.
| >STRIP SPECS |
|
| Owner: | Ken Biscamp |
| Hometown: | Houston, Texas |
| Year/Model: | '03 SVT Cobra |
| All-Time Best: | 9.33 at 149 mph |
| Shootout Best: | 9.43 at 146 mph |
| Weight: | 3,352 lbs |
| Engine: | 281ci |
| Built By: | Strictly Performance |
| Tuning: | Diablo Revolution by Strictly Performance |
| Power Adder: | Kenne Bell and custom dry-nitrous kit |
| Intercooler: | Stock |
| Max Boost/Nitrous: | 25 psi and 250 hp |
| Intake Manifold: | Custom by Strictly Performance/Beck Mechanical |
| Cylinder Heads: | Ported Stock heads |
| Compression Ratio: | 8:1 |
| Camshafts: | JDM Engineering |
| Ignition: | Stock w/Brisk spark plugs |
| Exhaust: | Dr. Gas X-pipe, Kooks Headers, and Flowmaster mufflers |
| Transmission: | Trans King C4 |
| Clutch/Converter: | 10-in by Trans King |
| Rear Type: | 8.8-in w/3.55 gears |
| Wheels: | Bogart D-10 |
| Tires: | M/T Front Runners (F), M/T ET Drag slicks (R) |
| Suspension Front: | Lakewood struts |
| Suspension Rear: | Lakewood shocks, Metco control arms |
2nd PLACE
Sean Kelly
9.83/137 mph
Sean Kelly uses his Cobra as a calling card for his business, M.A.S. Racing Development, and to learn more about modular performance. His original plans were to build a Renegade-style race car, but he chose to sell the rolling chassis in order to purchase this Cobra. Once the car made it into the shop, the modifications began, and Kelly has never looked back. Perhaps the most unique feature is the 2.4L Kenne Bell blower. The Kenne Bell huffer used by others in the shootout was the smaller 2.2L blower, so Kelly's was the first 2.4L we had seen in person.
Heading into the shootout, the car had run 10.09, but that was with the smaller supercharger. It took a few dyno runs at Dyno Tuned Performance in Virginia to dial in the 2.4. As it turned out, the extra power required an upgraded fuel system, and once everything was sorted out, Kelly came to Englishtown. The results were staggering as the car picked up more than two tenths and ran 9.83 at 137.72 mph. From there, Kelly tried to go a bit quicker by adjusting the tune-up, but he failed to better the 9.83 performance.