Eight was Great at WFC

For the eighth straight year, the Pro Mod 5.0 and Pro Street Outlaw classes were the headlining categories at the Mobil 1 World Ford Challenge at Gateway International Raceway outside St. Louis.

WFC 8 was the ultimate trip for Ford enthusiasts, from the packed car show to the various drag racing classes that could accommodate virtually every style Ford product.

WINNER Tony Gillig and team owner Tim Huston have spent the past several years trying to win a WFC title. They won the '03 FFW Pro title but fell short in WFC competition. They sold their ProCharger chariot and built this new one for IHRA Pro Stock action. A Jon Kaase-built 814ci engine powers the Rick Jones-built '03 Mustang Cobra. The 6.50 performances are good enough to keep them in the Top 10 points on the IHRA circuit.	This winter, Dan Millen's '01 Mustang took a vacation down at Parker Chassis. The Georgia-based shop converted the Mustang to a Liberty five-speed combo, and it proved to work great with the Livernois Motorsports' engine under the hood. Millen runs a Precision 94mm turbo and blistered an insane 196.82-mph blast in the second round of eliminations of Pro Street Outlaw. This was the high speed of the event, and quite frankly the largest mph on 10.5-inch tires! The two-time WFC champ took home the runner-up honors this year.	WINNER We have three words to describe Manny Buginga--"world record holder." He came, he saw, he conquered the Pro Street Outlaw field. Boasting a Turbonetics 94mm turbo under the hood of his '89 coupe, he lit up the boards with a demented 7.37 at 194 mph. That was done with a set of as-measured 28x10.5-inch slicks. It was the quickest pass ever on those tires. Watch for a feature on this amazing Mustang in an upcoming issue of MM&FF.
WINNER For the second straight year, Johnny Lightning was victorious in both Pro Lightning and the Diesel Challenge categories. He drove his van to the win over David Lott in Diesel Challenge. This van gets it done with 14-second timeslips.	WINNERWFC 8 was the coming-out party for his newly revamped '01 Lightning. The truck was recently tubbed and the roof was chopped, giving it a Pro 5.0 look. The tried-and-true engine combination from last year delivered low 10-second performances. Lightning beat Justin Embrey in the Pro Lightning finals with a 10.04 on a 10.01 dial-in.	WINNER Daniel Pachar ended the Strictly Performance stranglehold on the Cobra Eliminator title. Pachar's ProCharger-powered Cobra outran Richard Lelsz with a stout 9.43 at 140.72 mph.
WINNER The Gillam twins survived the onslaught of 57 Open Comp competitors; it was the largest class at WFC 8. The JPC Racing-sponsored car left with the wheels up on every pass and ran almost dead on its index in each round.	WINNER The School of Automotive Machinists (SAM) scored its first win with its '95 Cobra. It came from the second qualified position to take the victory over Adrian Duron. Driver Pat Topolinski pushed the car into the 8s, an 8.95 to be exact, for the win. The engine was built in-house at the SAM school.	Billy Glidden returned to the Pro Mod 5.0 ranks this year. He was the hired gun for Kevin Marsh's Pro-Stock-turned-Pro-Mod-5.0 Escort ZX2. Glidden is probably saying to himself, "Big blocks on nitrous rule!" The 814ci engine and single Edelbrock Nitrous system helped produce times in the mid sixes at 218 mph.

The top class of the weekend, Pro Mod 5.0, was dealing out $35,000 to the winner. It brought out the best in the business, including several IHRA Pro Stock racers. It is so prestigious that team owner Kevin Marsh hired Billy Glidden to wheel his nitrous-powered mountain-motor Escort. That way he had two shots at winning the title. In the end, it wasn't a blower, turbo, or nitrous entry that took home the cash--Tony Gillig wheeled the all-engine ASSC Racing IHRA Pro Stock car to the top of the heap over Chuck Samuel.