The Fun Ford faithful kicked off 2006 in grand style.
The pungent aroma of tire smoke and the sweet smell of burnt race fuel lures us to racetracks all over the nation, and as is customary, the Muscle Mustangs staff blew the dust off its cameras and descended upon Orlando Speed World for the first Fun Ford Weekend of the year.
This race is also where we hold the MM&FF/Pro50.com Spring Break Shootout, of which you can read elsewhere in this issue. Let's just say that eight-second elapsed times were barely enough to win.
For nearly two decades, we have been covering a plethora of Ford events, and it is at these gatherings that Mustang and Ford enthusiasts are able to take their street and/or race-equipped vehicles and compete against others who share the same interests.
Enter the race if you like, and go heads-up or bracket racing in a number of different classes. For those who would rather watch the racing than participate, most all of these events have car shows, where one can win trophies and other prizes simply by shining up their ride and parking it.
The Orlando race was preceded by a wild kick-off party at the Hooters of Waterford Lakes. Ever since MM&FF moved the party there, the gathering of Ford fanatics has grown crazier each year. Burnouts, beer, and, uh, well, you know where we were going with that one.
In addition to the wild Mustangs, Lightnings, and assorted other vehicles that assisted in the "repaving" of the Hooters parking lot, we were also graced with not one but two Ford GTs that both exercised their supercharged 5.4's attitude.
Come Saturday morning, there was an excitement in the air as everybody was looking to forget about winter and bite down on some sticky asphalt en route to some torque-twisting, engine-screaming, gear-banging fun.
Steve Angel's hot convertible used a turbocharged 281ci combination to qualify Fourth in Renegade, but trouble in the second round found him riding the guardrail in the wrong lane at the top end of the track. "When the car shifted into Third, it pulled the steering shaft apart, so I had no steering," Angel says. Despite the rather vicious-looking ride, he was unhurt, while the damage to the drop-top from banging the opposite guardrail was limited to sheetmetal. |  | 
Chuck Samuel, the '05 Pro champ, stole the number-one qualifying spot from John Gullett with a 6.50 to Gullett's 6.51 effort. As Bells, Texas, resident Doug Mangrum could not make lane call due to an injured engine, Samuel got a bye run in the first and second rounds. In the final, he was quick on the Tree with an 0.027 light, and quick to the stripe as well with a 6.49 run at 224 mph. The race was over at the start, though, as Gullett went 0.074 red on the Tree. |