2006 Fun Ford Weekend In Commerce Georgia

Thirty-thousand dollars to win. Has a nice sound to it, doesn't it? That was the payday for Probe Industries Pro category at the Fun Ford Weekend in Commerce, Georgia. With that kind of loot up for grabs, some of the more serious IHRA hitters and other quick doorslammer Fords from other series showed up. It was a 15-car slugfest that gave the fans mid-six-second action.

When the Pro cars weren't dropping 6.40 runs at around 220 mph, there were other classes that competed: heads up, index/Open Comp, and in the usual bracket racing format. Couple those race cars with 80 MM&FF/Tremec True Street entries and a show-car field that had some of coolest modern and vintage Ford vehicles, and it was an action-packed weekend for Blue Oval enthusiasts.

With IHRA's toughest racers and regular FFW hitters on the property, John Gullett and his crew had the twin-turbocharged monster set on kill. The record books were set on Sunday when the turbo Stang clocked a jaw-dropping 6.36 at 224 mph during the second round of eliminations. It was the quickest pass ever in the Pro category. The hits kept coming as five other Pro drivers went sub 6.50s, including Chuck Samuel (big-block/nitrous), Robert Patrick (mountain motor), Tony Gillig (mountain motor), John Nobile (mountain motor), and Jeff Dobbins (mountain motor). The rest of field was strung out in the 6.60s and slower--not to say running in the 6s is slow by any means. With $30,000 on the line, none of these guys (and gal) was leaving anything on the table. Not only was it the quickest field ever in class history, but it was also one of the tightest in terms of performance. At the end of the day, Gullett was the one who took home the grand prize.

ProCharger Street Outlaw saw Chip Havemann victorious at his first race of the '06 season. The twin-turbo '03 Cobra had electrical gremlins that plagued his team, but the low-seven-second runs were enough to take the win. Matt Jones continued his domination of the CFE Racing Street Bandit class with a victory over the lone challenger, D.R. Bott II. Precision Turbo Street Renegade had defending series champion Ronnie Wilson grab a holeshot victory over record-holder Dan Schoneck. Phil Clemmons started off his season great, with a victory in BFGoodrich Drag Radial. Darrell Peterson claimed the Borla Street Warrior victory. The Sean Hyland Motorsports Mod Comp eliminator saw a familiar face in the winner's circle as Gary "Hollywood" Parker went home with the trophy and cash.

Chris Parisi was the victor with his F-150 pickup in JDM Engineering Tough Truck, while S.D. Wheeler grabbed his second win in Ford Racing/RPM Outlet Ultra Stang. Bama Chips Four-Six Frenzy saw Tonya McCoyle rise to the top with her Focus, while Mark Anderson was victorious in Superchips Street Stang.

True Street was full of the usual madness, and it took a 10.04 average by Edgar Negron in order to be the top dog. He ran in the 9s twice and slowed to a 10.07 as heat soak took its toll.