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4th Annual Ford F-150 Lightningfest - Trading Payloads For TimeslipsThe Fourth-Annual Lightningfest Comes To Kansas City. From the May, 2007 issue of Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords
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New Egypt, New Jersey's Ralph... New Egypt, New Jersey's Ralph Voorhees was looking to make a mark in the Pro Truck class with his tubbed and turbocharged Gen 1 Lightning. While the MM&FF staff encounters quite a few fast trucks in their travels, the Fourth-Annual Lightningfest, put on by the National Lightning Owners Club (NLOC), brings out the baddest Ford trucks in the nation. This year, the gathering saw over 120 of SVT's finest hay haulers exchanging their payloads for timeslips, some of which have fast elapsed times printed on them.
Dwight and Nan Dolliver and their staff of NLOC volunteers work towards the event all year, and their efforts proved fruitful as the Lightning faithful descended on Kansas City International Raceway in Kansas City, Missouri, September 22-23. The contestants were divided into five racing classes and five show classes. The quarter-mile contenders began with Street Lightning and Diesel Truck groupings, along with an MM&FF-style True Street class for trucks. From there, the mods and speeds picked up for Pro Street Lightning and Pro Truck, where the baddest and fastest SVT Lightnings come to play.  James Galloway of Kearny,...  James Galloway of Kearny, Nebraska, was the big winner in True Street. His '03 Dark Shadow Gray beast used modest upgrades and a skilled driver to take the top prize. Lightningfest's True Street competition is run just like MM&FF's with the exception that the three runs are averaged, and each contestant must run a fourth time as close to the average as possible for the win. Galloway was 0.02 second off his average.  The True Street contingent...  The True Street contingent was a popular class with well over 20 trucks competing.  Jeff Sparkman of Indianapolis,...  Jeff Sparkman of Indianapolis, Indiana, took to the streets in his 598ci, turbocharged First-Gen Lightning while competing in True Street. He was the low qualifier in the class with a 10.51 at 141 mph. Talk about truckin' at the big end. Racers came from all over the United States to compete at this event, from New Jersey to Nebraska, North Carolina to Washington State, and everywhere in between. There were even some Canucks from Ontario attending, as well as Andre Wagenknecht and Marc Dutschek, two Lightning guys from Germany who flew over to hang out for the week. Andre and Marc have put together their own Lightning event in Germany, which reins in rides from places like Finland and Great Britain. Lightningfest 2006 began on Thursday night with tailgating at the host hotel. Friday kicked off with a test session followed by the True Street cruise and qualifying rounds. The rest of the racing classes then ran their first qualifier and finished with a tasty barbecue in the pits. The track was open after 5:30 p.m. to all Lightningfest contestants and the public for a test-and-tune/grudge-racing session.  Vern Jones swapped many a...  Vern Jones swapped many a staging lane during Lightningfest, running in both True Street and Street Lightning. His '93 Ford sports a 408ci stroker powerplant with Trick Flow heads, a B303 camshaft, and a ported GT40 lower intake manifold. While Jones placed Third in True Street competition, he took home the bacon (and the trophy) in Street Lightning. Facing Keith Tenhumberg, Jones charged hard to the finish, with both drivers breaking out. Jones was there by the narrower margin and took the prize.  JDM Engineering Pro Street...  JDM Engineering Pro Street Lightning saw the trucks step up, and Euless, Texas-native Gary Motl piloted his '04 SVT to a 12.63 run on a 12.59 dial-in. Motl's truck gets it done with a 4-pound lower pulley, a JDM Silver Bullet exhaust, and a few other little tweaks to optimize Ford's super-charged powerplant.  With his turbocharged Gen...  With his turbocharged Gen 2 Lightning temporarily out of commission, Searcy, Arkansas-resident Frank Likert dropped in on Lightningfest to make some passes in his '06 F-250 Power Stroke pickup. He eventually defeated Randy Wilson in the final round of NLOC Diesel Truck.  Jerry Skinner of Oklahoma...  Jerry Skinner of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma posted the quickest elapsed time in Pro Truck with a staggering 8.48 at 161 mph. Unfortunately, his passenger-side cylinder head split like the San Andreas Fault, cracking through the chambers and across the spark plug holes. Skinner's misfortune would prove fruitful for fellow competitor Justin Embrey.  Hailing from Elgin, Illinois,...  Hailing from Elgin, Illinois, Ray Johnson came to Lightningfest to find his first sub-10-second timeslip. While his main mission turned out several low, low 10-second performances, it also found him in the final round of Pro Truck competition against Justin Embrey's supercharged '95 Lightning.  Paul Duckett of Poplar Bluff,...  Paul Duckett of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, had the only Lightning in Pro Truck that depended on nitrous oxide as its sole power adder. Sporting a Liberty five-speed transmission, the Lightning failed to outrun Ray Johnson's turbocharged monster in the semifinal. Come Saturday, SVT's Lightnings were set on kill as the morning's second and third qualifying rounds were followed by the elimination rounds. The day finished with a burnout contest. Saturday night brought more grudge racing, which heated up after some Nebraska boys brought their twin-turbocharged Chevy pickup down for some Ford-vs.-Chevy action. On Sunday, the event concluded with an open-track session along with the truck show, which offered five different classes including Lightnings and other Ford trucks. The chance to watch SVT Lightnings run 8.50 e.t.'s should be enough to get you to this event, but if you need further convincing, the truck owners are among the most friendly groups of people we've met at any event and are more than willing to get you hooked on fast trucks. Be sure to check out www.nloc.net for more information on this event, future Lightningfests, and anything pertaining to SVT Lightnings and Ford trucks in general.  Johnny and Sue Wiker of Johnny...  Johnny and Sue Wiker of Johnny Lightning Performance were on hand Saturday and Sunday to hang out as well as offer assistance to a few of the Lightning faithful.  Having ventured in the 8.6-second...  Having ventured in the 8.6-second range already, Ralph Voorhees was looking to challenge the ProCharged trucks of Justin Embry and Jerry Skinner in Pro Truck this year. During a bye run in the quarterfinals, Voorhees' turbocharged Lightning decided to eat Second gear and Reverse, leaving him out of contention for eliminations.  Justin Embrey's SVT Lightning...  Justin Embrey's SVT Lightning has seen its share of elapsed times in the 8.5 range, and this weekend was no different. The Yukon, Oklahoma, resident propels his truck with a 370ci, supercharged powerplant that is nearly identical to that of teammate Jerry Skinner. It just so happened that Embrey's motor chucked a rocker arm and pushrod between rounds, but the team pirated the needed parts from Skinner's motor so Embrey could make the next elimination round. In the final, Johnson's turbo truck went 10.10 flat out, while Embrey eased past with a 9.18 for the win.  At the end of the day, most...  At the end of the day, most competitors who placed Fourth or better went home with a trophy, while the winners took the gold and the cash prize.  Dayton, Ohio's Dave Pickrel...  Dayton, Ohio's Dave Pickrel was shooting for a 9-second timeslip this weekend, but his silver twin-turbocharged rig would only offer up 10.2 e.t.'s with bracket-like consistency. It was this consistency, however, that scored one win for the Ford camp against their Chevy grudge competi-tors with a 10.24 to 10.31 victory.  Jim Parish of Nebraska was...  Jim Parish of Nebraska was looking to rough up some Ford trucks and went two for three for his efforts.  Lombard, Illinois' Ross Lentini...  Lombard, Illinois' Ross Lentini competed in the Pro Street Lightning class. His real challenge came on Saturday night when some Chevy boys showed up looking for action. Having attained his 11-second timeslip without a power adder, Lentini drove his carbureted Lightning to the starting line to face off with Jim Parish's turbocharged Chevy. Lentini had upped the nitrous jets for a 100 shot, but he came up short at the stripe as Parish pulled a holeshot win with a 10.54 to Lentini's personal best, a 10.86  SVT's Lightning faithful turned...  SVT's Lightning faithful turned out in droves for the Fourth-Annual National Lightning Club of America's Lightningfest. LightningFest 4 Show/Race Results | JOHNNY LIGHTNING PERFORMANCE | | TRUE STREET | | 1st | James Galloway | (0.02) | | 2nd | Jeff Gallert | (0.03) | | 3rd | Vern Jones | (0.03) | | Low Qualifier: Jeff Sparkman | 10.52 at 141.24 | | LIGHTNING FORCE PERFORMANCE | | STREET LIGHTNING | | 1st | Vern Jones | 13.405 at 98.89 | | 2nd | Keith Tenhumberg | 12.898 at 105.00 | | 3rd | Dave Patterson | 13.032 at 104.27 | | 4th | Michael Bratton | 13.481 at 101.48 | | JDM ENGINEERING PRO STREET LIGHTNING/HD TRUCK | | 1st | Gary Motl | 12.637 at 106.85 | | 2nd | Ron Potts | 11.898 at 114.85 | | 3rd | Steve Raue | 12.905 at 105.15 | | 4th | Marc Cummings | 11.266 at 122.11 | | NLOC DIESEL TRUCK | | 1st | Frank Likert | 14.251 at 88.55 | | 2nd | Randy Wilson | 14.888 at 88.80 | | 3rd | Mike Jones | 17.013 at 75.93 | | NLOC PRO TRUCK | | 1st | Justin Embrey | 9.184 at 147.25 | | 2nd | Ray Johnson | 10.100 at 138.93 | | 3rd | Paul Duckett | 9.744 at 111.59 | | Low Qualifier: Jerry Skinner | 8.481 at 161.43 | | TRUCK SHOW | | Gen I Mild | Gen II/HD Mild | | 1st | Jean Cedergreen | 1st | Michael Chester | | 2nd | Chris Fuller | 2nd | Scott Cedergreen | | 3rd | Mike Jones | 3rd | Dale Reibel | | Gen I Wild | Gen II/HD Wild | | 1st | Ronny Miller | Jeff Fritz | | 2nd | Trevor Glenn | Other Ford Pickup | | 3rd | Eric Stewart | Dean Pennington | | | People's Choice | | Ronny Miller |
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