Fun Ford Weekend In Commerce - Chaos In Commerce

Peter Del Pino of Miami, Florida, qualified number one in Ultra Stang with a speedy 9.78. Fast doesn't necessarily get you the win though, as Del Pino went out in the third round.

Rolling in a fresh ride, Paul Gamino knocked down the big dogs in JDM Engineering Tough Truck. The '00 Lightning sports a host of mods to propel the lumbering beast to low-10-second elapsed times. Gamino's driving helped to secure the win, as he posted some of the best reaction times and ran dead-close to his dial-in every time.

The '06 4/6 Frenzy champ, Chris Parisi, entered the Ford Racing Performance Parts/RPM Outlet Ultra Stang class with his brand-new Roush-engineered Mustang Heat-package Pony and went four rounds for the win over Keri Klingler. According to Parisi, the Heat package is a $1,250 option on the V-6 Mustang that he bought from Mike Davidson Ford in Jacksonville, Florida, and it includes stripes, Heat badging, and a blacked-out hoodscoop and rear wing. "I've won all three races I've entered it in," Parisi says. "I made $1,600 with it before I made the first payment."

Tremec True Street was in high gear in Atlanta, with more than 80 cars entered.

The top spot in True Street was a tight battle between Brian Boyd and Dewayne Stiles. Boyd nudged ahead, taking number-one honors with a 9.44 average.

Dewayne Stiles is a frequent True Street competitor, so he knows what it takes to win. His first pass, a 9.16 effort, looked good, but a 9.86 on his second run was too much for the 9.41 third run to make up for. Stiles finished Second in regular competition, but he took home the Quick Eight True Street Race win on Sunday, with a 6.128 at 114.81mph pass versus Eric Granger's 6.353 at 111.35 attempt.

Michael Young had the crowd cheering with his Powerstroke diesel pickup. The big red machine ran a pair of mid-12s along with a mid-13 to average 12.90 seconds.

Samuel Vincent of Central City, Kentucky, was the man to beat in ProCharger Street Renegade. Packing 438 cubes of Ford power pumped up by a three-stage, Nitrous Express nitrous system, it was no wonder that Vincent's Mustang sat atop the qualifying list with a 7.55 at 182 mph. With the high Sunday winds, both the Renegade and Pro classes were postponed until the Fun Ford Virginia race in June.

Mapleton, Minnesota, resident Dan Schoneck had his ProCharged pony making big power, as he qualified with the fastest mph at 186. Matt DaSilva, Bob Lumsden Jr., Ron Cox, Matt Hanby, Steve Angell, and Bart Tobener rounded out the Street Renegade field.

Setting the stage for the $30,000 AMP Performance Pro Shootout was Kingston, Illinois' Chuck Samuel, who had the RV Lending Group's Edelbrock nitrous system squeezing in a bountiful supply of the sauce into the Fast Time's big-block powerplant. A 6.32-second elapsed time at 225 mph was the result, which had the rest of the 11-car field looking for more power.

Piloting the big-block-equipped Pro Mod Probe of Jerry Williams was Dale Brinsfield, who took Second on the ladder with a smoking 6.368 at 221.13 mph. The Oakridge, North Carolina, native had John Nobile and John Gullett hot on his heels at 6.42 and 6.49, respectively.

Team MM&FF's ride to the Fun Ford Weekend in Commerce was none other than our Herculiner/Peak Antifreeze giveaway truck. The Whipple-supercharged truck drew quite a bit of attention both on the grounds and on the highway.