World Ford Challenge - Racing To The Power Of X

Ed Rice was hired by car owner Geno Cavalieri to drive his '85 Mustang at NMCA races as well as WFC X. The 449ci engine features a single Precision 106mm turbo and a Liberty five-speed transmission. Problems plagued the team, and finally an exploded lifter prevented them from really leaning on the car. Rice let it hang out in Round 1 with a 7.41 and won over Jared Brunner. Round 2 brought victory again when Ray Johnson broke at the starting line. Rice then had a bye-run in Round 3 and headed to the finals to face Billy Glidden. He took the light, then pulled off the track to prevent further engine damage.

Black coupes look tough and are even better in Outlaw 10.5 trim. Ray Johnson's '93 coupe features a 25.2 back-half from Miller Race Cars and a DiSomma Racing 449ci engine with twin 88mm turbos. Don Bailey handles the tuning chores and got the car to run in the 7.20s at 200 mph. The team's goal is to hit the 6s and go well over 200 mph by year's end.

Nineteen cars failed to qualify for Wild Street due to breakage. This little Fairmont was a victim to the carnage. It featured an Explorer motor from the junkyard complete with the GT40P heads and a turbocharger. It was the biggest sleeper of the weekend with low-11-second times-we could see a grudge race against this car and Lidio Iacobelli's '07 Stang. It would make for a nice Pinks episode.

Blistering times and speeds were posted by the Halfacre brothers as they were fresh off chassis and engine updates. The scales were tipped at a scant 2,830 pounds, and the 91mm turbo combo helped push this car to a best of 7.47 at 194. Too much power on the starting line combined with 28x10.5-inch tires created a smoke show for the fans and a second-round loss in Street Outlaw.

Jimmy and Vic Keen have been at this game a long time and were the number-two qualifiers in Pro Outlaw. The Keen brothers also took home the prestigious WFC Lifetime Achievement award. These days, the brothers compete in Tom Moore's '03 Stang, which features a single-turbocharged engine that is backed by a Liberty five-speed transmission.

Pande Talevski entered the Drag Radial category with a customer's '92 coupe. The car might not look familiar, but it's the same one Job Spetter Jr. drove to the first seven-second run on 28x10.5-inch slicks and used to win the '00 NMRA Super Street Outlaw championship. Now, a 347 with a single 106mm turbo resides under the hood and a pair of M/T drag radials are out back.

Ryan Martin planned on running Wild Street, a class that he has been competing in for the past five WFC events. Unfortunately, the car broke within the last mile of the 30-mile cruise. He scrambled and switched to Outlaw Drag Radial where he ran 7.80s and made it to the semifinals before losing to the eventual event winner, Nick Owens.

The final round of Cobra Challenge saw a war waged between Brian Keiser (far lane) and Mike Furth (near lane). Keiser scored a sizeable advantage in reaction time, and used it to gun down Furth for the win.

Pro Mod 5.0 has gotten so much notoriety that NHRA/IHRA Pro Stock chassis builder and component manufacturer Rick Jones just had to enter this year's race. He hired Frank Gugliatta to drive the IHRA Pro Stock car in competition. Jones was also walking around the pits checking on many of his customers who were also competing in the Pro Mod 5.0 ranks. Gugliatta ran 6.60s and made it to the semifinals.

The racing action wasn't heavy only in the heads-up categories-the Bracket racing contingent duked it out on the famous IRP quarter-mile as well. With eliminations for both footbrake and electronics-equipped cars, there was nonstop action on the track.

The rare double-up victory for Johnny Lightning came one round short with a runner-up finish in Pro Lightning. He increased the starting-line rpm on his twin-turbo '01 Lightning and yanked the wheels out of the beams before the green light. The fans got a show, though, as he clicked off an 8.57-second, 155-mph pass on the final run of the day. Lightning has three double wins at WFC on his racing resume.

Big Lake, Minnesota's Dave Helser drove his '88 coupe, which he affectionately called "Barney," to the Open Comp win. The coupe packs a naturally aspirated, 385ci punch and a manual transmission. Helser gave everyone in Open Comp a driving lesson as he averaged a 0.020-second reaction time in eliminations. Combine that with a car that has ripped off a 9.77 best, and you have a recipe for success.