Naturally-Aspirated Shootout - Natural Causes

Marianne Costa
Hartsdale, NY
'01 Cobra

Marianne Costa was the lone Four-Valve representative in our shootout. A regular attendee at Raceway Park, she shifted her way into Seventh Place with her Zinc Yellow Cobra. "I originally had a '95 Cobra," she says, "but I wanted a newer one to take the strain off of my '95."

Sporting nothing more than a tune, gears, an exhaust system, and a set of sticky tires, Marianne made up most of her time in the early part of the runs, ripping off some impressive short times. Her first run was the best of the day, as she slipped into the 12-second zone with a 12.96. Her best trap speed came on her last full run of the day, where she recorded a terminal velocity of 107.75. She came back around for another try but smoked the clutch in the burnout box. "I came to race, and I was pushing the car hard all day," Marianne says. "The clutch felt weird, but I didn't have a problem launching the car and powershifting it until that last run. I think it's a curse of some sort. I went to the final round in the Trophy class at the Fords at Englishtown race last year that Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords covered, and I ended up breaking the rear. Here, I smoked the clutch, although I was going to replace it anyway."

Overall, Marianne represented the Four-Valve crowd well, and once she replaces the Ford Racing Performance Parts clutch with a beefier Centerforce unit, she'll be back at the track in no time. "I think I'd be happy living next door to the track," she says. "There's nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning." Amen to that!