2008 Fun Fords Weekend Virginia Motorsports Park - Blue-Oval Dominion

After winning the Atlanta True Street event, Charleston, South Carolina's David Bennett gave it a go in Virginia. His white '91 coupe sports a stock-block 398ci bullet topped with Victor Jr. heads and one stage of nitrous. With the potential to dip into the eight-second zone, Bennett ran into traction problems on his first two passes before tossing an alternator belt and kicking coolant out on the starting line as he prepared to stage for his third run.

SIXTY-SIX contestants tried their hands in the True Street category at Virginia, proving once again the strength of the class pioneered years ago by the MM&FF staff.

Dale Brinsfield (near lane), seen here squaring off with David Schorr on a qualifying run, debuted a new Jerry Haas-built '07 Mustang for competition in the Pro category. Sporting a 738ci Fulton engine on a double shot of the sauce, Brinsfield laid down a record-setting 6.35-second moon shot in qualifying to set the Pro record. Unfortunately, he lost to final-round opponent Robert Patrick.

When was the last time you saw a Windveil Blue Roush 427R? Yeah, that's what we thought, too, when we saw this example competing in Mod Comp.

It only took Paul Gamino two races to get his new steed into the winner's circle, as he piloted JDM Engineering's new Saleen to the Ultra Stang victory in Virginia.

Robert Patrick used all 827 ci of Ford power to gun down the Pro field in Virginia. A holeshot-aided 6.41 sealed the deal for Patrick in the final.

Robert Chuhran overcame final-round opponent Gerry Vanveen's 0.025 reaction time to take home the accolades in Tough Truck. Chuhran's winning time was an 11.78.

Joe MariNI (far lane) made it all the way to the final round of Street Bandit in his turbocharged S197 before falling to R.L. Smith. Meanwhile, Tom Conrad (near lane) rebounded from a loss in Street Bandit to win the Street Stang class.

Sean Dwyer was convinced he could get into the 9-second zone with his red GT, but tuning issues forced him to settle for Third Place on the True Street results sheet. Dwyer's Fox-body showcases a 306 based off of a Boss block and topped with Trick Flow heads and an intake. All of the Pony's power comes in the form of a Vortech T-Trim blower, which replaced the S-Trim right before the event. Dwyer's best lap at Virginia was an 11.11.

The only blemish on Don Burton's weekend in Street Renegade was that he didn't qualify No. 1. That distinction went to final-round victim Travis Franklin. On his way to winning the show, Burton set the Street Renegade record with a 7.52-second blast out of his nitrous-snorting Mustang.

From project cars to super-nice Cobras, there was an eclectic mix of Ford iron in the True Street class.

One brave True Street competitor strapped on a skid lid and banged gears in a Roush P51 Mustang. Packing a Roushcharged Three-Valve, the P51 thunders out an amazing 510 hp.

While we often shy away from vintage Ford rides, we couldn't help but drool over Corey Beach's '67 Fairlane. We found his ride in the car-show area with the hood open, where a Two-Valve mod motor could be seen under the hood of the Stafford, Virginia, hot rod.

While Danny Towe (far lane) had a tough go of it in Mod Comp, Shane Williams (near lane) made it all the way to the final round before losing to eventual winner Jon Pickering.

Eight cars were entered in the Pro category, two of which were Jeff Rodgers nitrous-injected Mustang (far lane) and Dan Seamon's Cobra wheeled by Tony Mangrum in the near lane. Rodgers broke during qualifying and couldn't make the call for Round 1, while Mangrum came up short in the semis against Brinsfield.

Dawn and Hunter Bishop drove the short distance from Hopewell, Virginia, to enter their Torch Red '04 Mach 1 in the car show.

There were a slew of Bullitt Mustangs in attendance, ranging from the New Edge version to the recently released S197 model.

Sticky tires and nitrous oxide-two of a Mustang racer's best friends.

In addition to the numerous Fox-body, S197, and SN-95 cars competing in True Street, there was also a Grabber Orange GT500.

Cameron Boone sailed in from Roanoke, Vir-ginia, in his '88 Mustang, which is still equipped with the stock (but enhanced) 5.0L engine. Boone has been racing since 1996, and put this car together in his driveway. His efforts paid off as he made it into the True Street Top 25 with a 12.70-second average.