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Cordova - 6 TH Annual Midweast Fun Ford Weekend
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By George Klass |
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Cordova, where Illinois , Iowa and Tennessee meet. If that little bit of geography doesn't seem quite right, don't worry about it. We held the rain-delayed Thunder Valley finals from Bristol , TN , on Saturday, in conjunction with the Cordova event. I don't have the times from the Bristol finals, but here are the results. In the Mr. Gasket Pro finals it was Dan Saitz over Chuck Samuel. In the ATI ProCharger Street Outlaw class it was Tim Lynch over Brad Brand. In the BFGoodrich Tire Drag Radial class, Dwayne “Big Daddy” Gutridge singled for the win. In the Vortech Street Renegade class it was Chris “who else” Little for the win on a single. In the Edelbrock Street Bandit class, both Matt Jones and Andy Law had the misfortune of breaking prior to the finals. FFW elected to split both the money and points between them. In the Tremec Transmission Street Warrior class it was Darrell Peterson over Jeremy Martorella. In the Focus Central Focus Frenzy class, Tom Lesperance was the winner over Owen Spry. In the JDM Engineering Tough Truck finals it was David Gates over Don Justus. And finally, the Steeda/Hyland Mod Motor winner was Robert Hindman with Joe Parisi the runner-up. OK, now on to the Cordova event. Beautiful weather all weekend for the racers and the great Cordova Dragway Park staff to keep everything running smoothly provided a terrific weekend of fun and adventure. By the time that Pat Martin, the Voice of FFW, called the Showdown cars to the lanes for the first round of qualifying on Friday, to the final round of the “Mustang Challenge” on Sunday (more about that later), everyone was ready for some action. In the Mr. Gasket Pro camp, the qualifying had Chuck Samuel #1 with a 6.607, 215.44, followed closely by Tony Gillig at 6.610, 213.84. In 3rd spot was Brit Floyd at 6.614, 215.20, and then Dan Saitz's Probe at 6.649, 211.26. Chuck Simons' nitrous Probe was in #5 spot with a 6.795, 203.83 followed by Bill Rimmer at 6.805, 203.83. Joe DaSilva was on the ladder but was having major problems and didn't make the first round. In Round 1, we had Simons over Gillig (shut off on the starting line due to fuel leak), Rimmer over Floyd, Saitz over Da Silva (broke) and Samuel on the bye run. In Round 2 it was Samuel over Rimmer and Saitz over Simons. In the finals it was Samuel over Saitz. Chuck Samuel had top time and low ET with a 6.627, 214.38 during eliminations. The ATI ProCharger Street Outlaw class has turned into a total speed war. During qualifying, three teams had speeds above 200 MPH. I don't know if it's something in the water or not but these three teams are also from the state of Georgia . After qualifying, Dan Millen was #1 with a 7.180, 198.38. Right behind was Brad Brand with a 7.196, 203.37. In 3 rd spot was Tim Lynch at a 7.271, 204.57. Mike Calvert was next with a 7.287, 204.05, followed by Travis Franklin at 7.443, 187.39, and then Andy Collins with a 7.702, 186.41. In eliminations for Round 1 it was Lynch over Collins, Brand over Franklin and Calvert over Millen (hurt motor). Round 2 saw Brand over an ailing Lynch (and an unbelievable 7.148, 206.51 for Brand), and Calvert on the bye run. In the finals, Calvert took care of Brand for the win. What can you say about Big Daddy that hasn't already been said? In the BFGoodrich Tire Drag Radial class, Big qualified #1 with an 8.727, 164.03. And as always, that pesky Erica Ortiz-Lugo was in the field keeping BD honest. In Eliminations Big did the number on Erica (who has participated in every D/R event this year). Erica, you get the “lotsa pluck” award. The Vortech Street Renegade class has turned into the Chris Little class. I can't remember an event in which the likable Little hasn't been the dominant factor. Cordova was no different. Chris qualified #1 with an 8.574, 140.05. And here comes more problems. Manny Geno had his recently finished nitrous Mustang in 2 nd place with an 8.772, 158.87. Dan Schoneck from Minnesota had his supercharged Mustang in 3 rd spot. During eliminations, Geno took care of Schoneck and Little had the buy. In the finals it was nitrous vs. nitrous, with Little taking the win at an 8.417, 164.55 over a shutting off Geno. In the Edelbrock Street Bandit class, some of the points leaders had problems which kept their regular rides out of competition. No problem however, since Andy Law and Matt Jones brought along some “replacement” cars, so that they could keep the points counter going. In qualifying, Rod Houck was #1 with a 9.027, 148.36. Next was Ken Compton at 9.037, 154.03. In 3 rd spot was Cory Roth with an 9.347, 145.72. JR Hevring was in 4 th with a 9.355, 146.43. Andy Schmidt came in 5 th with a 9.396, 144.63, followed by Jeff Richey with an 9.474, 144.95. In 7 th spot was Cale Aronson's beautiful new Mustang with an 9.642, 143.64. Matt Jones had his replacement new Cobra in at 12.171, 112.98 followed by Greg Henry and Andy Law. In eliminations, Round 1, it was Schmidt over Law, Roth over Jones, Compton over Aronson (broke), Houck over Richey (broke) and Hevering over Henry (broke). Round 2 had Roth over Schmidt, Compton over Hevering and Houck on the bye. In the finals it was Compton over Roth (borke). Low ET and top time during eliminations went to Compton with a 9.075, 150+. The Tremec Street Warrior class has had an unusual amount of attention lately, primarily because the speeds and ET's are so incredible. Maybe we should call this class “Bandit Jr.”. In qualifying, Jeremy Martorella was in the #1 spot with a 10.196, 132.54. Right behind was John Scaro at 10.377, 129.70, followed by Jeff Chambers at 10.743, 129.78. Darrell Peterson had some problems but made the field. Everybody steps up to the plate for eliminations. Martorella (with a nitrous decal on his hood) took care of Chambers in Round 1, and Scaro was the winner over Peterson. And in the finals it was Martorella (10.280, 132.17) over Scaro. The Superchips Street Stang class had honest to goodness stock Mustangs this time. Racers need to remember that the S/S class does not require any qualifications to enter. Sunday eliminations are open to anyone who wants to enter. In eliminations it was William Murray on the bye run and Christopher Lacy over Mike Reid. In the finals it was Murray over Lacy. The best run during eliminations was Murray with a 14.335 and 99.00 MPH. In the Focus Central Focus Frenzy class, Tom Lesperance qualified #1 out of a field of six Foci. In eliminations in Round 1, it was Justin Salmon over Lesperance (foul), Bob Potter over Owen Spry and Mark Adkins over Judy Staton. Round 2 had Potter over Adkins and Salmon on the bye. In the finals it was Salmon over Potter. Good news this year. No fights in the staging lanes. In the popular JDM Engineering Tough Truck class, we had 20 entries, led off by Scott Sexton with an 10.252, 135.35. On the bottom of the ladder, Micah Monteleave made the 14.99 cut-off with a 14.702. During eliminations in Round 1 it was Charles Crawford over Robert Chuhran, Ozzy Moya over Jim Roberts, Keith Sanderson over Don Justus, Jody North over Chuck Johnson, Jimmy Cantrell over Jim D'Amore, Bob Kowalslee over Donald Gates, Chris Eaton over Paul Gamino, Dwight Dolliver over Bob Cochran, Micah Monteleave over Bob Schully and Jim Ritter on the bye. Round 2 had Crawford over Cantrell, Sanderson over Dolliver, Ritter over Eaton, North over Kowalslee, and Monteleave over Moya. Round 3 had Ritter over Monteleave, North over Sanderson and Crawford on the single. Round 4 had Crawford over Ritter and North on the bye. And in the finals it was Jody (don't call me Judy) North over Crawford for the win. There were 29 Mod Motor entries fighting it out in the Steeda/Hyland Mod Motor Madness class. Reggie Burnette Sr. led off qualifying with an 8.919, 135.04. In eliminations in Round 1, we had Steve Ferguson over Vernon Purdham II, Joe Hutchins over Reggie Sr., Charlie McCulloch over John Edwards, David Lanmon over Carole Parker, Reggie Burnette Jr. over Jim Gilbert, Shane Williams over Chuck Lawrence, Joe Parisi over Jim Fitzgerald, Lupe Davila over Mike Cantalano, Vernon Purdham over Alan Braasch, Jim Breeze over Fran Purdham, Gary Parker over Rich Green, Larry Cleek over Scott Baumgartner, Gary Youngblood over Keith Jahn, Jimmy Ronzello over Robert Hindman and Paul Svinicki on the bye run. Round 2 saw Ferguson on the single, Breeze over Purdham, Davila over Lanmon, Hutchins over Youngblood, Reggie Jr. over Parker, Parisi over McCulloch, Svinicki over Cleek, and Williams over Ronzello. Round 3 had Ferguson over Davila, Williams over Svinicki, Hutchins over Breeze and Parisi over Reggie Jr. Round 4 had Ferguson over Hutchins and Williams over parisi. And for the money in the finals it was Ferguson over Williams. Other action on Saturday included the JBA Headers True Street competition. We had 61 entries going out on the 30-mile cruise and running their 3-round averages. Here are the results of the averages. In 1 st place and the quickest Mustang was John Burton with an average of 9.646. Close behind in 2 nd spot (and the quickest 10-second average) was Judd Knudsen with a 10.128. The 11-second winner was Scott Kositzky with a 11.087. 12-seconds went to Dave Patterson with a 12.011. The 13-second money went to Jason Lestarge at 13.004. The 14-second winner was Chad Moorman with a 14.046 and the 15-second winner was Kevin Pauletti with a 15.005. The Muscle Mustang & Fast Ford Editors Choice went to Tom Wisner. The Pro Turbo Kits Bracket classes had Gordon Williams over Chris Payne in Fast Ford, Roger Dean over Mark Gear in Quick Ford and Jim Winters jr. over Charles Crawford in Street Ford. In the “no box” open class we had Pat McGlynn over Mike Jensen and in the “box” open class the winner was Lupe Davila. On Sunday, we had Rich Kent over Jim Balfanze in Fast Ford, Jim Winters (again) over Kim Niemeyer in Quick Ford, and Dave Penderson Jr. over Jody North in Street Ford. In the True Street bracket class we had Jason Hill over Brunson Grothus. All the winners of both the Saturday and the Sunday bracket classes were allowed to participate in the Special Bracket Run-off “Mustang Challenge” sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, Mustang Brand team and Lindquist Ford from nearby Bettendorf, IA. The “Mustang Challenge” included a 2-year, all paid up lease on a brand new, 2004, black Mustang GT with leather interior. This is as big a “trophy” as any bracket racer is likely to ever get, don't you agree? The winner was Pat McGlynn over runner-up Jim Winters. In the Classic Design Concepts All-Ford Car Show, the Best of Show award went to Don Headlund with his 63 Ford Fairlane. The MM&FF Editors Choice Award (1903-1978) went to Perry Hahn with his '69 Shelby GT 500. The MM&FF Award for the '79-'03 Fords went to Bob Millen and his '85 Mustang. And finally, the Peoples Choice Award went to Carolyn and Michael Warren with their beautiful '65 Mustang Fastback. Now it's off to Dallas, Texas for the 13 th Annual Ford Mustang World Finals at the Texas Motorplex, September 19, 20 and 21. Don't forget the National Mercury Marauder Round-up and the FFW Awards Banquet. See ya there. |