Big Wheel Keep on Turnin’
by George Klass of Accufab Performance Parts and Accessories

September 2002

If there is one thing about Cordova Dragway Park, it’s that the starting line is about 300 yards from the mighty Mississippi River, in all it’s glory. A more beautiful location for a drag strip has never been discovered. Which is interesting because Cordova was the first drag strip ever constructed to specifically be a drag strip (1956). Before that, drag strips were typically old airport runways or taxiways.

The 5th Annual Midwest Fun Ford Weekend had plenty of excitement and magnificent weather. This was the largest FFW event held at Cordova and according to the track personnel, one of the largest drag races ever held at the facility.

Let’s start with some qualifying results from Saturday.

In the Superchips Pro Roundup, Chuck Samuel ran a 6.553@217.35 for the number one spot. Not far behind was Joe DaSilva with a 6.668@214.25. John Gullett clicked off a 6.713@212.16, followed by Jack Schorr with a 6.888@201.94. Jack is running an IHRA style Pro Stocker (816”) with EFI. Brit Floyd ran a respectable 7.186@195.56. Pande Talevski rounded out the Pro qualifying with a car that didn’t seem to want to always go in the direction that he desired, and wisely decided to pack it in. Pande will be taking the Mustang to Dave Wolfe’s shop to check it out.

In the Pro Charger Street Outlaw class, Elias Delatorre was on his game again with the number one spot, 7.416@189.10. Right behind was Brad Brand at 7.480@191.13. Mike Calvert’s beautiful gun metal gray Mustang was third with a 7.961 and a shutting off 140.97. Jimmy Dahl was fourth at 8.063@173.34. Everyone’s favorite attorney (an oxymoron for sure) was Chip Havemann at 8.812@165.17. Chip was having his problems this weekend. And what about Scott Pennington? Scott blew up his big block nitrous engine at the last event in Epping, and all the new parts hadn’t come in yet. So, what did he do? He installed a stock 302 motor and came up all the say from Louisiana so that he could increase his points. He figured that with tech, qualifying and taking the green in the first round, he would add 40 more points to his total. That’s dedication.

The Vortech Street Renegade class had ten entries, led by Manny Geno with an 8.869@154.92. Just behind was Mike Freeman with an 8.971 @ 153.30. Mike Post was third at 9.230@148.07.

The always tough JBA Headers Street Bandit class had eleven qualifying entries, starting with Andy Law. Andy ran a 9.396@144.88. Next was Cory Roth with a 9.451@143.49. Third qualifier was Jeff Richey at 9.626@141.98.

The nasty Tremec Transmissions Street Warrior class had Jeff Chambers on top with an 11.216@120.77. Jeremy Martorella was a close second with a 11.269 @ an off the pace 108.51. Kinson Cook was just behind with a 11.511@116.96.

Twelve entries made up the Focus Central Focus Frenzy class with Tom Lesperance on top at 13.229@112.28. Big numbers for a little car, right?

As usual, the JDM Engineering Top Truck class was going to be a lulu. Randy Morrison’s Ranger qualified number one with an 11.310@119.70. Nineteen trucks qualified to do battle on Sunday.

And of course, the biggest field of Shootout cars was reserved for the Steeda/Hyland Mod Motor class. Mike (lover) Johnson was on top of the field of thirty one qualifiers with a 9.122@150.03. If it wasn’t for all the earrings he wears, he would probably have been in the 8’s.

Another great field for the Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords, Edelbrock sponsored True Street fanatics. The winner of the three rounds of qualifying averaged 9.761. That would be Todd Amandus. The other True Street winners were Damon Dias, 10 seconds, John Puckett, 11 seconds, Mark Weerheim, 12 seconds, Bryant Sloss, 13 seconds and Eric Schneider, 14 seconds.

Sunday was another beautiful sunny day. Eliminations started promptly at 11.00 AM with Mod Motor. For once, Steve Ferguson and Gary Youngblood both made it into the second round. On the other hand, Barry and Roxanne Shepard didn’t. After five tough rounds, Robert Hindman defeated Jim Breeze for the final (and the cash).

Top Truck final pitted Paul Gamino against Jeff Conley, with Paul prevailing for the win.

I found out that Focus Frenzy can be a very dangerous class. These guys can be brutal. The number two qualifier showed up at the track about an hour after the first round of eliminations was completed. Needless to say, he was a little upset. You know what they say, though. There are no victims, just volunteers. In the end, it was Tommy Hussey over Greg Dantlzer for the big win. That old man can cut some pretty decent lights.

In Street Warrior, it was Jeff Chambers with an 11.211, 120.78 over Jeremy Martorella’s 11.303 at 118.22.

The number one and two qualifiers in Street Bandit raced in the finals with Cory Roth beating Andy Law, 9.419, 143.84 when Andy broke.

Same thing in Street Renegade, with the number one qualifier Manny Geno taking the number two qualifier Mike Freeman with a 8.904, 154.71, to the losing 8.965, 154.95. Close.

Street Outlaw was set up for a showdown between Elias Delatorre and Brad Brand. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Brad hurt the usually reliable engine in his win over Mike Calvert in the round before. He put it back together just enough to stage and take the light, insuring runner-up status, points and money. Elias didn’t hold back on his single and gave the fans a show with a 7.448@189.36.

The Pro’s put on a show of their own. Round one action had Chuck Samuel taking the big block of Jack Schorr with a 6.627, 212.56 over Jack’s 6.939, 201.46. Brit Floyd surprised Joe Da Silva with a better light and a 7.198, 194.16 to Joe’s losing 7.481, 209.26. And John Gullett singled (no show for Pande) with a 6.593, 214.31.

Round two had Chuck Samuel single with an easy run of 8.381. John Gullett took care of Brit with a .401 light and 6.639, 213.50 over the losing 7.187, 194.94. Better watch out though. The Floyd’s are building a new car.

And in the finals, it was all John Gullett, with a 6.579, 214.66 and a rare problem start for Samuel and a coasting 66 MPH.

There was the normal large turnout for the FFW bracket classes. At Cordova, this year, the bracket racers had a big surprise in store. We took the winners of Fast Ford, Quick Ford, Street Ford (Saturday and Sunday winners), and the True Street bracket class and Gallop for the Gold winners, and put together a “Mustang Shootout” Eliminations. This race was sponsored by Lindquist Ford out of Bettendorf, Iowa (www.lindquistford.com) and the Ford Motor Company, Mustang Brand Team. To the winner went the spoils, which in this case was a brand spanking new, 2002, gun metal gray, 5-speed, GT Mustang coupe with full leather interior. The winner was Jon Pickering from Troy, OH. John races a super neat Ford Maverick with a 404” Cleveland engine. Jon is 64 years young and has been racing for over 40 years. Needless to say, this is the best (and biggest) trophy he has ever won. This is the second new GT Mustang that the FFW series has awarded the bracket racers this year alone. Who says that FFW doesn’t take care of the bracket racers?

In closing, a few words about the Cordova Dragway Park staff. “Simply the best.”