Steeda Romps at Spring Break
The Fun Ford Weekend Drag Racing Series kicked off their 2005 season with a spectacular three day festival of speed at the Speed World Dragstrip in Orlando March 4-6. Off-track automotive fun was also on tap - be it in the form of the Car Shows, Vendor's Row or the un-official official "you-didn't-hear-about-this from-us" burn-out contest at an area restaurant.
In Mod Motor Maddness competition, Steeda Hardcore racer Carole Parker whittled away at her 60' times and qualified second in a field of 43 with a 10.18 pass. In her first outing with the car since the upgrade with Steeda suspension, she posted a 1.375 vs. her best last year of 1.455. The Villa Rica, Georgia driver, who campaigns with and against her hubby, Gary "Hollywood" Parker, is working on consistency this season, so we think a podium finish is not too far off for the "Bad Girl" of MMM. Look for an interview with Carole in the next issue of Modular Power Magazine. Gary Youngblood took home the trophy with a Steeda-assisted pass - 12.521 @ 106.21.
Fastest Qualifier in Drag Radial action was Adam Louramore with a 8.687! That number stood as the fastest pass in the class all weekend, but Adam failed to run the number again in the final, giving the win to fellow South Florida racer Brian Tambrone, who was also Steeda equipped. Both had gotten track time previously at the US Street Car Nationals.
Last year's champion in Street Warrior competition was Darrell Peterson, and he put his Steeda-fied 'stang through it's paces in Orlando and showed us that he didn't hibernate through the winter. He had his class covered, with a win as well as the fastest pass at 9.56.
Steeda parts were also found on the winner's car in the Spring Break Shootout. Twenty seven contestants lined up with their 'streetable' Mustangs - and proceeded to peel off eight and nine second passes, causing us to wonder just where the heck their street is! Jason Ardron got the better of top qualifier Gina Munden in the final - his 8.568@162.16 edged out her 8.533@ 163.33 effort.
Action on the track included several more Mustang classes, as well as Tough Truck and Focus Frenzy, where our own Rob Korhonen made the field in his first FFW outing. Rob made the show, but succumbed to an adrenaline rush when last year's champion Owen Spry pulled up in the tower lane during his second qualifying round. Six second passes in the Mr. Gasket Pro class, vintage tin with teardrop bubble hoodscoops in bracket passes - the whole drag racing spectrum was pretty well covered at this well run event!
The car show had an eclectic mix of Mustangs, exotics, kit cars and trucks all sporting Power by Ford, so there was plenty to see for the crowd that prefers showing to going. And on Friday night, the parking lot at a local restaurant was engulfed in a haze of tire smoke, proving once again that there is nothing quite as crowd pleasing as a smoky burnout! And, speaking of burnouts, our Assistant Director of Manufacturing Scott Boda boiled the hides on our Torch Red Q car before one of two parade laps taken at the event!
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