Image credit: National Lightning Owners Club

Eric Leeper has been racing his Ford Lightning pickup for some years now, and has been as quick as 5.14 at 141 MPH in the eighth-mile and 7.93 at 175 in the quarter. Motivating the 3,750-pound truck into the sevens is a 5.4L DOHC mod motor with a Ford GT aluminum block, Navigator heads, a billet crank, CP pistons with aluminum rods, and a pair of Precision 78mm turbos. Harnessing that power is a Keith Neil Pro Series 1.80 Glide, 9-inch rear with a 3.90 gear, a four-link setup rear suspension setup, and a pair of 33×10.5 slicks.

The Lightning is currently at AC Carcraft, where it’s undergoing several changes to do battle in the competitive and very popular class of X275. The chassis is being brought up to a 25.3 spec and going on a major weight loss with a full fiberglass nose, fenders and doors. Also being upgraded is the rear suspension. Four-links aren’t allowed, as it’s a stock suspension class. However, rules state you can run ladder bars with a 50-pound weight penalty, so a switch is being made to a set of Outlaw Custom 36-inch ladder bars.

Next was swapping out those monster 33 x 10.5 slicks for the class-required 275/60/15 radials. Those are Hoosier Drag Radials stretched on the 15×12 rims with beadlocks. Under the hood, Eric and the team at AC Carcraft will only have to exchange the twin 78mm turbos for the single Precision X275 billet 88mm turbo. “If all goes well we will be in Revolution in Valdosta, OTTC in Bradenton and Snowbird Nationals in Bradenton,” Eric explained. So keep an eye out for this unique X275 Lighting pickup this fall.