When Ford Racing announced the 2010 Mustang Cobra Jet Mustang turnkey racecar in late 2009, merely upon taking a look at the specifications one could surmise that the car would be capable of dipping into the 8-second zone. A 5.4L modular V8 with a Whipple supercharger force-feeding it plenty of ponies. In early February, Ford delivered the new car to customers who were champing at the bit to get their hands on the sharp and powerful second iteration of the Ford factory drag package. Owners have now had a couple of months to tinker with their combinations to get them ready for the season ahead and we are just now beginning to see what they are truly capable of. And, as expected, that would be an 8-second pass.
Today, Carl Tasca, at the helm of the Tasca Ford Cobra Jet #27, dipped into the 8-second zone with an 8.97 at 153 MPH at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire. The car has reportedly only been to the track a couple of times prior, offering us some clue that with early success like that, these cars may quite a bit left in the tank with more track time. While there will certainly be others go this quick with the CJ’s, Tasca gets the dubious honor of being the first.
Ford Racing spent the day yesterday at Milan Dragway overseeing the testing of a couple of their new NHRA-approved pushrod engines in two of their customers’ cars prior to their debut at the NHRA Division 3 Lucas Oil event in Indianapolis this weekend. Jim Ronzello with his 428 cubic inch combo and Chris Holbrook’s 352-inch cars participated. The scoreboards were not shown on any of the passes in the video on Ford Racing’s YouTube channel, however neither car looked to be on 8-second passes, and the Stock Eliminator designation on the windows would also indicate that these more likely 9 or 10-second second cars. It will be interesting to see how these cars fare this season, and just how low they can go. Now, who’s up for some heads up matches between the CJ and Drag Pak Challenger?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BblRC0d-Pco