Weeks after Cobra Jet #4 rolled out of the Ford Racing / Roush facility in Livonia Michigan, it was coasting into victory lane at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona California. Driving the throwback white A/S (S is for Stick Shifted) “CJ” was Ford fanatic and drag race suspension guru John Calvert. Calvert had just won the Stock Eliminator class at the opening round of the 2009 NHRA season. The win was impressive considering most drag cars take months and months of sorting before they “run the number”.
In the later rounds at Pomona, Calvert’s stick-shifted CJ was bracket car consistent with runs in the 10.13 – 10.15 e.t. range. The Cobra Jet is not your typical drag race spec Mustang. This car was built by Ford Racing and is the first of many entries in the factory stock class war and a hopeful return of factory involvement in the sportsman ranks. Stock class racers around the country were watching and worrying about the new “factory” effort in their competitive class. Ford has it's act together - and the old guys were scared.
Seasoned Stock and Super Stock veterans had reasons to worry. Their time and money fine tuning 60’s and 70’s era “legal” Stockers might have been made obsolete by a new entry from Ford Racing. Overly "conservative" NHRA horsepower submissions was the main theory being made about on internet message boards.
The question was asked and debated: “How can a 5.4-liter supercharged engine rated at 540 horsepower in the 2010 GT500 be submitted to NHRA rated at 425? The long block is basically the GT500 spec plus a cold air intake and massive Accufab MAF housing and throttle body. Who’s fooling who here? Mr. Calvert’s quote in a New York Times article saying, “he could squeeze 700 (horsepower) out of it “with just a few simple tune-up tricks” added a few flames to the fire.
Has Ford managed to play a game of hide the potato with NHRA? And where did all this horsepower go!?
In this day and age of laptop tuning and “valet modes” from auto manufacturers, there is no doubt the cars were underrated and that’s the bain for some of the NHRA Sportsman racers. It’s not the first time late model cars and their computer controls have created controversy. The fuel-injected Camro and Firebird (particularly the Ram-Air hood models) created quite a stir in the late 90’s.
Over the years NHRA finally factored the cars correctly to where a carbureted “classic” stood a chance on the 1320. Now with the Cobra Jet, not only do you have a computer controlling and adjusting air/fuel you also have a very efficient supercharger thrown into the mix. It's a good play by Ford, and a championship may be the result?
How will this all play out? 2008 Cobra Jets were absent from the Gatornationals class run-offs so no one got to see a real heads up race. Here’s hoping that some CJ’s show up at Indy where all the big dogs come to play. These cars will continue to be the talk of the town in the Stock and Super Stock pits. CJ’s will continue to get quicker and more consistent.
Time will only tell what NHRA, known for its tendency to drag things out, will do the create equality in the class.
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