Riders on the Storm at the World Ford Challenge

With almost daily thunderstorms, frequent tornados and surprise flash floods, springtime in the Midwest can be nerve wracking for those unfamiliar with such events. Racers who've been to the World Ford Challenge at Gateway International know what that can be like as nearly every event has had to been rained on at one time or another. The seventh annual edition of this Super Bowl of Ford racing saw the racers riding out another storm during the opening days of this event only to see if clear miraculously Friday afternoon. From there on, it was great racing under beautiful conditions for what may have been the best World Ford Challenge ever.

Car owner Kevin Marsh probably thought so as he watched driver Chuck Samuel have his best outing in four years behind the wheel of his Pro 5.0 Mustang. Samuel, who has come close to winning several WFC and Fun Ford championships during his tenure, had the team car going straight and smooth down the track every single pass. They had to be, as there was a pack of hungry wolves ride behind him in qualifying all eyeing the $35,000 top prize. There were a number of former event and series champs in the field such as Tony Gillig, Brit Floyd, Joe DaSilva, Randy Eakins, John Gullett and Vic Williams all waiting for a miscue so they could send Marsh & Samuel home. It never happened this year, however, as old blue put together the best series of back-to-back runs the team has ever had. Samuel met Pete Berner's 812ci IHRA Pro Stock Mustang in what promised to be a thriller. Berner was off the line first, but Samuel was right there and pulled ahead by a nose to take a great 6.45 to 6.49 win with both cars running over 214 mph. It was heads up racing at its finest.

Of course, there was plenty of drama over in Vortech Pro Street Outlaw, too. Hard luck Travis Franklin tested at Norwalk prior to coming to this event and was low qualifier right out of the box with a great 7.45/191.59 on a true 10.5-inch tire. Franklin got plenty of attention and even picked up a sponsorship deal as a result of his efforts. Unfortunately, Franklin's ProCharger equipped car broke its crank within hours of putting the sponsor's name on his car. He was down and out for the count before the first round. That left the door open for number two qualifier Dan Millen, who had won this event two years before. Millen showed a lot of savvy with a car the rest of the field thought was hurt and still pulling out a win round after round. In the end, Millen used a .043 second holeshot to pull off a mild upset win over NMRA record holder and point's leader Jim Blair to secure cash and some serious bragging rights for the remainder of the year.

B.F. Goodrich Wild Street lived up to its name with the best performances ever seen in the seven year history of the event. All of the entries had to complete a 30-mile cruise on Saturday and then ran three laps round robin in order to get an average time. Eliminations were held on Sunday--and that's when things got absolutely crazy with several cars running deep into the 8s during eliminations. Shane Faught's SN95 with a 91mm turbo met Greg LaPoint's 1999 Cobra which was getting slower in the finals and came out with the win.

Larry Prykucki didn't play well with others all weekend in ProCharger Renegade as he dominated qualifying and eliminations to win the class. Ken Compton did the same in Hot Street as did Tim Matherly in Hardcore 5.0 Real Street and Jon Carls in Pure Street. Michael Washington did everything he could to do the same in Aeromotive Factory Stock, but came up on the short end in the finals against Shawn Johnson who won with an 11.69 at 117.12 mph. There was also a tremendous turnout in all of the ET Bracket classes with the results shown elsewhere in this story.

With the success of this most recent race, the World Ford Challenge has cemented its position as the signature event for Ford enthusiasts everywhere.