Florida Man Will Stick Shift His Way into First Drag-and-Drive at Sick Week 2024
After holding the keys to several Mustang models, some would think a low production number Mustang would get pampered and only have a small amount of miles put on it each year.
But for Jeff Smith, this 2004 Ford Mustang Cobra sees the proving grounds of race tracks and streets nearly every week it seems, and for 2024, he will participate on his first drag-and-drive at this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive!
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Originally purchased in 2012, Jeff’s Cobra is just one of 281 Competition Orange models produced for 2004. But he took to the track nearly right away, and has worked his way into shaving over three seconds off the quarter-mile time, all while continuing to bang the 6-speed manual transmission.
“I never dreamed this car would get this deep into the nines with the weight and the independent rear suspension (IRS),” said Jeff.
Living in Florida and just a 15-minute drive to Orlando Speed World Dragway allows Jeff to continue to tune and tweak the Mustang at will, but Jeff will travel to race as well, especially in stick-shift classes.
A two-time winner in the National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA) Tremec Stick Shift Shootout, Jeff’s Cobra fits right in following the True Street rules to ensure street cars rules are met.
Jeff will also cross into the more ‘race-car’ classes, being a past winner in the 352 Shootout’s Stick Shift class at Gainesville Raceway, and most recently scored the runner-up spot in the Driver Mod class at the ModNationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
To give the Cobra a fighting chance at its hefty street weight, Jeff employs a built 4.6-liter modular Ford engine, with the boost in power coming from a Whipple supercharger.
A Tremec T56 Magnum transmission and McLeod clutch pass the ponies to the built IRS featuring a slew of Maximum Motorsports and The Driveshaft Shop parts, and all the functions are controlled by Holley.
After getting to witness Sick Week as a spectator, Jeff will jump into the Stick Shift class this year with the passenger seat filled by James Hellermann, the owner of Cobra Engineering.
“This first drag-and-drive will be getting my feet wet and seeing what it's about,” said Jeff. “I'd like to see how my car stacks up against others.” With his personal best 9.18 at 155 mph pass coming just a month ago, can Jeff vie for a top five spot in class at Sick Week?
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Jeff Smith, Steve Gelles, Eddie Maloney and KWS Images.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com