Rich Woodward Rebuilding After Fireball at Southeast Street-N-Yeet, Plans to Attend Two Events in 2024
The drag-and-drive landscape has changed a good deal in regards to the number of quick street cars and trucks, but the flip side of that can be the increased maintenance that level of horsepower requires.
After attending a trio of drag-and-drive events, Rich Woodward understands this philosophy very well, as he rebuilds after an incident at his final event last season. “Being able to maintain a fast car and drive it as far as it can is a difficult balance,” he said.
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Woodward’s ’93 Ford Mustang already had a pair of drag-and-drive events under his belt before rolling into the second annual fall edition of Southeast Street-N-Yeet, and the boosted steed stood a solid chance at the Limited class title.
After posting a 5.10 and a 5.04 pair of runs to put him second Jim Trettel after day one, Woodward navigated the drive, and the weather to the final day of competition.
Hoping the 5.3-liter LS-based combination had one more solid run in it, he spooled up the twin s366 Bullseye turbochargers and rocketed off the starting line. But by the time he reached the finish line, things had changed; a lot!
“I blew my motor in a fireball on the last day,” said Rich. Thankfully he got the car stopped without a significant amount of damage, although the engine would need a replacement.
With Midwest Drags and a return to Southeast Street-N-Yeet on his schedule for 2024, Woodward is debating his engine choices, including a possible swap from the LS over to a Coyote.
What we do know is Woodward had to replace some fuel lines that saw some heat from the fire, and he has a Turbo 400 ready to go back in the transmission tunnel.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Rich Woodward.
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