This 2-Ton Ford Truck Invades the Eights – Upgrades on Tap for a Sick Summer 2025 Appearance
We see a lot of trucks at drag-and-drive events, but it seems that the majority of the quick ones are normally compact trucks, Chevrolet S-10 or a Ford Ranger as examples.
But every now and then, some quicker full-size version make an appearance, and one of those is Tom Kuepper’s 1994 Ford F-150.
A once in-a-lifetime drag-and-drive: Edelbrock Sick 66, held October 10th-18th 2024. See America’s quickest street cars battle on six different race tracks, and travel over 1300 miles on the streets of Route 66 (with more than 30 checkpoints along the way)! Don’t miss your chance to watch or participate; it only happens once! More information is available at: CLICK HERE for more info on Sick 66.
The popular blue oval half-ton platform served as a farm truck in its past life, but Tom wasn’t focused on field work when he picked up the truck.
The original 302 cubic inch small block and overdrive automatic got their walking papers, and alongside his dad, Tom stabbed in a 438 cubic inch Windsor-based engine, with a pair of 78/75-millimeter turbochargers for even more power potential.
The truck got to do its first drag-and-drive at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes in 2023, and although the engine had the capability to crack into the single digits, Tom kept it turned down for mostly high 10-second passes. His final average came out at a 10.77, but Tom did turn the truck up for a 10.13 at 133 mph pass on the final day.
Returning this year for his second Sick Summer appearance, Tom left things pretty much the same as 2023, with his father once again riding shotgun for their second father-son drag-and-drive trip. “He's helped me build the truck, and I think it's one of the best father-son trips we could ask for,” said Tom.
Entered in the new Heavy Metal class, Tom cranked the boost up a little more this time around, clocking a best of 10.02 on day one, and a week-long average of 10.21 to finish fifth in class.
Tom knew the engine had a lot more than 10-second blast in it, running a best of 9.52 at 139 mph during private testing. But he wanted to see just how much more it had, so in the last month Tom has been testing the truck quite a bit more.
He upgraded the existing fuel system that sported an external Magnafuel 4303 pump, and supplemented it with an Aeromotive in-tank 450 for a primary-drive pump, and then triggers the Magnafuel for the big loads. Tom swapped the front shocks out for some double-adjustable Viking Performance versions, and cranked the boost up some more.
At a track outing at Great Lakes Dragaway, Tom lit the scoreboards with a number even made him do a double-take, an 8.94 at 152 mph blast, impressive considering the 4170-pound weight and 21 pounds of boost recorded.
“It’s not fun to turn the truck back down to 10.0s,” Tom laughed. “A full 8.50-legal roll cage this winter is the plans.” He also plans to visit Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks for the third time in 2025, where he’ll once again compete in the Heavy Metal class and hopes to come away with a single-digit average. “Then I’m leaving for a deployment in September,” Tom said.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Tom Kuepper.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com