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25 for 20: Top 25 Ford Drag Racers

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Erica OrtizHorsepower & Heels founder and driver, Erica Ortiz made the list of the Top 25 Ford Drag Racers of the past 20 years.

The list, complied by Damon Steinke of E3xtreme Motorsports Media, includes many of the early pioneers of the sport and the great champions of the Ford Drag Racing movement over the past two decades.

Erica Ortiz made the list of the Top 25 Ford Drag Racers for her efforts in both the Pro 5.0 and Drag Radial categories.  Ortiz finished second for the championship in both categories: Pro 5.0 in 2006, and Drag Radial in 2003.

Erica began her career in the True Street class, before making the jump to the heads-up racing world of Drag Radial in 2002.   Her signature  turbocharged small block Fox body coupe was an 8 second player in the early drag radial movement, where she was able to finish the season in 2003 as the series points runner-up.   She navigated her budget-built 1986 Twin Turbo Thunderbird to mid 6 second performances in Pro 5.0 during the 2006 season.  The determined racer finished second in points in her rookie season of Pro 5.0, before pausing her racing career to focus on family and her full-time profession.  Ortiz is hopeful of a return to racing in the near future.

“It is really an honor to be included in such a prestigious list.   Those guys were my heroes, and to be recognized among them means a lot to me,” said Ortiz of the honor.

25 for 20:  Top 25 Ford Drag Racers of the last 20 Years

Read more:  http://www.e3xtreme.net/top-20-fords/2016/7/19/20-for-20the-top-20-ford-drag-racers-of-the-last-20-years

Published:  E3xtreme Motorsports Media |  July 19, 2016

What could have been… Pro 5.0 Maverick

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Here’s a little-known Throwback Thursday fact for you!

Back in late 2004, just after I had made the decision to try and sell my beloved Drag Radial coupe off to chase my Pro 5.0/Pro Mod dreams, there was another path that almost came to fruition.   Before the Thunderbird, before even the radial car found a new home, there was another Ford that almost became my first Pro 5.0 race car.

Erica Ortiz Maverick1972 Pro 5.0 Maverick

Wanting to move up to the Pro 5.0 class and end my long run in Drag Radial to pursue faster time slips, I knew I needed to find a full tube chassis car on a very limited budget, hoping that I could transplant my build little 302-based turbocharged bullet into it for a rookie run at Pro 5.0.   A long-unfinished Pro Street project from back home at Lugo Performance sat untouched, but posed a perfect opportunity for a partnership.   Dennis made a few calls, and it was agreed that I could pick up the car and get to work on putting my engine/transmission combo in for a joint Pro 5.0 Maverick venture.

A trip down to Florida, and the car was brought back up to Parker Chassis to get down to work.  We started mocking up mid-plates and removing the sheet metal to send out for powder coating,  Unfortunately, early in the process, I received another phone call.  Apparently, the owner’s wife wasn’t too keen on having someone else racing the car, and they decided against continuing.  It put a damper on my spirits at the time, but it wasn’t too long afterwards that I got a message from good friend, Mike Herring — a lead on the Thunderbird that would give me my great start in Pro Mod.

But, had it come to fruition, this would have been the first Horsepower & Heels Pro 5.0 Race car, a 1972 Pro 5.0 Maverick.

What a difference in what Horsepower & Heels’ first Pro Mod could have been!

 

 

Fun Ford Weekend Heartland Nationals 2006

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Topeka, KS–

Switching to new larger 88mm turbos before the race with no test time made it a tough learning curve for the weekend. Erica hauled the Horsepower & Heels Thunderbird from Alabama all the way to Topeka alone, as her normal crew were out testing a Pro Mod in Valdosta, GA.

Dennis Lugo flew in from Orlando to assist Erica over the weekend. The pair sorted through some tough timing issues before qualifying #4 with a 6.88 @ 203mph. That pass provided Erica’s best career 1/8th mile ET of a 4.44, but timing retard stayed on in high gear resulting in a less than average top half.

This paired Erica first round with David Schorr again.  Though Erica took the advantage at the tree with a 0.032 to his 0.103 light, she lost traction down track and Schorr went around.  Erica did move into the #2 position in the 2006 points championship entering the final race of the season in Ennis, TX.

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Photo Credits:  Gabe Wittig

Bristol FFW Thunder Valley Nationals, Eliminations Round 1

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Erica Ortiz from Horsepower & Heels Racing, takes on Chuck Samuels in Round 1 of  Pro 5.0 eliminations at the 2006 Fun Ford Weekend Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN.   Erica leaves first, but is out-powered by Samuels who takes the win.   Ortiz runs a career-best ET of 6.85 @ 207 mph to Samuels’ 6.57 @ 216 mph.

Watch the video from the Round 1 match-up below.

Career best ET in Bristol FFW

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FFW Thunder Valley Nationals
FFW Thunder Valley Nationals

The Horsepower & Heels team entered the Fun Ford Weekend Thunder Valley Nationals with some hard work ahead of them.   After a stellar performance in Norwalk, OH with a runner-up finish and the history-making initiation of Erica Ortiz into the 6 second, 200 mph clubs, the team was ready & working hard to build upon their progress. This process began promptly after their return from Ohio, pulling the motor for refreshing just 2 weeks shy of Bristol. After tearing it down and discovering no excessive wear or damage, the team opted to switch the cast crank in favor of a steel version for reliability and peace of mind.

There was still much to do as they pulled in the gates of Thunder Valley. Kevin & Dan worked on getting the driveline back together, while Erica unloaded and unpacked. Having arrived mid-afternoon on Friday, the team would not make the first call qualifying session. Teammate John Gullett would grab the pole with a 6.57. Back in the pits, the team buttoned up the car and went to the line for the 2nd session. This night session would prove to be the best conditions for performance, as the cool air and track temperature would aid the car’s performance. But as Erica cranked the car in the staging lanes, she quickly discovered that the Bruno was low on fluid and forced to back it off.

Saturday morning, the team went over the car again. Dan & Kevin changed the tires to a larger Goodyear slicks, and they made the call for 3rd round qualifying. Erica staged up, but the car moved hard right out of the gate past the 60′ mark and she was forced to abort. A broken wheelie bar and the change in tire size had the chassis tune up slightly off, so Dan adjusted it for the final session. Having not made a clean attempt, Erica knew how important the final session would be to the Sunday ladder. She entered the burnout, but something went amiss, and the throttle hung wide open as she fought to keep the car straight and in control while reaching for the power kill. After safely killing the engine, Dan backed her off, tore off the hood, and removed the culprit- a vacuum line tangled in the throttle cable. Erica quickly refired, and jumped to the starting line. Rattled, she staged and took off, but when the tires finally set down over 200 ft out, the car got loose and she lifted. This failed attempt secured her spot at the bottom of the ladder, facing #2 qualifier Chuck Samuels in eliminations.

An early morning 1/8th mile test attempt showed strong improvement, with the car making a clean, straight pass and running stronger than her previous incremental best 1/8th mile attempt. Knowing that Samuels had the performance advantage (he qualified with a 6.62), Erica knew she would have to cut a good light to try and outrun him. She staged first, and left ahead of Samuels, with a near perfect 0.008 light but it just wasn’t enough, as her new personal best of 6.85 @ 207 mph couldn’t compete with his 6.57 @ 217.

Though her early exit in eliminations was not what they had hoped for, the team is proud of their continued progress.

“We know that we come in here under-powered compared to these other cars, but we continue to improve with each outing, and even if we aren’t winning races yet, we’re proud of the advancements we’ve made thus far.” Erica says.

Erica entered the event #2 in points for the Pro 5.0 championship points chase, with John Gullett a close 3rd and Chuck Samuels in the #4 position. Her early exit may have caused her to lose some ground on the points fight, but Erica is not far out of the running. The team is working on some marketing partnerships that would enable them to finish out the remaining 2 events in the FFW season- Topeka, KS & the Dallas, TX world finals.

The Horsepower & Heels team will be back out next weekend, July 12th with the Automatic Pro Mods quick 8 event at Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA.

 

See photos from the 2006 Fun Ford Weekend Thunder Valley Nationals.    Watch the video of Round 1 eliminations against Chuck Samuels.

 

 

Helping and Learning

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Today, I went to Mr. Moody’s shop to help him work on the motor. This was probably moreso for my benefit than his aid, but I wanted to learn and wanted to be able to contribute, so Mr. Moody humored me. What I learned, is that people vastly underestimate the potential of factory ford parts… as evidence of my recent performances.

We have had no problems with the motor after approximately 70+passes, save for the small lifter incident on the first test outing in February of this year. That’s 70+ passes on a stock block, cast crank, and under 24 psi of hairdryer pressure. I don’t know what I was expecting to find as I dropped the oil pan (literally, all over the floor… sorry, Mr. Moody!), but I was pleasantly surprised to find…. NOTHING. Nope, nada, zilch. The rod bearings were good as new, the cylinders all showed way rich conditions, and everything was intact and looked as though it had just been put together. (Save for the outside, which was covered in gunk from that pesky leaking valve cover)

So, Mr. Moody will be replacing the cast crank with a better unit, and buttoning it back up for the Bristol FFW race coming August 4th-6th. Mr. Moody assures me I can now up the power, and expects that we will be able to hit in the 50’s with the stock block before the end of the season. He’s not often wrong… after all, he guessed the cast crank performance to a T. In Bristol, we will attempt to combat the thinner mountain air by turning up the boost a little in our typical sneak-up-to-it style.

Maybe I’ll be fortunate enough to hang onto my #2 rank in the points… (John Gullett has plenty to say about that I’m sure… don’t worry Johnny, I”ll save you a parking spot next to me!) But for now, I’ll just focus on getting down the track consistently and working hard with what we have!

Daddy’s not taking THIS T-bird away

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Finally! The PRO BIRD is here! Its in the shop and better than expected!

To catch everyone up to speed….

Last year, I made the decision to step up. While only making it out to 3 events in my radial car, and attending many Pro Mod events, I decided that I wanted to go faster and build another car. It started out as wanting an Outlaw car, but after looking at the expenses involved, it ended up that it would be more convenient and made more economic sense to instead look for an older Pro car that needed updating. In September, I put my radial car up for sale. Dennis had a Pro Street Maverick that needed finishing, so he spoke with the owner who agreed to let me campaign the car for 1 year in exchange for the upgrades that would be needed for it to compete. I picked up the car and went to work on it in late November. Put my motor, and my newly acquired Bruno/Lenco in, and got it ready to start fabrication. But after a month and a half of working on the car, the owner’s wife decided she wanted to pick up the car, without caring that I had made arrangements, and had spent my own money & time on the car.

So, once again, I was left in a bad situation. My radial car had been sold, and I now had a complete drivetrain and no car to put it in. I looked around for another chassis that I could purchase for the small amount I had saved from the sale of my old car, with not much luck in finding anything in my price range. In February, when I had about given up hope of finding a chassis, Mike Herring saw my wanted post in the classifieds, and emailed me about his buddies T-Bird. Well maintained, and close enough to my price range, I contacted the owner, Charley Huff in Springfield, MO. Charley worked with me until I could gather the rest of his asking price, and a month later… HERE IT IS!