Cobra Jet, Ford Racing, Mike Galimi, Hot Rod Magazine

Ford Racing's much anticipated Cobra Jet appears at NHRA Winternationals.

It is a day that will be long remembered as Ford Racing's latest project, Cobra Jet, took to the NHRA national event circuit for the first time. The 2008 Mustang Cobra Jet has been hyped for months, and now the racers got their first glimpse at the rear taillights during the 2009 NHRA season opener at Pomona.

The hype was flying as many long-time Stock Eliminators competitors cried foul over the severely underrated combination. Four cars were entered and the competitors claimed to be either in A/Stock or AA/Stock. Of the four racers, two ran stick-shifts and two were auto-equipped.

John Calvert qualified number two overall with a 10.08, qualifying is based on how much lower than the class index your car runs. The quickest Cobra Jet ran 10.04 and it was driven by Jim Waldo. His run was good for 56th in the field. The final two entries belonged to Gary Stinett (10.18 and 10th qualifier) and Jimmy Ronzello (10.07 and 61st qualifier).

I owe a big thanks to Rob Kinnan of Hot Rod Magazine for hooking me up with a photo. He was on hand covering the Cobra Jet action for Hot Rod and the mag even fielded a car of its own.