Ford engines might return to Funny Car, Top Fuel scene

It has been almost 40 years since a Ford engine powered a Top Fuel dragster or Funny Car, but that could change next year.

The John Force Racing team tested a prototype Ford engine Thursday in one of its Funny Cars driven by Mike Neff at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. All involved seemed pleased with the planned half-track passes.

Dan Davis, Ford's director of racing technology, said he would not comment on future use of the engine until an Oct. 30 news conference on opening day of the Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

"We have always wanted to have a fundamentally Ford engine in the Mustang Funny Car," Davis said. "It needed to be different enough that we could truly say it's a Ford."

When the Ford engine makes it to an NHRA event, it will mark the first time a Ford-branded engine has powered a Funny Car or Top Fuel dragster since the late 1960s when a few teams used the 427-cubic-inch, overhead-cam Ford.

The new engine uses a unique engine block and cylinder heads that could be available to any racer next year.

"We needed to develop one that needed to be different enough for it to be called a Ford," Davis said of the three-year project with Force's operation.

The only engines that will be used in the top two categories of the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals from Oct. 26 to 28 at the speedway will be aftermarket versions of the 426 Chrysler Hemi.

Neff had a best pass Thursday of 4.818 seconds and 318.47 mph, good enough for him to apply for an NHRA Funny Car competition driver's license.

Season points leader Tony Pedregon had the best run of the day at 4.733 (318.54). Robert Hight was second at 4.757 (305.49) and Ashley Force third at 4.814 (280.14) despite shutting off about 300 feet from the finish line.

• LVMS DRAGS -- The E.T. Bracket racing team from LVMS won the championship Sunday in the NHRA Pacific Division Summit Racing Series Finals on its home track.

The Las Vegas team locked up the track's first team title when John Phlegar advanced to the finals of eliminations in the Super Pro division before losing in the championship round to runner-up Famoso Raceway's Steve White of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Las Vegas also won the Spirit Award in the 16-team event.

• OPEN WHEEL -- Chip Ganassi Racing has signed 2007 Indy Pro Series champion Alex Lloyd to drive for its team in the Indy Racing League. Lloyd won eight Pro Series races and the championship this year for the team owned by Henderson's Sam Schmidt.

• SPONSOR NEEDED -- Restructuring of Dodge led to the 2008 Nextel Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to be renamed the UAW-Dodge 400, and after the March 2 race, the event will have a new sponsor.

The United Auto Workers sponsorship, funded through Chrysler's support of the UAW National Training Center, will end after its eight-year agreement with the speedway.