[Hal Copple]

well, i have run on the quarter mile against a number of '06's. Typically, they run about 13 seconds, i run about 12.2-12.4, depending on the temps and such. I have also run against some modified '06's, how they were tuned i don't know precisely. About a year ago at Rockingham, there was this '06 running low 12's, the driver told me he had taken it to Atlanta to have it modified, so towards the end of the evening, i challenged him. So the track operator built up the crowd, everybody came to the rails and stands, and as i was putting on my Nomex, i even had some guys come up to me and say "we got money on you, don't lose to the Chevy." There was a big national race the next day, so the factory support people were there, even the big Ford Motorsports van's people were pumped to see a "Ford"run against a chevy.

The announcer got the crowd all pumped, and we staged, and went. I ran my best ever, 12.0 at 119, beating his 12.2 at about 115, and as i came back to the lanes, the Ford fans were jumping up and down. The Vette driver told me it was his best run ever, mine too. Indeed, he was quick out of the hole, as i eased out at about 1500 rpm, but at about the eighth, i just ran him down, and pulled away nicely. I heard from a friend, that he took his car back down to Atlanta the next week to have it built up more.

I think if i were running slicks, and not my stock Goodyear GTII's, it would not even be close. After the launch, it is power to weight, and at 460+ hp, and about 2450 pounds, i can pull away very easily. Now i have seen a much modified '06 run mid 11's.

By the way, the only street race i ever took part in, was on a roll on from about 80 mph against a '06 with different wheels and a custom exhaust, so i presume he had performance modifications too, it was about even in my forth gear, but a bit later, from about 55 mph, when i could use third, i walked away from him easily. And yes, moments after we had our third run, a highway patrol car pulled up behind me, but he must have not seen us, as he went by. And i promised myself to never ever do that again.