Nitto Tire 2006 King Of The Street - Royal Rumble

Fourth Place - Ben Ripstein/Mark Magnuson

Up to this point in the KOTS finishing order, it shouldn't be surprising to know that only one car (Dale Hawkins' '05 Mustang GT) has never been photographed or featured in 5.0&SF. It's nothing against Dale's GT; we just never had a good opportunity before the KOTS. Ben Ripstein's '03 Cobra feature is sitting in Editor Turner's file cabinet awaiting its appointment with superstardom. But it looks as though the car will make its editorial debut as the Fourth Place KOTS car.

Ben initially took the Cobra to his local Ford dealer because of a transmission problem. When it was fixed he asked the service manager to build the Cobra into a 10-second car. The service manager said that was more than they could do, but one of the dealership's technicians would probably be able to help Ben accomplish his performance goals. The technician was NMRA racer and overall crazy man Mark Magnuson. He knew the direction to take. Over a few adult beverages at Hooters, Ben, Mark, and Mark's friend John Galway discussed the project, mapping out a plan. First up was a single turbo, which was good for a while. From that point on, the car snowballed, and Ben wanted it to be as extreme as it could be. With further improvements, the car ran a 10.50 at 127 mph on drag radials and a 10.18 at 129 mph on slicks.

At the '06 World Ford Challenge, a tuning mistake took out a couple pistons, but Ben didn't care; he was hooked, and the project hit high gear. In went an MV Performance short-block, a set of Rich Groh Racing ported FR500 heads and custom cams, a Sullivan Racing Products intake, and Behind Bars Race Cars fuel rails and larger intercooler. To remedy the tuning issues, Mark simplified it by adding a Big Stuff 3 engine-management system, which was wired to work with the stock gauges. LSR Performance tuned the car, and at that point it was ready for track testing in preparation for the KOTS competition.

Before we go any further, we're sure Mark will disagree with the car's finish, but it is what it is. We really don't know what that phrase means, but this seems like the perfect place to use it.

The reason for the disappointment is because of all the work done to the car two weeks before the KOTS. On the first test pass, a faulty ball joint let go, sending the car into a tailspin. Mark did his best to keep the car off the wall, but this happened going through the traps at around 130 mph, making him lose control. The car hit the wall, wrecking the right side. It took out the front and rear bumper covers, all four tires, both right-side wheels, and the front and rear suspension components. Fortunately, Mark was OK. Unfortunately, the car was far from it. Over more-and stronger-adult beverages at Hooters, the boys had to think of another plan involving a complete rebuild of the car in two weeks-time to make the competition.

Trust us when we say Ben and Mark called in all their favors to get the job done, and we don't have enough room to list everyone involved. Even if we did, based on the tech sheet Mark gave us for this article, we're sure everyone's name would be misspelled. We'll try to fill in the blanks, though. Dave Gagnon cut off the quarter-panel and inner fenderwell, and Adam's Auto Body gave the boys full access to its body shop. UPR Products stepped in, providing all new rear-suspension components. Strange Engineering followed suit to replace the axles and differential. Ben also wants to thank his girlfriend, Joanna, for her patience.

To give you a timeline, Mark wrecked the car Saturday, September 16; the KOTS was September 28-29. By Thursday, September 21, the bodywork was finished, and the car was rolled into the paint booth at 11:30 p.m. It rolled out with new paint at 3:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 23, it was at Behind Bars Race Cars for new intercooler tubing. By that afternoon, the car was back at the body shop for wet sanding and buffing and reinstallation of the interior. On Monday, September 25, Mark took the car to work so it could be aligned and the pinion angle set. That night the car was dyno'd, and the next day is was cleaned and loaded in the trailer for the tow to Bowling Green for the KOTS competition. On its second dragstrip pass since the accident, Mark ran the quickest KOTS pass with a 10.31 at 132 mph. Great job, guys.

Here's how Ben's Cobra fared score-wise: