Johnny “Lightning” Wiker Pushes His 2013 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Into the 7s
Break Away
The Cobra Jet was designed to partake in the longtime NHRA Stock Eliminator category; however, several Cobra Jet owners broke away from NHRA after feeling too restricted under the rules. Five of the legendary cars are fixtures on the NMRA heads-up scene, and one of the more prominent runners is Johnny "Lightning" Wiker of Johnny Lightning Performance. His Kenne Bell–pumped ride has gone a best of 7.96 at 175 mph.
"When
Mike Harries and Charlie Cooper told us that the Cobra Jets
[supercharged 5.0 combo] were available from Ford, we all went out and
got one," says Wiker. He did, at first, try his hand at a select few
NHRA races and worked with several Cobra Jet owners, but the prospect of
keeping his foot to the floor was too strong. Today, Wiker's goal is to
chase the Coyote Modified championship in outlaw CJ trim, and that puts
an ordinary NHRA-legal Stocker far in the rearview mirror. Wiker went
off to NMRA competition, a racing arena where he has been a fixture in
the Truck & Lightning scene for nearly 15 years. Wiker was quick to add, "We've always been NMRA racers, and you know me—I cannot leave well enough alone. I am a Kenne Bell guy, too, so I had to go with the bigger blower, and we went in the NMRA direction with the Cobra Jet."
The
attack on the NMRA scene first began in the Renegade ranks, and a Kenne
Bell 4.0L supercharger sat on top of the JLP Racing 5.0L engine
package. After some consideration, Wiker made the move to Coyote
Modified in the 2014/2015 winter. Per class rules, he backed off the
supercharger size to a 3.6L. He instantly found a home in the class
that's designed for Coyote-powered Mustangs. As the game plan came together with the supercharger and new chassis configuration, Wiker set out to build a truly bulletproof 5.0L Coyote short-block. At the time, the Coyote 5.0L was still evolving. Many racers like him were forging fresh paths with new product designs to solve various issues as the Coyote platform was pushed harder and harder. For Wiker, the cylinder head program was great, but engine block problems were common. The solution was in a brand-new product that Ford Performance was designing. Wiker was one of a select group of racers chosen to test it.
After
Ford engineers looked at certain troublesome areas of the factory
blocks, they addressed the issues and produced the M-6010-M50R block.
"The engine has been flawless ever since," says a proud Wiker. Other parts and pieces inside the engine that differ than the Cobra Jet program include Manley rods and pistons (JLP-specs), larger DeatschWerks fuel injectors, a custom ATI Performance TH400 transmission and Neil Chance torque converter, and a Kenne Bell Boost-A-Pump on the Ford-supplied Aeromotive fuel system. A Kenne Bell 3.6L supercharger sits on top of the engine and features a giant rear facing throttle-body for minimal inlet restrictions.
The
2015 season was a good one for Wiker—he finished as the champion in
Truck & Lightning with his Gen 2 Lightning truck and was the
runner-up in Coyote Modified with his Cobra Jet race car. The
Pennsylvania resident narrowly missed the Coyote Modified championship
because a broken fuel injector clip on the harness had caused one final
round loss earlier in the season, and a broken throttle-body linkage
ended his fun as a runner-up finisher over another weekend. Wiker,
however, did secure two class victories on top of the two runner-up
finishes, and he traded the record and top qualifying position back and
forth with the eventual class champion. With the NMRA season ending in early October, Wiker decided to keep the Cobra Jet on track and go after the 7-second timeslip. The Cobra Jet had been a consistent 8-teens-to-8.20s in NMRA competition, so he knew a few changes were needed to achieve that goal. The NMRA-spec race fuel was dumped, and the oxygenated racing gas Q16, from VP Racing Fuels, replaced it. Wiker then bolted on a Snow Performance water injection system. "We knocked off the air temperatures by 80 degrees on the dyno. It was a little less drop on the track but the Snow Performance kit worked awesome," says Wiker.
The
Mid-Atlantic's weather conditions are exceptional late in the race
season, and Wiker took advantage of it at his home track, Cecil County
Dragway. With a fresh set of Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Pro 275
tires out back, the Cobra Jet dug into the pavement with a 1.18 60-foot
time, which is gettin' it done for a 3,420-pound race car! The front end
came up, so he aborted. The next run Wiker made a few changes and was
propelled to a career best of 8.006 at 174 mph. That is where his best
time stood through the winter hibernation. No matter how hard he tried to go quicker and grab that 7-second run, he came up short. Week after week on track didn't yield a quicker time. Even so, Wiker was happy to still be racing because, he says, "A week before the NMRA World Finals I went into the hospital with a blocked artery." Emergency surgery had him fixed up and back on track in less than one week, but had it not been for his wife, Sue, he might not have been around to chase the 7-second barrier at all.
When
the season broke open for 2016, Wiker had arrived in Florida with more
power and a lighter base weight for Coyote Modified. The Spring Break
Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park has always been a good race for
him and team JLP after numerous wins, including a double victory in
2015. The Pennsylvania racer qualified in the third position as he
fought to keep the front end on the ground. A few clicks on the Santhuff
front struts and rear shocks proved to be the right call for round one
of eliminations—Wiker advanced as he screamed to a career best of 7.96
at 175 mph. He went on to take the win, making the trip to Florida
bittersweet.As with any heads-up car of this caliber, there is a long list of supporters, with wife Sue right at the top. She keeps the family business, Johnny Lightning Performance/JLP Racing, running smoothly, even when they are out of town racing. On the doors of the car Wiker proudly displays the SCT logo. The tuning company sponsors both the Cobra Jet and Wiker's race truck, which carries a Cobra Jet theme and is nicknamed the Lightning Jet. And there is Kenne Bell, which is sort of the unofficial supercharger of the shop as all the fast cars and trucks get one bolted on.
With just one event down and the 7-second zone already crushed, Wiker is taking aim at two championships in NMRA competition.
