Pro Mod pioneer Jim Feurer and his age-defying, nitrous-injected 1978 Mercury Zephyr aren’t finished drag racing yet.

Feurer, of Lacon, Ill., has just been booked in to match race Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick in the Fords at the Summit event, July 23 – 25, 2010.

“I match race the Zephyr several times a year,” said Feurer, who also raced the car in AHRA Pro Stock during the early 1980s.

Feurer match raced the Mercury several times in his home state during 2009, twice at Cordova Dragway Park, Byron Dragway and once at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, a suburb of Chicago.

Pro Mod pioneer Jim Feurer and his age-defying, nitrous-injected 1978 Mercury Zephyr aren’t finished drag racing yet.

Feurer, of Lacon, Ill., has just been booked in to match race Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick in the Fords at the Summit event, July 23 – 25, 2010.

“I match race the Zephyr several times a year,” said Feurer, who also raced the car in AHRA Pro Stock during the early 1980s.

Feurer match raced the Mercury several times in his home state during 2009, twice at Cordova Dragway Park, Byron Dragway and once at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, a suburb of Chicago.

Feurer has made the necessary safety upgrades over the years but is limited by the NHRA in the performances it can turn.

“It’s only certified for a 7.50 sticker,” Feurer admits. “I’m racing a relic against a replica. That makes it a little tricky sometimes.”

The Zephyr, nicknamed Zeke, is the same car that won the first official IHRA Top Sportsman Quick Eight, beating Robbie Vandergriff in a pedalfest. Feurer also raced the Mercury at the inaugural IHRA Pro Modified national event in March 1990.

“The car is exactly as it was in 1989,” Feurer beamed. “In 1989, we updated the car and put a big wing on it, an escape hatch and took the headlights out. We made some cosmetic changes but basically it’s the same car.”

The car hasn’t changed much and neither has the driver who admits he’s still driving well despite a few miles on his chassis.

“The car is old as hell, I’m old but not as old as Arnie Beswick,” said Feurer pausing to laugh. “The one thing I can do is still cut a pretty good light. My theory is that when they [sanctioning bodies] went to the L.E.D. lights, my driving was able to keep pace with my age. The lights come on a light quicker. I can still cut .02 lights.”

Advertisement