Yep, it’s true. Ford Racing’s most recent leader and father of the Super Cobra Jet program, Brian Wolfe, is out, having been moved up the ladder. His replacement, Jamie Allison, former Ford Racing Performance Parts manager, has been with Ford since 1987 and says he will continue to build on Wolfe’s racer friendly approach in order to continue growth. What does this mean for Ford Racing’s current line-up of Cobra and Cobra Jet Mustangs? Will they continue to be produced, further developed, and fostered as flagship performance vehicles for Ford? Only time will tell.

We first heard this news early this morning from one of our moles at the Big Three, and in searching the web for confirmation, found the announcement that follows on FordRacing.com. Wolfe is leaving for a higher level position within Ford’s global product development. Could this mean higher horsepower, fun to drive, cars are on the way from Ford’s mainstream models? If the recent SHO Taurus is any indication, then maybe. Hell, people aren’t buying cars right now anyway, so you might as well make them fun.

Both Wolfe and Allison share a long history while working at Ford. Both came on board in the ’80s, have a passion for fast Fords, and were instrumental in building the Mustang brand over the last few years. But it’s hard to imagine anyone having a bigger impact than Wolfe in such a short time. With less than 18 months as Ford Racing’s fearless leader, he’s stil got really big shoes to fill.  As long as Allison is able to maintain and grow the legacy, we think Ford Racing will be okay. We, along with every other Super Cobra Jet fan in the world, hope to see more wheels up, single digit ETs coming from the factory hot rods.

Check out the details from Ford Racing, below.

ALLISON NEW DIRECTOR, FORD NA MOTORSPORTS

12/18/2009

Dearborn, Mich. Jamie Allison, a 22-year Ford veteran with experience in engineering, product planning and marketing, has been named director,

Ford North America Motorsports, effective January 1, 2010, it was announced today.

Allison,
who most recently has been Ford Performance Group Manager, will replace
current director Brian Wolfe, who has been named to a new position in
global product development by Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Ford
Global Product Development and Tony Brown, group vice president, Ford
Global Purchasing.

“I’m excited about the challenge of helping take
Ford’s racing program forward”, said Allison, who has been part of the
Ford Racing management team for just over six years. “For a kid who
wanted to work for Ford Motor Company, to help carry forward a
tradition that Henry Ford himself started is something special.”

“Brian Wolfe really made a great difference in
the program in his time as director, opening up so many opportunities
to reach out, not just the professional racers, but to the grassroots
and sportsman racers as well. He installed a philosophy that we were
going to be “racer-friendly” in all that we do, and we as a team will
carry that forward.”

Allison joined Ford Motor Company in 1987, after
graduating from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with an electrical
engineering degree. He later returned to earn a MBA in marketing from
the same university.

He began his career at Ford in product
engineering, and spent the first 10 years of his career working within
engineering and product planning.

In 1997, Allison made the transition to product
marketing, and held a series of marketing jobs within the company
before joining Ford Racing Technology in 2003, where he has overseen
the Ford Racing Performance Parts business, as well as North America
Motorsports Marketing.

Under Allison’s leadership, the Ford Racing
Performance Parts business was transformed by offering ready-to-race
vehicles for production-based racing, Performance Packs and new vehicle
modifications for enthusiasts. The team also partnered with Shelby
Autos on the launch of exciting new Shelby performance vehicles, and
created the Ford Performance Group as an outreach to Ford Clubs, all of
which reinvigorated Ford’s support of performance enthusiasts.

Wolfe became director, Ford North America Motorsports, in July 2008, and has had a major impact on the program since then.

Ford captured Mustang championships this season
in NHRA Funny Car, Grand-Am Koni and SCCA World Challenge GT, as well
as Ford’s first Daytona 500 win since 2000.

Under
Wolfe’s direction, the company also launched the NASCAR Nationwide
Series Mustang, secured official vehicle sponsorships with the NHRA and
American Drag Racing League, and assisted with bringing the European
Fiesta to a successful racing debut in North America, with a
second-place at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and a 1-3-4
finish in its X Games rally competition debut.

Wolfe opened the door to additional grassroots
opportunities for Ford in circle track racing and road racing, but may
be best known as being the man to help bring the Cobra Jet Mustang
sportsman drag racing car back to the track after 40 years, along with
Ford’s re-entry into NHRA Pro Stock.

The 2008 Cobra Jet won its initial outing at
Pomona in February 2009, and went on to set records across the country.
A 2010 version of the Cobra Jet will go into production in January,
with all 50 being sold in advance of production.