I wasn’t sure what to expect when I pulled into Blytheville. I wasn’t expecting to find the remains of an Air Force base that had been decommissioned in 1992. I wasn’t expecting to see rows upon rows of MD-80 model airframes in Delta livery parked neatly, or that I’d be driving right next to them. And I was not expecting that the first car I’d see on track was a four-door Ford Maverick stripped to the basics and flying the MFP’s yellow-based pursuit colors. Corvettes? Sure. Belly tankers? Yep. A Maverick stock car that looked to be fresh off of a dirt oval somewhere deep in the heart of Dixie? Not quite what I had in mind. Naturally, I was going to investigate the car once it returned to it’s pit. I’m a Maverick fan and regardless of the car’s condition, I wanted to understand the drive to take a 1970s Ford of any kind land-speed racing. Sorry, Blue Oval fans, but once the 1973 Mustang ended production, any grasp at aerodynamics and outright performance evaporated into the mists, not to return until the Fox Mustang started getting serious.

Charlie Richardson is the owner of the car, a 1974 four-door Street Stock racer that has a bit of a story to it. Richardson was given the car by a family friend…when his wife was battling cancer, that fellow got out of racing and on an account of the ailing woman and Charlie’s mother being childhood best friends, gifted the Maverick and nudged Richardson into circle track racing. And it’s raced roundy-round deals, but the itch to see what the car could do on a land-speed event was magnetic, he had to try it out. So the alignment was straightened out, the rear gear in the 9-inch was changed to a flying 2.73 ring, and a box filled with carburetors was packed up.

I’m not joking about the carbs, either. After trying out the class-required 350 CFM two-barrel on the mildly built 302, a 500 CFM two-barrel, 600 CFM four-barrel and even a 750 CFM four-barrel were on deck to see if a couple more MPH could be coerced out of the gutted Ford. Ultimately, he was able to coax 132.741 out of the three-speed Maverick in the 1.25 mile stretch, which was surprisingly pedestrian for the company that the car was in. But Charlie didn’t seem to mind…he was happy to have an event to run at, was happy to see what his car was capable of, was happy that getting his foot in the door was easy, and was happy that he was able to continually improve on the car throughout the weekend. Even when he was buried in yet another carburetor change, the guy was just happy to be there. And we were happy to see him there.