Performance West Group Ford F-350 Striker to debut at SEMA

In stock form, the Ford F-350 is a formidable sight. It looks much like a freight train coming down the highway, both in size and looks. It's the perfect platform for excess.

Enter the F-350 Striker, a heavily fortified show truck version of the F-350 created by the mad scientists at Performance West Group which will make it's debut at SEMA. Part truck and part Mustang GT500KR, the Striker will be intimidating other, lesser vehicles at the show.

Gale Banks is tuning the PowerStroke V8 engine above its 350 hp and 650 lb-ft. Hulst Customs is fabricating the bodywork. American Lightweight will be providing the aluminum 24" wheels. Katzkin Leather and Sony are doing duty inside to make sure you enjoy what will surely be a monster system in beauteous comfort.

The truck will then be covered in Striker Silver and Badass Blue before being set loose. Even if the thought of fueling the thing up scares you more than seeing it behind you on the highway, the Striker would make a nice driveway conversation piece.

Grassroots Motorsports $2008 Challenge

With the economy tight and everyone looking to pinch some pennies, project car enthusiasts tend to push their projects to the back burner to focus on more important things, like paying bills.

Fortunately for enthusiasts, there are more frugal options for racing in today's world. Grassroots Motorsports Magazine is out to prove that cheap racing is still alive and well.

The Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2008 Challenge is entering it's ninth year. The magazine crew dedicated to amateur motorsports has organized an annual competition of cars built around a budget equal to the current year in dollars.

While this may sound ridiculously restrictive given the high cost of racing in general, but some competitors come in under the cap. The 2007 champion, a Chevrolet Corvette, managed to top the field for less than $2,000. The cost cap forces participants to be creative and use some backyard ingenuity.

The $2008 Challenge will take place October 3 – 4 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, FL. The cars will spend a grueling two days dueling it out on the autocross course, drag strip and even the parking lot for a car show. Competitors should also be brushed up on their accounting skills since they are required to keep an itemized list of all their expenses. This detail keeps the event fair and also offers the magazine's readership inspiration to create their own budget racers.

PRESS RELEASE

Sept. 22, 2008 – ORMOND BEACH, Fla.

It's not easy to build a racer that handles and performs like a supercar. Tack on a $2008 budget, and the task becomes seemingly impossible-unless you're a competitor at the Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2008 Challenge.

For the ninth consecutive year, Grassroots Motorsports magazine has challenged its readers to buy, build and race a car on a tiny budget. Each year, some of the craziest car nuts in the country have risen to the challenge and built penny-pinching powerhouses.

This year's Challenge will be held October 3-4 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla. Keeping with tradition, the budget has increased by one dollar to $2008.

Despite the low budget, past entries have been able to outrun exotic supercars with 10-second quarter-mile passes, and they've done so while looking good enough to wow seasoned concours judges.

And while this event is no clunker-fest, you can expect to see some pretty outrageous machinery. Entries from the $2007 Challenge included a Zamboni that traded the ice rink for the autocross track. Also entered was a twin-turbo Corvette fitted with some special features: An additional engine and fan created a Chaparral-inspired suction unit that glued the car to the track. Looking at this event's history, it seems that the outrageousness and performance levels of Challenge creations increase every year.

Competitors and their cars are judged on how well they perform in three areas: autocrossing, drag racing and concours. And, of course, Challengers may not spend more than a total of $2008 to build their vehicles. Some trading and selling is allowed, but each vehicle entered must be accompanied by a detailed budget that itemizes each and every dollar spent.

For complete details, including rules, a schedule and a list of entrants, see http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events/2008-challenge/

For details and videos from last-years' $2007 challenge, including the budget for the $2007 Challenge-winning Vette sucker car, see http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events/07-challenge/

Grassroots Motorsports is the how-to magazine for the serious sports car enthusiast. From profiles of new sports cars to in-depth--and occasionally off-the-wall--project cars, for 25 years each issue of GRM has been packed with practical tips helping real-world sports car enthusiasts get race car performance out of their daily drives. To receive a free trial copy of Grassroots Motorsports, request one online at grassrootsmotorsports.com/try/ or call the magazine's offices at 800-520-8292.