2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

The word is Mike Delahanty is no longer with Ford Performance. So my question is who will be the contact for the Cobra Jet teams. How do we buy parts, and who do we order them from. Will they be replacing Mike or just not have a rep anymore. Does this mean all the teams are on their own.

I have yet to see one factory 2019 Cobra Jet produced. From my perspective things don't look good for the Cobra Jet program. If they are cutting back on personnel, does that send us a message to where the Cobra Jet program is heading.

What was once the best factory program to come out of the the big three is now just a shell of itself. Brian Wolfe and Jesse Kershaw brought the Cobra Jet back in 2008, and it forced Dodge and Chevy to do likewise. I can only imagine how they must feel looking at how the Cobra Jet program has declined. Yes I know the Showdown combo is very fast now, but there are very few new combo's for the rest of us Ford racer, unlike in the years between 2010-2014 where you had so many choices.

I know many teams were unhappy with they way the Cobra Jet programs was run in the past few years, but without a rep what do they do now. How about some feed back on what you guys think Ford Performance should do to keep the Cobra Jet program going for the future.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Was Mike Delahanty fired or did he resign?

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I've been wondering how they can still call it a 50th anniversary car when we are now over 51 years from the introduction of the original. Way too many delays, some kind of problems there for sure.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Ken is Geoff Turks new car a 2018 or a 2019 ?

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

2018 -- 1968 = 50 years

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Cars are 2018, engine is a 2019.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Please Ford....bring back Jesse.

He was not only good for the Cobra Jet program, but he was also responsible for getting other non FS combos into the classification guide.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

And no 2018 Fords in the classification guide...

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I don't know the circumstances.


2019

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

That is weird, before these they were 2016 models, maybe because of the delay producing them they became 2019 Cobra Jets.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Ken, I do not know the situation at Ford.. But I do know the feeling about not having someone to keep you informed on what is going on.. I can't speak for all the Mopar teams but I feel the same way since Dale Aldo retired from Chrysler..

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Ditto Mack. Ditto, ditto. Mopar Performance , which does not exist any more, has no future. Dale was our last hope. You guys at Ford should praise the green earth for as much as you got. Between the manufacturers and NHRA, that class don't have a chance. Beer time.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

History would seem to suggest that 10 years, plus or minus, is the length of Ford's attention span when it comes to drag racing support on a macro scale. It "could" return in, say, 35 or 40 years.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Hence, NHRA is done.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

There are very few sponsors that have any real influence with the NHRA, let alone ones that spend time on the pit side that really matters. It seems (and still does) like there is some momentum gaining with the big three as far as seeing some real value in sportsman drag racing again and how it relates to winning on Sunday and selling on Monday. I’m not sure what Ford’s plan is after Mike or Mopar’s after Dale, but those positions cannot be done from the suite on Sunday.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Dragracing has always been the Red Head Stepchild in Detroit! I have a copy of the 1969 Ford race budget. NASCAR was 19 million, TranAm was 4.8 million and Dragracing was just over 1 million. Oldsmoble was in Dragracing from 1982 to 1995 before being forced out by the Corp was sent to IRL till Olds was killed off. It had one of the best programs for Stock and Super Stock. It gave a lot of support to the Sportsman Elminators. Ask a lot of the old Oldsmobile racers.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Hello !! Ford plans on not selling cars in North America !! With the Mustang and some wheeze box as their only car !! do you think it takes a bunch of support from racing to sell Mustangs to the Ford faithful ?? Factory stock will not sell a single car to the public !! even the most naieve fans will see that the level of performance of these cars is beyond the reach of the brand loyal buyer !!

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Without support from the big three, FSS has no chance of succeeding Pro Stock as we once knew it. It's a shame because it's time is now and the N.H.R.A. has done what it does best with these opportunities to grow the sport of drag racing. They made a mess of it all.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

But it will help sell trucks to the Drag Racers and Car Guys who still have to tow their stuff to where they want to go! NHRA Drag Racing might be at the end of it's rope but there's still an awful lot of "rabid" Car Guys out there playing with their toys and they've got to move them around.

OMG!!!! Did I just post on a FFFord thread?!? I must be mistaken.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Bigger Mustang

https://carbuzz.com/news/next-genera...challenger-big

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Joe
Will it be a slow Death like Pro Stock Truck was as Factory interest go away?

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I think I saw Mike Delahanty at the train station yesterday. He got out of a Chariot shuttle bus and jumped on his Ford scooter. What a guy, all Ford, all the way.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Factory stock seems the perfect ego driven class for the big 3.
I don’t understand what is happening.
When mentioned in this thread previous is that drag racing had the smallest budget in 1969.
Well part of that is knowing the obsession Drag racers have to spend their own hard earned money to get where they want to go in respect to their cars performance.
It is still happening now obviously as I get to watch you all in my favorite classes as well as participate locally in classes I fit in.
Factory stock heads up racing is the best thing to happen to Nhra in a looong time.
I hope they give you the support you need so you can run with it and keep up a great show for us fans.
Come on Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler.
This is the very best racing available to highlight your super cars.
Chris.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I don't want to hijack the thread and get it off topic, but I wanted to clarify the "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" comment I made in the earlier post in this thread. I do think the Factory Showdown Cars will prompt sales on Monday, but I wasn't referring to the sale of more Showdown Cars. That program was never designed to sell a high volume of showdown cars, but more as a way of selling performance cars, parts and accessories. You could argue if an in house factory race team or a factory support program works out better in the long run as far as engineering and product development, but without the guys relaying the information back and forth it becomes a non issue.

My main point is that people can look at these factory efforts in racing and pick them apart, but let's not devalue the importance of the manufacturer's human links that have a real interest in what is going on in the pits and try to improve the product across the board.

Aside from if you think the program sells cars or not, if it gets people interested in paying attention to the sportsman classes either as a spectator or a potential new racer I'd say it's a win/win. I often hear people say younger people need to get involved in racing. It's a lot easier if it is something that they can identify with and the correlation between a fuel car and a Camry is lost on me.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Thats why he races a MOPAR!! LOL

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I bought a 2018 Mustang GT in May of 2018 and one of the reasons behind that choice was because of my interest in the FS/XX class. So to say this class does not help sell cars is just plain wrong.


The cars in this class are light-years more identifiable to the buying public than the carbon fiber decal cars in NASCAR, Pro Stock or Funny Car.


Some of the comments in this thread by those that have absolutely nothing to do with the class are amusing to say the least.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Jody,

Its the nature of forums, it seems negativity is more popular than positive discussion. My original post was looking for suggestions to help make the program better in the future. I do agree with you about the Cobra Jets having a positive effect on new cars sales. Its kind of the same marketing scheme that Dodge uses with the Demon, not many will buy a Demon, but they will buy something that looks the same.

The Challenger outsold the Camaro last year, and I think its because of the heavy marking campaigns they have. I wish Ford would do more with the Cobra Jet and Chevy with the COPO. Its definitely a plus to see factory cars racing instead of the cookie cutter professional drag cars.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I'm not sure it affects the program if he was or wasn';t but I had a card from last years CJ event to one of their engineers so I called to ask him and surprise he answered. He said "officially" Mike retired. I asked if there wasa retirement party or luncheon? Nope. Was there a goodbye email sent out from Mike about retiring with a new contact listed? No. I doubt we'll ever know for sure but that doesn't sound like retirement to me. THis guy sounded unsure about what to say. As for Mike's replacement he had no idea.

The timing is a bummer. Ford started this season strong after a disapointing couple years. Will that continue wihtout a Ford rep?

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Dose anybody know what the length of the factory stock showdown sam tech sponcer ship contract is ? Is it a year by year renewal or a multi year deal ( if so when dose it exp ) ? On the surface it looks like a good deal/match for both parties but I don't know how much return sam tech is getting on there dollar ? Hopefully enough to go for years .

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I liked Jesse, he seemed to know his stuff and was receptive to ideas.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

62 lightweight Galaxie to Pinto ProStocks in 72.. 10 years!

The 82 EXP ProStocker and Motorsport parts till the 94 Mustang Bob Glidden didn't like... 12 years !

You are onto something!

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

You know what else happens in 7-10 year increments is US economic recessions. They tend to coincide with each other within a year +/-... which usually also coincides within 6-12 months of when we have an inverted yield curve... guess what happened a few weeks ago?? Default rates are way up on mortgage and automobile loans as another indicator with increasing days of inventory for both.

Hang on as 2019 should be a brace for impact time period. A lot of people are already bracing for it and I recommend it to.


Now as far as the involvement and leadership of the drag race program will always remain a challenge. It is a fine line between business and throwing good money after bad. The new drag race programs were initially designed to be profitable without the added marketing side as a bonus. It is a different environment we are living in today then we were in 08. A new business plan is needed to make the drag racing program viable. You also have to have someone that is very charismatic and be the driving force to push things through that you know is the right decision. It is certainly a job that not everyone is cut out for. The previous people on the Ford Performance group left some big shoes to fill. People that have moved on are really incredible people and they were the right people at the right time. Timing plays a large part how everyone view someone else as an success. Much like in sports people that were successful in the past environment wouldn’t be the superstars in the current environment. Same goes with today’s superstars not being able to have the same success in the past environment.

There are things I have agreed with and things I’ve disagreed with of how certain companies conduct their business and their vision going forward. We shall see the results of the sum of their choices in the future and try to learn from them. Hopefully everyone is able to grow stronger and better from their plans going forward.

Mike Delahanty I did not know very well and at first I was hesitant as to him being able to fill Brian Wolfe and Jesse Kershaw’s shoes. After having a conversation face to face with him I was able to breath a sigh of relief that there was still positive things happening within Ford Performance.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Ken,
Mike's internal email address has an automatic reply (written by Mike) that says after 10 years in Ford Racing he has elected to return to retirement. It's a brief, positive sounding statement, and says to contact Ken Felcher (kfelcher@ford.com) for Ford Performance questions. That is all the information I have access to.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Look around where else the money is going. Ford is now sponsoring funny cars again, Tasca Wilkerson

Ford also has spent major money in nascar with 8 top level teams, Penske 3 teams with a wood bros/Menards satellite team. Stewart haas with 4 teams (ford was able to get them to change from chevy a couple of years ago).. Roush is still sponsored by ford, 2 teams, but roush has not done much lately

Toyota now only sponsoring 4 top teams in nascar and chevy has 8 teams, all chevys suffering right now though..

Final 4 teams last year were 2 fords and 2 toyotas.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

I'm glad to see the concern over the program and thought I would share some of my thoughts as I'm in the unique position of being the only Cobra Jet program manager to delivery every single turn-key car to date, despite having been gone from Ford for more than 2 years.

It was important to me while I was there for the car to be a value but also be profitable for the company. My belief is that if it's not profitable then changes in management structure would make it easy to dismiss. When things get tough unprofitable programs get cut.

When Ford Racing became Ford Performance the groups changed drastically and became more fractured. What was SVT vehicles became FP Vehicles and the pro racing engineering portion of Ford Racing moved over there and reported up the mainstream engineering structure. THis brought enormous resources to race operations and you see the results especially in NASCAR.

The marketing for FP vehicles and pro racing marketing split off and reports up the mainstream marketing channel.

This left FP parts an orphan reporting up yet a different channel into a group called vehicle personalization with an entirely new management structure within the Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD).

instead of 2 "smokestacks" of SVT and Ford Racing, Ford Performance was now a single name but actually 3 smokestacks with different objectives and goals.

This was not a good thing for the parts program, and Cobra Jet that was developed within in. The first Cobra Jet released under this new structure was the 2016 model. For my part my influence over the program greatly diminished in this new group and in the new structure the engineering team was given largely free reign. The timing and costs doubled, and that's me being nice. Compared to prior model years for the amount of investment the 2016 should have been earth shattering. It was a battle to try and push the engineers to finish the car with the content racers wanted. I firmly believe had I not been there the 2016 model would have been far worse (I have specific examples) and would have been released even later than it was. I believe for the most I did the right things for the program at the expense of my "friendliness" with the engineering team because unfortunately that was the only way to get results.

In late 2016 we did convince Dave Pericak to weigh in on the Cobra Jet program and we had several meetings with him on the 2018 Cobra Jet. The parts program was technically "dotted line" to Dave so while we didn't report to him directly he was a director and had say over Ford Performance content as the overall keeper of the brand. Brian Wolfe even came back for the meetings to help navigate getting the CJ program back on track both with customer content and profitability for the company. Overwhelmingly Pericak sided with the content decisions I was championing but he was knee deep in Ford GT and despite several meetings it was clear that Pericak wanted to do the right thing but didn't have the time to oversee the program and it was unlikely things would change for the better without his aircover.

For my part around this time in fall 2016 I had decided to move on from Ford. One of the final straws to my decision was related to these CJ meetings where our business manager pulled me aside before walking in and threatened to fire me if I "embarrassed" him. He was telling me to lie to Pericak to save him and his cronies embarrassment over the poor financial performance and questionable decisions around the 2016 model. This was the second time he had made such threats and I'm ashamed to admit that while I didn't technically lie for him I was less forthcoming with my answers and lied by omission by not speaking up when I otherwise would have. For me this was the beginning of the end because I could no longer effectively and honestly do my job. (this business manager suddenly and mysteriously "retired" last year without a going away party/luncheon, etc.)

I left Ford in February 2017 and the 2018 CJ had already missed several deadlines and targets but had a 99% complete product description and intent deck. A test car was slated to be out by summer and real cars delivered to the 2018 WInternationals. I had coordinated with the Ford California region and the Mustang marketing manager to make a big deal out of the whole thing. Obviously that did not happen.

The 2019 CJ is drastically different than the product attributes agreed to in 2016. Some things like the new WHipple weren't in existence at the time, others are just different, and IMO worse. I am hesitant to criticize the car details because I want people to love their purchase and even if I know it could have been better I don't want to poison someone who loves their car.

Some of the things I saw after the Ford Performance restructuring that contributed to the group's dysfunction were in violation of the Ford code of ethics. If there was an investigation around such things it could be ongoing and witnesses to an investigation that are no longer with the company would be asked not to discuss it, employees cannot discuss it without jeopardizing their jobs.

I don;'t speak for Ford and I do wish the company and the racers the best but it's hard for me to imagine the program improving without a drastic change in how it's being a approached within the company. As of right now I do not believe a single 2019 CJ has been delivered. (the Skillman and Turk cars were delivered as semi-rollers and a pile of parts I am told). I know I have been criticized for not always "playing nice" within Ford but I stand by what I did because that's what it took to get things done. The new CJ is at least a year late, $25k more expensive, durability unknown, and after 3 years of development there's no way it's profitable. They missed the 50th anniversary model year completely, for comparison in 2008 we didn't start development until spring 2008 and still delivered cars before the end of the year so we could legitimately say it was a true 2008 model. The Showdown engine combo is strong right now largely thanks to Whipple but if there isn't someone constantly working with NHRA I question how long that will last. And with restructuring at Ford this is not the right time to have turmoil and money loss on a program, the CJ program hasn't brought in money for 3 years, and simultaneously had the longest and presumably most expensive development in it's history. IMO the best thing that could happen to the CJ program, and the best way to save it, would be if it is moved out of FP Parts and into the pro race operations group under Mark Rushbrook. I have no confidence in the team currently overseeing it, but for the customers and the program I'd be happy if they prove me wrong.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

As always, I feel your passion for the CJ Program.

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Very true, and I can not see it getting any better in the near future. The last two years have been pathetic. Chevy produces a COPO that is a turn key package ready to go racing, Ford has nothing but cars on paper, how sad.

That's such shame, a program that can make money for Ford has completely gone off the rails with incompetence and corruption.


Thanks Jesse, I'm glad we now know why this program has gone down hill. Maybe after it has bottomed out, Ford will clean house and put the right people back in place to right the ship

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Sponsoring ANY fuel class cars is a waste of money !

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Would you care to share the research that you used to come to this conclusion?

Re: 2019 Cobra Jet program in jeopardy ?
 

Jesse is spot on about the disarray in the parts division of Ford Performance. I have been a Ford Motorsport/Racing/Performance warehouse distributor for over 25 years and the business model is the worst I have ever seen. Parts on the website without picture or prices is a constant problem. There seems to be one person in the shipping department who does not care how he or she packs orders as a lot of parts in small boxes will have the box crushed by the bigger heavier items. This a top down problem and can only be corrected from the top down. I have dealt with many different people at FP and I honestly have liked everyone of them. They are so nice that I have a difficult time raising any hell for fear of hurting their feelings. I even liked the Mopar racer, Jim's best buddy. I too would like for Jesse to return to his position at Ford but he would be a fool to do it without major changes to the business model.

best regards,
Roland