FE Race And Reunion Flexes Blue Oval Muscle At Muncie Dragway

Ford FE faithful converged on Muncie, Indiana, last weekend for the FE Race and Reunion, a three-day celebration dedicated to one of Ford’s most beloved engine families. The Northern Indiana track transformed into Blue Oval heaven, serving up quarter-mile drag racing, a packed car show, and a swap meet loaded with hard-to-find parts. The laid-back “Brats and Brews” gathering kept racers fed while giving old friends and longtime competitors a chance to swap stories and bench race well into the evening.

More than just another drag race, the FE Race and Reunion is built around camaraderie. Thursday is reserved for test-and-tune action, Friday brings a gamblers race and grudge callouts, while Sunday features eliminations in Street, Pro, and Quick 8 categories.

What makes the event even cooler is that proceeds benefit CampLIGHT, a nonprofit organization that provides summer camp programs for at-risk youth and their families.

Much like today’s modular and Coyote crowd, FE enthusiasts are a tight-knit group. Introduced in 1958 and produced through 1976, the FE engine family grew from 332 to 428 cubic inches over its lifespan. Ford and Mercury produced several legendary high-performance variants, including the 428 Cobra Jet and the exotic 427 SOHC “Cammer.”

Classic Muscle

The FE’s racing pedigree runs deep, with victories spanning everything from Le Mans to Pomona. Despite some of these engines now being nearly 70 years old, FE-powered machines continue to thrive in competition. One of the best examples is Ray Paquet, who has campaigned his ’64½ Thunderbolt in NHRA Super Stock since the 1980s. Over the years, he has amassed more than 75 NHRA class wins in SS/A and SS/B competition, routinely laying down mid-to-low-8-second passes with his 900-horsepower 427-powered Ford. FE-based 390s and 428s also remain a common sight in NHRA Stock and Super Stock eliminator competition.

Paquet was on hand in Muncie alongside a strong field of FE racers, putting down impressive numbers all weekend long. We also spotted Ford legend John Vermeersch, known to many enthusiasts from his days on the Ford Tech Line and through his company, Total Performance, which supported drag racers, road racers, and hardcore Ford enthusiasts for decades. Vermeersch spent time catching up with Bruce Wolfe, who now owns his former 406-powered Galaxie.

Fans packed the fence to watch Dan Parsons Jr.’s quick ’67 427 Comet, while Matt and Charla Keiser brought out a pair of standout FE machines, including a ’68 Cobra Jet Mustang and a beautifully finished ’67 427 Fairlane clone. Everywhere you looked there were fast Fords carrying iconic names like Starliner, Falcon, Cougar, Maverick, Torino, and Cyclone.

One of the coolest moments of the weekend came when Vermeersch offered tuning advice to a racer struggling with a rough-running dual-quad 427 Fairlane. That’s the beauty of the FE Race and Reunion. There’s enough combined knowledge in one place to solve just about any FE problem imaginable.

Show & Go

The car show itself was equally impressive. Zach Straits’ ’61 Country Squire wagon immediately grabbed our attention, but the hits kept coming. We spotted a street-driven Gasser, a SOHC-powered 427 Galaxie, multiple Starliners, FE-powered street rods, plenty of Mustangs, and enough Fairlanes to make any Blue Oval fanatic weak in the knees.

After spending most of the day soaking in the drag racing and car show action, we wandered through the swap meet, which proved to be the real deal. Vendors lined the grounds with everything from complete engines and transmissions to carburetors, intakes, sheetmetal, trim pieces, and interior components.

Just as impressive as the parts were the bits of knowledge floating around the swap area. Conversations about correct carburetors, high-rise intakes, exhaust manifolds, and factory trim details were happening at nearly every table. Once again, the FE Race and Reunion proved itself to be paradise for Ford diehards, and you can bet we’ll be back for round three in 2027.

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