The Q Collegiate Power Challange

The Avondale team picked up some extra points with their engine compartment's details. The team opted to spend their money internally, going for a 342 stroker kit with Keith Black forged pistons. A Comp Cams "Xtreme Energy" cam and valvetrain components were used, and a single Edelbrock Proformer 750-cfm four-barrel carb feeds a set of Ford Racing heads through an Edelbrock Vic Jr. intake. A Nitrous Express NO2 system, governed by a Jacobs Electronics management system, gives the small-block some added punch.

The money used on the 342 was well spent, as the Avondale team came away with first place in the dyno pulls. They managed a 447.82-horsepower rating, exceeding the rating of the next nearest team by more than 70 horsepower!

Through the cones the Avondale team came up with the slowest time: 6.58 seconds. Though respectable in the real world, it wasn't on this day of competition.

Avondale also opted for the five-lug conversion kit for the wheels, using a Ford Motorsport kit out back and Centerline Telstar wheels on each corner. Kuhmo ECSTA 711 tires were mounted up front, while Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials found their way on the rear wheels.

Avondale had the toughest time of the four schools on the 60-to-0 brake course. At 217.60 feet, they blew past the next nearest car's distance by more than 70 feet!

Team Avondale did some fancy airbrush paintwork on their ride's dash, bringing in the UTI logo nicely. That's a Safecraft fire suppression bottle bolted to the tunnel (such a unit was required for each of the cars). Under the tunnel is a Richmond Super T10 four-speed manual transmission.

But over at the quarter-mile, the engine work came back to help the team take first place with an astonishing run of 11.659 at 118 mph! But all the schools did well on the quarter, as there was just over one second between the fastest and slowest times recorded.