On October 2nd and 3rd, Bowling Green, Kentucky became the center of the Ford performance universe as the 2026 Holley Ford Fest brought an incredible mix of Blue Oval machinery to Beech Bend Raceway. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans for the opening day, with rain putting a damper on some of the action. With the chance of better weather running strong, there was plenty of hope for more racing, autocross, drifting, off-roading, and a car showing with hoods open throughout the rest of the weekend.

From classic Mustangs and vintage muscle to modern performance cars, trucks, engine-swapped creations, and purpose-built race machines, there was no shortage of interesting Ford-powered hardware to discover. Here are some of the cars, trucks, and stories that caught our attention at the 2026 Holley Ford Fest.

More Than 1,000 Students Helped Build This Four-Wheel-Drive Falcon

A 1962 Ford Falcon is normally a small, unassuming compact. Joey Aytes’ Destroyer Gray Falcon sits high on a four-wheel-drive chassis, wears a Boss 429-style hood scoop, and is nearly impossible to overlook.

The body rides on a 1974 early Bronco chassis and retains the Bronco’s 302-inch V8, three-speed transmission, Dana 20 transfer case, Dana 44 front axle, and Ford 9-inch rear. The unlikely combination was created at the Morgan County Career and Technical Center in Wartburg, Tennessee, where Joey works as a high-school shop teacher.

“I built it with my students,” Joey said. “There’s been over a thousand students who worked on this car over a five-year period.”

What began as a classroom project gradually developed into a full-scale show build. Its height and unusual proportions made the Falcon a natural head-turner at Holley Ford Fest, but it remains more than a display piece.

“We take it to shows, but it drives great out on the road,” Joey explained. “It just evolved into a full-blown show car. It was never intended to be that, but it evolved into it.”

The giant Falcon may carry Joey’s name on the registration, but it also represents five years of work by an entire generation of young builders.

Grand Champion Competition - A Rain or Shine Commitment

The Grand Champion competition rewards more than horsepower. While competitors earn points across multiple events, autocross remains the primary focus, asking drivers to balance acceleration, braking, car control, and consistency on a tight cone-lined course.

This weekend’s heavy rain added another variable. Standing water and constantly changing grip levels forced drivers to adjust braking points, soften their inputs, and search for traction with every lap. Cars that could normally attack the course had to be driven with patience, while smooth throttle control became just as important as outright speed.

Lightweight autocross cars, high-horsepower street machines, and even full-size sedans and trucks all faced the same slick surface and limited visibility.

Grand Champion racing continues rain or shine, provided lightning or severe conditions do not make the course unsafe.

Saturday Rewards the Fast Line

Saturday brought nearly perfect weather to Beech Bend Raceway Park, giving Grand Champion competitors a dry, consistent course after Friday’s rain. Instead of searching for grip through standing water, drivers could finally attack the autocross, carry speed through the corners, and lean on their cars under braking.

Grand Champion competition had started Thursday evening on the dragstrip before moving to the autocross on Friday. Saturday morning’s final autocross sessions gave competitors another opportunity to improve their position before the focus shifted to the 3S Challenge that evening.

Standing for Speed, Stop, and Steering, the 3S Challenge combined acceleration, tight turns, and hard braking into one final test. Drivers launched on parallel, mirror-image courses, negotiated sweeping 180-degree turns, raced toward the finish, and then had to bring their cars to a complete stop inside a cone-defined box. Hitting a cone or overshooting the box could erase an otherwise quick run.

By Saturday night, the Grand Champion field had been tested on the dragstrip, across wet and dry autocross courses, and through the 3S Challenge. The final awards recognized the competitors who could do more than excel in one discipline—they had to adapt throughout the entire weekend.

Overall Grand Champion Winners

Late-Model - Brayden O'Banion, Coxs Creek KY, 2020 Ford Mustang GT

Truck - Kevin Wilbourn, Tekonsha MI, 2023 Ford F-150

Vintage - Ron Schoch, Lawrenceburg IN, 1965 Ford Mustang

Grand Champion Autocross Results

1. Russell Wood, Goshen KY, 1990 Ford Mustang
2. Ron Schoch, Lawrenceburg IN, 1965 Ford Mustang
3. Brayden O'Banion, Coxs Creek KY, 2020 Mustang GT

Grand Champion Drag Race Results

1. Kevin Wilbourn, Tekonsha MI, 2023 Ford F-150
2. Bradley Davidson, Mason OH, 2020 Ford GT500
3. Mike Gallagher, Kankakee IL, 2021 Ford Shelby GT500

3S Challenge Results

1. Kevin Wilbourn, Tekonsha MI, 2023 Ford F-150
2. Ron Schoch, Lawrenceburg IN, 1965 Ford Mustang
3. Michael Lukens, Newburgh IN, 2017 Ford Focus RS

This 1,000-Horsepower SN95 Mustang Is Part of the Family

Austin Atwood spent years trying to convince his future father-in-law to sell him this 1994 Ford Mustang GT. When the answer finally changed, Austin wasted no time.

“One day he just said, ‘If you really want it, come get it,’” Austin recalled. “I showed up at his door in probably 20 minutes with cash in hand. I didn’t even say hi to my wife. I just said, ‘Here’s the money, and where’s the title?’” Austin and Julia were high-school sweethearts and had been dating for several years by then. Julia remembers Austin asking her father about the Mustang nearly every day.“ My dad literally was just like, ‘If he wants it, tell him to come get it right now before I change my mind,’” she said. “To this day, my dad regrets it.”

The black Mustang soon became Austin’s long-delayed chance to build a serious drag car. His first modification was a Holley Terminator X controlling the original 302 and a turbo. That combination made roughly 400 horsepower, which only encouraged him to go faster.

The next step came while Austin and his father-in-law were preparing to remove the engine. Rather than continue chasing records with a stock-bottom-end 302, his father-in-law suggested replacing it with a 351 Windsor. That advice eventually led to the current 408-cubic-inch small-block Ford.

A VS Racing 88/96mm turbocharger feeds the Windsor, while a Turbo 400 automatic sends power to the rear. The combination runs on pump E85 and produced 971 horsepower at the wheels on nine pounds of boost. Austin estimates it now makes well over 1,000 horsepower after additional development.

The original Terminator X handles EFI along with an MSD Dual Sync distributor, which allows coil-near-plug ignition. Austin uses original LS truck coils. A Holley 12.3-inch dash displays the data. That modern hardware often causes people to mistake the engine for an LS until they notice the distributor. The engine is also fitted with a Holley EFI intake manifold and a 105mm Holley EFI throttle body.

Now finished in appropriately named Pull Me Over Red, the Mustang competes in 5.30- and 5.70-second eighth-mile index classes. Austin and Julia hauled it roughly nine hours from Michigan to compete at Holley Ford Fest.

“I absolutely love it,” Julia said. “It means even more that it was my dad’s car, and now he’s building it into what he’s always wanted and dreamed. Honestly, it’s part of the family. It’s never leaving.”

Ford Fest Drag Racing Competition

Drag racing has always been a major part of Ford performance, and the 2026 Holley Ford Fest brought that tradition to the Beech Bend Raceway dragstrip with something for nearly every kind of Blue Oval racer. With more than a dozen categories the weekend’s racing covered everything from street-driven Fords and bracket racers to heads-up competitors and seriously quick purpose-built machines. Classic Mustangs lined up alongside late-model performance cars, while Ford-powered trucks and engine-swapped creations added even more variety to the staging lanes. Different combinations, different levels of preparation, and different approaches to going fast all shared the same goal: getting to the finish line first. Here’s a look at the drag racing categories that made up the 2026 Ford Fest.

True Street - Quickest Average

Rewarding speed and consistency, the The Holley Ford Fest True Street class combines a 30-mile road cruise with three back-to-back quarter-mile drag passes to test the durability and speed of street-legal, Ford-powered vehicles. Final standings and champions are determined by calculating the average elapsed time across all consecutive runs for each competitor.

Other Winners

Truck & SUV - Tony Habhab, Center KY, 1988 Ford Ranger

Street Stick - Jeffrey Johnson, Columbus IN, 2014 Ford Mustang

Open Comp - William McKay, Rockingham NC, 1985 Ford Thunderbird

Ultra Ford Bracket - Robert Cook, Mokena IL, 1990 Ford Mustang GT

Fast Ford Bracket 1 - Rod Peck, Troy OH, 2004 Ford Mustang

Anatomy Of A Winner: A Beyond The Sheetmetal Look At Jeff Maggs’ Furious Fox Body

We have to admit a hot dog and mustard was the first image to cross our mind when we came upon Jeff Maggs’ 1990 Ford Mustang in the pre-race tech line. When the Franklin Ohio native powered the Blue Oval to the win in the ultra-competitive True Street 9-Second Class the groovy '90 paint scheme left the chat and the chase was on.

Jeff’s Fox Body runs a Coyote small-block pressurized via a gear-driven centrifugal style F-1R ProCharger supercharger. The ProCharger features thick, beefy bracketry, a race-spec 50mm drive belt setup, and an air-to-air FMIC. Additional Power adders consist of a Holley EFI intake manifold, large-bore throttle body, and high-capacity Holley EFI ignition coils.

Off-Road: Playing In Our Sandbox

Ford Fest’s off-road program gave participants a chance to trade pavement for dirt on Beech Bend Raceway’s custom short course. Broncos, Raptors, Mustangs, Rangers, Crown Vics, and just about anything else with Ford power could tackle the jumps, mud, and rough terrain.

Short Course

Some of Ford Fest’s wildest action happened well away from the asphalt on Beech Bend Raceway’s custom off-road short course. Broncos, Raptors, Mustangs, and plenty of unexpected Ford-powered machines kicked up dirt, charged through the mud, and caught some air along the way. It didn’t matter what the vehicle looked like or what body it wore—as long as it had Ford power and could handle the course, it was ready to get dirty.

Hooptie X

You didn’t need a Raptor or Bronco to get in on Ford Fest’s off-road action. Hooptie X welcomed just about anything Ford-powered and ready to tackle the short course, from Mustangs and Crown Vics to Rangers and other unlikely dirt machines. Off-road tires and upgraded suspension certainly helped, but they weren’t required. All you really needed was a willingness to have some fun, get dirty, and maybe sacrifice a little sheetmetal along the way.

This 514ci BOSS Ford Anglia Brings Old-School Drag-Strip Style to the Street

This 1948 Ford Anglia is something to behold at Ford Fest—a neck-breaker. Outside, with its spindle-mounted gasser wheels, fat rear tires, and Ford Velocity Blue (a 2021 factory Mustang color), it’s beautiful. Under the hood, it’s monstrous.

Michael Dean grew up watching Ford Anglias charge down the drag strip. Decades later, a bright blue 1948 Anglia allowed him to own the kind of car that had captured his attention as a kid.

“I always liked these cars as a kid, watching them at the dragstrip,” Michael said. “I just thought they were the neatest cars.” A C6 automatic sends power to a Ford 9-inch rear axle equipped with 3.25 gears, Strange axles, and an Eaton Detroit Locker.

The Anglia retains its original steel body, aside from fiberglass rear fenders. The centerpiece is a 514ci Jon Kaase Boss Nine engine topped with a Holley four-barrel carburetor. A custom-ground COMP Cams roller camshaft helps the big-block produce an estimated 650 horsepower while still running well on premium pump gas.

Despite its drag-car appearance, Michael primarily drives the Anglia on the street, covering fewer than 500 miles each year. He describes it as surprisingly comfortable and easy to operate for such a small, powerful car. His favorite part requires little consideration. “The motor,” Michael said. “I love that motor. I don’t get on it real hard, but I’ve gotten on it a few times, and it just gets up, and it’s gone. It’s fun to drive.”

Ford Fest Drift Exhibition

Despite heavy Friday downpours that disrupted other segments of the event, the Drift Exhibition at Ford Fest 2026 delivered an unforgettable spectacle at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Driven by Vaughn Gittin Jr. and the RTR Vehicles team alongside a roster of grassroots Mustang pilots, the drivers adapted effortlessly to the slick, wet track on Day 1 before unleashing maximum tire smoke on Saturday. The highlights of the weekend included aggressive, high-angle tandem runs by the RTR pros, thrilling 10-to-15-car drift trains screaming door-to-door through The Arena.

Ford Fest 50 Crown Victoria Race

The Ford Fest 50 Crown Victoria Race served as the ultimate, high-octane send-off to cap organized racing at Ford Fest 2026. Taking over the oval track under the Saturday night lights, the full-contact battle of battered V8 police interceptors delivered pure, unadulterated entertainment just as the weekend wound down. The chaotic spectacle of heavy sedans trading paint, sliding sideways, and bouncing off the walls sent a jolt of pure adrenaline through the grandstands. For a weekend dedicated to celebrating Ford performance, sending off the competitive action with a rowdy, crowd-pleasing demolition-derby style showdown was the perfect way to leave fans buzzing long after the engines went cold.