During most of your encounters at the strip, you'll find that you'll lose the 60' race as the Duratec engine doesn't produce a lot of torque without the secondaries open.
Once they open however, you'll find the little V6 can more than hold its own. Much like the S2000 Honda, the power doesn't come on until later in the rev range. If you don't pull for the whole 1/4 mile, you'll never advance to the next round.
