FEATURE I 2003 COBRA
32 OCTOBER 2019 WWW.MUSTANG-360.COM
A
utomotive
performance is
a male-domi-
nated industry.
Right or wrong,
that’s just the way it is, and
has been from the begin-
ning. Fortunately though,
the dragstrips and race tracks
are paved with women who
didn’t accept the status quo.
They wanted to go fast.
Following in their black
marks is Rachel Yee, a
self-described speed and
adrenaline junkie, who
initially satisfied her need
for speed by “riding my bikedown the steepest hill I could
find when I was 4 years old,”
she tells us.
Rachel eventually turned
to riding quads and horses,
but her obsession with speed
and adrenaline accelerated
when she met Frank Yee in
high school. She says, “Frank
was known as the street
racer, so obviously he caught
my eye and interest.”
Many will recognize
Frank Yee as the owner of
Voodoo Racing Innovations,
located in Las Vegas. In the
beginning, Rachel would tow
Frank’s Cobra, named BlackOn the outside, the 2003 Cobra’s body is largely stock.
The lone deviations include a Cervini’s hood and RC
Components wheels. Both are needed, obviously. The
hood was needed for a little engine clearance, and the
wheels ... well, when was the last time you witnessed a
2003 Cobra run 7.20s on the stock wheels and tires?!
To break up the black, Elliot Nail from 5150 Graphics
worked his magic on the roof and decklid to match the
red on the hood.Betty, to the track, unload
the car, and race their Harley
F150. Everything was great
until she lost a race. That
loss prompted building the
truck into a record-setter,
but at some point Frank and
Rachel knew the truck had
reached its ceiling.
Shortly thereafter one
of Frank’s customers was
ready to sell his 2003 Cobra,
named Mad Maxine. Frank
had a history with the car;
he knew it inside and out.
Rachel says, “The backstory
on Mad Maxine is pretty
special, as she was Frank’s
very first engine build back
in 2005.” Mad Maxine was
also Rachel’s first experience
with a single-digit car, and
it was the first car to take
her breath away from pureadrenaline. “Love at first
launch,” Rachel says. After
that first ride in Mad Max-
ine, Rachel knew she was
the car for her. Even though
Mad Maxine was known as
a wheelie monster, Rachel
says she was ready to “dance
with the devil,” as she put it.
And dance Rachel did.
Frank strapped her in and
sent her down the track.
Her very first pass behind
the wheel of Mad Maxine
equated to an 8.24 at 167
mph. Rachel went from a
10-second truck to a low
8-second car in one pass.
That is quite a jump in both
elapsed time and, especially,
speed. “It was amazing and
I was hooked,” Rachel says.
Running those times, Rachel
earned her NHRA competi-