The ONA, the VNA, the FCU, the FCN, the NFCA, and Me

6/7/04

Jeff Burk Photo

Just so I never get accused of ignoring the rest of the country and their nostalgia movements, I present to you (drum roll, please) a whole crop of cool stuff going on in the nostalgia world outside of the West Coast.

The Outlaw Nitro Alliance

First, I bring you the Outlaw Nitro Alliance. ONA was formed in August of 2002, about three months before the West Coast group AA/FD inc. was formed. Their mission is to recruit and unite front engine Top Fuel racers east of the Rockies. They have three races on the books for this summer, at both IHRA and NHRA tracks, including the independent Heartland Hot Rod Reunion. The basic rules for the group are patterned after the VRA rules, but Chevys get a break on the weight. What is also very cool about these guys is they say, “Show up with your 426 on fuel! If it is VRA legal except for the block, you’re racing!” And you know how I feel about the 426.

ONA is an SFI member sanctioning body and a board governed organization. All decisions are made by the board of directors: Jon Barrett (Jon Barrett Racing), John Dearmore, Frank “Rootbeer” Hedge (the Mastercam Fueler), David Pace (Schramm Racing), Al Schramm (Schramm Racing), and Dale Suhr (the Orange Crate). John Dearmore, President, acts as coordinator for the group; there are no unilateral decisions made. Nothing moves forward without the board's OK, which sounds good to me!

Future plans for ONA include adding fuel Funny Cars, fuel altereds, junior fuelers, and A/fuel dragsters, basically anything on fuel with no doors. And who knows? Maybe even jets! Hit their Web site and check it out http://www.outlawnitro.com/.

The Heartland Hot Rod Reunion

I mentioned the independent Heartland Hot Rod Reunion above, a race to be held at SRCA Dragstrip in Great Bend Kansas, Sept. 24 and 25. This wild weekend is the baby of the one and only Sunny Wiersma. A tireless promoter of the nostalgia movement in the Midwest, she has taken on the task of putting together one heck of an event! Check out her Web site with all the latest on the race, a cool message board and some tales tall and not so tall as told by the legendary John Raven here: http://www.vintagenitro.org/.

Funny Car Reunion

Is it me, or does the grapevine seem quiet lately? All I ever hear about are nostalgia Funnies. Is everyone sick of hearing about nostalgia Funny Cars yet? No? Good, because you get to hear about my two favorite topics: nostalgia Funny Cars and me! First, the Funny Cars …

This summer there are two really cool races that any die-hard Funny fan should not miss. July 24-25, we have the 3rd Annual Funny Car Reunion held at Englishtown, New Jersey. There is a lot of hoopla surrounding this race with lots of old-school drivers coming out to frequent the legends tent. I also hear that the Winged Express will show up to do a few exhibition passes. They’ve got a Web site http://www.funnycarreunion.com/ which you need to check frequently because they keep adding more stuff to blow you away!

 Teen Arrive Alive Funny Car Nationals

And what seems to be shaping up to be the daddy of all nostalgia Funny Car races is the Teen Arrive Alive Funny Car Nationals to be held at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, Sept. 10-12. The event is being held in conjunction with the 20th Annual Missouri Illinois Dodge Dealers Monster Mopar Weekend. Lots of bracket classes, over 600 show cars, the legendary Hemi Under Glass wheel stander and the promoters hope to see 40, count ‘em! 40 nostalgia Funnies of all shapes, sizes and fuel choice! There are four classes for the Funnies, including injected alky, blown alky, VRA nitro, and non-VRA nitro. These guys are paying tow money and have a performance payout along with round money! Plus contingencies! Also, there are special awards like best burnout. It’s like a drag race lotto! All ya gotta do is get your car there, make some clean runs and have fun getting a little coin to throw back at your hot rod. Boy I would love to hit this one! (Hint to car owner). Here is the site with sponsor info and other good stuff: http://www.funnycarnationals.com/

Also of note is the reborn Nostalgia Funny Car Association; these guys want to run a summer series of a handful of races and call the Funny Car Nationals their “World“ finals. I like it. I want to be world champ. Their Web site is: http://www.nostalgiafunnycars.com/.

The Exploits of Mr. Pammy

Last and certainly the least are my exploits as a greenhorn nitro Funny shoe. When we last tuned out Mr. Pammy, he and his car owner Jeff Gaynor, Nitro Guru Mike Demarest and superman Randy Hoggard were going to a match race at Bakersfield. After my four runs at LACR, it was on to the big time. Two laps at a booked in show, thanks to Wes Close and his knights of Nitro bunch. I was a little nervous because at LACR I didn’t keep my foot in it the whole 1320. Everyone told me the track would be better and that indeed I would be able to stay with it.

Well, to cut to the chase, we did our burnout and Pammy got to back me up which was really cool. It was great to see her out in front of the car with that big smile but I later told her, “you're too close to the car; I can’t see your arm.” Anyway, we did the run and it felt slow, I almost shut off because it felt weak. Well it wasn’t really weak, it went 6.74 at 213. It just wasn’t moving around like it did the week before.

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We went back and serviced the deal. Mike and Jeff got after it a little and we went back up for another. This time it was dark. Real dark. Nathan Bugg asked me if I’ve ever driven at night. “Uh … no.” was my answer. Nevertheless, we went again. At that point, I was getting used to the cockpit filling with smoke on the burnout. Pammy backed me up again, but this time she's waaay down track so she won’t be too close to the car. Later I told her to forget what I said; I would rather have her too close than too far away. In we go and at yellow I leave. It’s dark in here; at the 330 cone the cockpit filled up with clutch dust! That’s new! It was REALLY dark. At about half track I shifted and the dust went away and I thought I could see. It moved around a little but I could still steer it back. So we went through the lights and it was REALLY DARK AGAIN. Where were the chute levers? After what seemed like an hour I found them and put them out. So I made the turn out going a little faster than I like but it didn’t go in the dirt! 6.69 at 215. And at night! I couldn’t see, but it was bitchin! And as you all know I’m sure, we went and did it again the following week in Vegas. Next stop, Pomona!

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