HANGOVER AT THE BERNIE-PLEX

During this quiet time for drag racing action there'll be some noise at Los Angeles County Raceway for the yearly Hangover Nationals. Racing starts on December 31 with gates opening at 7:30 a.m. and you can buy a $30 three-day spectator pass. 

On New Years Day, racing begins at 9:00 a.m. with jet cars and a special West Coast True Ten-5 Tire event featured at noon and 2:00 p.m. LACR will also offer official NHRA Chassis Certifications from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Call LACR at 661-533-2225 for a chassis cert. appointment. [12-30-2004]

ADDITIONS TO KALITTA RACING?

Agent 1320 had been hearing a rumor since the Pomona Finals that the crafty ol’ Bounty Hunter might be adding top fueler #4 to his Ypsilanti racing stable. So the Agent got Jim Oberhofer, Scott Kalitta’s crew chief on the phone for some clarity. Oberhofer has been with Connie Kalitta for 17 years.

Jim and his wife just returned from a vacation in Hawaii and he’s itching to get back to pounding the quarter mile. On the rumored new dragster team Oberhofer said, “If we could put together another program like the Zantrex-3 deal we have for the Grubnic team, that would make a fourth car much easier. We have some things in the works; if they would have happened then, yes, we would have brought a fourth car out.”

Ultimately, if it happens, that car will be driven by team manager and sponsor relations manager Ben Marshall who made laps in the team cars after the Fall Las Vegas NHRA event to earn his NHRA competition license.

“Connie is not going to go out and spend his own money just to have another car; it’s a lot of work. We’d love to have a fourth car, it would be great, but it’s only going to happen if

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someone is going to provide us with funding. We’d also like to have funny car teams, but we’d need the funding to make it competitive,” said Oberhofer. “We are pretty happy with our three-car team, but we’d like to expand it and we have the ability to do that. We just want to make sure that it’s right.”

Jim added, “Connie is down in the Cayman Islands right now, so I told him, if you want to start a fourth team just call me, but I haven’t heard from him yet.” 

The Kalitta Racing team will head to Phoenix for pre-season testing since, “If it is a tricky track that’s something we really want to work on, our marginal track set-up - we need to make it work better,” said Oberhofer. (Zak Hawthorne photo)  [12-30-2004]

'DIAMOND' JIM ANNIN MEMORIAL SET

Longtime drag racer Jim Annin passed away peacefully in his sleep three days before Christmas at his home in Acton, CA at age 65. According to his own wishes, there will be no funeral, but a memorial gathering for "Diamond" Jim will be held at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsport Museum on Sunday, January 16 at 2 p.m. Jim's many friends and fans are invited to join in this celebration. Dress is informal and anyone with a street rod is also asked to bring it to the gathering.

Annin campaigned potent funny cars on the West Coast in the late 1960s and early '70s, winning the NHRA Division 7 championship in 1970. After his retirement from driving, Annin’s rear engine dragster, driven by the late Mike Snively (above), made history’s first five-second pass in November 1972 at Ontario Motor Speedway’s Supernationals with a 5.97 at 235.69 mph. Annin was also a longtime and tireless volunteer on the NHRA Safety Safari. [12-30-2004]