PULDE'S DANCE CARD GETTING FULL

Funny car veteran Dale Pulde is usually a pretty busy guy with his own SoCal Harley business, tuning Dan Horan's Vintage Nitro Funny Car and his R&D work for Vic Edelbrock, but it looks as though he needs to keep his firesuit handy as he'll be filling in for some of the Vegas nitro test sessions, subbing for Gary Scelzi and Whit Bazemore while the drivers must attend pre-season sponsor-oriented commitments.

Las Vegas will also be an opportunity for 2004 Top Fuel Champ Tony Schumacher to test his skills in a fuel coupe and see how tough and different they are to drive compared to a 300-inch dragster.

It has not been officially announced, but Ron Capps will also be testing his new Ed McCulloch-tuned, Schumacher-owned Stratus flopper. Although it took a while, Capps assured the Agent's operative that their new sponsor has blessed the final logo and paint designs and he'll have his new driving suit from Bill Simpson's Indy shop in plenty of time for Vegas. The Dodge "Wonder Wagon" Funny Car will be parked for now as, according to the Shoe himself, Johnny Gray will not be driving the yellow machine as we head into the 2005 season. (Zak Hawthorne photo) [12-13-2004]

CORY LEE READY TO MAKE SOME MOVES?

2003 World Finals Funny Car runner-up Cory Lee may be close to putting together enough backing so he could drive a Top Fueler in 2005. Lee told the Agent, "The IHRA is looking very attractive to me for next season."

With the difference in money it takes to run the full NHRA event schedule and be competitive in the IHRA ranks, Lee has his sights set on a top-five Top Fuel finish running head to head with Clay Millican. (Zak Hawthorne photo) [12-13-2004]

STAWICKI'S WORK IN PROGRESS

Here is the first look at Mike Stawicki's new 1967 Camaro Pro Mod. The body and chassis appeared at the PRI Show from Dec 9-11 and the reviews were rave, even though the car is not fully complete. Stawicki and the G-Force Race Cars team plan to use the same engine program that they used in 04. "I feel that having enough power for '05 is not the problem," Stawicki said. "It's just getting the whole combination to be smooth and work properly together."

The up-state New York team hopes to get some test laps in late Feb or early March. [12-13-2004]