NEW CARS

One of the Agent's operatives bumped into Smilin' Todd Veney at the NHRA Sonoma race who mentioned that he and dad/tuner Ken will debut their new Murf McKinney-built Camaro in competition at the 50th U.S. Nationals. The new car houses a 526 cubic inch Keith Black motor sporting trick Ken Veney heads. Todd said the team would be doing some testing prior to the Big Go over Labor Day weekend to sort out the new ride. (Photo by Todd Veney) [8-2-2004]

With all the publicity around today's nostalgia funny car movement, it seems to be getting under the skin of some real flopper veterans. Former nitro pilot Jim Adolph, who is the publisher of Car Craft magazine, will be fielding a new Shady Glenn funny car with partner Jim Glenn. They plan to run some nostalgia meets and match races looking to have some fun with their old friends. They've got a chassis and some of the components, but would love to find a Plymouth Volare fiberglass body like the one they campaigned in the late 1970s on the Left Coast. Adolph has already taken delivery of a new Bill Simpson Impact nitro helmet, but the Agent wants to know if that old firesuit still fits. (Zak Hawthorne photo) [8-2-2004]

The hot rod project car of Ron Capps, built by San Francisco master rod craftsman Roy Brizio is done. John Capps, Ron's dad, worked with Brizio over the past five years to bring the car, owned since high school, onto the road. The unique '31 sports a crate motor ZZ4 topped with a Whipple supercharger checked on the dyno at 530 horsepower. At Sonoma dad brought the car to the pits on Saturday and will drive the cool ride to Ron's SoCal home. (Zak Hawthorne photo) [8-2-2004]