IT’S ANOTHER WONDER

Funny Car driver Don Schumacher debuted the Wonder Wagon at the 1973 U.S. Nationals. For the 2004 U.S. Nationals, Johnny Gray will drive the Wonder Wagon Dodge Stratus for team owner Schumacher.

“To be able to bring out a nostalgia car that thousands of fans ask me about all the time is just great,” said Schumacher. “It was a very unique car back in its day. The aerodynamic design and other innovations we made to the car to help advance the sports of NHRA drag racing really opened up a lot of eyes and changed the way Funny Cars were run from then on.”

The colorful balloons and yellow paint scheme are based on the Wonder Bread package. [8-30-2004]

GET MY DRIFT?

The MOPAR-backet Dodge Viper driven by Samuel Hubinette won the Formula D Drift Championship over the weekend at SoCal’s Irwindale Speedway.

Drifting? But wait a minute the Agent has found the connection to drag racing; Hubinette’s V-10 SCCA coupe was converted for drifting and has been maintained on-track this season by Sport Compact fabricator Shaun Carlson’s NuFormz Racing shop. This year the 520-horse Viper won the first three events in Formula Drift competition and made it to the semi’s at Irwindale. The event was won by Rhys Millen driving a GM factory-backed Pontiac GTO.

The Agent also spotted Pro Rear Wheel Drive sport compact racer Stephan Papadakis driving his Nissan 240ZX who met an untimely end in competition meeting a concrete barrier during qualifying. Steph is planning his 2005 racing plans in his AEM/Driver FX-sponsored Honda, but he’ll be splitting his on track time between the NHRA series, the NOPI/NDRA circuit and his own drifting car effort, just for fun. (Zak Hawthorne photos)  [8-30-2004]