DUPUY IMPROVING AFTER SERIOUS CRASH

Wayne Dupuy, crew chief of Doug Herbert's Top Fuel dragster, was seriously injured in a single-car accident on Highway 150 near his North Carolina home on Nov. 25. He was thrown from the car and received multiple injuries, including a fractured spine, pelvis and left eye socket.

Dupuy was initially on a respirator, but is now breathing on his own. He is in the Intensive Care Unit at Charlotte Medical Center in serious but stable condition.

"He's not out of the woods yet, but he's heading in the right direction," said his wife, Tressa. "We went from thinking the worst to realizing how incredibly lucky he was to survive.

"He's pretty medicated, but we've told him about the outpouring of love and support people have shown for him and us and he acknowledged us," his wife added.

"We're all very concerned about Wayne," Herbert said. "He's the only priority at this point. The race team will be fine and knowing Wayne he'll be back in the shop sooner than anyone will expect him to be, but right now he needs to work on his recovery." (Jeff Burk photo) [11-28-2005]

TOYO CONSIDERING SPONSORING NHRA PRO MOD?

The Agent got a rumor from one of his best NHRA sources who says that Pro Mod maven Mike Ashley will be meeting with the folks from the Toyo Tire company at the upcoming PRI Show in Orlando with the express purpose of convincing them to sponsor a Pro Mod series for the 2006 NHRA season.

The Agent is going to speculate that if Toyo Tire were to agree to fund at least part of the $800,000-$1,000,000 (per year!) program for the minimum three-year commitment that NHRA reportedly wants, then Mike Ashley’s Lend America company would partner up with Toyo Tire. So, the question then would be, will it be the Toyo Tire Pro Modified Exhibition Series presented by Lend America or vice versa? Ashley will be a big hero -- and deservedly so -- in the Pro Mod world if he can pull this off. [11-28-2005]

SOME BOUQUETS AND BRICKBATS FOR THE IHRA

The Agent was perusing the IHRA’s new rule book as well as their recent press release regarding the announced raise in the race day payout, and found some interesting items to bring to the readers attention in both cases. Buried in their rule book is the fact

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that the IHRA is going to revert to the old ladder system for pro classes. Instead of the number one qualifier lining up against the number eight or sixteen qualifier as has been the norm for over a decade, IHRA will revert to the original ladder system employed for years by the NHRA, IHRA, and AHRA before a bunch of top professional class racers whined about it and got it changed. Now in IHRA professional classes the number one qualifier will either match up against the number five or nine qualifier depending on whether it is an eight- or sixteen-car field. Kudos to the IHRA management for making this move as it should make for better racing on Sunday.

As far as the purse increase for Top Fuel, evidently a little creative bookkeeping was involved. In order to increase the Top Fuel payout, the IHRA management took some money out of the points fund and added some monies from the track owners. While at least one team will be plenty torqued off (my lips are sealed but they are a big fish in the IHRA Top Fuel pond) all of those other teams who don’t run every race and probably don’t have a chance to win the $200,000 for winning the championship would rather see the money added to the race win purse. The only down side the Agent can see is, if it is true that the Championship no longer pays the winner 200 large, then those races in Canada that Top Fuel cars had to attend for the points might suffer. [11-28-2005]