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Jim Oddy and his record-holding Summit Racing Equipment-backed
team isn't through yet. Despite what you might have heard
or read elsewhere concerning Jim Oddy's or the team's retirement
or whether the team will return this year, no official decision
has yet been made, according to team owner/tuner Jim Oddy.
Driver Al Billes crashed in Oddy's '05 Dodge Stratus at the
IHRA race in Milan, MI. Two weeks earlier Billes crashed his
'53 Corvette in a Lancaster, NY match race.
This is what is known about the status of the team: (1)
Oddy's '05 Stratus will be taken back to Jerry Bickel's
shop in Missouri and put on the chassis jig to determine
if it can be repaired. (2) No matter what happens, Al Billes
will not return to the cockpit of the racecar for the rest
of the 2005 season. The injuries he suffered in two serious
crashes during a three-week period will require him to sit
out the rest of the racing season.
Oddy told DRO today that he and major sponsor Summit Racing
Equipment are evaluating and exploring all options open
to them and they will make a decision within a few days
as to what direction they will take for the rest of this
season. One factor that may enter into the equation is that
with Billes unable to drive for the rest of the season,
that effectively ends any chance of the Oddy/Summit Racing
Equipment team winning the IHRA World Championship or competing
in the Torco "Shootout" because points are awarded
to the driver not the team and can't be transferred. [7-18-2005]
KUDOS TO NHRA PR STAFF
A belated tip o' the Agent's derby to the PR staff at NHRA
for facilitating a recent article on NHRA second generation
Pro racers in the July 13 edition of USA Today. Ashley Force,
Morgan Lucas, Brandon Bernstein and Eric Medlen, all of
whom happen to drive nitro-burning racecars, were featured.
[7-18-2005]
WEDDING BELL BLUES
The Agent was a little disappointed not to have received
an invitation to the union of NHRA team sponsor Jesse James
and actress Sandra Bullock this past weekend at the Folded
Hills Ranch near Santa Barbara, CA. James, of "Monster
Garage" fame and sponsor of Scott Kalitta's Top Fueler,
exchanged vows with Bullock on Saturday in front of several
hundred guests, including actors William Shatner and Jamie
Lee Curtis, and Metallica frontman James Hetfield. Bets
are now being accepted on which will last longer -- the
Bullock/James union or Lee Beard's tenure with "Hot
Rod" Fuller. [7-18-2005]
THE
DROmobile
Coming soon to dragstrip near you. DRO West Coast Editor Darr
Hawthorne recently completed construction of this brand-new
Electro-Pro Streeter. The new aero-body has just been approved
by the rules committee at Sun City and a series of two out
of three match races against a soon to be named opponent has
been scheduled. The DROmobile comes equipped with both a 200-mile
long extension cord and a fully charged bottle of Seltzer
water in case of Top End fires. Rumor has it that the car
was originally built for the new reality show “Pinks,”
but the scheduled opponent forgot how to get to the track
and the match was called off. For booking information contact
Agent 1320.
[7-18-2005]
