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SPIDEY GOES FIVE!
KABOOM!!!
25 MILLION DOLLAR MAN
ARMSTRONG GET "ACED" OUT, JOINS WWF
TUNNEL VISION
IMBROGNO LEAVES IHRA Len Imbrogno, former fuel Funny Car driver who also worked for Kenny Bernstein’s NASCAR and CART programs, had been working for IHRA as their VP of Competition. Imbrogno resigned from his IHRA post suddenly after the last race of the season. Imbrogno was well liked at IHRA and by the racers. His calming influence between the racers and the tech division will be sorely missed. FORGED BLOCK FOR FUEL CARS Several fuel teams, including Alan Johnson’s and John Force’s, have been using a new Hemi forged block developed by the talented John Rodeck. While some tuners believe that the block may help prevent the Eddie Hill type explosions, Austin Coil was overheard to say that the blocks will help but that they will just help people find the next weakest link. RIEGER CLINCHES NMCA PRO STREET CHAMPIONSHIP IN S-10 TRUCK …
… BUT SWITCHES TO ’57 CHEVY FOR 2000
HOUSTON REPORT Going into the Matco Tools SuperNationals at Houston Raceway Park, it was only 50-50 that Eddie Hill would be back on tour next year to chase a championship at age 64. He already had been informed that Pennzoil wouldn't be back to underwrite his Top Fuel efforts, that after the Texas-based oil company had cut his money in half from 1998 to 1999.
However, after suffering a second catastrophic engine failure in as many weeks, Eddie was talking like a retiree. After blowing the engine slap out of the frame rails at Houston, Hill was transported to a Baytown hospital for evaluation but checked himself out before test results were available and flew home to Wichita Falls where he told confidants: "I don't know if I'll ever get back in a car." Of course, by the end of one conversation with PR rep Bob Brown, Hill was talking about back-halving his mount in time for Pomona. If he does make it back, he might want to approach Red Adair, the oilfield fire fighter, about possible sponsorship. The two look like a good match. Hill blamed his Motorplex explosion on a tired engine. At Houston, though, there was a brand new block behind the cockpit — with the same result.
"In all honesty, when you have a catastrophic explosion like (Hill's), you've had a failure of a component, you've had neglectful maintenance or you've had just something unavoidable go wrong. We had some problems like this years ago and the advent of better ignition systems pretty much eliminated a lot of the catastrophic explosions. "The Rodeck forged aluminum block is probably twice as strong and durable as what we've had and will probably prevent something like Eddie Hill's (explosion) where the crankshaft comes out of the motor. I don't believe that will happen with the forged blocks." Ed "the Ace" McCulloch, out at Team Kalitta, may land a WWF job. The five-time former U.S. Nationals driving champion (in both Top Fuel and Funny Car) was seen hanging out at Jerry Toliver's camp where a mass exodus awaits only the end of the season. Most of the crew on Toliver's "Stone Cold" Steve Austin entry are headed for the Alan Johnson camp to back driver Bruce Sarver who'll roll out a Johnson Funny Car to start the 2000 season as teammate to two-time Top Fuel Champion Gary Scelzi.
Rudely bounced from competition when John Constanza abruptly parked his Funny Car after Memphis, Powell probably is the front runner for any job that opens up simply because she reportedly can bring a sponsor with her. That was ostensibly what landed her the ride in Constanza's self-titled JCIT entry although one was never announced. NHRA still is working hard on a 2000 TV package and the results may be better than anyone imagined. Or maybe not. Anyway, the question is whether there'll be anything left to show on TV. In Top Fuel, Eddie Hill (Pennzoil), Bob Vandergriff Jr. (JerZees), Darrell Gwynn (Mopar) and Connie Kalitta (Kitty Hawk) all are losing sponsors at season's end and no replacements have yet been announced. Hill, Vandergriff and Gwynn have said that, without sponsorship, they WILL NOT compete next year. Kalitta, who runs a potent two-car operation, has paid his own way for almost all his career and probably could continue to do so -- if he wanted to. He hasn't said if he wants to. In Funny Car, Pioneer Electronics, Interstate Batteries (along with associates Hot Rod Magazine and Champion Spark Plugs) and Penthouse all are leaving at the end of the year. That'll put Tommy Johnson Jr. and Cory Lee back on the street. Frank Pedregon, who drove the Penthouse car this year for "Big Jim" Dunn, next year will be teammate to Del Worsham with Checkers/Schucks/Kragen sponsorship while Dunn will put Al Hofmann in his car with Mooneyes sponsorship Most impressive single run at the Matco Tools SuperNationals? Tough to vote against Gary Scelzi's NHRA national record-setting 4.480, but my vote goes to Larry "Spiderman" McBride who, in an exhibition appearance, became the first man on two wheels to break the 6.00 second barrier when he drove his Top Fuel Motorcycle to a time of 5.993 seconds at 243.68 miles per hour. In addition to Scelzi's Top Fuel record, which briefly gave Team Winston cause for hope in their bid to chase down Tony Schumacher and the Exide Batteries team for the Winston Championship, Warren Johnson and Matt Hines also shared in the record orgy on a racetrack taken to task on Friday night by Funny Car driver Whit Bazemore (who later recanted). WJ upped the Pro Stock speed record from 202.33 mph, which he ran the week before in Dallas, to 202.36 mph. ‘Course it's no big deal. NHRA long ago stopped awarding bonus points for speed records. As for Hines, he set both ends of the Pro Stock Motorcycle record in an incredible performance which, surprisingly, DID NOT culminate in a victory or even a runner-up, Hines qualified the Vance and Hines Suzuki at 7.179; then ran 7.154 in eliminations with a top speed of 191.48 mph. Remember Pat Austin? The former Team Castrol standout, was clocked in a best-of-the-year 5.569 seconds en route to his second win in as many weeks in Texas. His Houston victory, which came at the expense of Tony Bartone, was the 68th of his career, fourth overall behind only Bob Glidden, John Force and Warren Johnson. When Bruce Allen put the David Reher-prepared Outlaw Pontiac on the pole at Houston at a career best 6.839 seconds, it marked the first time the once invincible Reher-Morrison team had started an NHRA national event from the No. 1 spot since March, 1992. Ironically, that success came on the same racetrack.
Unfortunately, Howard wasn't at Houston Raceway Park to enjoy his first win as a car owner. Instead, he was at Montgomery, Ala., Motorsports Park overseeing, with partner Steve Earwood, the fourth annual B&M Million Dollar Bracket Race in which Sherman Adcock Jr. walked away with a $205,000 first prize. That race will move next year to Earwood's Rockingham Dragway. When was the last time there were eight different Pro Stock winners in a season? This year, we've had the Johnsons — Warren, Kurt and Allen (no relation), Jeg Coughlin Jr., Jim Yates, Mike Edwards, Richie Stevens and, at Houston, Rickie Smith. Answer? 1990. That year, Jerry Eckman, Bob Glidden, WJ, Kenny Delco, Larry Morgan, Tony Christian, Darrell Alderman and Bruce Allen were the winners. Veteran Dickie Venables is the newest addition to the John Force Racing juggernaut. Venables has been retained to work with John Medlen on Tony Pedregon's Castrol SYNTEC Ford Mustang which recorded the quickest elapsed time in Funny Car history (4.779 seconds) but still finished second behind Force for the third time in four years. Also hired was Kelly Antonelli, formerly Kelly Thomas, formerly of MAC Tools, to be Marketing Director for John Force Racing. Hard Luck Award at Houston naturally would go to Eddie Hill. Second choice, though, is Ron Capps whose Copenhagen Camaro had better numbers to half track than did John Force on his 4.811 second qualifying lap but who never got down track under full power. On his last lap, Capps suffered a broken blower belt at 1,000 feet and missed the bump by .05 of a second.
— Dave Densmore Reporting BILLY MEYER ON THE NEW MOTORPLEX
"I think the new track will make a bigger impact than our original Motorplex in Ennis," said Meyer. It’s going to be a motorsports community entertainment sponsor, that we will use to hold not only races, but concerts as well. "As for the old track, I plan to sell off the grandstands, and probably use it as a flea market. There’s a lot of land at the Ennis site, and I really haven’t given a lot of thought yet as to what we will do with that." WHO'S KENNY SAYERS? At the bottom of the O’Reilly Fall Nationals Funny Car qualifying sheets was one Kenny Sayers of Houston, Texas. Sayers could onlu muster a best of 7.05, but given the fact that the Motorplex race was his maiden voyage, he can be excused. The car is Jim Epler’s former Easy Care ’99 Corvette and is now owned by Mitch King, whose LaKing Confectionary company sponsors the car. LaKing Confectionary company. . Sayers is a former Alcohol drag boat racer and a winner of eight championships on the water. He licensed after last year’s MATCO Nationals, but it took him until the Motorplex before he saw any on-stage action. What’s rather ironic is that Sayers may not end up being the full time driver of the car. King will license in the car Monday after the O’Reilly race and if all goes well, may drive it exclusively. OH A WISEGUY? The gut check award in Funny Car qualifying has to go to Ashland, Va., racer Scott Weis in the Bruce’s Super Body Shop/Wise Guys ’98 Mustang. He went into the final qualifying session on the outside, looking in, and managed to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Weis launched hard, got a little out of shape, had to get off and on the throttle, and still thundered to a 5.15 with the best speed of his career, 305.60 mph. The only run even close in the save department was Dean Skuza’s foot-lifting, foot stomper of 4.93, 312.28 in Saturday’s first session. WORSHAN STUMBLES AT THE MOTORPLEX Del Worsham, who won this year’s NHRA Northwest Nationals Funny car title, failed to qualify for the field at the Motorplex. A sub par 5.25 was five hundredths off the pace and it did rankle the Laguna Hills, Calif., driver. "We lost a burst panel on the first run Saturday and on my last shot it, we pushed the head gaskets out of and that was that … I’m pretty sick about this, we’d made it 19 for 19 and I wanted to make it into every field this year. We’ll keep going on, that’s all we can do." MINI-NOTES: NHRA announcer Bob Frey told us that Kenny Koretsky, a racer who earned distinction by being the only driver to qualify both a Top Fueler and Pro Stock at the same NHRA national event, will return to the sport next year, reportedly in a fueler …. Warren Johnson’s 6.82, 202 stunner at the Motorplex shook, up the Pro Stock ranks. Reportedly, engine builder/manufacturer Rich Maskin has offered $5,000 for a roll of film with the pictures of Johnson’s engine. NEVER TO BUSY FOR YOU, DARLIN' Thought your pals at Drag Racing Online were out having a good time every night? No, Our now half-million checker-outers on ye olde website are our chief concern. Don’t think so? We are at a Hampton Inn in DESOTO, Texas and its 2:10 a.m. as we speak. You know where you can go if you want the top qualifiers in each pro or sportsman class. Give ole Dave McClelland a call, but …… If you’d like a little of the rumors behind the news, sit tight, hombre. Let me ask you this. What Elvis-like personality is rumored to have hired the son of a driver who worked for a famous New York Funny Car team and is currently leading the crew for an extremely well-known Italian Top Fuel driver? The DRO detectives are on top of this and from what we have heard it’s something we will crawl under beds for or mike phones for, FOR you our reading public. Hey, I don’t about you, but Burk and I lost a few thousand dollars predicting that Dan Quayle would be our next prexy. We can’t be wrong all the time. And as Rod Serling would say, "Submitted for your approval," what smiling, Valley (as in San Fernando in SoCal) Top Fuel driver may, and we stress "maaay", be out of a ride for a super famous Funny Car driver? In his place, and again, AGAIN, his ALLEGED (!) replacement, from what we’ve heard, is a famous Southern California Irishman who broke a key Texas Motorplex Top Fuel speed barrier a couple of years ago? Hey, spreading rumors? You tell us. Drag racing comes up with as much "I can’t believe that"-type jazz as the National Enquirer. But below is what we do know and can apply names McCULLOCH LEAVES KALITTA CAMP, CONNIE TAKES OVER
Obviously, this is not unknown territory for the famed Michigan racer; He’s been in this batter’s box before. "I don’t involve myself without knowing what we are doing," Kalitta said. "When you run one of these cars, you have to stay on top of it all, if you’re going to go anywhere. My experiences in 40 years of racing tells me that you still have to read your racecar. It tells you what it wants. I don’t drive as much as I used to, but that fact allows me more time and less pressure to look over what’s going on with the cars. I’ve done this all before and feel comfortable with our situation." And Kalitta obviously is a good listener. Son Scott, a former two-time Winston Top Fuel champ, came out Friday night and ripped a low e.t. 4.54, 318.92, which made them the No. 1 qualifier. And by the way, remember who DRO had at the top of their Motorplex Top Fuel handicap list? Okay, just checking. THE PROFESSOR TAKES THE PRO STOCK STUDENTS TO SCHOOL Tom Martino’s stay at the top of the qualifying list didn’t last as Warren Johnson once again proved why his is the Pro Stock racer of this decade. In the morning session Johnson posted the quickest elapsed time ever at the Motorplex with a track record 6.843. In doing so he also ran the quickest speed in NHRA history with a blistering 202.33. With one qualifying session to go and some of the best weather in the 14 year history don’t bet Warren won’t set the Pro Stock record. He will have to make a lap between 200.31 and 204.36 IHRA WORLD CHAMP LAMPUS RUNS CAREER BEST AT MOTORPLEX
CANNON HANDLEING TUNING CHORES FOR TEXAS SWING Dale Pulde has been doing the tuning chores for Scotty Cannon for most of the 1999 NHRA season. Cannon decided to do his own tuning at the Dallas and Houston race and left Pulde at the house. Scotty ran a five-oh on the first lap Friday but came back with a solid 4.99 in the night session that put him solidly in the field. FOXWORTH RETURNS TO TOP FUEL AFTER LAYOFF
The team hired Rick Cassel to tune the car for the Dallas and Houston races and promptly ran a 4.87 that temporarily got the Texan in the field. The team is currently negotiating with a couple of sponsors that could see the team return to IHRA competition next year. PRO Drivers Meeting In Name Only On Thursday of the race, the PRO organization held a drivers' meeting at the track with NHRA to voice opinions and discuss all things drag racing. The confab was a meeting in name only. The menu was restricted completely to essentially pissing and moaning according to our sources. In fact, one racer said that there were a number of attendees who were ticked off that the meeting was even being called. When you consider that every form of auto racing has drivers meetings, and most are mandatory, the complaint about a meeting being held seems ludicrous, to put it gently. One of the complaints that filters through the pits at any NHRA event is that the organization ignores the racers. Go figure. Jerry Eckman Returns to the Saddle Two years ago, Pro Stock racer Jerry Eckman was suspended from NHRA competition for two years due to a severe violation of the rules. The Newark, Ohio driver returned to the seat at this event, driving Dave Belli’s Pontiac Firebird last driven by Harry Scribner. Eckman, who had to upgrade his license two weeks before the race, ripped a 7.05 to temporarily qualify 12th during Friday’s opening salvo. A broken transmission sidelined the team from Friday’s final session. Eckman said later, "I thought I might be a little rusty, and I was, but not in the areas I thought. I forgot little things like turning on the computer and the air bottle. But overall, I felt good in the car. Overall, we just want to leave a good impression, run well." IHRA World Finals Report from Shreveport, Louisiana Summit sponsors Oddy’s ’Vette
Oildown control for IHRA Top Fuel! Traction control? Representatives from many of the IHRA regular Top Fuel teams and IHRA met at Shreveport to discuss ways to control oildowns. There were two proposals put forth. The first was a "bulletproof pan", where a prominent aftermarket manufacturer proposed a pan designed to contain the rods. The fuel teams nixed that idea due to the added weight (50-200 lbs depending on who you talked to) and the fact that most teams felt the rods would exit the block if they couldn’t exit the pan and still oil the track. The second suggestion put forth by the IHRA Top Fuel teams was that they develop a traction control system for the fuel cars. This idea was actually suggested by both the IHRA tech department and the racers and was widely accepted. Sources told Agent 1320 that some NHRA fuel racers have tested traction control devices but are supposed to take them off before a national event. According to one IHRA official, NHRA has expressed interest in the traction control device and wanted to be kept informed on how it worked for IHRA. Lampus wins Top Fuel title, with a little help from his friends
McGee powered Top Fueler qualifies at Shreveport. St. Louis racer Al Meade and his driver Doug McCan managed a nearly impossible feat when they put their McGee-powered Top Fueler in the field with a half pass of 6.267/148. It marked the first time in recent memory the Australian based twin cam fuel motor has made a field. Spina records disputed 221 pass on fuel Harley Bob Spina sent a shock through the crowd at Shreveport when he put a 221mph speed up on the board during a Saturday qualifying lap. Unfortunately it was determined that Spina tripped the first beam in the 66ft speed trap with the rear tire and then put the front tire on the asphalt to trip the beam. Nice try, Bob, but no cigar. photos by Jeff Burk, Nathan Williams and Ron Lewis
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Wrestling’s
original Million Dollar Man was one Ted Debiase. Now the WWF has made Jerry Toliver drag
racing’s 25 Million Dollar Man. Sources tell Agent 1320 that Toliver got 2.5 million
per car per year for five years. Look for this team to be even more competitive in the
future with this kind of budget. 
In just
his second year of competition as a professional driver, Bob Rieger won the 1999 NMCA Pro
Street championship. There was no sophomore jinx for the California-based racer as he
dominated the 10 race NMCA competition. Rieger qualified his turbocharged S-10 Chevy truck
on the pole eight times, won four races, went to the semi-finals at four other races, and
set world records at two of the events. His best performance of the year was the final
NMCA event at Atlanta when he qualified on the pole, set the national record for his class
with a 6.776 e.t. and then won the event.
Austin Coil, Crew Chief to nine-time
Winston Champ John Force, believes that the cast aluminum blocks have become the weak
point in many combinations. The fix may be the new forged aluminum block produced by John
Rodeck. The forged block debuted at Dallas and was in a couple more cars, including
Force's, at Houston.
Also
departing will be Wayne Dupuy, who has been so effective as Crew Chief to Jim Epler and
the "Undertaker" entry, the second of the WWF entries. Dupuy, who wrenched Epler
to runner-up honors at Houston (as well as at the U.S. Nationals) reportedly is headed for
a reunion with Phil Burkart and the "Nitro Fish" Pontiac which is scheduled to
race the full series next year.
Looks
like Cristen Powell may wind up in Al Hofmann's Funny Car seat with Helen Hofmann as Crew
Chief. That means that Cory Lee, who had been rumored to be in line for the ride in
Hofmann's Pontiac, is back looking for work.
Kudos
to Rickie Smith, whose driving job in a George Howard/Pete Williams owned Pontiac, stole
the show at Houston. It was only Smith's second NHRA win. His first came at Sonoma in
1993.
Assuming
the 42,000 people of Grand Prairie, Texas say yes in a special election on Nov. 2, Billy
Meyer will unveil the most innovative dragstrip yet. Our Dave Densmore will fill in with
more details in a later issue, but the place will be spectacular. The tower at the current
Motorplex is 18,000 square feet, the new tower built somewhat along the lines of the Route
66 Raceway will be 120,000 feet. It’s going to be big, modern, and state of the art.
Noticeably
absent from the Kitty Hawk Racing Team was crew chief Ed ‘the Ace’ McCulloch.
The famed Top Fuel/Funny Car driver reportedly submitted his resignation as the head
wrench for Kalitta the week prior to the O’Reilly Fall Nationals, and calling the
tuning shots now is the guy who pays the bills, Connie Kalitta. 
Don
Lampus, Jr. fresh from cinching his first IHRA world championship came to the Texas
Motorplex with a new sponsor Express Parts. Com. Lampus drove his Mike McLaughlin tuned
top fueler to a career best 4.694/310.77, which qualified him solidly in the field.
It’s
been a long year for Texas independent Doug Foxworth and the Foxworth team, but things may
be turning around for the "Lytle Flash".
Noted
engine builder and Pro Mod team owner Jim Oddy and driver Fred Hahn debuted their new
paint scheme and sponsorship during the IHRA World Finals at Red River Raceway outside
Shreveport, LA. Although the sponsorship is for the 2000 IHRA and Canadian Pro Mod season,
Summit Racing Equipment decided to debut the car at both the final 
Canadian Pro Mod race and at the final
IHRA race of the season. Driver Fred Hahn and engine builder/owner Oddy won the Canadian
Pro Mod championship and finished second in the IHRA season points. The team won two IHRA
National events and during the season ran a best of 6.22/224. 
All Don
Lampus had to do to win the IHRA Top Fuel title at Shreveport was to qualifiy. The team
found that easier said than done when they had a rear main leak oil during the first of
their two available qualifying passes. Then just before their second and final attempt a
dragster oiled their lane in a big way. In the darkness of the Louisiana night the track
got cooler as the PTS crew labored to give Lampus a fair surface to drive down. Listening
in on the track crew’s radio revealed that they too knew a World Championship was at
stake. The cleanup crew took extra time to insure a good surface while the racers and
crowd waited politely. Lampus responded with a 4.789/305 lap to clinch the title. A tip of
the DRO hat to all involved for the extra effort and show of good sportsmanship. 