Drag Racing Online- Agent 1320 (page 1 of 4)

T.J. JR., GOES SUPER COMP AND, WHO KNOWS IS MIKE DUNN NEXT?
When last we saw Tommy Johnson Jr., he was driving the Joe Gibbs-owned Interstate Batteries/Hot Rod magazine Pontiac Funny Car and winning races like last year's Autozone Nationals at Memphis. Currently, he commentates for the IHRA television program, but he did show up in Joliet with a Super Comp dragster. And how did the 4.8-second, 320-mph Funny Car driver (not to mention Top Fuel shoe) do? First-round runner-up.

Top Fuel color commentator and pro driver Mike Dunn, who was wheeling the Darrell Gwynn/Mopar Top Fueler last year before the sponsor evaporated, mentioned to the Agent that he was queried about the same possibility for himself.

"I live in Pennsylvania and [S&W chassis builder] Scott Weney talked to me about running Super Comp," Dunn said. "He said that while waiting for a sponsor that I should try landing a ride and check it out. He said it would keep me sharp. I thought about it, but I don't know. We'll see how Tommy does."

Agent 1320's opinion? If you don't mind risking a mini-bruise to the ego from getting laid out by a kid fresh from the Jr. Dragster program, you might as well. On paper, Weney's suggestion makes sense.

FUNNY CAR PIONEER OGLESBY AND FREDDIE NEELY TEAM UP
Frank Oglesby, 60, of Atlanta, Ga., may not be a familiar name to newer fans, but veteran watchers should know him. He dates back to crewing cars like the original Mr. Norm's Charger, Arnie Beswick's Mystery GTO, and Don Gay's Infinity GTO in the middle 1960s and driving his own Mello-Yello and "Quarter Horse" Funny Cars in the 1970s through the early 1980's.

Oglesby, who "retired" in 1982, recently bought former Funny Car owner Rex House's trailer and '98 Camaro Funny car, debuting them at the Route 66 race. Flying the banner of one-race sponsor Advanced Compressor Technology, Oglesby's driver, Freddie Neely, made four attempts to get into the tough 5.07-bubbled show and came up short. An 11.56 was the "best" time to emerge from runs that looked like burnouts off the starting line. The budget is limited, but Oglesby told Agent 1320 that, "we will try to make a few more races," with the upcoming Matco Tools Nationals in Houston being the only one specifically mentioned.

BIGGEST MATCH RACE OF THE YEAR AT THE WORLD SERIES
The oldest independent drag race is still the World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova Dragway in northern Illinois. This year's edition, the 46th, will be a very special, special event. The pro feature will be a best of three match race between, drag racing's Babe Ruth, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits against the greatest wheel man in the history of the sport, Chris "the Golden Greek" Karamesines. New to drag racing? Imagine going to a Battle of the Bands pitting the Beatles versus the Rolling Stones. Garlits is reportedly bringing his famed sidekick, T.C. Lemmons, to help out, and he will be driving the mono-pod dragster that Bruce Larsen wheeled for him a few years ago. "The "Greek" will have his usual coterie of Midwest heavies and will drive the car in which Gary Scelzi won the 1997 Winston title. Also, to the newcomer, this was the hottest Top Fuel match race in the 1950s, '60s, and early '70s. The dates are Aug. 26-27 and, if you make only one match show all year, this is the one. Look for Drag Racing Online to do a special pre-race feature and send Agent 1320 to the race.

ROUTE 66 NOTE-LETTES

At 2 p.m. Sunday, NHRA's enterprising staff (and Agent 1320 uses that term quizzically rather than sarcastically) had popular rock fossil Chubby Checker performing his multi-million seller "The Twist" with the "Blues Brothers" band during a break in the semi-final round of Top Fuel … If you don't know by now, Cory McClenathan's 4.54 pole sitter in Top Fuel was the best time of the 90-percent era. Hopefully things will get even quicker … Is former Winston Alcohol Funny Car champ Fred Mandolini a killer mechanic or not? Tim Wilkerson's No. 2 qualifier 4.85 in Funny Car at Chicago was done with the Schiller Park, Ill. tuner/inventor in camp. By the way, for Agent 1320 that run was even more impressive than McClenathan's 4.54 and the pass of the race … Did you notice who was the runner-up in Super Stock? Five-time NHRA World Champion Dave Boertman (three Super Stock crowns, two Stock titles) lost to Jeff Sexton in the final. You talk about a genie you don't want out of the bottle? Pro Stock great Butch Leal replied to a 1985 question, "Dave's been out of action for a few years. Do you think he'll be rusty?" (Boertman retired in the late 1970s and had entered the '85 Winternationals). Leal said, "Rusty? He's a natural driver, a championship driver. He'll probably win the title this year." He did. … In qualifying for the Chicago race, John Force made an NHRA Funny Car field for the 239th consecutive time, an all-time drag racing record.