TWO TWO-CAR PRO STOCK TEAMS FOR MOPAR NEXT YEAR

At the Las Vegas SEMA Show, Mopar unveiled its new Hemi-powered Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock challenger for the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season.

Two Mopar-backed Pro Stock teams fielding four drivers will be guiding the factory program. Veteran team owner and driver Allen Johnson and three-time Pro Stock World Champion Darrell Alderman will team together in the first two-car factory operation. Veteran Pro Stock campaigner and team owner Larry Morgan will expand to a two-car operation; joining forces with current NHRA Road to the Future candidate and 2001 IHRA Pro Stock World Champion Gene Wilson on the other Mopar factory team.

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"With (Allen) Johnson, together with Darrell (Alderman) driving, I think we have two of the top drivers in the category," Brett Fischer, DaimlerChrysler drag racing program manager said. "We also feel that Roy Johnson is one of the top engine builders in the pit area. We're looking forward to our partnership with the Johnson team in their chase for the Pro Stock World Championship in 2003. The other two-car team will have Larry Morgan and Gene Wilson. They are two other incredible drivers with a great engine program. With our increased engineering support, we will be more competitive for race victories each weekend. It's what we need to be doing as a manufacturer. We are at a point where we are competitive, but we haven't made a real dent in the Pro Stock championship. Mopar wants to win. Mopar wants to win another championship. And we want to dominate. We want half the field, or the entire field, to eventually be Dodges. That's the direction we are heading. There are going to be a lot of changes for next year." [11-7-2002]

SCELZI INSISTS NO DEAL YET

The motorhome ad is proof. Gary Scelzi said he wouldn't have renewed the ad in National Dragster to sell his motorhome if he planned to be back out on the NHRA trail immediately.

Scelzi, swamped with phone calls once the news broke Oct. 31 that Scotty Cannon was leaving Don Schumacher's operation to run his own Pro Modified team in 2003, said he's waiting like everyone else to learn what Schumacher plans to do with the vacant Funny Car seat. He said neither Schumacher nor Jim Jannard, founder and chairman of sponsor Oakley, have phoned him about replacing Cannon.

"Don Schumacher never has promised me something he hasn't delivered," Scelzi said. He said when he and Schumacher talked earlier this season, both understood if they were to strike a deal it would be one with proper funding, one that would be run in a first-class manner.

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"I'm ready to get back in a Funny Car. But my motorhome is for sale in National Dragster," Scelzi said. "I don't have any use for it. I'm not in any financial trouble. I just don't have any use for it. I wouldn't have spent another $300 renewing the ad so it would come out at Pomona if I were going to need it right away." [11-05-2002]

 

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