EAGLE ONE ENDS NHRA TEAM SPONSORSHIPS

Eagle One has chosen not to renew the contracts with NHRA Pro Stock driver/owner Ron Krisher or the Vance and Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle team and rider Matt Hines. The move comes as Eagle One, as they say in their press release, has begun to pursue more of a "product-specific marketing strategy that emphasizes other elements of the marketing mix besides sponsorship." Eagle One is the appearance products division of The Valvoline Company. [10-31-2002]

MOPAR SAYS NO PAR TO SKUZA?

It's true, according to a conversation an operative had with Don Skuza, Dean's father. He received a letter from MOPAR on October 22 stating that they had decided not to continue their sponsorship of the team1s Dodge Stratus R/T for next season.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It kind of took me by surprise. I really thought I had a contract through 2003 and it does say that, but there was this tiny, little, midget clause in there that they have the right to not renew 2003 and so did I," said the head of the Skuza family.

"If there's any animosity, it's because of the way it was handled in lower management (at MOPAR). I don't think it was handled that way from upstairs. I've been with MOPAR for eight years. There's no way in hell I can find a sponsor in three months, I mean most corporate budgets are set for next year, but I'm a racer and I'll be looking for sponsorship right up until Pomona (Winternationals).

Skuza added, "I ran this car out of my own pocket for three years and got some good sponsorship, but I guarantee if I'd have gotten the word (from MOPAR) in June I would have had another sponsor by now. We've been racing for 12 years, we've got something to offer." (photo by Zak Hawthorne) [10-30-2002]

SAMMY MILLER KILLED IN OIL WELL ACCIDENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Legendary rocket car pilot Slammin' Sammy Miller was killed October 29 in an oil well fire near Crane, Texas. Miller, 57, was working with a crew injecting air into a line containing hydrochloric acid and using a heat-related process to melt and remove paraffin from the well when it burst into flames. Miller worked for a New Jersey company which was working on the Texas well and was the only one killed. At least eight other men were injured. The accident is still under investigation.

Miller raced fuel Funny Cars before switching to rockets in 1976. At the helm of the Vanishing Point, a Vega-bodied car, he recorded the first ever three-second pass in 1979. A number of Vanishing Point Funny Cars followed, along with the Oxygen rocket dragster and a jet dragster. He also set a world ice speed record when he put skis on the Oxygen dragster and ran 247 mph. [10-30-2002]

(next page)