WYATT GOES NATIONWIDE

Iowa nitro veteran Jack Wyatt will be going national in 2003. Long known as one of the last true match racers, Wyatt will be in play at all NHRA national events starting with the 2003 Winternationals. He will be sporting the colors of Piranha Z Sportswear, the "Apparel with Attitude" people from Madison, Wisconsin.

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Piranha Z spokesman Jeff Summers said, "We have been looking for the right person to carry the Piranha Z name into the nitro wars. Jack Wyatt's level of experience, talent and dedication make him the right man for the job, and we are fortunate to have him on our team."

Wyatt's nitro Funny Car will sport three different graphics themes during the 2003 season: Piranha Z Motorsports, Mafia Motorsports, and Chemical X Motorsports.

Wyatt will begin preparing for his 2003 tour by attending the NHRA Tucson Tune-up prior to the 2003 NHRA Winternationals. He will be dialing in his newly acquired Racepak computer, and will be consulting with several well-known nitro tuners as he gets up to speed for 2003. According to Wyatt, "All we are lacking is laps. The more laps you run, the more you learn. This deal gives us the chance to make the laps we need to learn to become a factor during elimination's." [11-15-2002]

WHO IS THAT MASKED MAN?

HockeyTime USA recently scored the fall season championship in the Atlanta (Georgia) Amateur Hockey League's Over-35 division, with DRO's resident goaltender, Ian Tocher, posting a 1-0 shutout in the final game. DRO publisher Jeff Burk -- who is familiar only with the ice floating in his evening cocktails -- sometimes bemoaned Ian's Monday night games when they delayed his post-race submissions, but now that a championship is in the bag, he's jumped on the HockeyTime bandwagon. "Punt!" he said. [11-15-2002]

IS JERRY TOLIVER REALLY BACK IN A FUNNY CAR?

As reported recently in this column, another probable F/C seat change is in the works. The Agent hears that Jerry Toliver will replace Bruce Sarver in the Johnson Family's White Cap Toyota Celica for next season. Looks like Toliver will be bringing aboard some sponsorship money and some of his own rolling stock left over from the WWF deal to utilize as back-ups.

Toliver and Johnson were sure hanging around a lot at the Pomona Finals and this shot from Sunday night was spotted by DRO photog Zak Hawthorne.

No word as to Bruce Sarver's plans for 2003. [11-12-2002]

ASHLEY DENIES ALLEGATIONS

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Calling the lawsuit recently filed against him white collar terrorism and legal extortion, Mike Ashley denied the accusations of fraud reported in Newsday.com.

"This whole event is about two civil lawsuits brought by a non-profit law group on a mission," Ashley said. "It's not only about money. It's about extorting money for nothing."

Referring to the Newsday article, Ashley said, "A local New York newspaper recently published an article, designed as a personal vendetta to defame and attack my business and my family. This article is about collusion between a rookie journalist looking to make a name for himself and an attorney. Both are currently being investigated."

In a November 8 press release, Ashley stated that he plans to file suit seeking damages from the parties responsible. [11-12-2002]