MR SMITH GOES TO INDY

One of the famous "Smith Bros," who are the sons of NHRA funny car tuner extraordinaire Paul Smith, was seen at the IHRA event at Martin, Michigan where he was tuning Tim Cullinan's Top Fuel car. Smith said he was putting together some of the pieces that were lying around the family homestead so that he would have a car to drive at the U.S. Nationals. [7-30-2002]

CSK ADDS THIRD CAR

The Checker-Schucks-Kragen Funny Car team has expanded to three cars for at least two races. Cory Lee will join Del Worsham and Johnny Gray in the team's attempt to derail reigning class champion John Force. The Pontiac Firebird will compete at Brainerd, Minn., in August and at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend, with the remainder of the 2002 season still a question mark.

"We won't keep trotting it out there if the chase becomes unrealistic," Worsham said. But he said one thing's for certain: "It will be a Mustang hunter, pure and simple.

"The idea is to capitalize on the position we're in and give us the best possible shot at ending the Force dynasty," said Worsham, who's third in points while the Force troika occupies positions 1, 2 and 4. "It's the first time in my career I've been in a position even to see John on the horizon at this point in the season. I don't want to keep battling and maybe come close to giving him a run for it but come up a couple rounds short and wonder what we could have done to make up the difference."

He called Lee "a very good driver, a talented mechanic and an incredibly hard worker" and said the team decided to make the announcement now to dispel rumors.

Garry "Skippy" Kennedy, who most recently has worked on Shirley Muldowney's Top Fuel dragster, will be Lee's crew chief. [7-30-2002]

TOP SPORTSMAN TO BE ADDED TO OTHER NHRA DIVISIONS?

The Agent hears that NHRA's Division 4, which includes Texas where fast doorslammers are plentiful, may be the next NHRA division to adopt IHRA's Top Sportsman class, joining Division 2 which adopted the class earlier this year. The Agent keeps hearing rumors that track operators at the division level want to add a class similar to Pro Mod to the division races to bring more cars in the back gate and attract more paying spectators to division meets which in many cases attract cars but very few spectators. Here is a question: Why don't these tracks try to book the same Pro Mods that run NHRA national events? [7-30-2002]

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

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Seattle hometown hero Brady Kalivoda, 29, a magna cum laude graduate of Central Washington University, returned to Top Fuel competition for the first time since last November's NHRA Finals. He earned his first career round-win in an ugly pedaling duel with Ken Zeal, whose dragster broke an axle.

Kalivoda's father, Dick, won the first event at Pacific Raceways when the track opened in 1960. And Brady, the No. 8 qualifier, made the first run of final eliminations after the facility reverted to its original name. For the past 25 years, the track has been known as Seattle International Raceway. [7-30-2002]