LOOKING FOR 'SNAKES' IN THE JUNKYARD

This weekend the popular TV show Junkyard Wars on The Learning Channel (TLC) will host a unique competition entitled Junkyard Mega-Wars, pitting a team from Snake Racing, a team from NASCAR Penske South, and a team from Penske's Marlboro IRL Championship Team.

Composed of members from Larry Dixon's Top Fuel NHRA Championship squad and two members of the Skoal Funny Car teams versus the Penske teams, each team built cars based upon for their specialt2 in motorsports. The competition, held at SoCal's Irwindale eighth-mile dragstrip, also included a road-course and racing on the Irwindale Speedway half-mile oval.

Veteran nitro Funny Car pilot, Pat Foster, is the official judge who oversaw the build and competition. Watch for DRO photog Zak Hawthorne's altered wheelbase Chevy II on the show, driven by the host.

Junkyard Wars "Speedway Showdown" airs Sunday, May 25, on TLC at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific time.(Photo by Darr Hawthorne) [5-23-2003]

EARLVILLE CLARIFICATION

In an earlier item about the rained-out race at Earlville, Iowa being rescheduled, the Agent gave the new date as Sept. 4 (correct), but then said that was prior to the U.S. Nationals (wrong). That would be the week following the U.S. Nationals. Let's see . . . it's "I" before "E" except . . . no, that's not it . . . thirty days hath September . . . . Nah, forget it. Or, as Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!" [5-23-2003]

THESE GUYS NEED A WEIGHT BREAK? PT I

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Agent 1320 hears from one of his operatives that one of the Top Fuel team owners has lobbied (whined) so hard and so long to NHRA about increasing the minimum weight for Top Fuel cars that NHRA is going to give in and add 25 lbs to the minimum weight, starting with Chicago.

The Agent has just a couple of observations about this. Who really cares about this tempest in a teapot other than the 16-25 Top Fuel teams that regularly compete on the NHRA/IHRA circuits and didn't IHRA just change their rules for the class and reduce their minimum weight to pacify those guys? [5-23-2003]

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