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*  The varied Pro Stock field consisted of Chevrolet Vegas and Camaros, Ford Mustangs, Mavericks and Mustang IIs, Dodge Darts, a Plymouth Duster and an AMC Hornet.

*  This was the first NHRA event with sponsorship from Winston, marking the beginning of a 27-year relationship between the sanctioning body and the title sponsor.

*  Other winners that day included Marvin Graham over Shirley Muldowney in the Top Fuel final, marking the first appearance of a woman in an NHRA professional final round, and current team owner Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, who drove his U.S. Army Chevy Monza to the win over Raymond Beadle in the Blue Max Mustang II in the Funny Car final.

WJ's FIRST COLUMBUS FINAL - 1976

Race Car: 1975 Chevrolet Camaro
Performance:  WJ qualified second, 8.84 seconds, 155.17 mph
Defeated Wayne Gapp, Larry Lombardo and Bob Glidden Lost to Wally Booth

In Warren's Words:

"I was still racing my Camaro, which I had nicknamed 'The Incredible Hulk'. Funnily enough, I don't remember anything specific about our performance that weekend. However, any time you can reach the final round, it's a good weekend, so I guess we weren't doing too bad."

Notes of the time:

*  This was the second career final round appearance for WJ in nine career starts, and came on the heels of his first championship round showing at the previous race the 1975 Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL.

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*  Although WJ ran his quickest elapsed time of the weekend in the final at 8.81 seconds, it was not enough to hold off Booth, who posted low elapsed time of the event in the final at 8.74 seconds.

*  Warren did set Top Speed of the Event in the final with his 156.25-mph top speed.

*  Booth was the No. 1 qualifier at 8.82 seconds, with Rich Simone rounding out the 16-car field with his 9.25-second clocking.

*  Once again, the Pro Stock field consisted of a mixture of cars, with Chevrolet Camaros, Monzas and Vegas, Ford Mustangs, Pintos and Mustang IIs, a Plymouth Duster, a Dodge Colt and Booth's AMC Hornet.

*  Other winners included Shirley Muldowney in Top Fuel, who defeated Bob Edwards in the final and Don Prudhomme over Tom McEwen in the Funny Car final, in one of the classic "Snake vs. Mongoose" confrontations.

WJ's FIRST NHRA COLUMBUS WIN - 1985

Race Car: 
1985 Olds Calais
Performance: 
WJ qualified third, 7.644 seconds, 181.52 mph
Defeated Sam Giannino, Gordie Rivera, Butch Leal and Bruce Allen

 
 

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