LET'S TWIST AGAIN

Chris, I read your list of favorites - you are a very twisted individual.

You have to like that in a person.

Don Seamans

DEAR MR. MORGAN

Hello DRO. I'd like to offer this response to Cliff Morgan of Phoenix, concerning his letter of happy stories about San Fernando Raceway. Your letter was great, jogged my memories loose and made me grin. However, one small correction. Barry Kaplan's Junior Fueler was called "Special K" and him whipping "the Vipe" at the Pond reminded me of our own Junior Fueler whipping a few biggies at Carlsbad during one of the Friday night Top Fuel shows.

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We were Lincoln & Jones J/F .... remember us? We qualified each of the twelve Friday night shows except two. On this particular night we beat 1) Jimmy "Superman" Nicoll; 2) The Late John "Savage" Martin; 3) Tommy "The Watchdog" Allen and won the event, without running quicker than 8.48 ET all night! Our secret to success was our driver Jack "the Giant-Killer" Jones! He was and still is one of the best "leavers" the sport has ever seen. He is usually mentioned in the lists of Top 10 All-Time Best Starting Line Artists, such as Carl Olsen, John "Zookeeper" Mulligan, Don "You Know Who" Prudhomme, Walt "Gas House Gang" Rhodes and "Big Daddy" Himself.

Thanks for the memories.

Regards,

Rik Chidester
Poulsbo, WA

A NEW MORGAN MISSIVE

What's going on with Don Garlits? I had heard that he was gonna run a T/F car in 2004, but nothing came of it. Does he have any plans for 2005?

Also, wanted to comment on rear wings for T/F. I wonder if they could get by without wings like they have now? Jack Harris just ran 262 MPH in a nostalgia front motored AA/FD, and all he had was those side pod deals that they run. It sure seems like he is getting a lot of down force with those units, since he ran that speed on those little 12-inch tires they use. I also wonder if a "wedge" design could be effective? I'm remembering Don Prudhommes' car from around 1971, plus the Greek and Connie Kalitta and a few others. The thinking back then was that the wedge design had too much downforce. Would that design work today?

Re: Pro Mod. The new rules for the NHRA cars will allow 800 plus CID motors on gas and nitrous. I'm wondering if that combination will actually be competitive with the new rules? I'd expect 5.90's at over 230 with that combo, but it might not be enough against blowers and turbos. I know they want to put on a show that will attract spectators, and I feel they're looking for 5.80's or quicker. I don't think that even the new limit gas and nitrous motor can do that, so why not let the nitrous guys run the big motor and alcohol? That would seem to be more in line with the blower and turbo cars. Just a thought.

Cliff Morgan
Phoenix, AZ