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"I could care less about points this weekend, I wanted to win Indy," said Dixon, who also won this race as a rookie in 1995. "If I won here, I was going to get all the points anyway. We don't have a John Force kind of lead in this deal. If Winston was cutting checks this weekend, we'd be in good shape, but we have six races to go." HESS UP TO THE HEMI CHALLENGE By David Harris
It's often hard to relive the glory days, but when Bucky Hess piloted his 426-cubic-inch Hemi-powered 1968 Plymouth Barracuda through the IRP timing lights to win the $10,000 Mopar Performance Parts Hemi Super Stock Challenge, there was more than one memory rekindled. In front of a large professional qualifying crowd, Hess took on the Hemi-powered 1968 Plymouth Barracuda of James Keyes. As in the days of lore, the two performed a burn down in the staging lanes and Keyes took a starting line advantage. But as quick as Keyes started, it was over as mechanical woes set in. Hess cruised to a 9.072-second elapsed time at 145.67 mph to take the victory. "For some reason, I came into this weekend with a lot of confidence," Hess said. "I've been racing hard all year and I felt good. I told (ESPN announcer) Brett Kepner that they were going to have to beat me this weekend. And I stayed with that same game plan. My friend kept my head on straight and I was able to cut good lights, which helped me get a lot of wins." Limited production Plymouth Barracudas and Dodge Darts have had a long and illustrious history at the U.S. Nationals. In 1968, Allen Vanke drove a Super Stock Barracuda to victory and Ronnie Sox, of the famous Sox and (Buddy) Martin duo, took home the 1969 title in another 1968 Hemi-powered Barracuda. Ron Mancini drove his 1968 Hemi Dart to Super Stock victory in 1970, while Don McCullum's 1968 Barracuda took home the Stock Automatic victory in 1994. |
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