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Sponsors May Come
And Go, But Coil Is A Constant
By Dave Densmore
Photos by Jeff Burk
8/31/04
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INDIANAPOLIS,
Ind. – With Budweiser’s departure
as the title sponsor, there remains but
one constant in the NHRA Funny Car bonus
race that this week celebrates its 23rd
birthday.
With the exit of the founding sponsor,
only crew chief extraordinaire Austin
Coil, architect of the John Force Racing
dynasty, can claim direct involvement
in EVERY incarnation of the re-christened
Skoal Showdown, a race born in 1982 as
the Big Bud Shootout.
In fact, Coil is the only driver, owner
or crew chief to have placed a car in
the lineup each and every season the
race has been contested in conjunction
with the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. |
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Coil, who claimed two
NHRA Funny Car championships before he
came to John Force Racing, Inc., in 1985,
won the inaugural Big Bud Shootout in
1982 with Frank Hawley as his driver.
He and Force subsequently won at Indianapolis
Raceway Park in 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996
and 2000 and were runners-up five other
times, most recently in 2003.
The Hall of Fame mechanic, who on Sept.
1st celebrates his 59th birthday, earned
$25,000 for his 1982 victory. He and
Force will race for a $100,000 top prize
on Sunday. Coil’s total earnings
in the Showdown? $469,500; $375,000 of
that total in winners’ purses. |
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Force, who has driven the Coil-tuned Castrol
GTX Start Up Ford Mustang to four victories
this season, will go into Sunday’s event
as the No. 1 seed, a position he has occupied
13 times in the last 14 seasons. He will oppose
first time qualifier Phil Burkart Jr. in one
of the key first round races.
Also in the Skoal Showdown field are Force’s
teammate, Gary Densham, the No. 2 seed at the
wheel of the Automobile Club of Southern California
Ford Mustang; Dodge drivers Gary Scelzi and
Whit Bazemore; and Chevrolet drivers Del Worsham,
Tony Pedregon and Burkart.
Densham, winless in four previous Skoal Showdown
appearances, will oppose Worsham in another
first round match. Pedregon won last year’s
Skoal Showdown in a Castrol-backed John Force
Racing Ford. He left the team at season’s
end to join brother Cruz in forming Pedregon
Brothers Racing.
Although he can’t match Coil’s
Skoal Showdown credentials, Force qualified
this year for the 21st time. His competitive
record in the bonus race is 31-15. Force has
won five Showdown events—one less than
Austin Coil.
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