DENSHAM FLUNKS
ENTIRE CLASS

Words by Chris Martin (Editor at Large)
Photos by Ron Lewis
9/9/04

Thirty six years ago, Gary Densham teamed with Bob Walker and campaigned a 1970 Pinto Funny Car that, to put it politely, didn’t run all that well. Pretty much first-round fodder, all things considered, but how things have changed since that first Funny Car. This past Labor Day Weekend, the retired Bellflower, Calif., high school auto shop teacher, not only won the U.S. Nationals Funny Car event title, but the $100,000-to-win Skoal Showdown. Not too hard to surmise that the former “Teacher’s Pet” driver was the guy at the Funny Car blackboard at “Clermont High.”

Friday night qualifying was the first tip-off that Densham’s power-laden, Jimmy Prock-tuned Ford Mustang had the potential to make life miserable for the rest of the seven cars in the eight-car field and that included boss and No. 1 qualifier John Force, who eventually runner-upped to the Auto Club-backed Mustang. While qualifying alongside Phil Burkart in the Worsham Family’s Checker-Schuck’s-Kragen Monte Carlo, Densham ripped the run of the night, a 4.795/320.58, to stretch out the East Coaster’s very good 4.867/316.45. Ironically, Densham never ran anywhere near that well as he was spilling blood in Showdown eliminations.

As any veteran Indy watcher can tell you, Sunday afternoon is almost always hot and a tad muggy and, although the climes were cooler and a bit more comfortable this year, the eight select Funny Cars became ill-tempered as the afternoon wore on. As a result, the times dropped off like a 15-story suicide.

On Densham’s side of the ladder, two mediocre elapsed times came up in his first two wins. He spun to a 5.13 to handle Del Worsham and a 5.17 in beating last year’s defending U.S. Nationals event champ Tim Wilkerson, both numbers greatly aided by the fact that his two competitors were fogged in by tire smoke.

The big factor according to Densham was crew chief Prock. “Anything to do with Indy is special. Just like today, if you give him (Prock) enough chances he’ll figure things out.”

Evidently.

For the final, the unsinkable, most likely 2004 POWERade champ Force, had been applying the brass knuckles to his opponents and looked for all the world like the winner of the 100 grand. In every part of the world, except for where Densham was standing. As per usual, Force’s crew chief Austin Coil overwhelmed the hot, slippery IRP surface with cold, brutal science, dishing his guy 4.90 and 4.87 times while the less-tractioned  Burkart and Tony Pedregon floundered in the fives.

As flawless as he looked, Force’s familiar Castrol GTX Ford lost its four-second adhesion, slowing to a 5.083/270.05, and falling to Densham’s 4.893/316.08.

“I never saw him,” Densham recalled. “I don’t have a rear-view mirror in my car. That was a great time. It was just a couple of old friends having a great drag race.”

Well, that’s certainly true for one guy.

U.S. Nationals Pre-Race Quotes — 9/2/04 Austin Coil’s 23rd FC Showdown — 8/31/04 Chris Martin chaws on the Skoal Showdown — 8/31/04