Drag Racing Online

JENKINS BUILDS, THEN QUALIFIES VIPER AT DARLINGTON

In one of the truly amazing drag racing feats in recent IHRA history, Shannon Jenkins and the crew at Billy Harper's Red Line Racing managed to qualify at Darlington with their brand new Viper. The team picked up the unfinished car at the Fenton, MO. shop of Jerry Haas. The basic chassis and body was done by the Haas crew, but the Viper still needed a lot of finish work to be ready to race. The Harper team started working on the car on Thursday and by the second round on Friday they had the Viper ready to race. Without even a "squirt" to make sure everything was right, Jenkins pulled the bright blue Viper out on the track did a long, smoky burnout and proceeded to rip off a 6.456 / 217.70 lap that qualified him for the elite 16 car field. A tip of Agent N20's hat to Jenkins and the entire Red Line crew.

WHEN IS A '41 WILLYS NOT A '41 WILLYS?

Evidently, the decision makers at IHRA (perhaps that should read the decision maker, Bill Bader) have decided that, at least in the case of '41 Willys, the body rules don't apply. Supposedly, Shannon Jenkins' and Tommy Mauney's '41 Willys were grandfathered cars and were the last of a breed, but this year's Darlington race saw more of them than ever including Alan Pittman's new supercharged car (above) and Barney Squires' nitrous car.

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