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Tue, 10 Mar 2009, 09:50 PM

I Don't Know What It Is But I Want One

By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2009 Auto Imagery, Inc. & BME Photography

Harold Martin

With the first big east coast race of the year, the AC Delco Gatornationals, only days away, I'm really excited about my upcoming trip to Florida. First of all, as I mentioned last week, I'll get to attend the Hall of Fame inductions on Thursday night and I'm really looking forward to that. Then the pros will get to strut their stuff in front of the huge Florida crowd for the rest of the weekend and we'll see some of the great sportsman racers do battle for the Gatornationals' championships. And let's not forget that we'll also see the debut of the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge series. As most of you know who follow this column with some sense of regularity, I don't usually mention much about the Pro Mod cars. Now that's not because I don't enjoy them, it's more a matter of space and time. By the time I touch on the three or four pro classes and the sportsman racers who did well at each national event, there just isn't much time to go into the Pro Mod cars. But this year I'll be watching them at little more closely than before and that's for a couple of reasons. First of all, it looks like there is a multi-year deal in place that will keep the Pro Mod cars

Martin Pro Stock in '84.

visiting the NHRA races for the next three years. Secondly, I can't wait to see Harold Martin's new car in person. I don't even know what it is (I think Harold calls it an M4), but I want one. While I don't pretend to be an expert on the Pro Mod class I have to say that Harold's car is the neatest thing to hit the track in a long time. It's swoopy (that's a technical term, you know), creative, unique, and really cool. With all the places that the Pro Mods have to run this year (and it's a shame that several of those dates overlap), I sure hope Harold makes at least one appearance at the NHRA events so I can see his creation up close. Did you know that Harold ran Pro Stock on the NHRA tour many years ago? That's right and Harold was part of the class of 1973 at Indy as well as several other events. OK, so he didn't make the field at Indy that year (or any other years for that matter) but he was there. Did you know that Harold wasn't alone in the DNQ group in 1973? Others who didn't make the cut that year included Roy Hill, Jeg Coughlin Sr. and Frank Iaconio. Anyway, I congratulate Harold on his new car and I hope he does well with it. I also hope I get to see it sometime.

Del Cox
It's no surprise to those of you who read this column on a regular or semi-regular basis that I am a big Paul Smith fan. I have watched Paul race either as a tuner or driver for almost forty years and he never ceases to amaze me how well he does. I have said for a long time that several of the "big name" teams would have done well to hire him either as a tuner or a consultant a long time ago and they would be infinitely better off than they are now. Granted, not every team, but some. Look what he did with Del Cox this past weekend at the IHRA national event. The kid qualified number one and then went to the semi-finals before bowing out, plus he qualified at both Pomona and Phoenix. Well, Paul gets another chance to show his stuff this weekend when he and his son, Mike, bring their Chevrolet to Gainesville to compete in the Funny Car class. With help from their cousin Vinny (not really their cousin, just a good friend) and Diamond Freight Distribution, Paul and Mike will try to make the FC

Mike Smith last year.
field with their new McKinney car and I think they will. And then, when the weekend is over they will hang around for a test session on Monday that will also include having Brian Thiel make a few passes in the car in an attempt to get his Funny Car license. Brian, who just recently stepped up to the alky class, has big ambitions and some of them include joining the "big show" before too long, and with Paul as his mentor that should be a reality in the very near future. In addition to Diamond Freight Distribution you will also see the name of Paul Smith's Drag Racing School on the side of the car as he looks to drum up business for the school which teaches both driving and mechanics. Did you know that Paul competed in nineteen Gatornationals events? Good luck to Paul and Mike this weekend....Driving schools seem to be the hot item right now and former sport compact champion Nelson Hoyos has joined the fraternity. While I was at Palm Beach International Raceway this past weekend I ran into Nelson who is running a school at the track that's called "Driven2Win." Always a very personable young man, Nelson has a good program going and if you're in the Palm Beach area why not give him a

call. He can be reached at 954-993-2807, or at www.drive2windragracingschool.com, and he has a lot of programs and courses to offer. Like a lot of the other schools Nelson offers packages from simple ride-along programs to courses that result in you getting an NHRA license in Super Comp....I have to say that I wish I had planned better and stayed around PBIR until Monday when the Team Schumacher cars were there for testing along with the two cars from Connie Kalitta's camp. It's not so much that I wanted to watch the cars run or watch a test session, it's just that they have this really cool go kart track at PBIR and I know that Ron Capps, Cory McClenathan and the other drivers will be making a few laps on that track. Hey, they're racers and that's what they do. Let's just hope they all come out in one piece.

Since I mentioned qualifying, or not qualifying in Pro Stock, I thought I'd point out something about the Gatornationals. Did you know that in the first

Al Joniec
year of this race, 1970, Ronnie Sox qualified number one at 9.79? That was pretty impressive since the second guy, Bill Jenkins, qualified at 9.90 and the bump man was Al Joniec (who visited Pomona and Arizona this year) with a 10.36. Think about that the next time you talk about the "good old days." How much fun would it be to see a Pro Stock field today that had a gap of over half a second from top to bottom?....The new Ford Cobra Jets have received a lot of coverage since they came out at Pomona and not only in the automotive press. There was a nice article in the New York Times over the weekend that featured a nice shot of John Calvert's Mustang at the Winternationals. The Cobra Jets have a long history in drag racing that dates back to the days before Pro Stock was even a class. Joniec ran one for a long while and so did a host of other top runners in the NHRA world and the cars have become classic collectibles for both racers and fans of street cars alike. The Cobra Jets will just be one of many cars featured in the new book, The History of Pro Stock that is being released soon by NHRA. With over 240

John Calvert
classic pictures and descriptions of the cars, the book will trace the evolution of the class from the Super Stockers, to the A/FX cars to the class as we know it today. National Dragster veteran John Jodauga had a lot of input into the book and nobody knows the class better than he does. Well, maybe Rick Voegelin, but for the most part John knows just about everything about the Pro Stock class. The book should be a good read and, with the availability of pictures from the National Dragster archives, the photos should be great, too.... Did you know that before the Pro Stock class came about and while NASCAR was sanctioning drag races, they had a class called "Ultra Stock" which was a forerunner of today's Pro Stock class? The class featured cars divided by weight groups and it included Fords, Mopars and Chevrolets at the time. It was a lot of fun and I can remember announcing for some of the big NASCAR meets when they came to Atco Dragway in the late 1960's. If you happen to have a copy of the July, 1967 Super Stock Magazine around your house you can read all about Al Joniec's Ultra Stock Mustang, the famous "Batcar." Or at least it was one of the famous "Batcars." Of course a lot of people will say that the Ultra Stock cars really morphed into Funny Cars more than Pro Stock although teams did end up in both places. Sox and Martin, Dick Landy, Arnie Beswick, Don Nicholson and others all ran in

WJ in '00 final.
that class at one time or another as did Ford advocates like Wayne Gapp and Dave Lyall. Gee, I wonder if Harold Martin ever had an Ultra Stocker?...Like the Gatornationals, the Pro Stock class first saw the light of day in 1970 and both have become extremely popular parts of the NHRA scene since then, and if there was ever a place for Warren Johnson to break the biggest drought of his career, this would be the place. Did you know that "WJ" has won the Florida race nine times? The next best on the list are Darrell Alderman and Lee Shepherd who both won three Gatornationals. Warren has a great record in final rounds at Gainesville, posting a 9-1 mark in the money round. Did you know that his only loss in Florida came in his first final round in 1976 when he lost to Larry Lombardo? Warren was #1 in Florida last year but still couldn't make it to the final round, so maybe he can and will do better this year. I think a win by the "Professor" would be good for the class and it would be nice to see him in the running for a spot in the "Countdown" even if he's not a big fan of the process. That's just my opinion.

Chris Karamesines
Antron Brown comes to Florida on a roll and he'll be looking to open up the season with three straight final round appearances while Larry Dixon will be looking for his first win as part of the Alan Johnson Racing team. Both will be part of a very competitive Top Fuel field this week, a field that may include Hall of Fame driver, Chris Karamesines. While the "Greek" may not have made a real mark on the sport by his performances on the NHRA tour, he was one of the pioneer drivers in the Top Fuel class and his career goes back to the very first days of nitro-powered dragsters. By way of reference, included in his resume are races against such greats as Denny Milani, Pete Robinson and John Mulligan. Did you know that Chris won his first drag racing trophy in 1955 and that he did it in an Oldsmobile-powered 1936 Ford? Really! His 200 mile per hour blast at Alton, Illinois in 1960 is the stuff that legends are made of and he continues to enjoy driving today as much as he did almost fifty years ago. Qualify or not, it will be good to see the "Greek"

Joe Amato
at Gainesville, and if you're there, stop by and say hi to a real drag racing legend...Even though Antron has taken his Matco Tools car to the final round at the first two races it looks like the Top Fuel class will be wide open this year. Tony Schumacher comes in as the defending champion and he'll be looking for his fourth Florida win. Did you know that only Joe Amato has won more times at the Gatornationals than Tony has? Joe won four times while Tony is one of four drivers who has three wins at the east coast's first race of the year..By the way, if you're racing in Top Fuel and you want to win this weekend let me give you a hint, qualify in the top half of the field. Did you know that in the previous thirty-nine years of the Gatornationals, cars in the top half of the dragster field have won thirty-seven times? Only Eddie Hill in 1988 and Dale Funk in 1975 ever qualified in the bottom half of the field and went on to the win. So like I said, don't worry about lane choice, just qualify in the top eight spots this weekend.

Hines vs. Krawiec
The motorcycles open their season this week and the class really will have a completely different look to it. As far as I know, we won't see Angelle Sampey for the first time since 1996 and that's a big loss, I think. Angelle, like so many other teams, is looking for financial help in order to go racing, but at this late date it doesn't look like it's going to happen. And, for the first time in a long while, we may not see George Bryce or the Star Racing team represented at Gainesville and that's a big loss, too. What we will see is a mix of veteran riders and some new faces this week and that should make for a wide open battle in the bike class..Andrew Hines and defending series champ, Eddie Krawiec will lead the Harley-Davidson brigade while Matt Smith will make his debut as part of the Team Schumacher entourage.Ken Koretsky has stepped up and will sponsor both Matt and Angie McBride this year and they'll be part of his "Nitro Fish" team.Karen Stoffer, coming off a couple of days of television shooting in Georgia, will return with the Geico Motorcycle Insurance sponsored team and I expect her to start well this year, just like she did in 2007 when she won the race..Steve Johnson will be attending his 21^st Gatornationals event and that's the most of anyone in the class while Mike Berry

John Sachs Jr. in '84.
will be starting the year on a new Buell. Well, new for him, but it's the bike that Ryan Schnitz rode a few years ago. James Surber, Douglas Horne, Eric McKinney and John Sachs Jr. are also on the entry list and they'll try to play the role of spoiler this week. Did you know that John Sachs raced at a couple of NHRA events back in the 1980's and 1990's and that his dad was part of the eight-bike Pro Stock field at Englishtown in 1981? Also in that '81 field was Steve Tartaglia, now the engine guru for Team Schumacher...Good luck to all the motorcycle teams as they begin their 2009 Full Throttle season.

The latest "Chicken Choker".
The alcohol cars will be part of the show this week and that's always fun. Frank Manzo, who will be making his 23^rd appearance at the Gatornationals, will be looking to win in Florida for the seventh time. Frank, still upset with himself for that red light in Pomona, will come in as the favorite but he'll get a real test from the rest of the field, including Mickey Ferro, Mick Snyder, Steve Harker and more. As strange as it seems, the field in the TAFC class is only showing fifteen cars at this moment..The alky dragster class will be loaded with five of last year's top ten in the field, including Bill Reichert, Arthur Gallant, Duane Shields and John Finke for the nitro teams and Marty Thacker for the supercharged cars....The latest version of the "Chicken Chokers" will also be there with Len Cottrell and driver Bob Weickgenannt fielding their latest blown dragster. Win, lose or draw the alky dragster class is always more fun when the "Chokers" are in the house.

Finally, I would like to salute, thank and congratulate Richard Shute and his Auto Imagery company for thirty years of great pictures. Along with Dave Kommel, Richard and his team have been providing the bulk of the photos for this column since it began years ago and I really appreciate it. They do good work (And very often make this column appear better than it is) and you'll see them trackside this weekend at Gainesville, taking great pictures and being part of drag racing history, just like they have for over a quarter of a century. Keep up the good work.