Wed, 12 Jan 2005, 09:59 AM
Either Kurt or I Will Win the Championship
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By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2005 Auto Imagery, Inc.
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Warren Johnson
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With only a few weeks before the opening of the season,
Warren Johnson is one of the few Pro
Stock drivers who hasn’t made much noise during the off-season. While a lot of
the other teams, new and old, have been testing in Florida, the “Professor” of Pro
Stock has been holding class in his laboratory in Georgia. “We’re making
progress and expect to be running right near the top this year,” Warren told
me. And when I asked him what his realistic expectations are for 2005, without
missing a beat he said, “Well I can tell you this, either Kurt or I will win
the championship.” Never at a loss for words or opinions, Warren Johnson heads
into the new year just as he has the past thirty-four years, with a full
expectation of excellence and nothing else. With a record that is unmatched in
the history of the class, and except for
John
Force in the history of the sport, Warren will embark on his
“School’s Out” tour with a new car, a
new paint scheme and the same old desire to be the best. He will also face
increased media scrutiny in every market where he will make his last official
start as a full time Pro Stock driver. When I asked him if he’s looking forward
to his last year as a driver he responded with, “Who said it will be my last
year?” As we know, and as he made clear at the end of last year, Warren holds
Kurt Johnson
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out the possibility of driving at some races in 2006 and he told me that there
will be no less than three cars running out of the Warren Johnson shop in 2006.
Three. But first things first…2005. While he has been busy working on the
engine program at the shop he is also waiting to take
delivery of his new
Jerry Haas car in a week or so. “It’s at the paint shop now and whether
we go testing anywhere soon will depend on when it gets down here.” Warren
wasn’t specific about where he will test but there is a possibility that he’ll
be in Las Vegas the week before Pomona. Then again, he could test at Mid-State
Dragway in Illinois or any other track in the country because that’s just the
way Warren is. You never know when or where he will show up in the pre-season. Then
there’s that ever-present question….who will be the new driver for Warren
Johnson? When I asked W.J. about that he said that there is no shortage of
applicants. “I have about 3,700 résumés on my desk,” he said. “And that
includes a few from Turkey and Japan. They may be able to drive but that
language barrier could be a problem.”
The opportunity to drive for Warren Johnson has to be as
exciting for any driver as the chance to drive for John Force was last year
(and this year to some extent) and we all know about the activity that
surrounded John’s selection process last year. In Warren you’re talking about
one of the true legends of the sport and to be tabbed by him as his successor
(Warren won’t like that word) has to be the pinnacle of anyone’s career. The
selection process will be long and intense and, according to Warren, the person
he selects has to be presentable, has to be able to speak well, have a good
personality and make a nice presentation. “The requirements for a driver are so
different from what they were even five years ago,” Warren said. “Anyone can
drive, except you, Bob. But I need a racer and that’s an entirely different
David Connolly
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Erica Enders
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thing from just getting a driver. Plus they will have to be able to work with
the sponsors and the media and that’s something you didn’t have to do when I
got started.” After I thanked him for that vote of confidence I told Warren that
I was surprised that he hadn’t already made his choice. I figured that he is so
calculating and meticulous in everything that he does that he would know before
he made the announcement to retire who his driver would be. “There are so many
things that can happen over the course of a year and if I already made my
choice I may miss some great young driver who comes along this year.” He then
said that it will be about the middle of the season before he seriously starts
taking applications and trimming the field. Somehow, though, I believe that
field of 3,700 may already have been trimmed just a bit…The new Chevrolet
Cobalts should start coming off the assembly line in the near future although I
don’t think we’ll see many of them in actual Pro Stock competition before the
fourth or fifth race of the season at best….And from what I hear, the teams of
Victor Cagnazzi and
Mike Dzurilla may have been the biggest
recipients of
Jeg Coughlin’s
defection to the Mopar brand. By that I mean that some of the GM dollars that
Jeg got may have gone to those two other teams which should make
Dave Connolly and
Erica Enders very
competitive….as if they weren’t going to be anyway.
Gary Ormsby Jr
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Gary Ormsby Jr.,
who ran at a four races last year is looking to add to that total in ’05. “Were
planning on going to at least 12 races and probably fifteen,” he said. “And if
everything goes well we could run a lot more.” ….One of the most popular
drivers in the sport could be returning to action very soon.
Dean Skuza, who sat out all last year,
is in talks with a company that would allow the fast talking, slick driving,
drum playing, poker loving star to return and maybe as early as Gainesville.
Dean told me that there is a really good chance that this sponsor deal will
come through although as we all know, nothing is done in this business until
the check clears. “We are close, but I know you’ve heard that before,” he said.
“My dad and I would love to get back out there and want to thank all of the
fans who keep checking in and keep asking about us.” While he hasn’t been
racing, word is that Dean has been playing on a few of those on-line poker
Skuza at Pomona 2003
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tournaments, and I’m pretty sure he’s not playing on the free sites, if you
know what I mean. What a treat it would be to see Dean and his dad back at the
races. And if you want to know how serious they are, they still have a couple
of employees from the old race team under contract and on the payroll and they
do have a car that could be ready to go in a relatively short period of time.
“If this thing gets done in the next week or so we’d like to be out and running
by Gainesville,” Dean said. Let’s hope so…
A drag racer who once finished ahead of Gary Beck, Del Worsham and Doug
Herbert in the points is returning to Top Fuel this year. OK, so that’s a
little bit of a “trick answer,” but Rod
Fuller will be driving a Top Fuel car at Pomona and you should hear all of
the details about that real soon. Did
you know that Rod drove a car in 1995 and 1996 and that in ’95 he
Rod Fuller
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actually finished ahead of those drivers that I mentioned in the final
standings? Pretty cool, huh? With the help of
home builder
David Powers and
with tuning by
Keith Adams, Rod and
the team will hit the testing trail at Las Vegas before Pomona and then come to
the Winternationals. Like so may teams who are just starting out, this team
plans to run a “limited schedule” to start off and then see what happens from
there. Of course beginning the season at Pomona is always a good thing because
if you qualify and win a round you’re in the top ten in points and that adds a
few
POWERade bucks to your pocket
when you go to Phoenix. That’s why I always urge new teams to begin the season
with race number one, the Winternationals. Can’t hurt, can it?
The Pro Stock Bike field has had the most activity during
the off-season and it keeps getting stronger every day it seems. The newest
entry is the D-7 standout and AHDRA drag racer, Chris Rivas who will ride the Mohegan
Sun Buell this year. Chris will drive the bike that is owned by Brian Bozsum and Jessey Fenton. With an accomplished rider and a well financed team,
it could be that there’s another player in the bike class…. Team Schumacher has announced that the
veteran tuner Steve Tartaglia will
take over as crew chief for Angelle and that should assure continuity in her
program. Did you know that
Steve was a rider at one of the very first NHRA Pro Stock Bike races way back
in 1985? Steve entered the U.S. Nationals in 1985 but he failed to qualify for
the event, but then again so did some guy by the name of George Bryce and he turned out OK, didn’t he. However the new teams
do this year one thing seems certain, the Pro Stock Bike class is alive and
well and the first race in Florida should be very exciting.
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