Wed, 10 Feb 2010, 01:40 AM It's the "Big Go West"

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 NHRA

Before I go any further I want to make one thing perfectly clear....I hate snow!! And 28 inches of it is more than anybody should have to shovel at one time. That's just one reason why I am really looking forward to heading west this week for the start of the 2010 Full Throttle Drag Racing season. The real reason why I'm looking forward to my first plane ride of the year is the joy and excitement that I know are waiting for me in Pomona. Hey, as long as I don't have to shovel snow I'll consider it joyful and exciting. Really!!

"Big Daddy" Don Garlits in '63.

All winter long I have mentioned the NHRA's "Most Memorable Moments" in Winternationals' history. Finally, by the time I write my next DYK column, we'll know which moment was selected as number one. I have to say that my two top picks have made the final cut, the 1971 win by "Big Daddy" Don Garlits in his revolutionary rear-engine dragster, and the 1963 win by "what's-his-name" who was driving the "Freight Train." The other three finalists are Bill Jenkins' win at the first Pro Stock race in 1970, Eddie Hill's blow-over at the 1989 race and Don Garlits' win at the 1963 event. That's the race where they used nitro for the first time at an NHRA national event and it's the race where "Big" drove that wacky, winged Top Fuel car to the win with a low elapsed time of 8.11. No, it's not a wing like we see now, this wing was mounted over the engine in the middle of the car. Hey, guys used stranger things than that to help improve performance. A piece of plywood over the front of the car comes to mind, and so does a twin-engine car that the Warren, Coburn and Miller team tried once. Did you know that they had two

The "Freight Train"

engines in a dragster and that one was a supercharged hemi-engine and the other was a carbureted, small block Chevy? Hey, whatever works for you (neither of those ideas worked, by the way). Anyway, as we wait for the top five to be named, I thought I would give you my top two. Remember, I have no advanced knowledge of the results (ok, so I do), but these two have been my top two picks all along. In second place, drum roll please, is the "Freight Train" and Floyd Lippencott. The fact that Bob Muravez wasn't supposed to be racing and he had to use a pseudonym (that's a made up name) just to be able to drive was interesting enough. Throw in the fact that nobody even knew it was him driving under any name and you have a wild and wacky weekend for one of the sport's legendary cars and drivers. I say that because all of the results list John Peters as the winning driver. Strange, but true. Did you know

"Big Daddy" Don Garlits in '71.

that in that Top Gas field that year were Connie Kalitta, Danny Ongais, Gordon Collett and Jack Chrisman? Oh yeah, the Frye Brothers were there too. No relation. Floyd, or John or Bob, or who ever was driving the "Train," beat Connie in the class finals and then beat him again for the overall championship. The winning time in Top Gas was a staggering, for the time, 8.82 - 178.21. The picture of the "Freight Train" team getting their really big trophy is a classic and, I'm proud to say, is one of the few selected pictures I have hanging on my wall at home. It's autographed, too. Hey, nothing wrong with a little name-dropping to start the year..Now, my choice for number one, and if it's not the top pick I may call for a re-count, is the 1971 race and "Big Daddy's" rear-engine dragster. After working out the bugs at an AHRA race a week earlier, Don came to Pomona and qualified in the middle of the pack (10^th) with a 6.842. That trailed the number one qualifier, Norm Wilcox, by a bunch (6.70). On race day, though, it was a different story. Don beat the "Watchdog" Tommy Allen in round one, John Nicols in round two, Carl Olson in round three and "Big Jim" Dunn in the semi-finals. And in the final round he beat..nobody!! Well, technically he beat Kenny Safford, but Kenny was broke and

Bill Jenkins vs. Ronnie Sox in 1970 Pro Stock final.

didn't show up for the final round. After a sluggish start in round one Don then set low elapsed time in each of the next three rounds before he made that solo run for the win. It was a weekend that changed drag racing forever and that's why, in my humble opinion, it's the most memorable moment in Winternationals' history. Of course I thought Don's win at Indy in 1967 was the top moment in that race's history and I was wrong there, so maybe I'll be wrong again. But I doubt it....I'm sure the folks at National DRAGSTER and NHRA.com had a lot of fun with the poll and we'll have a lot of fun announcing the winners....As a side note, Bill Jenkins' win at the first Pro Stock race was, at the time, one of the most talked about wins in the sport's history. People who were there and those who wrote about it said that the Pro Stock cars got as much or more attention then the fuel cars that year. Of course the fact that it was Bill against Ronnie Sox in the finals was a big part of the event, too.

Carl Olson in '72.

Going into the 2010 season it looks like the fields in the fuel classes will be very similar to what they were last year. That is, mostly full fields with several of the "local drivers' rounding out some of the starting spots. I know that everyone likes to say that they miss the days of the huge Top Fuel fields and, while that may be true, quantity doesn't always mean quality. By that I mean, a good field with all competitive cars may be (notice I said may be) better than a thirty-two car field with a bunch of cars that have no chance of winning. Did you know that in all the years that there were 32-car fields in TF the winner came from the bottom half of the field (spots 17 thru 32) exactly twice? Carl Olson won the Winternationals in 1972 after qualifying 29^th and Bob Gibson won the Springnationals in Dallas in 1970 from the 17^th spot. Other than those two, the drivers from the bottom half of a thirty-two car field made the final just one other time. I know that doesn't prove anything but I thought I'd point it out anyway (because that's what I do). ...For the record, as of this time there are eighteen cars entered in Top Fuel for Pomona and last year there were twenty at the race...I know that one race doesn't make a

Schumacher vs. Dixon Photo by: Auto Imagery, Inc.

season but you can be assured that Larry Dixon is hoping to get a better start than he did last year. Of course, with the way the weather played havoc with the race everyone's hoping for a better start than last year and that includes everyone at NHRA. Larry, who has been to 337 races in the Top Fuel class, failed to qualify last year for the rain-delayed event. Did you know that Larry has only failed to make the show at seven races in his entire career? Care to guess how many times Larry's father, the 1970 Winternationals' champ, failed to qualify? If you guessed seven you are correct. Like I often say, what are the odds?...Everyone I spoke to over the off-season seems to think that it will be Larry and Tony Schumacher slugging it out for the TF title this year. Based on what those two have done in the past it would be hard to bet against them. Still, I think the dragster field has a lot of talent and it includes several teams who can and probably will give the "big two" a run for their money this year. I'd tell you my pick for the championship but I don't want to jinx that driver since I haven't picked a Top Fuel champion since Kelly Brown in 1978.

Ashley Force Hood, John Jodauga and John Force Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery Inc.

The Funny Car field automatically takes on a new look with the official announcement that Team Force will consist of three cars instead of four this year. That opens up another spot in the starting field at every race for another driver and changes the dynamics of what happens on race day. Simply the fact that there is one less Team Force car in the field makes the pairings and the eliminations take a different shape....Since I'm mentioning the Force cars I want to point out something that I should have done after the last race in 2009. Almost overlooked in all the excitement of the final race was a special presentation that was made to Ashley Force. Because of the time constraints for a very busy pre-race, this presentation was made behind the scenes. A lot of people may not know that John Jodauga, who writes for National DRAGSTER and who has been a part of the staff since, well, forever, is also a very talented, and I mean very talented artist. Years ago, when Bill Jenkins was the hottest thing in Pro Stock, John used to do the artwork for the covers of Bill's press kits. Some of those press kits have become quite legendary with collectors and the artwork is familiar to most hard core drag racing fans. Anyway, at Pomona last year, John presented a painting to Ashley Force that was simply amazing. Done in a retro-look (my words, not John's), the painting was reminiscent in style of some of John's earlier work. Ashley, who had no idea that John had that kind of talent, was noticeably impressed with the painting. I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate John on a job very well done and I hope Ashley appreciates the time and effort and talent that went into it, and now, maybe an entire new generation of race fans will see what kind of work John can do. By the way, since I'm dropping names today, one of my favorite

"Grumpy's Toy"

collectible items is the original, framed artwork that John did for the "Grumpy's Toy" press kit back in the '70's. It's one of my favorite items....Also, with all of the talk about the Fords running in Pro Stock this year and with John's team making Ford engines for their cars, I also wanted to mention a gentleman by the name of Mose Nowland. Mose is and has been one of the foremost experts on Ford engines of any type. He should be since he has been working with Ford since 1955 and has been a big part of Ford racing since 1962. In fact, he was with Ford at LeMans in 1966 and he had a big part in developing the engine that Ford used to win that race. He is the man, the main man who has been responsible over the years for developing new Ford engines for racing and he has had a hand in both the Team Force projects and the new Ford Pro Stock operation. Mose stopped by a few races last year and it's great to see a man of his talent and ability getting involved with drag racing. With that kind of brain-power and the skills that our drag racing teams bring to the table, 2010 should be a very interesting year for Ford.

Frank Iaconio at Pomona '86. Photo by: Auto Imagery, Inc.

As I mentioned, the Pro Stocks will get their first competitive Fords in years in 2010 and that has to make the class more exciting. While there may not be the fervor between the Ford and Chevrolet fans like there was years ago, it's still nice to have the different manufacturers involved in the class. Larry Morgan, one of the real veterans in the class and a guy who has been competitive in just about everything he has raced, will debut his new Ford this week and it will be one of the most watched cars at the event. Did you know that a Ford has won the Winternationals eight times in Pro Stock with the first coming in 1973 and the last in 1989? Bob Glidden is responsible for six of those wins with the other two going to Frank Iaconio and Don Nicholson. "Dyno" Don won the 1973 event when he beat Don Carlton while Frank won in 1986 when he beat Warren Johnson. Bob won the Winternationals seven times and six of them came in a Ford. Only his stunning win in 1979 came in something other than a Ford. That's the year he surprised everyone, including Joe Satmary in the finals, with his little Plymouth Arrow.I've said it before and I'll say it again, I firmly believe that a Ford will win in Pro Stock this year..It's nice to see Mike Edwards pick up some support from the Interstate Batteries folks. That

Shane Gray Photo by: Auto Imagery, Inc.

company had been involved in drag racing a few years ago so it's good to see them back. Maybe that's the beginning of many good things to come....Shane Gray will join his dad, Johnny, in the ultra-competitive Pro Stock class this year. Shane, who has gone really fast in his "street car," will look to make the field in his first pro start. With two dozen cars already entered it won't be easy for the newcomer to make the top sixteen. I didn't say it would be impossible, just not easy. Plus, when you add the fact that Johnny has started his own engine program it compounds the difficulty for the two family members. Having said that, I'm sure Johnny and Shane are looking forward to the year and the challenge..At the other end of the experience spectrum is Gordie Rivera who is also on the entry list. Did you know that Gordie has been at 245 national events in Pro Stock over the course of his career? Among that group are twenty-nine Winternationals' events with his first being back in 1975. I never like to sound like a cheerleader but how cool would it be to see Gordie make at least one more start at Pomona?....Warren Johnson will also return to action at Pomona and he'll add to his record number of Winternationals when he makes his 31^st appearance at the event. I sure hope the "Professor" gets some help so we can see him at more than the first two races this year..Did you know that WJ's thirty-one races are a record in Pro Stock but not in the pro classes? John Force holds that designation and he will be making his 32^nd Winternationals' race when he shows up this year.

With all of the new cars, the Golden Corral, the Legend's Dinner and, oh yeah, the race itself, this promises to be the best Pomona race ever. I know that's saying a lot, but it's true. Now if only the weatherman will cooperate and give us some sunshine for the weekend. Hey, I'll even settle for cloudy but dry weather. Now that's not asking too much, is it? Let the season begin.

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