Wed, 28 Nov 2001, 01:49 PM I Can Feel It In The Wind!!

By Bob Frey

The first big "did you know" for this week has to be, did you know that, by this time next week, we’ll know who the new series sponsor is for the NHRA? Monday, December 3rd is the day, the ESPN Zone in Anaheim, California is the place and the sponsor is, well, I don’t know. Sure, there have been lot of rumors floating around, but NHRA and the sponsor have done a very good job of keeping this announcement a secret. And that’s the way it should be. Let everyone speculate and take their best guess, but, until next Monday, we really won’t know for sure who it will be. I do know this, NHRA has been working on this sponsorship and the announcement for a long time and there will be some major things presented at the press conference. And, as NHRA heads into its next fifty years, all of the announcements will be for the good of the sport.

Now, as the off-season moves along, or, more correctly, as it trudges along, there are some interesting things taking place. The word I get is that, yes, Toyota will be involved in drag racing next year and not just in the import series. Word has it that there will be some Toyota factory involvement in the Funny Car class in 2002. Now that would be huge. But, like the NHRA sponsor, until this thing is for real, I won’t speculate on anything else, or on which team or teams may be involved….Did you know that, if Toyota does come aboard, that this will not be the first time that there have been funny car bodies made by companies other than "the big three?" Chuck Etchells, Tim Grose, Vern Moats, John Collins and several others all ran Datsun, or Nissan bodied cars years ago. Vern even won a couple of national events and set the national record with his back in 1983. Now, if you can recall the sponsor of that car or who Vern’s partner was at that time, you can go to the head of the class. Anyway, if a company like Toyota should get involved, it will be a very good thing for drag racing.

Don Garlits

In all the hustle and bustle about the Top Fuel point’s battle at the end of the year, I almost forgot to mention the fact that "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, was selected as the number one driver in NHRA history. Did you know that I voted for him as the top guy? Hey, I’ll take my props any way I can get ‘em. And, did you know that Don Garlits was the answer to one of the questions on the TV show, "The Weakest Link" this past week? Yep, the questions was, "What is the real name of the drag racing legend who is called "Big Daddy." The guy didn’t get it right and, as it should be, he was quickly drummed off the island, or whatever they do on that show. "Big" edged out John Force in the final voting and he said that being selected number one is one of the greatest things to ever happen to him, and that’s saying a lot. Of course you know that Don won 35 Top Fuel titles, including Indy 8 times, but did you know that he only lost eight times in the final round? Two of those final round losses came at Indy in back-to-back years of 1962 & ’63. Jack Chrisman got him in ’62, while Bobby Vodnick, driving the Hirata & Hobbs car, won it in 1963. But, if you want to have some fun with "Big," next time you see him, ask him if he really thinks he fouled out of that ’63 final…and then stand back. Don recalls those races like they were yesterday, and he is always a joy to talk to. I would like to offer my congratulations to Don for being selected as the number one man in NHRA’s first 50 years, and would also love to debate with anyone who feels that he shouldn’t be in that top spot.

The Federal Mogul folks announced today that they would not return as the series sponsor for the NHRA sportsman racers in 2002. They will, however, continue to pay low qualifying money at the divisional events as well as put an increased contingency program into effect. While the low qualifier program wasn’t spelled out in their release, I am told that it will be higher than it was this year and that’s good news. As I mentioned earlier this year in a column, the sportsman racers have nothing to worry about as far as their future with NHRA goes. The organization will continue to run the cars at all national events and will fund the program at or above the level that is was this year. Of course, we’d love to have the FM folks remain, but they’ve got some corporate restructuring to do and, for now, we should thank them for some very nice years of promotional and financial support. Watch for a new sponsor, at least for the divisional races, to be announced soon, maybe as early as next week.

Hurley Blakeney

As I said earlier, this off-season seems to be moving at a very slow pace, with a minimum off big announcements (other than NHRA’s, of course). Still no official word on the proposed merger or marriage between Ken Koretsky and a certain, young, southern Pro Stock driver. Hurley Blakeney hasn’t made his retirement official and, as long as he doesn’t, we can always hope that he’ll come back and race in both Pro Stock and Comp next year. I spoke with Bob Glidden at Pomona and he marveled at what Hurley has done and said, "The way he’s running, it would be shame if he quit now." Yes it would. Speaking of Bob, I believe those rumors about him coming back next year are just that, rumors. He told me that the only way he would race, would be if someone offered him a lot of money just to drive. Bob went on to say that, "I don’t want to work on the cars anymore, but I would like to drive again." Of course, there are those rumors about Bob and Steve Schmidt teaming up but, until one of them tells me otherwise, I’ll put that in the rumor category, too. I will say this, however, Steve has always made good horsepower, and his car this year, with Brad Jeter driving, was as strong as anyone out there. Steve’s a class guy and I certainly hope he returns, with Brad or Bob or both. Meanwhile, I’ve got an idea for Mr. Glidden. With Toyota on the verge of coming in, maybe your old pals at the Ford factory would like to pay you the money to drive, Bob. At least I think they should give it some serious thought.

Watch for at least one, major sponsor announcement a week immediately following the NHRA announcement on Monday. There are at least three that I know of, and all could be huge. By the way, if you’ve got some money, I mean Funny Car kind of money, and want to be on the side of the car that will get guaranteed exposure on television every week next year, give me a call. I can’t tell you who it is, but it’s one of the truly unique opportunities out there. As they say, serious inquiries only. Oh, by the way, it’s not Hamm’s Beer Datsun ZX and it’s not on the Moats and Allison BB/FC….Can’t wait ‘til next week.