Tue, 31 Oct 2000, 08:42 AM Decidedly Different, Mopar For the Course

By Susan Wade

Dean Skuza couldn't have found a more appropriate business partner for the past five years than Dodge. The motto for both is "Different." But evidently Skuza's unorthodox approach to life began early.

Dean Skuza

"The kids in my neighborhood grew up wanting to pitch for the New York Yankees," the NHRA Funny Car driver said. "I grew up wanting to drive for Chrysler. That is the best sponsorship a driver could have."

Now he has a five-year agreement with Mopar Performance, a Chrysler subsidiary, and it's one he calls "a really sweet deal, one any professional drag racer would love to have."

The sponsorship pact was announced Monday at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) pre-show activities in Las Vegas.

It comes just after Matco Tools declared at its own Spring SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J., that it would switch its sponsorship to the rival Chuck Etchells team. And it comes on the heels of Skuza's first-round exit in the Matco Tools SuperNationals at Baytown, Texas, that dropped him from ninth to 10th in points, three behind Bruce Sarver.

Skuza, undaunted, hopes to finish in the top 10 for the sixth time since he began his fulltime NHRA career in 1994. And he clearly is supercharged about the chances his new sponsors will give him to crack the top five again, like last season.

Skuza does burnout in Houston.

"Mopar is the pinnacle of drag racing," he said. "Chrysler has a rich history in this sport. This is a dream come true."

Skuza's attempt to assemble a two-car operation immediately was scuttled late Sunday after another current sponsor -- hinted at in a television interview to be Sherwin-Williams Paints -- determined its budget was not prepared for the expense.

"We're still trying for two cars," he said, adding that Mopar originally had been negotiating with the idea of being part of such a setup before Matco's Englishtown decision.

Cornwell Tools, like Skuza based in northeast Ohio, has signed on as an associate sponsor. Cornwell has been a sponsor for Strasburg Racing's Federal Mogul dragster at Division 7 and selected national events. In addition, it has been active in ARCA, the NASCAR Truck Series and AMA Supercross and Outdoor Motocross.

Gary Scelzi's coy comments, then open discussion, last weekend about possibly switching from Top Fuel to Funny Car competition only envigorates Skuza. Although he sees the talk as "Alan Johnson's deal," an urge to make Team Winston an easier-to-run single-category endeavor, Skuza said he can understand Scelzi's desire.

"I'm sure he wants more of a challenge. If you've won several Top Fuel titles, you still want to take on the John Force juggernaut," he said. "Each category has different elements and different driving requirements, but with Funny Cars, the driver is a little more important. In Top Fuel, it's set up in the pit area more; it's not like with Indy-cars or Grand Prix drivers. It's not a very rewarding position. I think if you talk to a cross-section of drivers, that's what they'd tell you."

Besides, Skuza simply is smitten with Funny Cars.

"Funny Cars are sexy," he said. "Just looking at them gives you a queasy feeling in your stomach. The lines on them, the way they drive. When I was a kid, I was bitten. Now it's my life."

Or, as he has put it before, "I went from a normal guy to crazed nitro freak."

Skuza's NHRA cheerleading has only intensified with his new Mopar Performance sponsorship. He always has been a passionate ambassador for the sport. And the sanctioning body's new marketing push reflects the 33-year-old Skuza's tameless personality.

"People are going to be hooked -- with a hook that has No. 5 barbs on it!" he said. "This is the coolest damn thing. Jump on board. This is the fastest, quickest, most exciting thing . . . the neatest motorsport in the world.

"This sport," Skuza said, "is perfect for a guy who expects a lot for his dollar. We don't conserve tires. We don't conserve fuel. We don't conserve nothin'! We're a country of excess, so what's more American than the NHRA?!"

Skuza imagines not only what his third national-event victory will be like, but also how playing in a rock band or seeing first-hand the fury of a tornado would excite his senses. ("I want to do tornado chasing. It has been a dream of mine to see one," he said.)

For right now, though, Dean Skuza is content to live by his new sponsor's slogan: "Dream the Dream and leave the rest to Mopar."