Mon, 23 Oct 2000, 12:24 PM Jim Dunn: 50 Years and Counting

By Mickey Schultz

The 2000 season-opening NHRA AutoZone Winternationals marked the start of Jim Dunn's 50th year in the sport of drag racing. The Long Beach, Calif., native is one of drag racing's original pioneers, beginning his career in the early 50s, just as the sport was coming to prominence throughout Southern California. While most of us can't remember who was runner-up in Top Fuel at Indy this year, Dunn still remembers that first big victory - - which by the way came nearly 50 years ago.

Jim Dunn

"I was a car nut back in the fifties," said Dunn. "Cars were the big thing then so you could go to the drive-in and cruise and show off. After I got my first car, it took me five miles before I had my first race. My present from my dad on my 16th birthday was two carburetors and a cam. The only stipulation was that I had to put them in. That's how I started working on cars. My dad was a horse guy - - he ran quarter horses. I didn't like horses because they step on you. So, I decided that I wanted to do cars.

"I won a lot around the Southern California area -- at Irwindale, San Gabriel and Santa Ana - - but my first big win came at the Fuel Championship in Bakersfield. At that time, it was the biggest race around. I thought if I could just win that one. Well, I did. But you know, it didn't feel any different than a win at the local tracks. A win's a win; a loss is a loss. It doesn't matter if I'm out here in a championship deal, if I'm racing (John) Force or I'm racing Charlie Brown, if he beats you, you're beat. If you win, you win," he added.

During his driving career, Dunn, who has always owned his own team and equipment, campaigned a variety of cars - - from AA/ Altered to Top Fuel dragsters to the now renowned "Fireman's Quickie" Funny Cars. Looking back, he seems most fond of the AA/Altered.

"Well, my Altered, that's my favorite. We went two years and got beat only two times. We won Jr. Fuel Eliminator on gasoline. We won Pomona twice on gas. We won Bakersfield on fuel. That was a fun time because you didn't have the pressure," reflected Dunn.

Through the years, Dunn won the Supernationals in Ontario, Calif., in 1972, the World Finals in Irvine, Calif., in 1981 and was runner-up at the prestigious U.S. Nationals that same year. He finished 10th in the NHRA Winston Funny Car standings in 1981 and was named Pro Driver of the Year.

Since his retirement from active driving in 1990, Dunn's career has continued to flourish as a respected crew chief/tuner, car-owner, and consultant. He has wrenched cars to numerous wins.

Near the close of 1990, he joined the Snickers Fuel Funny Car team as crew chief and led the team to a win and runner-up position before season's end. In 1991, the tuning skills that Dunn had gathered from 40-plus years in drag racing, brought the Snickers-sponsored car to the winner's circle three additional times. Dunn's tuning prowess was recognized when he received the title of Pro Mechanic of the Race at the 1991 Mile-High Nationals in Denver, Colo., and was nominated for Crew Chief of the Year by Car Craft Magazine that same year.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Dunn returned to operating his own team in late 1992 with Kenji Okazaki as his driver. Under Dunn's tutelage, Okazaki became the first Japanese driver to earn an NHRA license. With financial backing from Moon Of Japan Company, Ltd., Dunn and Okazaki ran the Mooneyes Funny Car in the remaining five events of the 1992 season - - qualifying at four.

During the following five seasons, Jim Dunn Racing and Okazaki finished in the Top 10 in the NHRA Winston Funny Car point standings three times. In 1993, Dunn and Okazaki narrowly missed winning the "granddaddy" of national events, the U.S. Nationals, finishing in the runner-up position. Okazaki claimed his first national event win, at the Mopar Parts Nationals at Englishtown, N.J., in 1997. The team also won the prestigious 1997 Big Bud Shootout, a special, non-point earning event for the most elite Funny Car drivers of the sport.

Another Rookie, Frank Pedregon, replaced Okazaki for the 1998 season. While working with limited resources, Dunn and Pedregon claimed victory twice during the season, winning, back-to-back the Pontiac Excitement Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, and the Sears Craftsman Nationals in Madison, Ill., in the shadows of St. Louis. Dunn was honored as Crew Chief of the Race at both races. After the St. Louis race, Dunn was forced to park the car due to financial constraints.

Dunn wasn't idle long. Brad Anderson, owner of the Funny Car driven by his son Randy, put out a call for Dunn. Dunn heeded the call and began at once to rebuild the Anderson family Funny Car program to a place of prominence. Anderson drove to a runner-up finish at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. As a result of this final round appearance, Dunn won Crew Chief of the Race for the third time in the '98 season.

In 1999, Jim Dunn Racing received a boost when they secured the monetary backing from an unlikely source - - Penthouse Magazine. Frank Pedregon rejoined the team for a full season of competition. Dunn and Pedregon were runner-up at the Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, Calif., and won the U.S. Nationals in Indy.

"My favorite win would be the (1997) Big Bud Shootout with Kenji Okazaki That's my favorite race in the last ten years," said Dunn, as he reflected on his wins as a team owner. "Then we won Indy (U.S. Nationals) with Frank (Pedregon). Indy's still the favorite national event. When we started, way back when, we only had the Winternationals at Pomona and the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. So, the first really big races were one of those. If you won one of those you had six months to think how good you were. Now you win one, two days later you're on another race track. You don't have much time to enjoy your win."

Al Hofmann in the Mooneyes car.

Mooneyes rejoined Jim Dunn Racing for the new millennium and Dunn had another driver in the seat of his Mooneyes/Red Line Oil Pontiac Funny Car. When the combination of Jim Dunn and Al Hofmann was announced to the drag racing community at Memphis of the 1999 season, the betting immediately turned to how long this union would last. Well, the soothsayers were wrong and the duo is not only still together, but planning to continue for the foreseeable future. Thus far, the only downside to his 50th Anniversary year is the team's performance.

Said Dunn on the 2000 season thus far, "The year is awful. I went into this year thinking we were really going to do good. Maybe even be in the top five - - hoping for about number two. But we can't hit it with both hands. Like I told people, 'If this would have been my first year, there would have never been a second anniversary, cause I would have quit.'

"We can't seem to get a handle on the 90 percent rule. The new rule throws all your (record keeping) books away. Now the two-car teams really have an advantage, cause every lap they can try two different things. So the new rule has dealt us a bad hand. Nothing has seemed to come together this year. When we run good, our opponent runs a little bit better. It's been a terrible year. It's not (Al) Hofmann, it's all tuning. I know one thing. I won't shut my book with a page like this as the final page. We'll go again next year and get after them. We'll use the rest of the year to test and get ready for next year."

Is the word "retirement" in Dunn's vocabulary at all?

"Naw! Like Connie Kalitta, who I've been racing since the 70s, came up to once and asked, 'Dunn, when are you going to retire?' I said, 'Connie, when am I gonna die!' Laughing Connie said, 'Good answer.' I have no plans on quitting because this (racing) is my love."

Jim Dunn is truly an icon of the sport he loves. His fiftieth year has not had the results that Dunn wanted, but retirement is not in his vocabulary. For Jim Dunn, he's still counting the years toward winning a championship. The bets from this corner are that he will realize his goal before too many more years pass.