NHRA: Amato Says 1 More Ride for James Dean Car
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
September 10, 2001Joe Amato scored the 52d -- and final -- victory of his record-setting NHRA Top Fuel career in last year's Keystone Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading, Pa. In fact, five-time TF champion Amato won the race the last two seasons, and it is considered to be the "home" event for the Exeter, Pa., NHRA legend. Amato retired at the end of the 2000 season due to eye problems, and now owns the Valvoline/Keystone Automotive dragster driven by leading NHRA Rookie of the Year candidate Darrell Russell
Amato has announced that Russell's car will again carry the striking red, silver and white colors, with classic James Dean images on the bodywork, in this weekend's Keystone Nationals. The graphics first appeared at the U.S. Nationals. Russell qualified the Dean machine No. 5 at Indy and advanced to the second round. Johnny Benson finished third in the Brickyard 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race in the Dean-theme Valvoline Pontiac.
Dean, who was born in Marion, Ind., starred in 1950s classic movies "East of Eden," "Rebel Without a Cause," and "Giant." A fan of fast cars, he died -- at age 24 -- in September 1955, and was buried in Fairmount, Ind. Valvoline and Eagle One are also sponsors of the Sept. 28-30 "James Dean Run" in Fairmount. The 22d annual "Run," at Playacres Park, features a classic car show, '50s music, sock hop, flame throwing contest and other activities. Action Performance is offering limited-edition models of the Russell and Benson cars as well as Matt Hines' Eagle One Suzuki NHRA Pro Stock motorcycle.
Text provided by Michael Knight
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