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NHRA Latest Results

5 April 1999

Highlights
  • Dunn takes commanding points lead into Houston
  • Nickens team returns to defend NHRA Pro Stock Truck win
  • Morgan confident after good showing in Gainesville

Inside

  • Team Mopar Pro Stock report
  • NHRA Point Standings

April 1, 1999

TEAM MOPAR STORMS INTO HOUSTON
Mike Dunn stronger than ever coming off Gatornationals win

MOPAR TOP FUEL REPORT
O'Reilly Nationals presented by Pennzoil
Baytown, Texas - April 8-11, 1999

With three of 22 NHRA national events in the record books - and two national event victories - the Team Mopar Top Fuel Dragster driven by Mike Dunn takes an 88-point lead into the April 8-11 O'Reilly Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. After laying down a string of consistent 4.50-second runs in Gainesville two weeks ago, Dunn believes crew chief Ken Veney and team owner Darrell Gwynn have found the right combination to advance and win races.

"It's going well," said Dunn, "even though we stumbled a bit at Phoenix. I don't mean to sound greedy, but we should have been in the finals there. We torched a gasket in the semis, and that ended our weekend. We bounced back in Gainesville, and to win at Darrell's home track made it even more special.

"The race car performed flawlessly in Gainesville," Dunn, the NHRA Top Fuel national elapsed-time record holder, continued. "We're not hurting parts like we did in Pomona, because we've fine-tuned our fuel system and clutch set-up. We were trying to run 4.40s in Gainesville because the weather and track conditions seemed right. Unfortunately, we couldn't lower the elapsed-time record, but winning the event was even better."

With consistent record-setting performances, Dunn and the Team Mopar Top Fuel Dragster will be tough going into Houston. The team's plan of attack? "We'll just refine what we have and look at the data we gathered in Gainesville, Phoenix, Pomona and, of course, from Houston last year," team manager Jerry Gwynn said. "Adjusting to current track and weather conditions is something Darrell and Ken do extremely well."

PRO STOCK TRUCK REPORT
Houston racer Bo Nickens will carry on the family tradition at the O'Reilly Nationals. The 24-year-old former Competition Eliminator World Champion will compete in his Team Mopar Dodge Dakota. Bo's father, David Nickens, won this event last year.

"We'll run a brand-new Jerry Haas-built Dakota in Houston which has loads of improvements over our current truck," David Nickens said.

"Actually, we were supposed to debut it in Gainesville, but we decided to wait to show it off in Houston. I really want to do well in front of our hometown crowd. We've had years of loyal support from local racers and fans -- they kind of feel like family. We're working day and night at the shop getting not only the Dakota, but our Team Mopar Dodge Avengers ready for this race."

Todd Patterson, driver of the Team Mopar Dodge Dakota, did a commendable job at the Mac Tools Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., two weeks ago. Patterson faced a barrage of NHRA Pro Stock Truck competitors to qualify his Dodge in the #3 position.

"We've been working hard on our Magnum(r) small block combination," Patterson said. "Between the new camshaft profiles and a host of other improvements, we're making the power we need to run with the top truck teams. The competition was fierce at the 'Gators, but we hung in there and made it to the finals. Unfortunately it wasn't our day - Mark Osborne flat-out beat us.

"I know one thing for sure," Patterson continued. "The rest of the Pro Stock Truck field has taken notice of how competitive the Dodges are and the threat we're becoming in this class."

The father and son team of Dale and Craig Eaton had a less-than-memorable experience at Gainesville Raceway. "We broke our primary motor in Thursday's qualifying session so we borrowed an engine from Mopar racer Sondra Sikes," Craig Eaton said. "Unfortunately, we spun the tires on both trucks in the first round and couldn't recover. Allan Patterson has built some new engines that we'll test before Houston. We ran well at Pomona earlier this year, so we're confident that things will turn around for us in Houston."

MOPAR PRO STOCK REPORT
Larry Morgan showed promise in Gainesville when he qualified his Raybestos/Team Mopar Pro Stock Dodge Avenger in the #10 position with an elapsed-time of 6.94.

"It was a good weekend for our team, especially running a career-best 6.94 in a Dodge," Morgan said. "I'm still pumped-up from our Gatornationals weekend. Unfortunately, during the second round of eliminations we spun the tires, which resulted in a severe tire shake condition. I short-shifted to compensate for the shake, but it was too late, and Kurt (Johnson) drove past me. We hope to pick up more horsepower before Houston, as we have some new parts to try out."

Meanwhile, David Nickens has been busy sorting out the Team Mopar Pro Stock Avengers of Darrell Alderman, Scott Geoffrion and Larry Nance. Nickens is confident in the progress the team is making. "We've been at Houston Raceway Park testing every other day," Nickens said. "Once we dyno an engine, it goes right into the car and then we're off to the track to set up the clutch and chassis. Luckily for us, this is our home track and we do a lot of testing here. It's been a pretty steep learning curve, but I know we'll be competitive really soon."

MOPAR ASSOCIATE REPORT
Dean Skuza, driver of the Matco Tools/Team Mopar Dodge Avenger Funny Car, has been working hard since Phoenix to sort out a fuel system problem.

"We tested in Gainesville on Monday after the Gatornationals, and what we learned was amazing," Skuza said. "We discovered a glitch in our on-board computer which made the data we were acquiring on each run false.

"Basically, crew chiefs Lance Larsen and Ronnie Swearingen noticed the computer graphs weren't accurately reflecting the flow rate and consumption of fuel we were using on each pass. Now we know not to take the information provided by the on-board computer as gospel," Skuza continued. "We'll be testing at the Motorplex in Dallas the weekend before Houston to make sure we've worked out all the bugs. Fortunately, we found the problem early in the season."

MOPAR SPORTSMAN NOTES
Bob Newberry is the defending Houston champion in the Federal-Mogul Funny Car class, taking his Dodge Avenger to a win over Tate Branch. Coming off a semi-finals finish at the Mac Tools Gatornationals, Newberry is geared up for the O'Reilly Nationals. "We should have won in Gainesville, but we softened up the clutch too much. We never had a good run on the car all weekend," he said. "That's why I'm looking forward to Houston. One of our sponsors is based in the area and we want to put on a good show for them. We have plenty of horsepower - we just need to get it to the pavement."

Super Gas/Super Comp standout Sheldon Gecker will be on hand in Houston with his Hemi(r)-powered dragster and Wedge(r)-powered Dodge Daytona. In tune-up for Houston, Gecker recently advanced to the Super Gas semis at the NHRA/Federal-Mogul Pacific Divisional event in Phoenix.

"We have our Hemi-powered dragster running great," Gecker said. "All we need to do is make a jet change in the carburetor to compensate for the near-sea-level conditions we'll have at Houston Raceway Park. And former Stock Eliminator World Champion Al Corda will be looking for his first win of the season in Houston. "We've had a couple of early-round losses this year, but our Hemi Challenger is running much better, and we've qualified in the top half of the field at every event this year," he said. "The good air we traditionally get at this event affects my car more than others. A Stock Eliminator Hemi will respond better at sea-level tracks than other, more traditional wedge-style engines."

MOPAR REWIND
Team Mopar results from the Pennzoil Nationals, Baytown, Texas, March 19-22, 1998

QUALIFYING

  • Mike Dunn drove his Team Mopar Top Fuel Dragster to the #4 qualifying position with a 4.622-second run at 309.81mph.
  • In the quickest Pro Stock qualifying field to date (6.940 seconds), Team Mopar's Darrell Alderman qualified #6 (6.900/198.41), Larry Nance qualified #7 (6.909/198.93) and Larry Morgan came in #16 (6.940/197.49). Scott Geoffrion did not qualify.
  • Dean Skuza qualified his Dodge Avenger Funny Car in the #8 position with a 5.023-second run at 307.27mph.
  • In the first-ever Pro Stock Truck race, David Nickens qualified his Dodge Dakota #2 (7.733/173/01) and Todd Patterson came in #3 (7.750/172/97).
  • Bob Newberry's Dodge Avenger led the Federal-Mogul Funny Car qualifying field with a track-record-setting 5.659-second run at 251.81 mph.

ELIMINATIONS

  • Mike Dunn continued to win rounds, advancing to the semi-finals in Houston. Dunn gathered up Doug Herbert and Gary Scelzi before losing to Dave Grubnic.
  • In Pro Stock, Alderman, Nance and Morgan all lost in the first round.
  • Dean Skuza smoked the tires on his Dodge Avenger and lost to Jim Epler in the first round.
  • David Nickens' Dodge Dakota collected all the points in his hometown race by driving past Clint Sallee, Todd Patterson and Randy Daniels to win the inaugural Pro Stock Truck event; he had a single in the second round. Patterson lost to Nickens in the semis.
  • Newberry, unopposed in the first round of eliminations, then picked off Vern Moats and Tony Bartone before winning in the finals against Tate Branch. Newberry's final-round run lowered the national elapsed-time record to 5.638 seconds. 

NHRA POINT STANDINGS 

TOP FUEL (after 3 of 22 national events)	
Driver		         Wins	          Points
1.  Mike Dunn		2		311
2.  Kenny Bernstein 	0		223
3.  Larry Dixon		0		208

PRO STOCK (after 3 of 22 national events)
Driver	          	         Wins	         Points
1.  Kurt Johnson		1		311
2.  Troy Coughlin	0		256
3.   Warren Johnson	1		254  

PRO STOCK TRUCK  (after 2 of 14 national events)
Driver		         Wins	          Points
1.   Mark Osborne	1		194
2.   Brad Jeter		0		169
3.   Larry Kopp		0		154
5.   Todd Patterson	0		128
7.   Craig Eaton		0		105

FUNNY CAR (after 3 of 22 national events)	
Driver		         Wins	          Points
1.  John Force		2		332
2.  Tony Pedregon	1		244
3.  Whit Bazemore	0		190
9.  Dean Skuza		0		145

FAST FACTS
Team Mopar Top Fuel driver Mike Dunn has made the four quickest quarter-mile passes in NHRA history. He holds the national e.t. record of 4.503 seconds, which makes him the quickest-accelerating human being on the planet.

According to the NHRA:

  • a Top Fuel Dragster can exceed 250 mph in just 660 feet, and accelerates faster than a jumbo jet, a fighter jet and a Formula 1 race car.
  • the nitromethane-powered engines of NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars produce more than 5,500 horsepower, about 40 times that of the average street car.
  • NHRA Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars travel the length of more than four football fields in less than five seconds.

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