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Wed, 14 Jan 2009, 08:58 AM

Testing Begins this Weekend

By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2009 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Larry Dixon

This off-season has been about as quiet as any I can remember. Other than the news about sponsors, or the lack thereof, there really hasn't been a lot of news. Sure, we had the announcement of Larry Dixon as the driver of the Alan Johnson Top Fuel car but we knew that was coming. Or at least we knew that someone was going to get the job driving for Alan, and since my phone never rang, Larry seemed like the logical choice. I find it interesting that almost everyone who writes or talks about the new Alan Johnson team says that they don't expect them to win fifteen races this year like Alan and Tony Schumacher did last year. Why not? I know that was a spectacular year and I know that nobody has ever done that before in Top Fuel, but Alan has a lot of the same guys on his team and Larry's an excellent driver, so who knows what they are capable of doing. I do know that the first race of the season should be a real test for them and everyone and it could set the stage for what the Top Fuel class will look like in 2009.

Joe Hartley
Speaking of what the Top Fuel class will look like, and again, despite what everyone (all the experts) seem to be saying, I do think there will be a full field of dragsters at the season-opening race in Pomona. According to my notes, the following are either entered or should be at the Winternationals. Larry Dixon, Joe Hartley, Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, David Baca, Mike Strasburg, Urs Erbacher, Clay Millican, Troy Buff, Rob Passey, Arley Langlo. Tony Schumacher, Brandon Bernstein, Cory McClenathan, Morgan Lucas, Steve Chrisman, Spencer Massey and Andy Carter. And with two weeks to go there could still be another one or two entries in the field. I will tell you this, there is a very good, young driver from the A/F ranks who will be getting his Top Fuel license before Pomona and who could, I said could, be at the Winternationals. I'll give you a hint, he finished in the top twenty-five in points in the T/AD class in 2008. He'll be working with Paul Smith and Mitch King so you know the car will be good and it will be able to qualify. Remember, you heard it here first, if this kid gets his license and makes it to Pomona, he'll qualify for the field and win a round.... Did you know that last year there were seventeen cars in the TF field at Pomona? Of course, I don't expect all of those teams who will be in Pomona,

Cory McClenathan
especially the European teams, to travel the full circuit this year so there is the possibility of some short fields but we had that last year, too. And you could always pick up another team along the way at various races so it might not be quite as bad as it seems, at least from a car count point of view. Having said that, I realize that almost every team out there has been touched by the economic conditions and they all have to make adjustments to the way they do business. Some will make those adjustments better than others and they are the ones who will do well.....Several of those TF teams will begin testing this week at the new Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida. Among those who are scheduled to be there are both Larry and Tony and that should make for an interesting test session even if nobody else showed up. By the way, you can keep up to date with all the test results right here at www.DragRaceCentral.com. Thanks to the folks at Summit Racing, the first test session of the year will include our intrepid reporter, "Uncle" Larry Sullivan who will be there all weekend long. Cory McClenathan and Doug Kalitta are also on the "pre-entry" list for this weekend in the dragster class. There will also be some testing at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week.

Mendy Fry
I haven't seen the list of entries for the Vegas test session by I have heard that Mendy Fry will be there. Mendy, one of the most versatile drivers in drag racing, will probably be testing one of the nostalgia cars that she drives. Most recently she drove the "Bomb Squad" Funny car of Mike McCain. In a perfect world and with a better economy, Mendy would be competing on the NHRA circuit. Did you know that Mendy made her NHRA national event debut driving a Top Alcohol Dragster at the 1988 California Nationals in Sonoma?...There will be one other dragster at PBIR this weekend and it will be the A/FD that is owned by Tom Conway. Tom will be trying to help another young, aspiring driver to get his license. It's not someone you have heard of before but you could be hearing from him in the near future if all goes well this weekend. Stay tuned...

Ron Capps
In addition to the dragsters that will be in Florida this weekend there will also be a nice contingent of Funny Cars. Led by the entire Don Schumacher operation, which includes Ron Capps, Jack Beckman and newcomer, Matt Hagan, the Funny Car testing should be a lot of fun at PBIR. Those three will be joined by Del Worsham, the Funny Car half of the Alan Johnson team, Jeff Arend from Connie Kalitta's operation, Bob Tasca and his Ford, and the driver who was the story of the year last year, Tim Wilkerson. Tim and Bob, you'll recall, announced at the end of last year that they were teaming up and this will be the first time that we see Tim in a Ford. Tim will be interesting to watch as the season begins, and only time will tell if he can have another year like he had in 2008. He didn't make many mistakes last year and he didn't make many changes during the off-season, so

Tim and Bob
there's every reason to believe that the Levi, Ray and Shoup car should be among the top competitors again in 2009..The Funny Car field at Pomona last year included twenty-three cars, and while the list won't be quite that long this year there will be enough cars to fill the field. And, I might add, they all appear to be good, quality cars which should make the competition just as tough in 2009 as it was in 2008..Since I mentioned Paul Smith before, the veteran tuner / driver will be at the test session in Florida but only as an observer. "I thought about putting a car together for some races this year," he said. "But I haven't made any decision yet. I'll help this kid get his license, run the first couple of races with him (Pomona and Phoenix if all goes well) and see what happens from there. Mitch (King) and I have a nice deal, we worked with Spencer (Massey) last year and he won the IHRA championship and we're both very glad for that and we wish him well at 'Snake's.' He's a good kid and he'll do well." From what I've seen over the years most of the "kids" who work with Paul end up doing well. I hope Paul does get something together so he can have a presence at the NHRA races in 2009. I mean, besides just the first two.

Greg Anderson
The Pro Stock cars will also be at the new Palm Beach track, but not until the fuel cars leave. I spoke with Greg Anderson today and he said that his team will be there early next week. "We tested there a few weeks ago and it's a great place. It's all concrete, very smooth and the weather allows you to test every day you're there. As much as we liked going to Las Vegas to test before Pomona the past few years, it gets a little cool there sometimes and that costs you track time. In Florida we can run almost as many times and any time we like and that's a real plus. Besides, with the economy the way it is everyone needs to make the most of the opportunities they have and we think the Florida testing will do that. Don't get me wrong, we love Vegas, the people and the track, and it's Ken Black's home town, but we needed to pick one place to test and the Florida track is it. At least for now.".From what I hear Greg and Jason and their Summit Racing team will be joined in Florida by Allen Johnson, Johnny Gray and a whole bunch of Pro Mod cars. Rickie Smith, Shannon Jenkins and others all plan to be there early next week and we'll have results from that testing as well right here...The Pro Stock class still holds the most questions

Warren Johnson
right now. Like, will Warren Johnson run at Pomona? I know that he's entered but that doesn't mean anything. Warren told me that if he doesn't race he'll take a vacation. Since his last vacation was in 1968 I guess they're not real high on the "Professor's" to-do list. I've said all along that I expect him to race and I'll be surprised if he's not there. Did you know that the last time WJ was not a part of the Winternationals was in 1983? And did you know that the first time he was at the Winternationals was back in 1976 when he qualified second in the field behind only Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins. That means that for the last quarter of a century, every time they fired cars at Pomona Warren Johnson was part of the mix. And he will be this year...I hope.

While a lot of talk has been going on about the pro classes and how many will or will not be in Pomona, at last check the fields in the two top sportsman classes were full. There are twenty Top Alcohol Dragsters and two dozen Top Alcohol Funny Cars, including Mr. Frank Manzo. Should be some fun at Pomona. I can't wait!!