Rumors and tidbits

 

Oct. 27, 2003

This quote from Don Schumacher this afternoon on deepstage.net as to his plans for the team next year, and his reaction to having two fuel cars in the finals. "It was a good weekend but to come up short is difficult for teams that work that hard". As far as next year, "Whit Bazemore, Gary Scelzi, and Tony will be back in fuel cars for me, Angelle and Antron will be back, Scotty will be doing a Pro Mod team and I believe I will have a fourth fuel team out there again, beyond that we will see what developes.

Oct.23, 2004

Scotty Cannon will return to the Pro Mod ranks in 2004 as a team owner. No word yet on what, the car will be or who will drive it yet, or even what sanctioning body the car will compete in. He was quoted as saying that the class popularity is huge right now, and he has always felt he would get back into the class. Stay tuned for more.

 

Oct.16, 2003 Ashley Force will be in the Darien/Meadows A/Fueler testing this Friday at Vegas, getting ready for her 2004 debut in TAD. Her younger sister will be driving the Super Comp car in 2004.

The 'Snake' Funny Car team will be in new Chevy bodies for 2004. Probably the Monte Carlo.

With the new rule change in TAD for 2004, one local A/fuel racer is looking at his options. Mitch Myers is not happy with the added weight to his car, which will be in the 100 lb range. He has stated that the safety issue of having a bug chunck of lead added to any car is not a safe answer. While he agrees it is probably the cheapest fix, it will not solve a parity problem, that he is not convinced is really there. His answer and one I have seen on other internet sites is change the points rule for the class, where you still collect points at you best 10 races for the year, but give them the choice of where you collect the points at. If you want the collect points at all national events so be it, if you want to collect at all Divisional events so be it. Or a combination of both. That way if you think your car runs better at one venue or the other then choose that venue. Claim your points earning events prior to the start of it. He said NHRA is free to do whatever they wish obviously, but he does not have to play on the play ground. He might take up skydiving again.

Jerry Toliver is close to announcing his return to the Funny Car ranks. Will it be on his own or with an established team? A 32 car field in Pro Stock.......word is, there is talk about it at a few races. Gary Densham will probably field his own car in 2004.

Oct. 9, 2003 The other "Austin" is back. The rules for TAD will be.......

The prosposed new rule change in TAD will be as follows (not confirmed)...... New minimum weight for A/Fuel of 2100 lbs. Up from 2025lbs. 5.0 lbs per cubic inch. Up from 4.8. Minimum displacement is 411cu.in. No previous minimum. Maximum displacement is now 456cu.in. Down from 470cu.in. These are unconfirmed but appears to be accurate. Basically they have added 75 lbs to the minimum. But in fact, most cars are 421 or 432cu.in. so the added weight is around 75 lbs. Probably is will amount to slowing down around .03-.05. These rules are said to be fixed for one year.

Pat Austin will be back in the Top Alcohol Funny Car ranks in 2004. He will be campaigning a Ford Mustang funny car body that used to be run by "Team Force". The rumor in the deal is that the car will be powered by a Ford Hemi. Stay tuned for more on this deal.

Sept. 20, 2003

Rumor has it that the NHRA Tech Dept. is going to start looking closely at a couple of the Pro Stock teams. With one or two dominating the field this year compared to the last couple years, there is talk that the cylinder heads are not really on the up and up.

Melanie Troxel and the Race Rock TF team departed ways earlier this month and all kinds of specualtions are running rampant, including John Force adding her as a Top Fuel driver or even possibly as the third Funny Car pilot, as Densham does not look to be returning. Don the Snake Prudhomme is also said to be an owner looking at Melanie as a second driver. In the same fold , Is Gary Scelzi or Scotty Cannon going to be with the Force team, as Oakley's Jim Jannard is said to be not happy will their current situation with the Schumacher team.

Paul Romine will stay in the Carrier Boyz Top Fuel car for the balance of this year and probably for 2004 as well. What will happen with John Mitchell and his operation, well it is a tough call, but Mitchell has had run ins with the NHRA in the past. He does not have any sponsors to answer to, as it is all on his own buck, so we'll have to wait and see. The mandate by the NHRA of proving the team won't oil down the track for three consecutive runs, is more of a pride deal and I bet his ego is bruised.

Bob Gilbertson may have an 'Ace' in his hole for 2004 and a new sponsor

In the Pro Stock ranks, Don Schumacher may add a Pro Stock car to the stable, in his quest to take over the NHRA professional classes. Greg Anderson is also set to announce a new or additional sponsor for the Ken Black team.

In the Top Alcohol ranks, As noted in that Zone, Morgan Lucas is said to be in his own car next year, and Ashley Force may be in the Darien/Meadows A/Fueler. Duane Shield sold his car to Daniel Mercier from Quebec. Will Duane be back? If his is, I think as do many others that it will be in an A/Fuel car. Maybe he bought an existing ride.