CLASSIC VIDEO - 1983 NHRA WORLD FINALS, OCIR FINAL EVENT

diamon be sports presents championship drag racing from the National Hot Rod Association the NHRA Winston World Finals [Music] mic done driving Roland Liang's Hawaiian Punch special one of the most severe engine explosions ever in championship drag racing as he nears the finish line at Orange County International Raceway a puff of oil smoke coming out and then the engine explosion that demolishes the gar Mike Dunn encased in the roll cage takes the ride of his life the engine explosion blowing the fiberglass body to bits as he crosses the finish line at a speed nearing 200 miles an hour the car hits for the guardrail the engine no longer hidden the chassis begins to roll out towards the front wheels the fire starts again Dunn hanging on for dear life at this point as the car having a mind of its own bouncing like a bucking horse in the shutdown area the motor getting on to the front wheels coming out and now the car starting to turn over and continuing to do a series of snap rolls Mike Dunn holding onto the steering wheel trying to keep his arms inside that roll cage as the car finally bounces to a halt the engine is gone the body is gone but Mike Dunn right inside the roll cage where he belongs the doctors checking him over and the word is Mike Dunn is a-ok this is not the first time that Mike Dunn is in had a crash in 1983 Steve Evans was there as this occurred if a spring nationals earlier this very season Dave this is Mike Dunn the throttle stuck the engine explodes the Hawaiian Punch car is on fire there are no brakes watch closely you'll see the right rear tire literally explode taking off the back half of the body this is one of the shortest tracks on the circuit so there is an aircraft carrier style catch net at the end of the racetrack I was standing with our cameraman I knew the net was there but never dreamed it would stop a rampaging 140 mile an hour Pony car as you will see it did [Music] incredible Mike Dunn walks away as he did today here at Orange County International Raceway in qualifying but the car owner Roland Leon what an expensive season this has been [Music] so Mike done fleet of foot getting away from a car that potentially could still explode it did not done as okay and he's okay here I emphasize again David hello everybody I'm Dave McClelland along with Steve Evans and we are at Orange County International Raceway in Irvine California for the 1983 NHRA Winston World Finals the final event on this championship drag racing season and what a season it's been for this man Gary back Gary Beck has already clinched the world championship here two years ago you see him win the event title the world championship that year narrowly escaped him on this run he set a world record that is Dwight Salisbury his opponent going up at him all aflame Dwight was okay Beck won the event title with a then world record of 554 he has reset the world record in qualifying here at the Winston World Finals at a landmark 539 we're in the first round of competition and one of the cars the Bill Carter entry is having problems getting started the crew headed by Jim Brissette working on it his competitions running his competition Dave is having no problems at all race that's a young fireman from Pomona California this is a car owner for Bill Carter the actor Dan Haggerty you may know him better as Grizzly Adams and he is disputed they've got the car started Davi you're gonna running but race nuts has already completed his burnout and I am certain that the effort by Bill Carter will come immediately that's right starter Buster counts raises waves him to the starting line pushes the crew out of the way and says sorry about the burnout guys you got a race this could really hurt bill Carter in the near line the lack of that smokey burnout over the starting line let's see race that's in the far light it has stats away first cleanly by at least two car lengths race that's driving away from bill Carter who's still made a race out of it even without the burnout that is the write of race Stutz his life at 560 238 miles an hour the young firemen having his best day of championship drag racing and the incredible thing Steve is on the Grizzly Adams car the Dan Haggerty entry with Bill Carter he didn't have a burnout and he still ran 577 never smoked too tired over 230 Mayer smoking it is on the burnout though this is Richard Tharp the flamboyant professional driver from Dallas Texas his competition here is go white Salsbury who we just saw two years ago in the final round against Gary Beck in that ball of flame Richard Tharp the canal and Kilpatrick injury out of Killeen Texas no finer race car on the grounds DARPA has won one national event thus far this season and would love to add this Winston World Finals title to his credit driving the whiting and Mark Lee entry our games mark Lee was the owner and crew chief a few years ago when Rob Bruins won the Winston world champions title but now Dwight Salisbury one of the best drivers on the west coast at the wheel of the top fuel dragster of white hang and Mark Lee Richards ARP who took a vacation the 1982 season came back in 83 and is one of the few drivers to about qualified Gary Beck anywhere along the circuit this year GARP in the near line Dwight Salisbury Farley Salsbury as he always is out first but Richard dark as the performance and Richard dark drives around Salsbury for the win 566 is the elapsed time at over 238 miles an hour a very creditable 575 elapsed time for Dwight Salisbury and his speed closing fast at over 244 miles an hour the first lady of motorsports in the near land the bright pink Pioneer stereo car Shirley Muldowney and her competition will be a farmer from central California Jan Eden L and Danny Goodell just exploded the supercharger on the starting line he pulls off to the right-hand side of the track up along the guardrail in case something may be leaking out of the car he's trying to keep any liquids off the racing surface but on his burnout it was Danny Danelle exploding a supercharger and he's been having trouble like this as of late for the last several races with the superchargers exploding yeah he sure has that's about a $2,500 explosion Shirley Muldowney backing up after her burnout concentrating on her son John as he brings her back on those hot fresh tracks you yourself laid down now Shirley has the option of taking the easy just idling it down the racetrack the Sabre equipment that I will bet any good day she does not do that she wants Lane choice the following round the quicker car from appreciating ron has Lane choice and Shirley would also like to check the race track the three-time world champion wearing the number one on the wing but she will have to give that to Gary back at the conclusion of this event he comes in here already the world champ Shirley Muldowney round one with a gift race from Canada now Shirley Muldowney on a hard pass the elapsed time five point six zero and excellent elapsed time she qualified third in this field her speed over 244 miles an hour qualifying time was a 556 so she's very close in competition the Danelle team dejectedly looking over their super charger as Shirley pulls off the track here we watch again as Danny Danelle comes out of the water area which you provides a chance for those tires to get spinning without using up a lot of strain on the engine watch the supercharger you see the fuel injector on top of the motor it's bolted to the blower there's a bit of a fire and bang out the back of the manifold comes the explosion probably David hung an intake valve our next pair of cars the engines already let in this is Larry minor the car owner of Gary Beck's car he is the number two qualifier in this field right behind Gary Beck so the minor team is certainly making their presence felt here at the Winston World Finals his competition Gary Ormsby he started on the national event rail about the middle of the season has been very competitive and Larry minors got his work cut out for him even though he's the number two qualifier he still got to be norms be to advancing competition in his rookie season Larry miner won the Cajun nationals midseason in Baton Rouge Louisiana with a wills in the air but a little too much horse powers Larry miner he smokes the tires in the car dealer from Sacramento California Gary Ormsby is victorious here in round one we said he was competitive five point six two seconds at over 238 miles an hour the tire smoke the wheel Stan Larry miner going out at a 592 a losing effort for the number two qualifier here at the Winston world 500 Gary Hornsby who's been racing for some 20 years listen to round 2 and here is the man the new world champion Gary Beck who owns the quickest 16 elapsed times ever recorded we just saw the team beat car his car owner go out of action so all of Laurie miners hopes now rest on number 1 GB he is the number one qualifier with a record-setting 5.39 second elapsed time Gary Ormsby advancing into round number 2 Gary Beck concentrating on the thought of defeating Denver shoots the racin farmer teamed up with Mark Danica's the car called the raisin Express wiping down those huge slicks trying to get the most traction available with Enver shoots he qualified in the number 9 spot with a 568 almost three tenths of a second difference and look at Gary Beck go gone like a rifle shot is Gary Beck and there it is low elapsed time of the first round close to his record it is a 543 at the fastest speed Gary Beck has ever recorded a personal best of 257 miles an hour awesome you know what's incredible Steve Denver shoots ran a 588 and he was back at least five car lengths or more behind at the finish line that's got to be depressing now is a guy that gave Gary Becker a run for his money in this world championship he won three events in the 83 season Joe Amato from Old Forge Pennsylvania Joe qualified in the number four spot with a vine 559 and Amato is up against another man that has been in the thick of the chase and that is Jody smart Jody had his qualifying problems here only making it into the number 12 spot but Jody smart from San Antonio Texas is capable of beating any driver any time to consistency Jody smart came into this Winston world finals number two in points Joe Amato number three back this season Jody's mark finally won his first a nature a championship race after so many years of trying the mile-high nationalism Steve he has been a bridesmaid on that winner's circle for so long I guess he probably thought he was James Jerry Amato is treating her hair on this darling life you know new cameras arrived her husband Joe Amato moving up through the ranks at first with an alcohol dragster now in the thick of the Top Fuel chase Joe Amato and Jody sparred Jody smarts car just did not launch quite hard enough Joe Amato had the squirt right off the line and the clock again hits a 5.6 0 at 249 miles an hour Steve we're seeing times with consistencies in the five 30s 40s and 50s and even in the 60s that years ago were thought to be impossible to read our next pair will be this man Rocky Epperly and in the Far Lane will be the black gold car from Fort Worth Texas of genes now the crafty veteran who many called the father of the funny car when he was professionally racing in the world champion on a couple of occasions now races at Top Fuel dragsters strictly for the fun of it Steve we were talking about elapsed times and how quick these cars are racing but the car in the near Lane rocky Epperly has got something to his credit when we talk about going fast you bet he reset the national speed record one that's held for a long time it is now at 257 miles an hour by the Frank Taylor owned [ __ ] red car and that's really amazing considering rocky is a bit of a rookie has not had that much experience and it's only about the third or fourth grace period for the team so the engine builder Darrell Buell can be very proud of the horsepower he's built the genes now look out he has got so much more experience in rocky effort Lee speed records are one thing it's elapsed times and driving ability that wins drag races and the man that gets to the finish line first and we'll know in just a few seconds whether it'll be gene snow or rocky Epperly snow with a tremendous hole shot and he holds on before did you see Epperly closing at the finish line 598 for snow off the pace a 588 for rocky Epperly so Jean snug is robbed rocky Epperly up driving lesson on the starting line at rocky left with him hit a beating by a good car length no question about it our next player in Top Fuel first round Connie Kalitta the Caleta flying services entry out of gipfel and michigan he will be up against in the far line from Riverside California a fellow going into his second season of professional drag racing Shannon Stewart Conny colada was I believe the first to ever go 200 miles an hour Dave an official sanction competition what a few years ago and that was a mark that a lot of people said you couldn't reach in a quarter of a mile standing start race but look at him now they're running over 257 miles an hour and nobody knows where the end is Helena's Flying Service the sponsor for clinical evidence its own company colada a very qualified jet pilot they leave right together Shannon Stewart in the Far Lane conical at an ear line one good drag race it is a genuine upset Shannon Stewart from Riverside California at 571 243 miles an hour he looks over to see where Caleta is on the race track not wanting a collision to turn up so Shannon Stewart's got to be mighty proud that's his biggest one like today a capacity crowd here at Orange County International Raceway enjoying this first round of Top Fuel Eliminator competition and Steve we're ready to move now into one of the most popular classes in all of championship drag racing the nitro power Thunder of the fiberglass funny cars the Budweiser King Kenny Bernstein as we pick up action in round number one and Kenny's competition will be the three-time world champion the Schlitz Blue Max of Raymond beetle from Dallas Texas the burnouts are maybe even more for the funny cars they've got to have traction the engines are in front of the driver further out on the chassis they don't have quite the weight over the rear wheels what a season it has been for Kenny Bernstein he had a horrible start then comes back to win the US Nationals the pick bud shootout an $80,000 in one weekend Bremen beetle with the escape hatch up to let some cool air in and the smoke out the burnouts a lot of people think are just a waste of rubber but they are not the tires are actually designed to work when their temperatures are very hot in the only way you can get them hot is to start them spinning and actually burn the rubber off of them and here they go Kenny Bernstein was away first but Bernstein suddenly having problems Bremen beetle at half track takes the advantage in Lindsey Raymond beetle in the blue max at five point nine zero 243 miles an hour Raymond beetle goes into round number two Biddle was the fourth qualifier at 588 it doesn't quite match that time but has got some reasonable consistency [Music] here's a man from the west coast that has no major sponsorship other than his own he races for the fun of it and he is certainly one of the strongest racers going that's little John Lombardo his competition is a known quantity the team strange entry of park owners coil and mimic they call it the rizz lone chai town hustler with Frank Holley the Winston world champion at the wheel you'll remember our telecast a year ago here at Orange County it was Frank Holley this man the underdog battling for the world title he won it here in the final race of the year he comes in already the world champion his little John Lombardo well knows Frank Holley has clinched it on points already the bonus money from Winston some $40,000 is already his little John Lombardo qualified number 6 Steve at a 588 Paulie off the pace a bit for him at a 595 so little John's got the performance edge going into this first round Kenny uses considerable driving skills to get him a win we'll see Frank Holly early in the season amassed those points on consistency everybody's running quicker now he does Alan Bartow up in smoke Paulie has problems Holly off the throttle and does not get back on the gas for some unknown reason Frank Holly lifted a bit as he got close to the center line had he got back on the throttle he probably could have driven around a little John Lombardo but he did not Lombardo wins it at a very slow seven flat but it doesn't matter Lombardo goes into round two and the newly crowned world champion is on the trailer the Canadian Frank Holly is done for the day this racer John Force out of Southern California has a multitude of sponsors der Wienerschnitzel stop and go market mountain dew Jolly Rancher candies but John Force has become a force to be reckoned with he is certainly one of the most competitive racers on the national event circuit today his competition is joe cassano with trip schumake at the wheel a former southern Nationals champion shuumeikan Bassano teaming up for the 83 season fact it was trip shumake who won the event title here one year ago driving the team beaker of billy meier that is Larry Fraser who has made the difference John Force will tell you in effort Frasier has rinsed this car to over 250 miles an hour this season horse can now concentrate on driving and not worry about making the horsepower because razor has plenty of it under the sleek hood of that Pontiac trans-am the for Lena strip should make the near Lane is John Force first on a funny car action they live right together John for starting to pull ahead John Force dominant here in this matchup at 580 247 miles an hour 580 247 for John Force Force was the number three qualifier going into that race Steve at 578 and that's somewhat remarkable at the time in competition is that close to the qualifying time and coming to light the engine of the number one qualifier Don the snake Prudhomme the only man to ever win for Funny Car world titles he qualified number one at a 574 Pedone told me earlier Dave that he just took all his fuel systems all his combinations put him in the bag shook him up Cortland out and it was either gonna blow her go yeah it went it went good at a 574 but now the question is his longtime nemesis and if you've been following the sport of drag racing for the past two decades the name of the man in the Far Lane Tom the Mongoose McEwen brings back memories of all sorts of race cars he is one of the more versatile drivers ever to grace a quarter mile racetrack and this matchup of the snake versus the Mongoose goes back a good 20 years you bet it does in fact 18 years ago Tom the Mongoose McEwen won the first race ever held here at Orange County a national Raceway and there's a good chance that this will be the last race ever held the property has been deemed useful for commercial and industrial purposes Joe McKuen really like to win this room to have both ends effective that legend Don Pardo Tom McEwen McEwen is away first but smokes the tires McEwan used the snake up on a starting line but didn't have the clutch entire combination it is predominated um parachute out slowing for the turn he goes into round number two I'll tell you it's going to make for a great second round with the performances of these cars here in round one with a five eighty by force and a five eighty by Prudhomme let's see how the chief Otto parts 711 special of billy meier from Waco Texas fares in this first round of Funny Car competition or what a contrast you've got here billy meier with the epitome the state-of-the-art in a funny car machine up against mighty Mike Van Sant which is probably the oldest active bunny car in the country fans have really didn't qualify he was the first alternate that got in when another car had had some problem and that was the Mike Dunn car who qualified on the horrendous crash and as you saw Mike Van Zandt made a move towards the centerline he had to lift and that gave the wind a billy meier as he carried it through the quarter mile to a 596 elapsed time off the pace a bit but he knew that he had the wind so they back down to 229 miles an hour what a tribute though for mighty Mike a 6/10 at 227 miles an hour if he hadn't ellipta d might've be an expert arse we find the Miller High Life warrior of MV and Poldi Dale Poldi the driver Mike handy is partner and this is one of those touring cars that goes anywhere a major races covers the country from coast to coast and border to border and Mike handy and Dale Paul D have been traveling the circuit for several years well the same thing could be said about the beautiful multi-hued green machine in the far line the superb route from Faberge alice' greeny chagrin he won the Cajun Nationals this year the pre-staged lights are on so greeny moves into stage pulleys in the pro start identical reaction times for both drivers in a close race as they get to the finish line alsa greeny pulls it out of 587 at 244 miles an hour to a losing 593 just a few hundredths of a second make the difference at the finish line it was about a half a car length and alsa greenie advances into round number two and our next pair will find this man talk about veterans he's been doing this for 25 years Henry Harrison originally from Arkansas has been living in Southern California the last 10 or 15 years bouncing to his stop his opponent over the Far Lane Sherm Gunn who Bill's race cars for a living and this is the first time the charm in that poor line has ever qualified for national championship event it was an alcohol weighs up for a lot of years and alcohol in that tanking was a bit of a transition to nitromethane and Sherman's twenty-minute work Steve this is a brand new car for Sherm Gunn in fact its debut performance qualified him in his very tough field but for Henry Harrison it's just another mark in a long and checkered career I think Henry Harrison has driven practically every type of drag racing vehicle known I can remember him in Arkansas driving the fuel all turns driving roadsters driving anything Top Fuel dragsters now at the wheel of the funny car in a Sherm gonna wafer Sherm gun in the Far Lane and at a Sherm gun the first win light in his professional drag racing career a good race at 6:04 to a 6/10 our next pair of cars the engines coming to life as the electric starters spin over the superchargers that then spins the engine over and as they throw the switch the nitromethane fuel coming to life in our next pair this is Gary Densham he is a schoolteacher during the week but a hardcore drag racer on the weekends it was two years ago that Gary had an engine explosion and fire that literally print the funny car to the ground but persevering as he does Gary Densham put it back together and within just a few short weeks he was back racing again with the help of his industrial art students here in Southern California he did all that his competition will be Denny savage for years a rented driver a driver for hire and this is the first weekend he has ever driven this car the custom bodied special from Utica New York owned by Bret castronovo and Denny's done a wonderful job his young crew chief out in front is one of the youngest of the professional crew chiefs Ronnie Swearengen only about three years of age this was an all five second field in qualifying and any savage brought up the number 16 spot at a 596 and considering it's the first race for him in that car a very creditable effort for the Utica new york-based custom body enterprises car any savage in the Far Lane is Buster cat sets him in the near line the black car of Gary Densham pre-staged both drivers dance from the first movement in stage savages in and savage leaves first by 4-1 hundreds of a second savage getting close to the center line the escape hatch blowing at an entrance car it is guinea savage and a ball of smoke at six point one eight to a quicker 6.15 so indeed there was a hole shot 231 miles an hour as Carlos in one of the NHRA officials wanders off with the escape hatch give it to Gary who just plug it back in will the pond Oh it'll be all right well that concludes the first round of competition in Funny Car Eliminator the cars heading back to the pits and the crews will be doing their routine which basically consists of disassembling the engine and then putting it all back together again and all that transpires in roughly an hour here's Top Fuel little gasoline being sprayed into the injector genes now to get that motor started it was now who won number one when he hole shot at Rocky Epperly snow a veteran out of Fort Worth Texas has put his talents on the line as he comes up against Gary Ormsby as we said earlier Ormsby starting on the national event trail about the mid-season point here in 1983 snow from Fort Worth Texas known as the snow man gentlemen Jane and he truly is that Gary Ormsby who struggled amateur drag race include number of years now has a very successful Toyota dealership in Northern California and can well afford to race in front of him the red shirt a very talented crew chief that is Lee beard out of Colorado now wrenching for Gary Ormsby and orange be served notice back in August winning the popular hot rodding championship at Martin Michigan that he was a force to be reckoned with jeans now on-again/off-again he's need to write at the top of the field or struggling at the back they experiment a lot snow load no longer has any sponsors he has to please just himself when he has a good time doing Stephen looks like they've got some trouble with Gary Ormsby Scarn it appears the tire has gone flat the right rear slick has got a lot of wrinkles in it that shouldn't be there and here from Shirley Muldowney screw comes an air can to try to get it pumped up but they're not going to be able to get it done in time and Jeanne stove waltzes through the second round and into the semifinals at a 587 213 miles an hour Gary Ormsby clunks it in reverse and backs it into the staging lanes with that right rear tire good and flat and that's a tough break for arm speed but that's one of those things that you just can't predict I mean you can put an engine together and you know there's some problems maybe but a tire going flat hard to believe Shirley Muldowney standing on the throttle as she comes out of the burnout area those huge slicks just spinning and smoking getting on very hot it was one year ago at the same racetrack the Shirley Muldowney annex her third Winston World Championship title earlier today Steve had a chance to talk with Shirley about her season this year yes we lost it this year and we lost it to a good car somebody that really earned it so we'll try to regroup and come back next year gary beck did a wonderful thing for us he really got top fuel out of a little bit of a rut and what he did was set a pace that's going to be awfully hard for a lot of people to follow we think we can catch up and that's what we did play catch up all year but next year it'll be a different year hopefully for us let's hope at the end of next year that this win goes back on yeah just take it off the wall put it back on the car the big number one residing at least for this race on the wing of Shirley Muldowney the premier woman driver in all of Motorsports her crew chief Ron Tobler her son John and their crew helping to push the car back Shannon steward her competition steward an up-and-coming driver his second year on the season out of Riverside California qualified well defeated in an upset when Connie Kalitta in the first round the burnouts are over both cars approaching the starting line it's Shirley Muldowney in the near Lane Shannon Stewart in the Far Lane a lot of concentration needed on the Christmas tree and on the starting procedure for these cars because an advantage gained at the starting line is very difficult to overcome at the finish a green light start for both drivers and Shirley Muldowney pulling ahead in the middle of the course and she wins it and shannon stewart ends up in the lane right behind her apparently unable to keep the car in his own lane he crosses behind Shirley Muldowney but she was way ahead with a fine 5.6 five-second elapsed time a speed of over 241 miles an hour and in crossing over the lanes Shannon Stewart ran over the timing lights in the middle of the track NHRA officials CJ Hart and Jim Van Dyke replacing the lights in the center of the track Shirley getting out of her car earlier we had an opportunity to talk to Gary Beck about his strategy if you had seen Shirley Muldowney run just in prior to us she's hazed the tires off the start line we're gonna move over to the right about 18 inches and look for a little better spot so actually this is giving us a little bit of time to make sure we're gonna make exactly the right move down there and we'll be all right we do this every other weekend you know Gary talked about the lane and the racing conditions on the track Gary do you ever think about the competition along side of you well we race against each competitor a little different and I have a game plan in my head here now how to how to when the light goes green that our car is as ready as it is to race against Richard Thorpe and we do that a little different against each different competitor but we're racing against a lot of very great competitors and so we know we have to make good runs after good runs there and that's the attitude the racing team character take let's go to Steve Emma Carey Beck's performance edge has nothing to do with the race car itself is at least a dozen of them here the twin - this machine the secret is in the fuel system after hours and hours on a floor bin simulator gary has come up with this maze of lines and valves that will put two and a half gallons of nitromethane through this engine in five seconds now they can't really just copy it the competition because they don't know how it works and some of these lines at valves may be here just to keep them guessing keep them confused now all the horsepower in the world doesn't do you any good if it goes up in tire smoke so part of Gary's secret is the clutch inside this explosion-proof bell housing it allows the excess horsepower to go through the clutch and slippage instead of spinning the rear tires we've removed the transmission so you can see this massive rear end a bit of off-road technology here a live axle rear end that has virtually eliminated the tire shake on this automobile now tires again part of Beck's secret he doesn't take any pair they will go through hundreds of tires to find just exactly the right size the right width and that couple was some special with wheels contribute to this secret the remainder of it is the man himself very few drivers would be capable of operating this car there are so many bells and whistles and things to do on the way down the racetrack Steve a great look at the inner workings of this man's car this is Gary back the new Winston world champion in Top Fuel Eliminator and his opponent here in the second round Richard Clark bask in the glory of the World Championship back in 1976 at the wheel of the candies and news car based out of Dallas Texas the fuel Patrick inconel team using the same chassis design as is Gary Beckett's an al swindle car but there is a different approach to the utilization of the fuel systems between these two cars well if anybody's going to figure out how Gary Peck does it it'll be that team they are staged and ready Richard tarpon the four lane Gary back in the near Lane we've got a race Gary Beck breaks right on the starting line oh good fortune for richard thorpe as he did not have that good a run going Richards our Pat 593 228 miles an hour and Gary Beck beats himself mechanically very dejected he sits in the car this is the quickest top fuel dragster in the history of the sport the crew and the officials coming to push it off the starting line obviously something letting go in the drivetrain as we watch again Richards ARB in the Far Lane they leave almost identically but then the broken part puts Gary back out a competition and Richard Tharp with an easy run in round number 2 of the 16 Garfield today is over for Gary Beckwith the war has been won he is the new Winston world champion and we get word from the starting line that Gary Beck broke a transmission that climbing out of the cockpit is already the next race is on the starting line we saw race that's a young fireman for Pomona Mick and his burnout back with a helmet off but it's a little different situation don't you think here David's got that World Championship won not quite as dejected as he might ordinarily be if he had not had that I'm sure he would have been much more concerned about he is going out of competition this early here is race Stutz who said he is a fireman in Luverne California he is racing Joe Amato from Old Forge Pennsylvania one of the hottest new drivers on the circuit won three events this year what a contrast here both have state-of-the-art race cars but raced at this gentleman in the blue car is a fireman who works three or four part-time jobs saves every penny can get his hands on to build his car and has been performing very well a 560 in round number one he has had a little help coming to the table from Larry miner and Gary they really like this young guy Joe Amato moving in Rea stats second-round Top Fuel competition the Winston World Finals race that's moves first but up in smoke possibly too much clutch maybe too much gear and I'm gonna tie her whatever it is Joe Amato and Joe proves that he is in the thick of things with a 568 elapsed time at 239 miles an hour and just overpowering the racetrack his race done the car leaves with the wheels in the air and then the tires start to smoke and that's all she wrote for race nuts on this day now get up on those wheelie bars and kind of unload as you know Dave and transferred the weight to the front end and the tires go up in smoke any time Gary Beck is out with mechanical problems you can bet it's going to be a guy like Joe Amato that will step up and suddenly become a crowd favorite to maybe even win this whole race as this crowd is sitting and waiting coming up out of the staging lanes now are those fiberglass replicas of late-model American and foreign cars known as the funny cars they've got 2,500 horsepower engines in them and the number one qualifier is taking on alsa greenie greenie driving the fabergé super brood car hails from Easton Massachusetts that if you ever wanted to have a matchup of East versus West I guess this is about as far as you could go because Don Prudhomme hails from Granada Hills the four-time world champion Don Purdum we mentioned earlier really struggled this year until all of a sudden he stepped up here to qualify number one at a 574 Alfred almost a national record in a 563 the quickest elapsed time ever run al said granny won the Cajun Nationals this year the funny car titles were more evenly distributed than was Top Fuel quantitive a few different winners along the trail but as we told you also the shaitaan hustler is the new world champ Frank ollie for the second year in a row he is out now we're racing for the event title in some $20,000 Don Prudhomme at the wheel of the pepsi challenger approaching those light beams stretching across the racetrack and look at how so greedy with a whole shot alsa green and suddenly a security has problems the motor let's go and Don Prudhomme who was about to throw in the tire towel I would imagine comes up with the win at a 589 240 miles an hour look at the whole shop person greedy boy so green he had this race sewed up he was at least a car lengths ahead or more at the middle of the track he starts to smoke a little bit you can see the piston smoke indicating there's some problems and the problems gave the wind to Don Prudhomme donford o manasa greenie discussing reaction times the Greenies the better the two in fact an outstanding reaction time for alistair green egypt our next there John brute-force and he has been having quite a season his crew chief Larry Fraser has made all the difference in the world for force he is gaining confidence and his driving abilities he has made it to the final round several times this season has yet to win an NHRA national event but John Force sitting patiently as the crew completes the work on that 2,500 horsepower nitro burning engine the fiberglass body comes down his competition Sherm Gunn already doing his burnout and John pours rolls through the water and next you'll see the tire smokin John Force has consistently had the best reactions Dave all season long of any of the funny car drivers an occasional red light in their tomorrow that but if you're not pushing the light you don't read like once in a while maybe you're not on time John Force Sherm Gunn a chassis builder by trade built this car specifically for this event a brand-new race car for sure gun he qualified well and won his first round race which probably marked his first ever win in national event competition the burnouts are over the engines running up the par and now it falls on the drivers John Force told me recently Dave that he's figured out who his enemy is it's not the other car it's not the race track it's the Christmas tree that is the enemy forces John fours concentrating on that Christmas tree for sure John he's doing exactly the same thing in the Far Lane of the track and John Bors with the hole shot and he pulls ahead to defeat serve gun by a little over a car length of 598 to a 604 and John Force as we watch it replay takes home the win John Force was three hundreds of a second quicker to react here he loses traction and that's going to be a sinking feeling for the driver they can feel that happen you in the shutdown area and going back to the pits for another good hour to hour and a half's worth of work for about five almost six seconds of time out on the racetrack a very intense young man takes his sport so seriously an ex pair of cars this is a man that also takes it very seriously but he does it in his own style in his own method Little John Lombardo he hails from North Hollywood California and you can tell by the absence of all the sponsors names on it he wants Little John to get the recognition and that's what Little John get billy meier a full-time pro who first made an impact on this port right here at Orange County International Raceway when he was only 18 years of age winning the famous manufacturers championship funny car title for 7-eleven stores chief Otto parts his Southland corporation a good look at the Christmas tree starting system the top yellow lights of the pre stage when all four top yellow lights are on we get the pro start 4/10 of a second between amber and green billy meier with the wheels in the air little John Lombardo little John goes farther a national bid competition than I can ever recall Stevie ran five point nine three seconds to go into the semi-finals defeating a 599 by Billy Mayer in the 7-eleven chief Otto parts special and for Little John this is somewhat unusual our next pair already fire doing the burnout on the far side of the track as denny savage and here comes the three-time Winston world champion the Schlitz bloom act of Raymond beetle well a lot of people were a little worried about Raymond beetle this year because he has branched out into other forms of motorizing Sammy Swindell in the worlds of outlaw sprint car circuit on NASCAR car Jenny Savage who has been out of drag racing two years only hired last weekend to drive this custom bodied car and to qualify here under those circumstances quite a triumphant for Denny Savage on film veteran of this poor savage defeated Gary Densham in round number one to place him up against Raymond beetle beetle qualified number four with an outstanding 581 and so the Schlitz Blue Max out of Dallas Texas is striving to move into the semifinals but Denny Savage is not to be forgotten in this race oh he certainly is not Ron Swearengen the young man only 23 in the red shirt there and I've listened to that motor to make sure it's got enough heat it would respond to savages touch on the throttle Raymond beetle the spring Nationals champion this year the Schlitz Blue Max Nadel no better driver no calmer driver certainly ice-water for blood Denny's haven't an excitable type sometimes they get away pretty close together savage had the whole shot by a hundredth of a second and look at him hold on and in fact he pulls away at the finish line you talk about upsets Denny savage just laid away the Schlitz bloom act as we watch again you see a very slight advantage off the starting line it couples up with a 593 elapsed time beetle actually has a lead at this point by about a half a car length fun to look at Denny Savage his feet 242 miles an hour as he crosses the finish line at the end of the quarter mile 1320 feet away from the starting line raymond beetle takes off his helmet and fire sock denny savage a longtime professional driver in this sport who just took over the reins of this race car and you find yourself in the semis really struggled in qualifying did your wildest dreams for you to get this far now I really did I really did it but you know we're there so can I say okay good luck with this guy so the crew coming to congratulate Denny savage driving Fred Castro Nova's car Raymond beetle out of competition as we will be moving shortly to the semi-finals a Funny Car eliminator we're John Force will be running gone Rudolph and little John Lombardo will run Denny Savage earlier in funny car qualifying we had one of the most spectacular engine explosions ever in drag racing history as Mike Dunn at the wheel of Roland Liang's Hawaiian run special approach the finish line and then it let go it's with great pleasure I stand next to a hill and apparently healthy Mike Dunn you okay oh yeah I'm alright just got a sprained left index finger and my knees a little sore but other than an I'm fine you had no warning at all no them the car was running real well we had changed actually we changed a piston we went to higher compression we were just trying things and left real lazy and then a half track it really started to make a charge so I thought I'd run er down there and see what it run and I lay down just for an instant and then blew up I didn't really have time to react and immediately put oil on my visor and I couldn't see and I just reacted to the way the car went you appeared to be trying to drive it until it rolled well actually what happened is I was worried about getting into Alistair green easily no got a person we were racing and that was my main concern at first and so being that I couldn't see I was just reacting I that's probably over correcting for the way the car moved just so I didn't want to get into his lane and evidently what happened as a motor went over on top of the fuel tank and then went off the side of the tire and that's what rolled me I thought it went off the end off the side of the track and hit something that's what rolled me because it wasn't really a far out of control at that time and on the first row the robot hit as hard as it possibly could have oh yeah I definitely hit hard luckily nobody home up there so it didn't hurt me up there and he says an awful lot for the men that make the rules oh yeah definitely I'm living proof how safe these things are you know just take a look at all my reruns right and you can't say enough about the safety features of the car the roll cage full roll cage and everything else in d-type car something like that crash like that the driver be lucky to walk away with it and I've done it you know twice so it's there definitely safe so we'll see Mike done next season oh definitely not only a tribute to the rules makers but also a tribute to the man who drive those 250 mile an hour funny cars one of the of all drag-racing categories is pro stock the factory hot rod and this is the semifinals in the near line the famed Grumpy's toy a Bill grumpy Jenkins from Pennsylvania with Joe LuPone driving LuPone an athletic tall good-looking young guy who announced today he is retiring from this car no further news on his plans for the future Leigh Shepherd the world champion he wanted earlier when Frank ayuk O'Neill went out in the first round of competition that will be the second consecutive World Championship for the rear and Morrison Camaro what a matchup a beautiful Camaro automobiles Dave McClelland certainly is and this could be called the Battle of the makes this entire Pro Stock category here we have a pair of Chevrolet's LuPone in bill Jenkins car but it's Lee Shepherd pulling out the win by about a fender length at the finish line Lee Shepherd recording in a elapsed time of 769 at over a hundred seventy seven miles an hour and bear in mind they're running on carburetors and gasoline twenty three hundred and fifty pounds 500 cubic inches maximum the beautiful new Hurst Oldsmobile of Warren Johnson Warren won the event title here a year ago in a different model of an Oldsmobile this car that appears to be very bold actually is very quick Bob Berlin what can he say the five-time world champion the 83 for Thunderbird that finally has a new aftermarket aluminum motor minute they were handicapped with of almost a 20 year old power plant the first part of the season they've got it worked out now this should be quite a race always Mobile versus Ford they bring these rpms up to almost 9,000 Dave you can hear him climb to the bone and it was Warren Johnson with the hole shot and I don't think anybody expected that because Bob Linton has been improving all season long and at the finish line man advantage faceoff and Warren Johnson wins it Warren Johnson what a driving jump seven 71 at 178 miles an hour as we look at it again you see Warren react first wins car goes much higher in the air than he would have liked Glidden still however ran a quicker elapsed time at 7.6 six seconds 180 miles an hour so 500 difference in the elapsed time the slower of the two cars wins it here in the near Lane they don't get much closer than this that sets off the nose Mobil vs. Chevrolet final as the two wives Warren Johnson's wife and etiquette and Bob glidden's wife arm and arm as they go off the racetrack and the bodies come down on our funny cars as we get set to go into the semifinal round of competition it'll be John brute force in the tower lane a native Californian a former truck driver who about 10 years ago decided he wanted to make his living in the sport and it has been not easy for John he has really struggled on threw off a lot of equipment a good business man as you can see by all of the Ilocos and sponsors on his race car and he's finally got the performance to back it all up he'll need it because he has to race the number one qualifier the four-time winston world champion in the pepsi challenger Don the snake Prudhomme Fidelma some dogs got something coming out of the car you can see there is fluid liquid of all types coming out he quickly shuts it off and the car is on fire it is the nitro methane fuel apparently a fuel line split brew dome comes out of the car crawls away on his hands and knees and Bob Brandt his crew chief quickly hitting it with a fire extinguisher they backed the car up and no damage side of the car or Don Bruno but what a break for John Bors Oh John force in the bar line we'll walks his way into the final round and for smokes the tires it's a good thing he had no opponent David he'd have been in real trouble he'd have probably been defeated he'd have been watching Don Prudhomme streaking away in that Pepsi Challenger but instead Don Prudhomme being pushed back to the pits the fuel line letting go and a dejected driver is the man who watched the body come up and he exited quickly as the fuel started pouring out hitting the red-hot headers and bursting into flames as Prudhomme himself shuts the engine off and immediately exits the car and the first to react here is his crew chief Bob Brandt who knows that there was always a fire extinguisher sitting right on that starting line the emergency trucks the way they are placed it would have taken them another 20 or 30 seconds to get here by that time there might have been an inferno had Bob Brandt not reacted so quickly the remaining pair in the semifinal round any savage at the wheel of the custom body Enterprises car of Fred Castronovo as we've told you savage in this car for the first time driving this race and little John Lombardo has an opportunity here to make his first ever final round he qualified number one at the southern Nationals earlier this year but has never made it as far as the finals little John Lombardo is away first savage pulls up even it is gonna be Lombardo by a little over a car lengths Pat Galvan celebrating the crew chief along with Donnie catches a head for the truck Little John from North Hollywood makes his first final a fine time for little John Lombardo at five point nine zero he figured out what has become a relatively tricky racetrack earlier today Steve had a chance to visit Shirley Muldowney in her pit area these tankers have become more sophisticated their curves have become more specialized in the case of Shirley Muldowney steam it is Ron Tobler who makes the major decisions as far as tuning the cars concerned but he still has to get deep into the toolbox he is able assisted by Shirley son John Muldowney who generally is responsible for the clutch in the automobile a very important component other crew members will do the diving as they call it going underneath taking off the oil pan checking the bearing and the crankshaft Ron is also going to be a little bit weather man and keep an eye on the air density and the temperature and the actual altitude as indicated by his gauges because all that affects his tuning of the race car Shirley Muldowney now in the semifinal round of Top Fuel to be racing Richards are Shirley's performance today particularly impressive when you consider what happened to her at this year's US Nationals on a qualifying run the wheel came off the car the left front wheel and she made serious contact with the guardrail bouncing go Scott Shirley was unhurt but the race car took a vicious blow so the car she is driving today was the same machine that carried her to the 1982 World Championship it came out of mothballs they put a new wing on it with the number one and here they are and the semifinals against Richard Clarke Steve this has quite a personality battle too not only is that who's got the better car but who is the better driver Richards Art's got a little lazy off the starting line Shirley Madonna comes out of the tire smoke quickly Shirley Muldowney goes into the finals at a five point eight eight and 240 miles an hour Steve that was one tremendous driving job by Shirley Muldowney as she has now earned her way to the finals of this Winston world championship let's watch Richard Clarke just a little slow off starting line then here comes the smoke and that indicates the tyres are loose they have broken traction she's spinning him but she recovers quickly and easily pulls the head to the feet guard and this is the first time that Shirley Muldowney has driven what they call a Crower glide type of clutch she's had a pedal clutch sure she calls it a stick shift all season long so what a tribute to this young lady to adapt that quickly to a new mechanical combination who is surely gonna race in the final will it be the men in the near Lane Joe Amato who has won three races this year or will it be Jeanne snow who is yet to win his first Top Fuel title after the funny car glory he enjoyed a decade ago Jeanne snow dropped out of drag racing for several years and formed the company and you see it proudly displayed on the side of that black golden tree and it's called snow oil company it may well be why he doesn't go out and look for other sponsors for Joe Amato he is sponsored by Hurst and his own performance warehouse distribution company Keystone automotive Joe Amato and Jean snow as we get set for the final round of semi final action one of the two will advance to meet Shirley what a contrast in personalities the soft-spoken slow walking taxing jeans and joe amato very animated tots with his hands there's no punctuation in his sentence the one thing they have in common they're a very well-liked and respected in this court too and they are both very exceptional race car drivers Amato has had the consistency mechanically all year long has not been first off the mark very often but has never red lighted either jean style reactions good motor has been a problem the green light comes on for both cars and Joe Amato pulls to an early lead and he continues to extend it through the finish line and Joe Amato wins to earn his right in the finals five point seven zero seconds to a losing five 85 for Jeanne snow so it'll be Joe Amato as we see here in the near Lane defeating Jeanne snow in the semifinal round and Dave watcher he will smoke the tires almost exactly where Shirley Muldowney did Joe Amato backpedal they surely did got the traction again and defeats Gene's now and Joe Amato gets the lane choice with a five point seven zero elapsed time here defeating Jeanne snow Shirley's best in the semis of 588 and back in the pit area Shirley Muldowney screw is thrashing and they tell me they have decided to change transmissions in this car to go to a lower gear ratio transmission in fact they're borrowing one from Dwight Salsbury to try to prevent that smoking the tires in the final round a little bit of a gamble here David you can see Steve all of the work that goes on literally they disassemble the engine practically the entire drivetrain if need be and put it all back together and roughly an hour and a half so Ron Tobler jumbled down you've got their hands full I'm sure a similar thrash going on over and Joe Amato spitter as they prepare for the finals but right now it's Pro Stock time it is the battle of the factories Warren Johnson at the wheel of a Hurst hose Mobil finished number three in the world last season Warren Johnson raced for many years at a Fridley Minnesota but now he's picking up a southern accent out of Duluth Georgia and somebody with a southern accent is the Winston world champion and that is the shepherd driving the rare and Morrison Camaro out of Arlington Texas so we've got the battle the Chevrolet of Lee Shepherd wearing number one indicating he is the reigning world champion and he is wanted for the second year in a row against Warren Johnson number three last season I wonder sometimes if a driver like Shepard who doesn't have to work on the car and worry about the motor doesn't have an edge Warren Johnson looking for two consecutive event titles here at the world finals what a vinyl this is shaping up to be half track dead even 3/4 track dead even Warren Johnson what a driving job by Warren Johnson is crew and his wife happy over the big victory over Lee Shepard a three hundredths of a second hole shot at the starting line and that paid off for Warren Johnson as Lee Shepard actually ran quicker the two lanes are timed separately they're like two separate racetracks and Warren Johnson leaving first and getting to the finish line first by just a bumper length over Lee Shepherd and here you see why they use a computer electronic finish line judge huh how would you like to try to call that with the naked eye at 180 miles an hour Warren Johnson wins the event title for the second year in a row certainly holding his emotions in check at the shutdown area as we get set for the funny cars and here is John Ford neither of our funny car finalists have ever been in the NHRA championship winner's circle not little John Lombardo here with a body being latched down norge on brute force little John Lombardo has been racing in Southern California for nearly two decades he is primarily a Southern California racer he selects events out of the state to go to but John Lombardo has his first shot ever at winning in NHRA national event now John Force has been in three finals over his 10-year career but he's yet to get the win light in that final sprint the burnouts are over all the work is completed the crews directing their drivers up to that starting line marked by the yellow stripe across this very sticky asphalt little John Lombardo in the Far Lane John Force in the near Lane and staging very carefully into those light beams both drivers set and an advantage for forts that he goes up it's hoped that Little John goes up in smoke it's a race to the finish line and in his Little John Lombardo pulling it out a tremendous race only a 632 for each driver but times don't count it's who gets to the finish line first and it still takes a driver in one of these cars no matter how sophisticated they get they leave right together forests in the near Lane will be the first to lose traction there too much power for this racetrack right now forest feels I've lost but Little John Lombardo goes up in smoke he recovers and pulls out by one car lengths the victory over John Force [Applause] Little John Lombardo what mainstay here at Orange County International Raceway only makes two or three of the national events out of state Lombardo even he has got to be excited little John Lombardo the winner of the funny card title here at Orange County the first ever national event win this lady has seen a lot of them she has got three Winston world championships to her credit this will be the last race she bears the big number one on the wing the reigning Winston world champion Shirley Muldowney where Shirley Muldowney would be a very appropriate win here is the movie of her life story heart like a wheel being released all over the country to rave reviews or even talking Academy Awards but this guy would like to spoil that moment for if he possibly can and tie about four drivers ever who have won four national events in a season Shirley and Gary Beck among them Steve they seem to be having some problems with Joe Amato's car Shirley is running she has done her burnout and Joe Amato sitting patiently while the crew comes over it's going to be a single I believe for Shirley Muldowney it looks like it may be as Joe Amato having problems in the final and Shirley Muldowney home look at the start of autos car they're trying very hard they supported the gasoline and the engine is running and Joe waves the diamond piece sports cameraman out of the way and look at this Shirley Muldowney is waiting for him son John looking over say an easy mom trying to communicate with her what's going on Joe Amato will not get a full burnout though Amato at least is able to spend the tires towards a starting line you remember it was in the first round of Bill Carter had the same problem he got started very late he fared very well with the traction but the track has changed considerably since then you know who else has been a good sport here Joe Amato he could get a quick little squirt as they call it up to the starting line to simulate a burnout but he's worried right now that he's already inconvenient Shirley Muldowney that's the way Amato thinks a true sportsman we do have a race with a vital Joe Amato in the near Lane in the Far Lane the three-time world champion Shirley Muldowney she's going for the event when Joe Amato wants to stop her in first but he smokes the tires and Shirley Muldowney has won the 19th annual Winston World Championship in a year-old race car with a what she's never used before they changed the transmissions and everything going against her coming into this race but she pulls it off Shirley Muldowney the pink car in the four lane a model without the burnout there just was not enough traction as the day has cooled off the temperatures dropped some 10 degrees and a crowd loved Shirley in winner's circle again that's it from the World Finals this is Dave McClelland for Steve Evans saying so long for now this has been a diamond be sports presentation [Music]

Channel: CompetitionPlusTV

Views: 65,617

Keywords: #CLASSICDRAGRACING, drag racing news, orange county international raceway, nhra world finals, 1983 nhra world finals, OCIR, SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY, JOHN FORCE, DON PRUDHOMME, MIKE DUNN CRASH

Id: fJ3GGUj4S1o

Length: 60min 30sec (3630 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 14 2020