Here's more info from goracing.com on (V)opar and NHRA for next year.
Richard in SA
Nickens will run 1999 Mopar Pro Stock team
11-03-98
Chrysler Corporation has announced its "dream
team" lineup for the Team
Mopar Pro Stock effort for 1999, a lineup that
will be strengthened through a
new team approach. David Nickens will own, tune,
and build the engines for
the team cars, which will be driven by Scott
Geoffrion and Darrell Alderman.
Also on board are Mopar Pro Stock veteran Mike
Sullivan, who will serve as
co-crew chief; Jerry Bickel, who will act as
chassis consultant; and veteran
NHRA warrior Buddy Ingersoll, who will serve as a
consultant.
Additionally, Mopar will supply associate
sponsorship to the Pro Stock teams
of Larry Nance and former Chevy pilot Larry
Morgan, both of whom will be
in Mopar Avengers next year.
Team Mopar also will be represented in Top Fuel,
Funny Car, and Pro Stock
Truck.
"This new team is the result of an intense
commitment to our race teams and
fans to put Mopar back on top of the NHRA Pro
Stock class, where it
belongs," said Lou Patane, Executive Director,
Chrysler Motorsports
Operations. "To this end we have stolen a page out
of Chrysler's product
development book. Through a platform team
approach, we have assembled
what I believe to be the Mopar Pro Stock dream
team. Our intent is to win
Team Mopar's fourth NHRA Pro Stock title in the
next 12 to 24 months."
Nickens, an acclaimed small block engine builder,
joined Team Mopar in
1998 as engine builder/owner of a Team Mopar Pro
Stock Dodge Dakota.
Nickens, a former Winston champ in Comp
eliminator, is a six-time Car Craft
"Driver of the Year" award winner and currently
holds the record for most
wins in Comp (29). He was also the first-ever NHRA
Pro Stock Truck
winner.
Sullivan is the former co-owner of the former
Wayne County Speed Shop,
which led Mopar to three NHRA Pro Stock World
Championships and more
than 40 national event wins.
Ingersoll has more than 35 years of drag racing
experience and is a former
Competition eliminator world champion and U.S.
Nationals champion.
Ingersoll is also an industry leader in chassis
design and development.
Ingersoll will also serve as crew chief for
Nance's Mopar Performance Parts
entry. Morgan will act as crew chief for this
entry and as an engine
development consultant to Team Mopar.
Geoffrion, in his eighth year driving for Team
Mopar, finished second in the
1994 Pro Stock championship, third in 1993 and
second in 1992. Alderman,
a three-time NHRA Pro Stock World Champion (1990,
'91, '94), has
earned 27 Pro Stock national event victories in 40
finals since his NHRA
debut in 1987.
Returning to Team Mopar for its fourth consecutive
season is the Darrell
Gwynn-owned and -operated Top Fuel race team with
driver Mike Dunn.
"We're excited about our program for 1999," said
Dunn. "We feel that our
Mopar dragster is as good a race car as there is
racing in Top Fuel. We've
proven that we can run the big numbers in both
e.t. and speed that our class
demands. The key to our success in 1999 is to make
our car as consistent as
we can. We knocked on the door in 1998, we hope to
kick it down in
1999."
Team Mopar will provide factory support to Todd
Patterson and Bo Nickens
in the NHRA Pro Stock Truck class. Patterson,
driver of the #99 Mopar Pro
Stock Dodge Dakota, enters the 1999 season looking
to build on a
successful 1998 campaign in which his Patterson
Racing engines powered
two other Dodge Dakotas into the winner's circle.
Patterson, 35, is a
five-time Competition Eliminator Division 5
Champion and has twice been
honored as the Division 5 Sportsman Driver of the
Year.
"The major difference for our team will be the
addition of our new 1999
Dodge Dakota," said Patterson. "Not only is it
better aerodynamically, but we
also have a greater opportunity to adjust chassis
combinations and weight
distribution that help the truck off the line and
down the track."
A second factory-backed Mopar entry in the Pro
Stock Truck class will be
driven by Bo Nickens, the 1997 NHRA Comp
Eliminator World Champion
and son of renowned engine builder David Nickens.
The 1999 season marks
Nickens' first professional ride. "
To have the opportunity to make the step up to the
professional ranks is a
dream come true," said Nickens. "I've had the
unique opportunity to grow up
around this sport watching my dad race and run a
successful business. When
you have that kind of experience in your corner,
not only is racing in your
blood, but also you appreciate the intricacies of
the sport."
In addition, seven drivers will compete in NHRA
Pro Stock Truck with Team
Mopar associate sponsorship including Craig Eaton,
Dale Eaton, Tom
Yancer, Robert Freeman, Sondra Sikes, Ronnie Sox,
and Chris DeSalvo.
Skuza Motorsports will begin its fourth season as
an associate member of
Team Mopar in the NHRA Funny Car class for 1999.
"Mopar has shown great confidence in our NHRA
Funny Car program. With
the latest Mopar Hemi cylinder-head design that
Team Mopar engineers have
developed for us, we feel that we have a
competitive advantage that allows us
a tremendous opportunity to win every time we
race," said Don Skuza,
President, Skuza Motorsports. Returning behind the
wheel for 1999 will be
Dean Skuza. Skuza will enter the 1999 season
having established a career
best in e.t. (4.91) and speed (313.20) while
claiming his second professional
Funny Car win.
"Our goal for 1999 is to continue to build on the
success that we had late last
year," said Dean Skuza. "We are not purely
concerned about putting up great
numbers, rather we are dedicated in building
baselines that give us a great
chance to win."
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:10:58 EDT