2006 Pro Stock Preview
Determined Champions versus prepared challengers on tap for this season...
By Robert Bravender; Photos by Roger Richards

PUBLISHER'S NOTE - Throughout this week, we've summoned our beat reporters to provide our readers with a look into the 2006 season and some of the known news tidbits and some unknown. Join us throughout the week as we conclude with our seventh annual championship predictions.

In today's installment, noted Pro Stock enthusiast and Inside Drag Racing producer Robert Bravender takes a look into factory hot rod land with this feature.

TOMORROW'S PROFILE - Pro Stock Motorcycle

NHRA

Let's get This Party Started - While the 2006 NHRA season officially kicks off with the Carquest Auto Parts Winternationals Feb. 9 in Pomona, select Pro Stock racers will get to flog their rides one week earlier during the Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown held at The Strip in Las Vegas. With numerous new engine programs in play, many drivers welcome the extra seat time - and the extra cash they could win.

Four Times a Charm? - Among the select: defending champ Greg Anderson, whose switch to a new Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO at mid season coincided with a comeback that earned him his third consecutive POWERade championship.

To keep things fresh, he and teammate Jason Line, who finished 3rd in points, parked their Goats during the winter, and with three more cars being tested in the wings, “we are in better shape for this coming season than we have ever been,” said Anderson.

But that doesn‘t mean he‘s been idle, for Anderson’s been feverishly working with the DRCE 3, the new version of the GM drag race engine, which he hopes to debut by Pomona. “Warren and Kurt (Johnson) switched over to the new engine last year, so they’ve got a year’s jump on us,” he reported. “That’s why we’re working extra hard this off season to be as ready as we can, so that we can withstand the challenge that we know is coming in 2006.” Perhaps even from his own back yard - right Jason?

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License Renewed - Despite Warren Johnson’s earlier announcement that he was retiring at the end of the 2005 season, GM’s renewed sponsorship and the power of the DRCE 3 engine program enticed the six-time NHRA champion back behind the wheel, where he and son Kurt, respectively #4 and #2 in the 2005 NHRA Pro Stock points, recently clocked astounding numbers during testing in Cecil, GA - 210.08 mph from Warren’s GM Performance Parts Pontiac GTO, 6.604-seconds from Kurt’s ACDelco Chevy Cobalt - serious threats to Anderson‘s current NHRA record, 6.633 at 208.23.

“Both my son Kurt’s and my programs have shown tremendous potential,” enthused Johnson, “and I look forward to returning behind the wheel of the GM Performance Parts GTO in 2006. I guess I’m just having too much fun to give it up.”
 
A Gift from Grumpy - Also confirmed to attend the Las Vegas bash is two-time NHRA Pro Stock champ Jim Yates. "Running at Las Vegas will work out great for us," he said. "The conditions we'll be testing in will be more realistic to what we'll be racing in at Pomona. The other places you run are good for your ego, but they're not an accurate indicator of what to expect at the Winternationals."

Recently testing a new bullet from Pro Stock legend Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Yates put his Sea Ray Boats GTO through its paces in Bradenton, FL, running the best numbers of his career, 6.662 seconds and 207.30 mph. Finishing 10th in points at the end of the 2005 NHRA season, Yates hopes negotiations with a potential sponsor will bear fruit so he can bring Jenkins on board full time as his engine builder.

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Signed on the Dotted Line - With the ink still drying on his own contract, Mark “Cowboy” Pawuk successfully extended his associate sponsorship agreement for a fourteenth season with Summit Racing Equipment, confident that last year’s mid-season arrangement with fellow Pro Stock racer Ron Krisher will produce even better results for his Pontiac GTO.

“We ran pretty well in the last few races of 2005,” Pawuk said. “We’ve made a few changes for the coming year, with our engine program with Krisher already having been firmed up. I think we’re going to be considerably more competitive than we were last year, and I can hardly wait for the new season to begin.”

Back to Basics - For the first time in over eight years, a Coughlin won’t be racing Pro Stock. Jeg Coughlin, Jr. announced at the end of the 2005 season that he was dropping out of Don Schumacher Racing to return to Sportsman racing.

“I finished sixth in the points standings and won the last race of the year in Pomona, so I was able to achieve some of the goals I set for myself last year,” said Coughlin. "My true love for the sport was born in the Sportsman ranks, and I plan on racing as much as possible with our stable of cars. I want to rekindle that special feeling of competitiveness that has driven me and my brothers for so long. I have a lot of friends in the Sportsman classes, and it'll be fun to go head to head with them again. It will also be real nice to get away from the pressures of racing at the top level for a little while."

Weathering the Storm - Meanwhile Coughlin’s teammate Richie Stevens is picking up the pieces of his life after Hurricane Katrina blew his New Orleans home and business into the next parish. After joining Don Schumacher Racing last year, Stevens drove his Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus to an 8th place finish in points, but now is behind the eight ball playing catch-up.

With it’s new camouflage paint scheme, Stevens hasn’t even had a chance yet to see the car apart from photos. To help him get up to speed, crew chief Bob Glidden began testing the car last December with results in the 6.64 range at around 208 mph. “He was pretty impressed,” Stevens said of Glidden’s reaction. “He seems really pumped up about 2006.”

Stevens will finally get some seat time when he goes to Vegas before the Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown. “I can't wait to go testing,” he reported. “I'm ready. I can't wait to see the car and the guys, and I can't wait to get behind the wheel. It's been a while. Just to hear the motor again, and hear the other cars and be out there again is what I'm really looking forward to.”

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Back to the Drawing Board - Also dropping out of Pro Stock is veteran racer Bruce Allen. Recently honored by the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame, this world class engine builder has decided to return to work behind the scenes at Reher-Morrison for awhile.

“Basically the price of doing this has just gone up tremendously in the last few years,” Allen explained. “We’re not that competitive at the moment, so it’s not something we can afford to do…To be competitive it has to be your full time job. In our case [Reher-Morrison], we’d rather work on the business and the shop. We’re going to continue doing engines, and we’re going to keep working on Pro Stock stuff. If we get engines running good enough then we’ll probably make an appearance, but at the moment we’re definitely not going to run a full schedule.” 

Just Call Me Daddy - Jason Line would love nothing more than to have every Pro Stock driver including his boss Anderson to adopt that mode of thinking. At least one new crewmember will be calling Line by that title.

Line and his wife Cindy became proud parents of a boy when she gave birth to Jack Vincent Line at 12:46 p.m. in a local Charlotte-area hospital on Tuesday, January 24.

Jack Vincent Line crossed the scales at 7 pounds and 2 ounces and was 21 inches long. Both Cindy and the new baby are doing fine, as is Jason, who took a few days off to admire and spoil his new offspring.

Got Milk? - Primed to step into the void created by these departures are hard-charging youngsters Erica Enders and Dave Connolly. Enders, the Disney Channel darling, and - in her rookie year as a pro - the most successful female driver in the history of Pro Stock, succeeded in locking in Bravo! Foods International Corp. as Cognazzi Racing’s primary sponsor for 2006.

Showing tremendous improvement toward the end of the 2005 season, Enders also snagged a Weld Racing Wheels sponsorship after finishing 15th in points at the wheel of the Slammers Ultimate Milk Cobalt.

Sometimes the Bear Gets You - On the other hand, Dave Connolly is starting off the 2006 season with a deficit. Finishing off 2005 in the number 5 position, this 23 year old looks to be a serious contender, but suffered a setback at a recent test session in Valdosta, GA when his Skull Gear Racing Cobalt crashed into a concrete barrier. While doing a burnout, the right tire grabbed pavement, making the car do a hard left into the concrete wall. Connolly was unhurt, but the front end was critically mangled without a

complete pass made on the car. Scheduled to appear at the Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown in Vegas, crew chief Terry Adams has high hopes of getting the car repaired in time.

"The car was working pretty well," Adams said. "It came around and we'd made some big (tuning) gains. It wasn't nearly as finicky as it was before. We just have to fix it and keep on going."

Stop the Presses - Adams has heard the phrase "Any Given Sunday" all too often. Pre-season planning morphed into a full-on thrash Sunday as the crew of the SKULL GEAR Pro Stock Chevrolet Cobalt finished rebuilding the car and sent it on a 1887-mile journey to Las Vegas for the final test session (Feb. 3-5) prior to NHRA’s season opener, Feb. 9-12.

This wasn’t the way Adams envisioned preparations would go. Plenty of test runs were planned and there would be ample time to hone the tune-up that’s certain to change because the car’s horsepower now comes from Victor Cagnazzi Racing.

The accident caused more damaged to the car’s front end than was first thought and necessitated a longer stay at car builder Jerry Bickel’s shop in the St. Louis area.

“It turned out we practically had to rebuild the car,” said Adams, the team manager/crew chief. “It’s a long drive to Las Vegas and I don’t think we’ll have an opportunity to make a run until Friday.”

Connolly is scheduled to join other top Pro Stock drivers in Saturday’s special Pontiac Pre-Season Shootout.

“We won’t have much time to test,” continued Adams, “but we’re confident that it will take only a few passes to get the car dialed in. It does put us at a disadvantage, but there shouldn’t be a problem with the car. Jerry Bickel has assured us he will do whatever necessary should we need something fixed.

“I want to thank Evan Knoll, our team owner, and Latrell Preston for having the confidence in me and for their dedication to the team, making sure whatever needed to be done was. We wouldn’t be on our way to Las Vegas without the dedication and hard work of Jerry Bickel and his staff; Victor Cagnazzi and his staff who provided a great deal of much-needed
assistance; and Fred Simmonds and Dan Ingle of General Motors, who also provided a great deal of help.”

SKULL GEAR crewmen John Utt and Richard Hicks joined Adams in working around the clock to meet the departure deadline.

After three days of testing, the team faces a much shorter drive – 208 miles – to Pomona, Calif., to prepare for the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals, Feb. 9-12.

The Wild Card -While Greg Stanfield’s not one of these young guns, in 2005 he was the Pro Stock gunner who flew in the face of accepted dogma by demonstrating you didn’t necessarily need money to win. This former Pro Stock Truck racer built his own engines, qualified for all but one of the Pro Stock fields, and with only his brother to crew on Bart and Donna Price's PiranaZ Cavalier, came in seventh in the POWERade championship, doing it all without a huge budget.

Such talent doesn’t go unrewarded. PiranaZ will return and Royal Purple has announced its associate sponsorship of Stanfield for the 2006 season. The Price’s have ponied up the money for a new Jerry Haas-built GTO as well. And while Stanfield still faces a major uphill battle, he hopes to do well enough to attract additional sponsorship, and has budgeted for some pre-season testing in Las Vegas before embarking on another full tour.

Finding Nemo - There will be no high speed fishing for Kenny Koretsky this year as a driver, but that doesn't mean he won't loan out his prized bass boat. Koretsky recently announced that he plans to sit out most of the 2006 NHRA POWERade Series season. In his absence, he’s chosen veteran Pro Stock competitor Mike Thomas to replace him in the seat of the Nitro Fish Wear Dodge Stratus.  Additionally, Dave Northrop will run a partial schedule in another Nitro Fish Dodge.
 
“I don’t believe my body has recovered from the injuries from my accident (with Bruce Allen) in Texas last October,” said Koretsky, who suffered numerous injuries in the horrific crash.  “I will be at most of the races, but watching from the sidelines.
 
“Mike did an excellent job last year when he drove for me in three races in July and the two after my accident.  He’ll be running all 23 races this year.  Dave ran several races in my second Nitro Fish Dodge in 2005 and he plans to do 10 to 15 events this year.  I’m really looking forward to working with both of them.”
 
Eddie Guarnaccia, Koretsky’s longtime friend, crew chief and race team general manager, will work with both cars.
 
“I’m really excited,” said Thomas, of Knoxville, Tenn.  “We know this car will qualify well and run in the top half of the field.  I’m looking forward to working with Eddie again.  I rank him in the top five Pro Stock crew chiefs out there.  Larry Morgan is still building the engines and we know he can make Hemi horsepower.”
 
Thomas was the No. 1 qualifier at last season’s Seattle race and was No. 2 the following weekend at Sonoma, Calif.
 
“We’re looking forward to testing at Las Vegas (Feb. 3-5) and going to Pomona the next weekend (for the season-opening Winternationals, Feb. 9-12),” added Thomas.
 
Northrop, of Perkasie, Pa., shares Thomas’ enthusiasm. 
 
“I’m real excited and think it is a good opportunity for our race team,” Northrop said.  “We know we’ll have a competitive Nitro Fish/ISC Racer’s Tape Dodge.”

Making Gains - While he hasn't been publicizing it much, Barry Grant's shop in Charlotte, NC., has been burning the midnight oil and flogging the dyno unmercifully in preparation for his return to driving. Grant was sidelined last season with a back injury and successfully underwent surgery. He is expected to gain medical clearance in time to test during the Eastern Spring Test Nationals in Valdosta, Ga. Grant's national event return will most likely come during the NHRA Gatornationals the following weekend.

IHRA Torco Race Fuels Pro Stock

To Turbo or Not to Turbo - In an effort to introduce some street-bred variety into the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Stock program, the IHRA was planning to allow turbo charged entries into the class this season, but recently announced that they’ve postponed this idea for a year.

“After much deliberation, we’ve decided to delay the inclusion of small cubic inch turbo charged entries into what is a very competitive Mountain Motor pro stock program,” said IHRA Director of Competition and Technical Services Mike Baker. “Our decision was based upon the time frame necessary for gathering data and obtaining firm commitments from the various teams wishing to compete in the 2006 season.” 

Staying the Course - While it will be interesting to see how these Pro Street-style racers mesh with Pro Stockers in the future, right now most IHRA Pro Stock teams are vying for the remaining eight positions in the Lenco Transmission 6.30’s Club. Traditionally a quicker class than its NHRA counterpart, last year the IHRA introduced the club to emphasize this fact.

The first eight positions were filled by Brian Gahm, Steve Spiess, Frank Gugliotta, Jerry Haas, John Nobile, Rick Jones, Dan Seamon and Robert Patrick.

With 6.30 time slips in their back pockets, this select group doesn’t see much need to change their tune-ups, however everyone would agree that the man to catch this season is defending champ Steve Spiess. The 2005 Professional Driver of the Year has a good chance for continued dominance in the Spiess Construction Cobalt he unveiled last year. 

Berner's New Plan - When Pete Berner returned to IHRA Torco Race Fuels some years ago, he opted for the Ford route with Jon Kaase horsepower. The program worked well for Berner as he garnered his first national event victory as well as a Pro Stock Showdown title. Berner took note of the huge gains made by his GM counterparts and in making his plans for 2006 decided a new GTO might just be a better choice for now.

The avid exercise enthusiast has Kaase hard at work on a Chevrolet Hemi program that has already yielded a 6.38, 219 in preseason testing. Berner's new car is from Rick Jones.

Jones Flies In Testing - Chassis builder Rick Jones was able to flex his muscles early in preseason testing. Jones established a new South Georgia Motorsports Park track record as he nailed down a 6.384, 219.29 to lead the Torco Race Fuels Pro Stockers during the January session.

Sitting Back - Robert Patrick established himself as the man to beat early in 2005 by recording the first 6.3-second run in testing. This season, the diehard Ford racer out of Fredericksburg, Va., seems intent on making consistent gains.

"Everyone wants the big numbers, but we want to be consistently quick," Patrick said. "I'm not so concerned with the headlines this year. We have tested a lot of things and that's what we are focused on."

Patrick is in his second year of an engine program with noted NHRA 500-inch specialist Bob Ingles.

Mansfield is back - Fans of IHRA Torco Race Fuels Pro Stock might recall the name Rob Mansfield and his Wilson Manifolds-sponsored entry. After sitting out much of the 2005 season to tend to non-racing issues, Mansfield has been out in the preseason already. Mansfield showcased the talents of Ron Hutter-horsepower and looks to do much of the same in the weeks to come. He's yet to run a 6.3-second run, but a 6.402 has him awful close to the edge.

Eighth Man Out - One of the other seven who won’t get the chance to take on Spiess is Dan Seamon, Jr. Behind the wheel of team owner Charlie Taylor's ‘05 Ford Escort, he not only got into the 6.30 club, came in fifth in the Torco Pro Stock championship, but back in 1998 earned the Pro Stock World Championship when he last teamed with Taylor Motorsports.

Now replaced by former IHRA Pro Stock driver Angelo Alesci, Seamon is looking for a new ride - despite internet rumors that he opted not to return in 2006 in order to spend more time with his family. “I’m ready to go at any moment,” Seamon asserted. “My family is totally behind me racing.” Taylor’s only comment on the situation was that Seamon wasn’t available and Alesci was.

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