UPDATE: John Force Racing publicist Dave Densmore confirmed that Mike "Zippy" Neff is the choice for the fourth JFR Funny Car although no formal contract is in place at the time. According to Densmore, Neff fit the criteria that Force was seeking. That criteria was an individual who could assist John Medlen in tuning, had the youthful look, willing to drive the car in Monday test sessions and able to handle the public relations demands of being on the road for extended amounts of time. - Bobby Bennett, 2:47 PM 7-25-2007

Not only is Don Schumacher seeking a replacement for the non-retiring, sabbatical-taking Gary Scelzi for next year, but he’ll be seeking a crew chief as well. Schumacher confirmed that Mike “Zippy” Neff will leave the team at the end of the year to drive a fourth Funny Car for John Force Racing.

“Mike Neff informed me Saturday morning in Seattle that he is going over to John Force Racing next year and drive the fourth Funny Car,” Schumacher said.

Schumacher said the move came as no real surprise to him. He said that it had been discussed prior to Neff’s decision to leave but felt it was a non-issue. In Seattle, it became an issue again.

“Mike had talked to me about it about a month or so ago,” Schumacher said. “He committed to me in Denver on Thursday and Friday that everything was fine and that he’s staying with me. We shook hands and a commitment was in place. He told me that he was not going over there and that was that.

“Then on Friday in Seattle we talked and John Force had been working him, working him, and working him about driving a race car there [JFR Racing] and that was the chance of a lifetime.”

Technically, Neff had no formal ties beyond 2007 with Schumacher outside of a verbal commitment. According to Schumacher there was no formal contract in place for the 2007 season with Neff and the multi-team car owner said that DSR has tried to get one all year but to no avail.

“I guess you have to sit back and determine what was the verbal agreement versus what was the written agreement,” Schumacher said. “Verbally, he’d committed to another three years. We shook hands and I figured that was that.”

Neff heads to JFR with limited driving experience as a driver but with a wealth of tuning experience. According to Schumacher, Neff made a few 100-foot squirts in Scelzi’s Funny Car during a test session but that’s it.

One has to wonder why if Neff was interested in driving he didn’t apply himself as Scelzi’s replacement.

“He had mentioned it to me and one of the sponsors,” Schumacher said. “We had talked about it. But to take someone that has never driven even an alcohol car and put them in a championship car is a very difficult step to make. It just wasn’t something with the money he wanted and the amount of time and effort that it would take from the team to get him up to speed -- as I think we have seen with some of the things that have transpired in the last year or so with rookie drivers – it isn’t a desirable thing to put a young rookie into one of these cars. It is a difficult task. A fuel Funny Car isn’t an easy car to drive.”

Schumacher’s gut instinct is that Neff will become just another Funny Car crew chief.

“I believe he will become a crew chief,” Schumacher said. “I believe, in my own mind, this is a situation that John has chosen to do with Zippy because my team is the only team out there that has challenged or beaten John Force Racing for world championships in the last few years.”

As for Scelzi’s replacement, Schumacher says the list is still long and unresolved.

“I have spoken to a lot of drivers and the list of candidates is still long,” Schumacher said. “Until I really sort things out with Jim Jannard, Oakley and Mopar, I am not at liberty to say who the candidates are or who is leading the chase for the driving jobs. I have talked to a lot of people.

“Some of the people on the list are out there racing fuel Funny Cars, Top Fuel dragsters and even Alcohol cars. There’s a large group of people that can potentially fit into this role. I am sure some of the people that we have talked to will surprise a lot of people.”