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Round 9: Featuring
Joe Godwin's Lincoln, Larry Gould, John & Cogo Eads, Swensen
& Lani, Johnny Loper, Dale Tuter, Jim Statkus, Flash Gordon
Mineo, Roger Garten, 240 Gordie Bonin, Jeg Coughlin, Tom Hoover, and Gary Densham.
Joe
Godwin from Fort Branch, In., campaigned this one of a kind Lincoln
Continental flopper from 78-81. Car was actually Godwin's second
Lincoln funny car; he campaigned the Godwin & Capps Lincoln
Mark IV on alcohol from 75-77 before moving up to nitro with this
Mark VI in 78. Godwin campaigned this unique car mostly on the
UDRA circuit, but also match raced and attended a few NHRA events.
Joe and Jim Capps hand built the body, which included a real landau
top and sectioned Lincoln grille! Today, Godwin still owns the
car (don't ask, it's not for sale!) and the body has been mounted
on an updated alcohol funny car chassis for nostalgia racing.
(Photo, info courtesy of Joe and Rosarah Godwin)
 Midwest
racer Larry Gould was THE last funny car driver to utilize
Ford SOHC Cammer power, finally making the switch to a Hemi in
the late 70s. This car, photographed at Green Valley Race City
with a Cammer nestled between the frame rails, was Gould's Mach
1 bodied flopper reskinned after Gould purchased a Mustang II body
from Al Bergler. Gould later campaigned a Hemi powered EXP bodied
funny car in the early 80s, a car which he still owns today. In
fact, Gould also still owns the pictured car and is contemplating
going nostalgia flopper racing. But, in the mean time, he has
built a SOHC powered T/F car for nostalgia events. (Photo by Jim
White, info courtesy of Larry Gould)
John
and Cogo Eads from
Killeen,
TX, campaigned this ex-Candies & Hughes Cuda in 72/73 after
running several Hemi powered Mustang bodied floppers in the late
60s/early 70s. Although father John drove an early Mustang effort,
Cogo jumped in their first flip-top car in 1968 at the tender
age of 18 and stayed at the wheel through the rest of their funny
cars days. The Eads were a popular match race draw in the central
US and were regulars on the AHRA Grand American Series. Pictured
car made the cover of Drag Racing USA's Dec 73 "Crash and
Burn" issue following a well photographed serious top end
fire at the Tulsa PRO race. In the aftermath, John and Cogo didn't
rebuild the car, instead bought a Mustang they campaigned for
another year before calling it quits. (Photo courtesy of Rick
Lewis, info courtesy of Cogo Eads)
Pictured
is the last in the long line of New Jersey based Swensen &
Lani funny cars and the first to not carry "Swensen &
Lani" on the billboard, circa 1977. S&L seemed to run
a different car every year, and every year the car appeared in
a new, sanitary paint scheme. Decade started with a Cuda flopper,
followed by a couple Mustang funny cars, and then Vegas to round
out their careers. S&L were Division 1 and northeast match
race regulars; biggest win came at 73 NHRA National Open at Cecil
County, MD. Following an accident at Englishtown in late 77 with
this car, Arnie Swensen took a couple years off, returned in 1980
to do a stint at the wheel of the "Philadelphia Flyer"
F/C. (Photo by Mike Schwartz)
 Phoenix
speed shop owner Johnny Loper's Arrow pictured at drag racing's
"Mecca," OCIR. The Little Hoss series started as an
Eddie Pauling driven, Bakersfield winning (where they ran a string
of 6.0s!) Monza in 77. Car tossed the body in winning the final
round, reemerged several weeks later as the familiar Arrow. Tripp
Shumake took over the driving chores in 78 and shoed the car to
it's first major event victory at the 78 AHRA Springnationals.
Mustang body replaced Arrow in 79 after a mid-season fire, Arrow
body was back on the car in 80. Shumake became the final member
of the 5 second club with a 5.98 pass while winning the 81 Southern
Nationals, the team's first NHRA national event victory. Interestingly,
team had gone 5.97 in 77 first time out with the Arrow at Irwindale,
but Cragar didn't recognize it for 5 Second Club entry. (Photo
by John Shanks, used with permission)
 Tulsa,
OKs, Dale Tuter's ex-Tom McEwen Duster photographed at KCIR in
76 cloaked in one of the two Duster bodies he acquired from the
"Goose." Tuter ran fuel cars from 71-90, had a T-Bar
chassised Vega prior to this ride. Pictured car was later rebodied
with a 280Z body before being sold. Tuter then went T/F racing,
returned a year later with an ex-Bill Schifsky "Beartown
Shaker" entry in the early 80s. A Midwest regular, Tutor
pretty much confined his activities to AHRA, IHRA, match racing
and a few NHRA division events! (Photo by Don Eckert, info courtesy
of Dale Tuter)
 From
1977 through the early 80s Albuquerque, NM's Jim Statkus and partner
David Hunt campaigned this car which was originally built for
NW racer Kenny Goodell. Goodell never ran the car, instead retiring
following a serious crash at Firebird Raceway, Idaho in 76. Car
was built as sister car to McCulloch's Dodge from the same period.
Car was Chevy powered during Statkus' licensing period, but gave
way to Hemi motivation soon after. Mostly used for match racing,
team did attend a few NHRA division events in the south central region. Best performance was in the 6.80/218 range. Car was later
sold to a racer from MI in early 80s and became an alcohol F/C.
(Photo, info courtesy of Jim Statkus)
Although
Flash Gordon Mineo moved to Texas in the mid-70s, he cut his teeth
on the West Coast flopper scene. Teaming with this dad Joe, Mineo
ran Firebird funny cars in the early 70s and is well remembered
for running his 72 entry sans body at Lions as a T/F car after
the body was destroyed. Flash qualified 14th in the 16 car show!
Another stunt found a close-up of Mineo's Vega on the cover of
the Sept 72 Drag Racing USA with the wheels up and smoking the
tires (later revealed to have been a cleverly staged shot). Mineo's
Monza debuted in 76 and although he never won a national event,
he was Div 4 champ in 77 and 78. In 79, Gordon teamed up with
Big Mike Burkhart on a Camaro bodied flopper. (Photo by Jim White)
 Ex-AA/FA
shoe Roger Garten was the owner/driver of the Warhorse Mustang
(which started life as the Garten driven Bishop, Buehl & Tocco Warhorse) in SoCal from 73-76. Chassis was built by M&S Welding,
cloaked in a J&E fiberglass shell and powered by a rare (for
funny cars) Donovan 417. Garten confined his racing activities
to the southwest and won several major flopper shows at OCIR;
furthest east venture was a points race at Salt Lake City. Pictured
car was later reshelled as a Mustang II, won the ultra competitive
Div 7 F/C title in 75 over 2nd place Jake Johnston, 3rd place
John Lombardo. Last race for the Warhorse was in Jan 76 after
which Garten retired. (Photo and info courtesy of Roger Garten)
 Gordie Bonin
was an unknown Canadian rookie when, driving a Vega, he
took runner-up at the 72 NHRA Nationals to Ed McCulloch. Bonin's next big move came in 75 when Bubble Up came on board as a sponsor
and he won the Div 6 flopper title, a title he didn't relinquish
the remainder of the 70s! His first NHRA national event win came
at the 77 Gatornationals, the same season he earned the nickname
"240 Gordie" for his consistent 240 mph performances. Bonin's best season was 1979 when he won 3 NHRA national events
to include the 79 NHRA Nationals, joined the 5 Second Club at
Indy with a 5.97 and finished 3rd overall in NHRA points. (Picture
from Bubble Up handout courtesy of Jim White)
 In
the 70s, Jeg Coughlin seemed to be an owner/driver in search of
a class. Decade started with an A/FC Cuda that ran until 72 when
this car debuted in A/FC driven by Bob Durban (while Jeg drove
a Pro Stock Vega). Late in 72 this car was upgraded to AA/FC standard
and in 73 Dale Emery took over the helm. Emery won the 73 Grandnationals
and 74 Winternationals (with 74 version of the car) and was considered
the "killer car" of the period before the car was converted
mid-season to a BB/FC with Jeg taking over the wheel. By 75 Jeg
was wheeling a AA/DA and closed out the decade at the wheel of
the "Captain Quick Change" T/F effort. Emery went on
to drive Gene Snow's Vega in 75 and Mike Burkhart's entries in
the late 70s. (Photo courtesy of Drag Racing Memories)
 From
1975 and a Pennzoil handout comes Tom Hoover's ex-Prudhomme Showtime
Vega. Hoover came from a long background of nitro racing. Following
an SOHC powered T/F car in the late 60s, he went flopper racing
in 1970 with the White Bear Dodge Challenger, ran Mopar bodies
through the mid-70s, and after campaigning this Vega, debuted
a Monza in 76. Hoover's first NHRA national event victory came
at the wheel of the Monza at the 77 Grandnationals (although Hoover
had been successful on AHRA circuit, won 76 World Championship).
Corvette body replaced the Monza in 78; in 81 Hoover became the
5th member of the Cragar 5 second club with a 5.95 ran at the
Gatornationals. Hoover finally retired from funny car racing in
the late 90s! (Photo from Pennzoil handout courtesy of Rick Covington)
 Still
running nitro F/Cs today, high school auto shop teacher Gary Densham
can arguably lay claim to running the greatest variety of body
styles of anyone ever having raced floppers. Densham started in
the early 70s with a Pinto,
started the Teacher's Pet line with the moniker on the spoiler of a mid 70s Cuda,
then went full bore by featuring the name on the side of this pictured Monza in the late
70s. The line continued with a Firebird, then one of the first
280 ZX bodies to start the 80s. An Omni followed, then a Daytona,
Trans Am, and Corvette. The 90s have seen Densham in a Cutlass,
Avenger and the current Firebird. Count 'em, 10 different body
styles!!! Monza was photographed Adelaide International Raceway
"down under." Densham later sold the car to Australian
racer Jim Walton who had the car re-lettered to read "Thunda
Down Under" before getting a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola
when the car was repainted in Coke livery. Walton crashed the
car in 81 at Calder Park after the throttle jammed in the traps.
(Photo courtesy of Paul Rogers Jr. from a Calder Park Raceway Promo)
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