The West Coast Funny Car Factory's 'Nitro Kitty Charger'

Greetings everyone! Mendy Fry here. First off, a belated Happy New Year to everybody! As we make our way into the 2010 racing season, I want to share my official story for the year ahead:

Right after the 2009 California Hot Rod Reunion, the team owner of McCain’s Bomb Squad parked the race car, citing the uncertainty surrounding a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. Ironically, although the legal brouhaha still hasn’t been settled, they have already hired another driver. (Honestly… you do the math!) As part of that equation, factor in that I’m happy for that team’s new bomber pilot, 2008 AA/Fuel Dragster champ Troy Green, and hope he does well over there.

In November, my old team owner Gary Messenger let ace-tuner Donnie Couch put the Future Flash Funny Car back together so we could make exhibition passes at the NHRA World Finals in Pomona. In the pits there, Gary let tire-kickers know the car is for sale, but until money changes hands, Messenger said Donnie and I can run the car in 2010 out of Couch’s “West Coast Funny Car Factory,” as long as we are the ones paying for its day-to-day operation. So, we’re working on gathering sponsors. (And a motor!)

Even though it is not a done deal, right now there’s a great buzz around the concept of running the Future Flash with Donnie tuning. But you know how those deals go sometimes… If it doesn’t come together, I’d definitely consider driving for someone else, but I have to admit — I hope you all don’t take this the wrong way, because this is REALLY going to sound stuck up — I’m not going to drive an uncompetitive car, just to drive. I’d rather sit it out. Beyond that, I’m pretty sure I’m over racing in Nostalgia Top Fuel also. That class is just struggling to survive. Yeah, they’re a kick in the pants to drive, but I’d like to stick with (wo)man-handling Nitro Funny Cars in NHRA’s Heritage Series.

To that end, beyond the possibility of resurrecting the old Future Flash — which has been renamed the Nitro Kitty Charger — a couple of pretty cool and competitive teams have put out feelers about my driving for them this year, all of which makes the 2010 season seem pretty exciting.

What else? Jesse James’ GARAGE Magazine is doing a full-length feature on moi, entitled “Here’s Looking at You, Nitro Kitty: Mendy Fry is One Cool Cat.” Look for it next month! And this month I’m in National Dragster’s Suzy’s Scrapbook column….

So that’s it. That’s my story. Hopefully I’ll be running something other than my mouth at the March Meet…. -MF-

18TH CALIFORNIA HOT ROD REUNION, Bakersfield, CA, October 18th – With twenty-eight machines lighting it off and jostling for the eight-quickest positions during Saturday’s AA/Funny Car Eliminator qualifying round, one has to expect some broken hearts — and broken parts.

For “Nitro Kitty” Mendy Fry and her mount, McCain’s Bomb Squad, that meant a broken rear end — and one that was impractical to mend.  At the shift-point during the first of what should have been two qualifying runs, a puff of smoke came out of the ‘73 Duster’s headers, a signal that the pinion gear lost more teeth than two cowboys in a bar fight, and the damage spread throughout the drivetrain, including destroying the axle and snapping a steel input shaft like a pretzel. With power to the slicks dis-engaged, Fry coasted to a quarter-mile elapsed time of 7.13 at 131 mph, netting a provisional 19th position, insufficient to qualify for Sunday’s race.

Which was academic, because after the damage was assessed, in hopes of making Sunday’s qualifying round, a frantic search for a replacement rear axle was met with sympathetic responses from members of the Nitro Funny Car community, most specifically by the teams of Claude LaVoie and Todd Lesenko, but to no avail. And after McCain’s Bomb Squad spent the night disassembling the drivetrain in hopes of putting it back together in time for more qualifying, the team’s season came to end for want of a spare axle. Which begs the question: How do you mend a broken heart? Or even a  broken rear end? -30-

This weekend it’s a Fiberglass Forest at Famoso Raceway! A Plethora of Plastic Fantastics! A Carbon Fiber Cotillion! With thirty-two (32!) nitro-burning coupes entered in competition, never has the battle for Funny Car Eliminator at the California Hot Rod Reunion been so cut-throat: Indeed, on the eve of the event’s 18th running, all of these wicked machines will vie for a mere eight spots, with these quickest contestants participating in Sunday’s final showdown. To that end, “Nitro Kitty” Mendy Fry — shoeing McCain’s Bomb Squad ‘73 Duster — will have to claw and scratch her way through the field when time trials begin on Saturday at 4 pm.

Indeed, qualifying will be ruthless! Among the legion of fuel floppers duking it out with Fry in what is the last race this year in the NHRA Heritage Points Series: “Northwest Hitter” Bucky Austin,  Kris Krabill  in the Pedaler, and Mark Sanders’ Mr. Explosive Nova.  In addition to those stalwarts, former NHRA Funny Car champ Cruz Pedregon has entered his just-finished Joe Pisano ‘77 Arrow tribute funny car. The last-minute details behind Pedregon’s late entry underscore the camaraderie amongst otherwise pitiless competitors…. Indeed, because of scheduling conflicts last weekend Pedregon was racing in Virginia and not able to leak-down and warm-up his brand spankin’ new machine, so in preparation for its debut at this weekend’s drag race, Joe Pisano crew chief Donnie Couch enjoined Fry to light off the untested Hemi-powered Nitro Coupe last Sunday. Upon ignition, everything appeared buttoned-up properly and no leaks were to be found, so Fry signed off on the systems-check and handed the steering yoke back to Couch to give to Pedregon, its righful owner — just in time to fight it out on the drag strip this weekend in Bakersfield. -30-

photo courtesy of BurningMotorhome.com

photo courtesy of BurningMotorhome.com

What a weekend…. Drag racing a Nitro Funny Car at the Pepsi Nightfire Nationals in Boise was one banzai experience!

Here’s how it went: In the first session of qualifying on Friday night, the car was underpowered, and it got out of the groove; trying to salvage the run, I stayed on the throttle a little too long and gathered up the half-track timing cone, nullifying the qualifying attempt. Of nineteen entries trying to get into a 16-car eliminator, we were among the DNQs.

Saturday afternoon was a different story — and result: We ended #3 qualifier. I  posted a 5.93, 236 mph. That performance put us up against #14 qualifier Nate Bugg when the first round of eliminations were to commence at 7 pm.

Or so it said on the schedule. After some serious oil-downs by the Top Fuelers, Nate and I didn’t pair up until 10:30 at night. The track had cooled and all the traction went away. We backed down from our aggressive tune-up in hopes of just making it to the finish line under power. Before we lit it off, I told Nate: “This is not going to be pretty!” And so it wasn’t:  After sitting in the staging lanes for three and a half hours — enduring various clean ups — I got and earned this win, but it was UGLY. I pedaled it six times and put up a winning 6.89 to Nate Bugg’s 6.90-something — at this point ET and mph doesn’t matter, only who got the win-light. Which bring us to the quarterfinals on Sunday, and a heat against Paul Romine.

I swear, I thought I won. I gated Romine, .072 to .085, but he charged right around me, our soft 1.07 to his 1.02 60 ft. times. But then we made a march at half-track, and I thought I put a wheel on him and held it there. But it wasn’t true, his 6.09 bested our 6.12. He turned 232 mph and I went 234 mph. His total margin of victory: less than two-hundredths of a second. Ffs. — MF.

PS: With Boise in the books, that leaves one last race in the 2009 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Points Series: The California Hot Rod Reunion in October at Bakersfield. .

(photos by Darr Hawthorne and BurningMotorhome.com)

People ask me: “Where do you post your 2009 schedule?” I often get asked that question, and now I can point them to this post, detailing appearances by McCain’s Bomb Squad Nitro Funny Car. They are as follows:

With the NHRA Heritage Points Title on the line at this weekend’s California Hot Rod Reunion, Sunday’s race is must-win for “Nitro Kitty” Mendy Fry and the McCain’s Bomb Squad Nitro Funny Car…

Mendy is currently #3 in the points, behind the entries of Steve Romanazzi and defending Reunion champ Bucky Austin. For all practical purposes, in order for the Nitro Kitty to win the Title, Romanzzi and Austin must not only lose but the Bomb Squad Duster has to also win the event.

What makes this even more challenging is that the Funny Car eliminator at the Reunion will be contested in a variation of a “Chicago Style” tournament. According to the NHRA, “(i)n Chicago-style racing, only the top eight qualifiers advance to eliminations.  At Bakersfield, all entered cars will run for time, sending all but eight home after just one qualifying run.  The eight-fastest will run again, with the two quickest winners, advancing to the final.”

Which means every pass is do-or-die for the McCain’s Bomb Squad entry…

The first round for Nitro Funny Car is 11 am Sunday. With over 20 floppers entered, will the Nitro Kitty be among the top 8 after 1st Round?  And if so, will she then be among the quickest two winners? And finally, the event winner? And therefore, ultimately the NHRA Heritage Series Nitro Funny Car Champion…

Call in @ 1-800-809-0802 and ask her if she can see Russia from her view inside the cockpit of a funny car in Bakersfield….

(Rest assured, Speed Scene Live is one of the few broadcasts NOT pre-empted by the debate…..)

c/o Agent 1320, Drag Racing Online: “Thacker and Fry on Speed Scene Live”

Sample quote: “Next week, Oct.7th, talented Nitro Funny Car driver, Mendy Fry will visit SpeedScene Live in studio. Mendy will be driving Mike McCain’s Bomb Squad car at the upcoming Hot Rod Reunion. Mendy made it to the finals at the last Nitro Funny Car Heritage race at Las Vegas and was involved in a huge explosion while driving the Future Flash Funny Car.”

The website for Mike McCain’s Bomb Squad Nitro Funny Car has lit the fuse and “gone live.”

Point your browser here: http://www.mccainsbombsquad.com

Featured are nifty action photos of last week’s test and tune (my first laps in a race car since the Vegas Hot Rod Heritage Race), as well as crew bios and — for all you nitro geeks — tech data on the Funny Car.

More news to come as we prepare for the California Hot Rod Reunion’s Chicago Style shootout for the NHRA Heritage Points Title Sunday October 12th… wish us well… we are #3 in the standings, and hope to win the race and claim the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Points Title…

MF

Friday night, Famoso Raceway, Bakersfield, CA – To tell you the truth, I had me some butterflies two nights ago in Bakersfield.  I hadn’t been in a funny car since the final round in May (Vegas HRHS event), and well, that pass didn’t go so well… If memory serves, after the Future Flash Funny Car kicked the rods out 100′ into the run, I ended up crashing, on fire and confused.  So, as we waited in the staging lanes Friday night before the first squirt, my tummy was definitely dancing.  So there I am in the dark isolation of the Famoso staging lanes, alone with my thoughts in a new Nitro Funny Car.  But, as always, when the 426 fires and the body comes down, those butterflies are nowhere to be found…

Mike McCain’s Bomb Squad Duster leaves the line harder than any car I’ve ever driven.  I went in the car nervous – I jumped out of it elated!  We made two half-track passes to get me acclimated to the car and to get a baseline on the new engine.  I felt immediately comfortable, which is due to Donnie Couch’s tuning abilities and the McCain crew’s attention to detail.  This is, by far, the most meticulously maintained car out there, and I get to drive it!

So, in answer to the question, “What happened on Friday,” I say this: We got together, ran the car, and bonded as a team.  Now, we will turn our attention to the California Hot Rod Reunion.  Come by and see us on Sunday, October 12, at Famoso!

(See more photos from Friday’s test and tune in the Bomb Squad Nitro Funny Car HERE)