MY PRO MOD DAYS. AND HOW PRO MODIFIED CAME TO BE! PART 1
Success claims many fathers. I want to say here and now. My stories are true as best as my 84 year old brain can muster. My still acute memory and the ability to prove what I tell may be the reason God delegated me to live this long. To tell true stories and try to set my drag racing history correct. THANK YOU GOD!
Let’s go back to 1986. My mountain motor days. My best friend and arch rival, Wild Bill Kuhlmann and I were jaded with our careers. We needed something new and with better pay. Bill and I set up a private meeting Dec of 86, at the Holiday Inn in Springfield, IL. That was midpoint distance for Bill and me. Bill was from Wentzville, Mo. Me Jim Feurer (Known better in drag racing as ANIMAL JIM.) from Lacon, Illinois..
Bill and I brought all our press clippings, resume etc. We decided we could not afford to run NHRA or IHRA Pro Stock. AHRA was long gone. So it was circuit race or match race for low budget professional drag racers. Bill and I even considered UDRA Funny Cars, and went to their annual UDRA Funny Car meeting. No way. Too much equipment changes.
We needed more bookings and for more money. To achieve that we needed to orchestrate something new. We both decided it had to be with door cars. One big thing Bill and I had was an overload of PANACHE. (RECKLESS COURAGE) This was very infectious to fans, media and promotors and even sponsors. I have always believed, that overload of panache Bill and I shared was a natural born attribute.
“How about 200 mph match race touring team of Pro Stock bookings?” Bill and I hit on that idea simultaneously. We then called around to various heavy duty promoters, race car journalist, and finally our own agent Duane Nickels’ of the famed Nickels and Associates. Duane thought our idea was great. But he said, “Before we advertise 200 mph Pro Stocks, someone has to do it first.” Then we realized no door car anywhere had ever hit 200 drag racing door slammers yet! OOPS!
Some IHRA Mountain Motor guys had broken into the 190. mph mark. What an opportunity. To be the first to run 200 mph in a door car. After our meeting, I lost focus due to family matters, caring for my invalid old parents. I am not blaming them. It is what should be done. Linda’s mother was also failing. We lived 45 miles from each. My parents had no insurance. We finally tapped out. Their church even helped. I had forgotten all about a 200 mph touring team.
Bill knew of my problems. So he did not bug me. My friend and former sponsor and owner of NOS (Nitrous Oxide Systems) Mike thermos did call me a couple times that winter offering to sponsor me again and was confident with my 675” Engine and the new NOS fogger nitrous system I could go 200 .Linda and I had so much family problems Mike’s offer fell on deaf ears.
But Wild Bill Kuhlmann did not lose focus of our dream. Unknown to me Bill Kuhlmann was methodically transforming his current pro stock Camaro into a one purpose machine. It was to be the first door car to break 200 mph in a quarter mile.
By the time February came, IHRA plus some fans and colleges asked if I was going to race Pro Stock at the IHRA Darlington Winter Nationals in March as usual. I told my wife Linda Lou. She said, “Send in your entry. This is business. That first race brings lot of promoters looking for match race talent. It always produces some bookings for us.” So I entered Pro Stock as usual.
When my crew Al and Douglas Schmitt, and Ed Fogelsonger were sitting in line at Darlington with our rig waiting for the gate for professional entries to open, I looked over at the Top Sportsman pits. Low and behold. There in the grassy area sat the Wild Bill Kuhlmann 87 Camaro, sporting a huge rear spoiler, new huge hood scoop with Sonny Leonard decals. Plus huge NOS decals all over the body. Top Sportsman was only a high level bracket class. But Nitrous and other modifications were legal.
It instantly it hit me. Bill was going to go 200 in Top Sportsmen. A lesser class. But with softer rules. Not Pro Stock rules. TS still is a door car class. Silly me. I never thought of that.
Bill did not disappoint. He went 202+ March 14, 1987. And smoking the ties from mid track to finish. Talk about panache! WOW!
As much as I admired Bill’s success, I got a sick feeling in my gut. Nitrous was legal in UDRA Pro Stock. I will have to run Bill in that venue and match races. I had no choice. I needed to conform. Hello NOS again!
My next race was a month later. The annual UDRA Spring Nationals at Byron IL. Dragway. To some that event, the Outlaw Pro Stock final became legendary. Byron then was NHRA sanctioned and also hosting an NHRA Div. 3 Event. Which meant all racers and cars had to be inspected by NHRA tech. My car along with most Pro Stock cars needed a new even larger bar once again under the driver side rocker panel mandated by NHRA for 1987. I pointed out that last year we added a new size bigger bar alongside the excising one, so both bars creating a duplex would be stronger than that the new rule. The NHRA tech official did not buy that. I responded with “You best brush up with your physics and common sense!” I was so upset, I threatened to load up and leave. My friends UDRA Event director Ron Colson and Super Stock Magazine Editor Jeff Burk talked me into staying. The NHRA waved the new rule till next event. Those two friends went to bat for me. So I stayed. This would be my first time with nitrous on my Kaase 675” Monolith Engine.
Bill and I made history qualifying. Both of us ran couple tenths quicker than rest of the field. Wild Bill and I qualified one and two swapping record setting numbers and went through that field of entries like poop through a goose. Bill ended number one qualifier and me a close number two. And we ended up facing each other in the finals.
By this time I decided to use the nitrous sooner than hitting it in third gear. I planned to use it when shifting to second. I did feel I could win and perhaps go 200. We both did humongous long burnouts. While backing up I had a miss. I think I broke an exhaust rocker arm stand. (So much for trying to win.) Al backed me up and I stage anyway hoping Bll would red light , get loose, shake the tires, or break. Bill and I played no staging games. Bill made a perfect run. I followed trying the nitrous to no avail.
Never the less. History was made that day. That final has become a legend. Pictures are all over face book. Bill and I went on be in 9 UDRA finals that season. We were always one and two swapping records and wins. This event was the start of something big. I don’t think anyone knew how big. Bill had kicked the door open breaking 200 at Darlington that March. The Pro Modified seed was planted.
Part two I will tell about four of my Pro Mod rides. 1989 to 2001 and about the modifications and updates of Zeke, plus my three purpose built Pro Modified cars’. The modifications and updates of my 79 Pro Stock Zephyr we call Zeke were done by me and Rick Jones 1989/90. 2. The Rick Jones Amazing Psychotic Probe 90 and 91. 3. The fabulous Jerry Haas WunderBird Thunderbird Super Coupe 1992 to 1996. 4. The sleek chopped top Tim McCamis Ballistic Thunderbird Super Coupe. 1999 to 2002.
Thanks for reading. ANIMAL JIM FEURER.
GOD BE WITH YA ALL!
