colecoonce’s NITRONIC RESEARCH

John Force pointing fingers (photo by Cole Coonce)

This photograph of John Force  is culled from the shoot for the WIRED Magazine feature “War of the Wheels.” The article set out to explain the technological differences between import racers and modern Top Fuel cars. This story did not make it into Vol. 1 of Top Fuel Wormhole: The Cole Coonce Drag Strip Reader, but will run in Volume 2.

Scott “Lucky” Hudson, the co-host of the “Speed Scene Live” webcast, has gracefully invited yours truly to discuss my new collection of drag strip journalism, Top Fuel Wormhole, on his show tomorrow night.

As Hudson hisself writes, “Author and nitro junkie, Cole Coonce, on Speed Scene Live TV tomorrow talking about his great new book! Check out “Top Fuel Wormhole” at www.SpeedSceneRacing.com“

Show time is: 6 pm PST, Tuesday, May 5th. To hear the show, point your browser to: www.SpeedSceneRacing.com

There will be call-in segments also. The number is 1-800-809-0802.  Feel free to  phone the show and discuss anything from The Surfers AA/Fuel Dragster to Thrust SSC’s Mach One land speed record to “Jocko” Johnson’s streamliners to “Wild Willie” Borsch driving around opposing guardrails to “Nitro Neil” Bisciglia’s behind-the-wheel asphalt poetry to Arley Langlo’s political acts in a Top Fuel dragster… My hope is that the tenor of the broadcast will be nitromaniacal equivalent of the nights talk jock Art Bell would shoot the cosmic bullbutter with Terence McKenna. Or thereabouts. – Cole Coonce

An excellent article by Brian Lohnes on bangshift.com about the state of “nostalgia” funny car racing. Definitely sums up the conundrum facing those who love and race vintage-style machines. If one defines a pursuit as “nostalgia,” it must face its own obsolescence, because the pursuers get older and die and those born to replace the deceased have no idea what to feel nostalgic for…

Or as HIGH PERFORMANCE author Bob Post said recently in his foreword to Top Fuel Wormhole, “(A)s compelling as this is, nostalgia racing of course harbors the seeds of its own destruction. This is because people with ‘the desire to return to a former time’ (that’s what nostalgia means) will soon be gone, and one imagines that all the 1960s slingshot dragsters that have been lovingly restored or recreated will go through another cycle of consignment to the garage rafters. Perhaps most sadly, there will be nobody left who cares about sitting in one of these silent machines to go vroom, vroom….’”

Here is some gratuitous eye-candy for the web-surfing nitromaniac: Attached is some of the images used to illustrate the upcoming collection of drag racing essays, Top Fuel Wormhole (release date April 6th).

To start: the cover, designed by Andy Takakjian:

Next, we have some art for the title page. This is a scan of a postcard sent to the author by indie-rocker, folk-artist Jack Logan:

postcard by Jack Logan

To illustrate the “business page” (the part that gives the book’s isbn number and Library of Congress reference), we used a shot of “Techno Tim” Gibson boiling the hides in Frank “Root Beer” Hedge’s badass Mastercam AA/Fuel Dragster. Check it:

"Techno Tim" Gibson (photo by Cole Coonce)

For the story entitled “Death On A Sunday Afternoon & The Whine Of Blowers Over The Pacoima Arroyo,” and to drive home the point about the poignancy off hearing Top Fuel dragsters off in the distance at San Fernando Raceway, KeroseneBomb Publishing was granted access to some Polaroids by Dave Wallace, Sr. This is a pic of “Wild Bill” Alexander in the Ernie’s Camera (a k a “Shudderbug”) slingshot fueler:

photo by Dave Wallace, Sr. c/o hotrodnostalgia.com

(photo courtesy of Hot Rod Nostalgia)

Connelly & Coonce Jr. Gas Dragster, Lions Drag Strip 1968

Top Fuel Wormhole can be purchased at amazon.com, lulu.com and from the Kerosenebomb.com website. -30-

Top Fuel Wormhole, a feature-length book of motorsport-themed essays and articles subtitled The Cole Coonce Drag Strip Reader,Vol. 1,  is on the galleys and almost off to the printer.

Coming in at nearly 300 pages, this anthology is comprised of work that first ran a plehtora of drag racing, automotive and pop culture magazines and websites, including Full Throttle News, Super Stock & Drag Illustrated, Bikini, Grand Royal, Gearhead, Nitronic Research and others.

Despite the fervent efforts of its imprint, KeroseneBomb Publishing, hopes of having copies of the book in hand this week for distribution at the upcoming March Meet are remote, however. A more like release date is March 21st, 2009.

Since the March Meet publication deadline wil be missed, we thought it would be ono to offer up a tasty sample of the book in the online form, ith the uploading of the book’s cover story, “THE CHAMPION SPEED SHOP’S TOP FUEL WORMHOLE: A Concentric History of the World’s Quickest and Fastest Chevy on Nitro…”

The story’s illustration is this pic of the Champion Speed Shop fueler, taken ten years ago at the starting of Famoso Raceway.

Champion Speed Shop's Top Fuel Wormhole

Further to that end, we would like to share the book’s Table of Content. It is as follows:

PART ONE: THE HORIZON

FOREWORD by Robert C. Post
1. DEATH ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON & THE WHINE OF BLOWERS OVER THE PACOIMA ARROYO
2. SMIRNOFF VODKA AND THE SPIRIT(S) OF THE 60s
3. BOOK REVIEW: HIGH PERFORMANCE
4. THE DRAG STRIP DIARIES, PART 1
5. WHO’S AFRAID OF ARLEY LANGLO?
6. THE DRAG STRIP DIARIES, PT. 2
7. TAYLOR STORMS TO 6.17
8. THE DRAG STRIP DIARIES, PT. 3
9. OVER, UNDER, SIDEWAYS, DOWN: THE STORY OF “WILD WILLIE” BORSCH
10. THE DRAG STRIP DIARIES, PT. 4
11. BAKERSFIELD BE HERE NOW
12. HAVE NITRO, WILL TRAVEL
13. SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY: ORIGINAL BLAST-OFF GIRL AND DRAG STRIP GRAND DAME
14. DUNLAP TASTES VICTORY
15. RITTER TURNS 5.98, 242 – WITH HIS EYES CLOSED!
16. BURY MY HEART AT EDWARDS AFB
17. BLAINE JOHNSON 1962-1996

PART TWO: THE CENTER OF THE SHADOW

18. HESITATION KILLS
19. MISHAP AT BLACK ROCK!
20. BISCIGLIA CRASHES ‘48 FIAT FUELER
21. TARGET SPEED: TWENTY NINE PALMS: JOCKO JOHNSON’S GUERILLA RENAISSANCE IS NOW
22. THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING: MACH ONE AS THE BIG BANG
23. THE EPIC SAGA OF THE SURFERS: THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EXPLODING INEVITABLE
24. DRAG RACING IS MUCH MORE PUNK ROCK THAN ANY SLACKER GEN X SHITHEAD WITH AN OUT-OF-TUNE GUITAR
25. MURPHY MAKES MARCH MEET HISTORY
26. JIM HERBERT, R.I.P
27. W.W. TWO STARS IN BAKERSFIELD TEAR-JERKER
28. CHAMPION SPEED SHOP’S TOP FUEL WORMHOLE
29. THE CRASH, BURN AND RESURRECTION OF A WORKING CLASS HERO: THE “WILD BILL” ALEXANDER INTERVIEW
30. 1999: NOTES FROM THE HEART (LAND HOT ROD REUNION)
31. “SWINGIN’ SAMMY” HALE EXITS COCKPIT
32. MIGRANT APES IN THE GASOLINE CRACK OF HISTORY
33. THE MAD! ROCKET SCIENTIST

PART THREE: COLLAPSE

34. THE PASSING OF STEVE COLLISON AND THE DEATH OF DRAG STRIP JOURNALISM
35. “VIVA LA NITRO!”
36. FRYING THE BALONEYS OFF OF DANICA PATRICK AT THE SMOG CUTTER
37. DRAG PRINCESS
38. BUCK OWENS, TOP FUEL AND THE DEATH OF THE BAKERSFIELD SOUND
39. TOMMY JOHNSON’S DIPPITY-DO AND A MODEST PROPOSAL TO SPIKE DRAG RACING’S BAD HAIR DAY
40. SMOKIN’ DON SCHUMACHER’S, INTERNET WORM FOOD AND WHO KILLED MARK TWAIN?
41. THE DAY OF THE DELUGE AND SURVIVAL OF THE UNFITTEST

Upon publication, copies of Top Fuel Wormhole will be available at amazon.com, HotRodNostalgia.com and Drag Racing Online and KeroseneBomb.com. –30

And the Top Fuel Wormhole continues to spiral: in its vortex, the Ghost of  Drag Strip Aerodynamicist Jocko Johnson comes to South City, San Francisco in the form of the new stealthy, sexy Champion Speed Shop AA/Fuel Dragster. Bonus pedigree: this sleek nitro slingshot is powered by a small-block Chevy, and shoed by young Adam Sorokin, the spawn of the late Mike Sorokin, of Surfers AA/Fuel Dragster fame….

Champion Speed Shop Streamliner

In the Top Fuel Wormhole, Jocko says, “Cowabunga, South City!”

Nitro-burning drag strip action from the 17th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion. Nitro Funny cars, Top Fuel dragsters, et al.

(photos by Cole Coonce)