1995 Pro Stock Vandalism

[KevinWI]

In my quest for old drag racing results, I found this news story from 1995. Pretty scary, actually.
http://www.nhra.net/50th/news/index.html?story=141

NHRA Winston Pro Stock points leaders Darrell Alderman and Scott Geoffrion may be forced to miss the Mopar Parts Nationals and possibly other NHRA national events because of destruction caused by vandalism at the team's headquarters in Fairfield, Ill.

A vandal or vandals cut a hole in the back door of the Wayne County Speed Shop that houses the Dodge Avenger Pro Stock cars driven by Alderman and Geoffrion and destroyed all seven of the team's engines.

Team member Jim Musgrave, who discovered the destruction the morning of May 17, less than 12 hours before the team was to leave for Englishtown to compete in the Mopar Parts Nationals and the Du Pont Challenge, said it appeared that a sledgehammer was used to destroy the engines. Nothing else was damaged.

"They walked right by the cars to tear up another motor that was sitting in front of the cars," said Musgrave. "One engine had just come off the dyno and was hanging on the hoist. Two were on engine stands, and one was sitting on the floor. We were going to put them in the cars today, put the rest in the trailer, and leave at 6 p.m."

Graffiti spray painted on the shop walls said, "See you in E-town" with an Oldsmobile symbol underneath and "winners GM reains" (sic). Police found a can of spray paint in the shop that apparently was left behind by the vandal or vandals.

The Dodge team, headed by Dave Hutchens and Mike Sullivan, has won three Winston Pro Stock championships in the 1990s and has dominated the class since late last year, winning eight of the last 10 NHRA national events.

Said Musgrave, "They busted the water jackets and oil galleries, busted the distributors, intake manifolds, and oil pans. They beat the deck in on one of our new $6,000 blocks.

"We're in shock. If we had gotten hit by a tornado, I could understand that."

"It is unfortunate they had to write that stuff on the wall," said Oldsmobile Pro Stock racer Kurt Johnson, son of former Winston Pro Stock champ Warren Johnson. "It makes it look like GM [fans]. If they wrote that kind of stuff, they are no fans of ours.

"That is pretty low. We know how we bust our butts. It takes us a month to prepare a block. Dad has one good motor, and my second best isn't up to his best. We basically have four motors, and if someone comes into our shop and steals them or destroys them, it wipes us out.

"It's no fun for us to win if we don't have anybody to race," he continued. "It brings the level of competition down because it eliminates two of the top cars."

If Alderman and Geoffrion are unable to secure another ride for the Mopar Parts Nationals and for the Du Pont Challenge, Larry Morgan and Bob Glidden would enter the Challenge field as the first two alternates.