Racing the two nitro classes in alternating weekends wasn’t uncommon to drag racers during the 1970s. In fact, there were some who raced both at the same event, pulling off the hot-lap method of exiting one and entering the other.

Then there’s big Jim Dunn, a man for whom legendary stories are written about.

Dunn, who turned 76 earlier this year, once raced in both Funny Car and Top Fuel at the same event. While this might not seem like an earth-shattering accomplishment based on the achievements of others, consider the fact he did it with the same car.

Racing the two nitro classes in alternating weekends wasn’t uncommon to drag racers during the 1970s. In fact, there were some who raced both at the same event, pulling off the hot-lap method of exiting one and entering the other.

Then there’s big Jim Dunn, a man for whom legendary stories are written about.

Dunn, who turned 76 earlier this year, once raced in both Funny Car and Top Fuel at the same event. While this might not seem like an earth-shattering accomplishment based on the achievements of others, consider the fact he did it with the same car.

On a Saturday night in 1972 at the famed Orange County International Raceway in Irvine, Ca, Dunn, upon hearing Don “Big Daddy” Garlits was coming to town, entered the Top Fuel division.

“It was a big Saturday night deal,” Dunn recalled, with a smile – a rarity for the seasoned veteran. “They had good races in those days. If Garlits came, it had to be a big deal. He didn't come from Florida to California for free, I don't think.”

A few years into the rear-engine dragster movement, the streamliner movement had already taken shape with the Top Fuel racers seeking to extract every ounce of performance from their rails. Dunn and his team built their own streamliner body in the weeks leading up to the event. For a team already successfully campaigning a rear-engine, turning the car into Top Fueler just seemed natural.

The game plan was to run as a Funny Car with a Plymouth Barracuda body, remove it and then mount the streamliner body on the same chassis for a run in Top Fuel.

If driving a rear engine Funny Car was a challenging, thrill-seeking experience, the streamliner had the potential to be downright scary.
The first time Dunn launched the streamliner on that Saturday was the first time he’d driven with the streamliner bodywork.

“We were kind of leery of it,” Dunn admitted. “We never even had it on the chassis until we went out to the races. I was leery; I didn't know if it would go straight or sideways or what. We didn't think we would win. We qualified. We were the only Streamliner to qualify.”

They were the only streamliner to win, too.

“The guy was late on the starting line and I was early, so I beat him,” said Dunn.

A pleasant surprise for Dunn was just how straight the streamliner went down the strip, something fairly uncommon for the chassis as a Funny Car.

“It went straight as an arrow,” said Dunn. “We should have kept running it. It was just too heavy. It's why they don't run Streamliner dragsters today, because it can't handle the weight. The only reason we were quicker in the Funny Car, if you look at it, from the 660 to the 1000 foot mark, Funny Cars will pick up more speed than the dragsters do.

“The half-[way] mark, [in a streamliner] the weight didn't hurt us. The weight kills ya in the first half getting the big rock to move. Like Bonneville, it doesn't matter if they weigh 5000 pounds; the frontal area is the only thing that makes them go.”

In the end, Dunn admits the move was a publicity stunt aimed to grab the attention away from Garlits. The fact yesteryear’s nitro car didn’t demand as much maintenance between rounds was the key to Dunn pulling off more than nine nitro runs in one day.

“All we did is cool it off and put in fuel,” explained Dunn. “We didn't adjust the clutches or anything then.  Garlits had come out with his new Streamliner and he was getting all the ink out of Orange County. A couple of us said, 'heck with that.' so we built a streamliner body to compete against him. We qualified, he didn't. We figured we'd get beat first round with the dragster, no sweat. But, somehow we won first round. So, we went two rounds as a dragster and three rounds as a Funny Car.”

It was the challenge of pulling off the feat which motivated Dunn more than any potential winnings could have.

“We just ran it because we enjoyed running,” said Dunn. “Money has never been a deal with us, because I spend every penny I get. All I do is manage to be able to keep going with what I got. Like I tell people, I spend the same today as I did 50 years ago, every penny I got. Just luckily I got a lot more pennies (now).”

And for Dunn, those pennies added up to him becoming a drag racing legend.

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