(8-3-2006) - Famed alcohol Funny Car racer Arnie Karp, who is best known for his series of “Boston Strangler” and Mountain Dew-sponsored floppers, had his life saved by a kidney transplant several years ago. Now his sister Elaine is facing the same procedure, only this time her outcome may not be as favorable as her brother’s.

In an e-mail recently sent to many friends, fans and family, Karp, now retired from racing, makes a plea for help in the form of a donation and/or participation in a 3.3-mile walk for Elaine, to be held on September 17 around the Charles River near Boston. “Elaine,” he says, “is now faced with the same health issues I had several years ago. She is in need of a kidney transplant. So far, she had not been as lucky as I was.”

Karp received a kidney from his long-time friend and former “bottom end” man Pat Murphy, and is now in good health. “It (the transplant) has been a life-altering experience for both of us,” Karp writes.

His e-mail link to Elaine’s request for help is www.pkdcure.org, and in an e-mail from Elaine herself, she explains that he has an inherited kidney disease called polycystic kidney disease, and she is now on a national register as a person in need of a kidney transplant. Her kidney function in the last year, she writes, has deteriorated at a fast rate, and kidney dialysis is only months away. Arnie and Elaine’s mother died from the disease 42 years ago. There is presently no known cure.

The walk around the Charles River will be a way of raising money for on-going research in finding a cure for polycystic kidney disease, Elaine writes in her e-mail. “Thank you, thank you from someone who’s learning --- late in life --- how to ask for help!” she says. Once again, the e-mail is www.pkdcure.org. And by the way, I was once involved in Arnie Karp and Keith Hughes’ Mountain Dew Top Alcohol Funny Car, and thus I know that the Karp folks are straight-up. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. --- Dale Wilson