“There aren’t many of us hard-core addicts; we’re a different breed. The people will say, ‘There’s more to life than drag racing,’ well, they’re not hardcore.”
Jim Dunn
About a month ago, we covered the early days of Jim Dunn and here we pick up the story with background on his drag strip performances from the early ’80s and on as a driver, plus his transition to successful car owner. And at 90, it’s still the drag strip with his family that keeps him going.
Jim Dunn continued to campaign his own cars (then called “Fireman’s Quickie”) running both on the match race circuit and selected NHRA national events. He had a Funny Car win at Bakersfield in 1980, and his 1981 Dodge Omni was his first five-second car. He was runner-up to the Raymond Beadle “Blue Max” car at the U.S. Nationals and he won the World Finals that year, held at the Orange County International Raceway. Also in 1981, he finished in the “Top Ten” NHRA Winston Funny Car standings for the first time.
It was 1989 when Jim Dunn was invited to bring his Funny Car to Japan’s Fuji International Speedway for an event called the “USA Drag Festival” in front of some 35,000 Japanese fans in the stands. And at this event, a young guy named Kenji Okazaki got his first look up close and in person at a nitro Funny Car. More on that further in the story!
The decision came to retire from active driving in 1990 after all the years behind the wheel. “I drove for 40 years but there’s a time to step out,” he had said about it. “The reflexes go with age a little bit. But what goes the worst is concentration, I couldn’t keep it together four runs in a row where I could leave as good as I knew I should.”
CREW CHIEF ON THE CANDY BAR CAR
It was the summer of 1990 when Jim’s son Mike had the opportunity to drive a brand-new, high-budget Dodge Daytona nitro Funny Car, a state-of-the-art car in every way. It was the “Circle-A Racing Team” entry owned by E.B. Able and it had a high-profile sponsor in Snickers Candy Bars. In that first full year of running the car, Jim Dunn tuned the machine to four NHRA national event wins, quite impressive by anybody’s standards. “We won four races with that car and had a lot of fun racing with each other,” reflected Jim. “Mike was one of the best drivers out there and could give me feedback you could not see right away on the computer. Having unlimited money didn’t hurt either.”
ENTER MOONEYES
Kenji Okazaki, who was 35 years old, grew up in Japan and loved American muscle cars, especially Mopar® vehicles. So much so that his business was importing Mopar collectable cars for reselling in Japan.
The Moon Equipment / Mooneyes connection came about as Dean Moon, the owner of Moon Equipment had recently passed away and the new owner, Shige Suganuma (who had run the company’s Japan division), felt the need to get the name back into drag racing, where it had a history going back to the 1950s. So came bright yellow paint (like what Dean used back in the day) along with large “eyes” and the Mooneyes lettering in bold.
Here’s what Dunn had to say about “training” Kenji: “I’m hard, man; you have to do it my way. But I guess it works. When I took on Kenji, I didn’t think I’d ever get a win out of him.” However, thanks to Dunn working with him, he later said this about him right as Okazaki had become licensed as a fuel Funny Car driver: “He has a soft foot, he’s real calm and does what I tell him. He smoked the tires, pedaled it and got back into it, but the motor never got away from him. I told him to shut off at four seconds, and he shut off a 4.09. You can’t get much better than that.”
At the NHRA World Finals in Pomona, 1992, in front of the hometown fans, the Mooneyes Dodge immediately gained a ton of media. Mopar Performance proudly displayed in the sides. Blue Panic, a car dealer in Japan, and of course the Mooneyes and large eyeballs were a wonderful way to pay tribute and give recognition to Dean Moon.
The 1993 car saw Mooneyes make it all the way to the finals at the US Nationals at Indy, only to be shut off on the line with a fuel leak. Quite unusual and surprising to see a new driver advance so far at the NHRA’s most prestigious event! Kenji’s NHRA driver number being “888” which was about “Division 8” reserved for the international drivers.
This hero card shows the car with the #6 adorned on the sides, which came after a good 1994 season on the NHRA tour, gaining valuable Winston points. And to add to it, the Mooneyes machine was runner-up at the Big Bud Shootout at Indy that year as well.
The fact that Dunn had a Japanese driver in his car actually helped generate media exposure for the team and the Mooneyes itself. In a report from January 1995, Dunn expressed his thoughts on drag racing as a whole, at age 60, and with his then-40 years of non-stop eating, sleeping and breathing the sport. He was truly enjoying life. He was beating the high-dollar teams with great performance from the car, plus Kenji’s category-leading reaction times. At that timeframe, Dunn had been approached by some mega-buck teams to come on as their crew chief. “I said, ‘Well, to be honest with ya, the two crew chiefs you got on the dragster are like field goal kickers – and I’m a defensive lineman.’ We don’t even go to the same bench. They’re yuppie with their hair fixed, and I’m fat and ugly and have two teeth missing – but I’m having a good time.”
1993: HOUSTON WE GOT FIRE
It was the 1993 NHRA event at Houston, TX, when on a run the engine “layed over” let go on the car and it meant instant flames for Kenji! He was unhurt but shaken. “Boom! That’s it, I couldn’t see anything after that.” The car was a smoldering mess afterwards, and Dunn just walked up, surveyed the wreckage and said: “I told him, you’ve got to burn a couple times to get the experience what a motor laying over does, so now he’s got that experience. We’ll build another one. It will take him a year to get all the burns, scars, everyone else has. Gotta earn it, you can’t buy it.” Kenji also experienced another serious fire with the Avenger (pictured), and thanks to great safety equipment, he walked away from both incidents!
A FAVORITE WITH FANS AT THE HOMETOWN TRACK: POMONA
With the car based out of the Keith Black Racing Engines hop in South Gate (L.A.), as well as the Moon Equipment Company headquarters located in nearby Santa Fe Springs, the Pomona dragstrip was and still remains the “hometown” track for the car and the crowds always were very enthusiastic to see it perform! The bright yellow paint and large Mooneyes lettering, and of course the eyes on the hood, well it’s one of the most recognizable Funny Cars on the Fairplex grounds, even today.
GRANDDAUGHTER JOHNNA DUNN
Daughter to son Jon, Johnna as a teen with the Mooneyes Dodge at a Pomona event. She’s now 26, and is a clutch specialist on her grandfather’s Funny Car and has warmed the car up on nitro, getting more and more experience each time at the track. At 16, she raced a Super Comp dragster, and has sights set on one day getting her license to drive a Nitro Funny Car.
AVENGER
The Dodge Avenger body is where the most success came with the car and all the while each body was always flawlessly detailed throughout the seasons!
INSTANT FOLK HERO IN JAPAN
With his win at the 28th Annual Mopar Parts Nationals in 1997, Kenji Okazaki became the very first non-North American to win an NHRA National Event. And when the news hit home in his native Tokyo, Japan, the car magazines over there went full bonkers! After climbing out of the car after the win, Kenji said to announcer Steve Evans, “After five years coming to this country, this is the greatest moment I’ve ever had in my life!”
In addition to the USA publications such as NHRA’s National Dragster, plus the enthusiasts magazines, the big yellow Mooneyes Dodge saw a lot of exposure in the Land of the Rising Sun!
1997 BIG BUD SHOOTOUT VICTORY
Budweiser Beer put up $100,000 to win a special race in Indy called the “Big Bud Shootout” and thanks to some great driving, correct tuning and no broken parts, the Mooneyes car took home the cash! Their 4.972 time in the final was low E.T. for the race, Kenji’s first run in the fours, and beating both John Force cars (the other driven by Tony Pedregon) was extra sweet and especially gratifying!
Here’s how Dunn described the Big Bud Shootout prior to the first round: “The Shootout is good for our ego, the crew and the crew chief. The driver has nothing to do with it, ’cause it is all qualifying, we know we can get down one out of four qualifying runs. We like the Bud Shootout better than any race. We have three new motors in there, three new sets of heads. We’ll give it everything we got. We’ll be competitive. We will put some parts out.”
Dunn had remarked after the big win, “Our annual budget is around $300,000, so $100,000 represents a real profit.”
MOONEYES FUNNY CAR COLLECTIBLES GALORE
Racing Champions was but one of the companies that manufactured licensed Mooneyes scale cars. These shown were 1/24th, 1/64th and 1/144th in size and marketed in both the USA and Japan.
In addition, Johnny Lightning did up limited editions as well and CORGI came up with a matching Mooneyes 18 wheeler tractor & trailer to go with their Mooneyes Funny Car. Add in 1/24th scale plastic kits, T-shirts, cushions and mini Simpson Mooneyes helmets and it’s easy to see this was a super popular racecar in its time.
There’s no question the Mooneyes Funny Car was a fantastic marketing vehicle no matter how it ran on the tracks from coast-to-coast, and did lots in cross promotion with Mopar Performance along the way.
MOON! MOON! MOON! CONTINUATION THROUGH THE YEARS
Some extremely talented graphic designers never fail to dream up unique and creative “Moon Equipped” and “Mooneyes” custom wraps for the car annually, Pomona is always a place to see them! As shown here, from the 2016 “retro” design with the original Mooneyes Dragmaster rail on the side, all the way to the 2022 Black with Yellow two-tone Moon Equipped rendition, always a fun thing to see what the next version will look like!
DODGE FUNNY CAR – ROLLING BILLBOARD
Sponsor support for the Jim Dunn Funny Car can vary from year to year and race to race, and oftentimes sponsors stay and come back continually as sponsors, including as major or associate backing. Drivers have changed over the years, and in all cases the car has always been a highly visible entry, consistently there for all to see on race day!
2023 FIREMAN’S QUCKIE RETURNS
2023 saw the the one-time change on the sides of the car from traditional Moon theme markings for Pomona to a true throw-back design to reflect the name that Dunn had used on his cars in the 1980s, the “Fireman’s Quickie” which included a Dodge Omni. Jim was a member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department for more than 30 years, splitting his time between dousing out fires and shooting scorching header flames from his numerous Funny Cars.
The tribute car came as a result of Moon Equipment owner Shige Suganuma and company president Chico Kodama, who both were looking for a fun way to honor their longtime friend and marketing partner. “We put out heads together, and this is what we came up with, which is a great chance to see one of is old cars go down the track again,” said Jim’s son Jon, the team manager. With that, the big “Moon Equipped” pair of eyes was still on the hood in a very large way. “Emergency 911” and a version of the L.A. Fire Department logo, all a great way to honor this former fireman captain.
NITRO REVIVAL AWARD
Steve Gibbs, former NHRA Competition Director, awarded Jim Dunn with the “Lifetime of Dedication” Award at a recent Nitro Revival 2023 event that he puts on, so many industry people recognize Jim Dunn’s achievements and contributions to the sport of drag racing. Plus Dunn was inducted into the Lions Museum Hall of Fame in Long Beach soon afterwards.
BUDDY HULL
Former Top Fuel dragster driver Buddy Hull came on board as driver of the Jim Dunn Funny Car for the 2024 season and is continuing for 2025. “One of my favorite memories as a kid was watching ‘Big Jim’ and Kenji Okazaki win the Big Bud Shootout with the Mooneyes Funny Car,” Hull shared. “I am one of the most blessed men in the world to be doing what I am doing, driving for an icon like Jim Dunn.”
ALWAYS ENJOYABLE FOR JIM DUNN
Most especially in recent years, it’s clear that Jim Dunn enjoys the surroundings at the track, for example, speaking on a panel at the NHRA Wally Parks Museum, he can tell a great story or two about his drag racing exploits through the years!
When he was recognized at the 2024 NHRA banquet with the Lifetime Achievement Award, he reflected with these words: “I fell in love with drag racing very young, and I never wanted to do anything else. I will keep doing this as long as I can, god willing.”
When NHRA did their Top 50 Drivers List in 2001 Jim Dunn was #27, he was named to the Car Craft Magazine All-Star Drag Racing Team in 2000, and inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.
For more than 70 years, a fixture in drag racing, a true icon: Jim Dunn!
Author: James Maxwell
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