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[
Dale Armstrong ] [
Jim Bucher ] [
Jon Lundberg ] [
Ken Veney ] [
Dave Wallace Jr. ]
[ Jim McFarland ]
[
Weekly, Rivero, Fox & Holding - The Frantic Four
]
Ken Veney
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Ken Veney didn't begin seriously racing until he was in his early
30s, though he had been a "car guy" all his life, beginning with a Model A coupe
that he bought when he was 13 and immediately chopped off the top. His first
"real" car was a '54 Ford two-door that he bought at age 16, in 1956. He swapped
in a 312 cubic-inch Mercury flathead, replaced it with what would become his
prized possession, a '57 Pontiac, that he raced and, of course, street-raced.
Still a teenager, he left his native Ohio for Southern California and found work
at Lee’s Speed Shop doing engine conversions. A few years later, Ken was in
business for himself with a Goodyear tire and muffler shop in Redondo Beach,
Calif., where he became friends with another racer on his way up, Dale
Armstrong.
In 1970, Ken began a driving career that would last for more than
15 years with an injected-gas Funny Car called the "Smog-Town Hustler" that he
campaigned with friend Bud Bailey. In 1971, Ken got his own car, a Firebird that
he bought from Gordon Mineo and named "Dirty Bird." The following year, he built
his first car, a state-of-the-art, solid-mount rear end Vega dubbed "Veney's
Vega" that led to probably the best stretch of his career. Running at Orange
County, Lion's, and Irwindale, he won every round of every race in 1972,
including the world-famous "Last Drag Race" at Lion's.
In 1978, he was back with another Funny Car that he built almost entirely
himself (including the Dodge Challenger body) at friend Kenny Cox's shop. That
summer, he launched the billet-cylinder head industry with a pair that he put on
his car and won with the first time out. The following year, he lowered the
national record to 6.50 and qualified No. 1 more than all other drivers
combined. Tired of getting beat by dragsters in the late rounds because he kept
losing traction, he got a dragster for 1980 and won the NHRA world championship.
When NHRA formed Pro Comp, a new category that pitted injected-nitro and
blown-alcohol Funny Cars and dragsters against one another, Ken was one of the
early stars. He reset the national record 11 times from 1973 to 1979 and won
Car Craft magazine's Pro Comp Driver of the Year award 1974, the first of
his six Car Craft awards over the next 25 years, including the
prestigious Man of the Year award in 1976. Ken won his first NHRA national
event, the Summernationals in Englishtown, N.J., in 1975, and in 1976, the
finest year of his career, won six national events – more than all other drivers
combined. In 1977, the lifelong Pontiac fanatic built a 351 Cleveland
Ford-powered dragster and won the Summernationals for the third year in a row
and in a third different car. Ken won 13 national events in 23 final-round
appearances as an Alcohol Funny Car and Dragster driver in the 1970s and 1980s,
and another 13 in 23 final-round appearances as a Top Fuel crew chief in the
1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He was the Pro Comp world champion in 1980 and won
national events in all three major drag racing sanctioning bodies – NHRA, AHRA,
and IHRA.
When Pro Comp was split into Alcohol Funny Cars and Dragsters in 1981, Ken returned to his first love, Funny Cars, and won the Gatornationals, Summernationals, and, in what he thought was his last race on alcohol, the U.S. Nationals. The next year, he ran his first fuel car, an '82 Firebird, and set the NHRA national speed record his third time out, at Indy. He made the Top 10 in 1983 but, racing without a major sponsor, again was forced to the sidelines. Ken came back one last time in late 1984 with an Alcohol Funny Car and posted three runner-ups, including one at the U.S. Nationals, and a semifinal finish in four outings. In 1985, his last year as a driver, he won the Gatornationals for the third of six times in his career and for the last time as a driver. When he retired from driving in 1985, Ken was tied as the winningest Sportsman driver of all time and was the seventh-winningest driver overall and had won an NHRA national event with almost every car he ever drove. He was also unique in today’s world of specialists in that he built his own chassis, made his own bodies, and, of course, built all of his own engines. Driven out of the sport in 1985 by the skyrocketing expense, he returned as a fuel tuner three years later and won in his first race on the job, the 1988 Keystone Nationals, with driver Darrell Gwynn. "The Kid," as Darrell then was known, won the U.S. Nationals in 1989 and lowered the national record to 4.98, and won the following race with a new record of 4.95. The team won twice in four starts that year, including the World Finals, and had one of their best seasons ever in 1989, winning three times in five final-round appearances. Ken scored at least once with every Top Fuel driver for whom he served as crew chief – Darrell Gwynn (1988-90), Frank Hawley (1990-91), Michael Brotherton (1992), and Mike Dunn (1996-2001). The last years of Ken's racing career were spent with Dunn, whose best season was 1999, when they made the three quickest run in drag racing history, won four times, and led the points for most of the year. Dunn made the three fastest runs of 2000 – all over 320 mph – and Ken retired for good in 2001 after two more wins and five more finals.
