NHRA Motorsport Museum

John Farkonas, Austin Coil, and Pat Minnick were perhaps better known for their '69 Dodge Charger that pioneered the practice of track-length burnouts, but it was with their '82 entry that they claimed their only NHRA Winston Funny Car championships, winning the crown in 1982 and 1983 with Frank Hawley behind the wheel. It was Hawley's win at the 1982 Gatornationals that gave them the financial base to leave the match race trail in favor of running the NHRA national event circuit. Hawley scored two more wins and a pair of runner-ups that year, followed by four victories and a pair of runner-ups the following season.

(© 1999 NHRA Photographic Services)

Coil has gone on to assist John Force in winning a record seven NHRA Winston Funny Car championships, and Hawley has established a highly successful drag racing driving school.

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