Any mention of NHRA Pro Stock naturally brings up the subject of the Wayne County Team MoPar Dodge teams. After several years of front running performances, including three Pro Stock championships for Darrell Alderman (1990, 1991, 1994) both Alderman and teammate Scott Geoffrion vanished from the Pro Stock scene in May, 1995 when vandals allegedly broke into the Wayne County Speed Shop and destroyed six racing engines. Since that time, there has been one excuse after another as to why the Dodges haven't returned to competition.Supposedly, after moving to a new type of cylinder block, the engine builders haven't been able to come up with a competitive combination. Rather than being non-competitive, they've decided to abstain from racing.The rumor mill has it that the Dodge teams were caught running nitrous oxide and given a one-year suspension. Rather than embarrassing the teams' primary sponsor (Chrysler Corporation) both cars were simply withdrawn from competition voluntarily. At first, that theory seemed preposterous, but as time goes by, and the "Dodge Boys" continue to sit on the side lines, you have to wonder. Alderman won three of the first four races in 1995, Geoffrion won the fourth. With a string of victories like that, the Dodge teams obviously had a winning combination. With all that's at stake, the obvious move would be to return to the original engine combination, start winning races again and put an end to the speculation. Why hasn't this been done?Could it be that nitrous oxide was in fact being used?The whole situation is bizarre. More than a few people have put forth the opinion that the break-in is a complete sham. According to some observers, the vandalized engines shown in photographs in various publications don't seem to look like competitive Pro Stock engines. Other people have stated that much of the damage appears to be from the inside out, which means it couldn't have been caused by someone with a hammer.An interesting aside is that some race-savvy observers think that the cars were equipped with nitrous oxide, but that the drivers were completely unaware of it. The theory is that the systems were triggered remotely, or with a timer. Of course, all these theories are nothing more than speculation, but the longer it takes the Dodge teams to get back on the track, the more credence they seem to have. Stay tuned to the year's remaining NHRA national events to see what develops.
