Dunn shows speed in first ride for Yankees

Dick Brinster

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2000 | 5:30 a.m.

After Mike Dunn put the Yankee dragster on the pole, it looked as if George Steinbrenner might celebrate another fall victory.

But The Boss will have to settle for less this time. Still, Dunn's startling qualifying run in the debut of the pinstriped car might mean there's one more force in the NHRA's Top Fuel division.

Dunn would like to think so, and with 10 Top Fuel and 10 Funny Car victories in a 20-year career, he knows plenty about what it takes to win. Next season he expects to challenge Gary Scelzi, Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon for the title.

"I think after last weekend all those people realize we will be somebody to watch next year," Dunn said.

The driver from Wrightsville, Pa., wasn't able to convert his qualifying lap into a shot at victory in Baytown, Texas. He lost to 16th-seeded Bobby Baldwin in the opening round of eliminations in the Matco Tools SuperNationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Dunn will now try to regroup, hoping that on Saturday he'll celebrate after the O'Reilly Fall Nationals. He realizes that might be a long shot but is comforted by being very fast in the first try for the team co-owned by the Steinbrenner family and former NHRA driver Darrell Gwynn.

But Dunn isn't positioning himself for a letdown. Contention at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas or in the season-ending race Nov. 12 in Pomona, Calif., would be a bonus.

"We're still using this as our spring training," he said. "Our first goal was to have a fast car, and we've done that faster than we thought we could.

"But consistency is what it takes to win the championship, and I think we'll find that."

Dunn isn't lacking for confidence, and isn't bothered by the prospect of working for the often-demanding Steinbrenner, whose New York Yankees won their third straight World Series last week. With six championships overall, he's all about winning.

"That's what I'm out there for, too. People say he's going to be tough, and if I don't do my job they might send me to a Federal-Mogul dragster, and then bring me back up to the majors," Dunn said with a laugh. "But he expects the best and he pays for the best, so I've got no problem with that."

Dunn, inactive until last week because Gwynn was unable to field cars until the Steinbrenners bought into the team two months ago, believes he won't suffer the growing pains common among new teams. Despite his inactivity - the result of losing sponsorship last fall - key personnel remained even though there was no guarantee he would ride again.

That's the kind of chemistry that makes a winner, says Gwynn, who had been one of the sport's most promising drivers until a racing accident in 1990 left him partially paralyzed and without his left arm below the elbow.

So he's persevered through far worse than a sponsorship crisis. And this one didn't cost him the services of Dunn or crew chief Ken Veney.

"Mike and Ken had plenty of opportunities to go work for other teams, but they chose not to," Gwynn said. "It was the motivation that kept me going."

The Gwynn team won four races and three poles in 1999, when Dunn had three of the five fastest runs in NHRA history and led in the points late into the season before settling for fourth in the standings.

But Dunn tempers his excitement about next season with a sobering reality. With everything in place, nothing less than a solid bid for the title will be acceptable.

"We'll have nobody to blame but ourselves," he said. "There will be no excuses if we don't win."

He's already beginning to sound like The Boss.