Jim Dunn honored with NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award

Team owner and Funny Car legend Jim Dunn was recognized with the NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series championship banquet.

For more than 70 years, Dunn has been a fixture in drag racing, campaigning some of the most iconic Funny Cars in history, winning some of the most significant races, and providing driving opportunities for some of the biggest names in the sport. Dunn joins Don Garlits, Connie Kalitta, Austin Coil, Don Schumacher, and Forrest Lucas as recipients of this prestigious honor.

Dunn, a former L.A. County fireman, has presented himself as a gruff, no-nonsense team owner, but underneath that exterior is the sharp mind, quick wit, and personality of one of the most unique characters in drag racing. He began his love affair with drag racing as a 15-year-old who asked for parts for his birthday to get his race team off the ground. For decades after that, Dunn was at the track innovating and winning.

“I fell in love with drag racing very young, and I never wanted to do anything else,” said Dunn. “I started drag racing when I was 15 years old, and I have loved every day at the track and in the shop since. I’m 90 now, and I will keep going as long as the good lord lets me. Jim Dunn Racing isn’t going anywhere, and we’ll be ready for 2025 and beyond. I want to thank all the drivers and crew members who have contributed to this honor. There are too many to thank by name, but I want each of you to know that my best memories are being at the track with all of you and my family every weekend.”

The Dunn-Merritt-Velasco Fiat (supercharged on gas) was one of the West Coast's most feared cars in the mid-1960s, winning class at the 1963 and 1964 Winternationals. He won the prestigious March Meet in 1969 behind the wheel of the Rainbow Top Fuel dragster. He was the featured subject of the cult classic Funny Car Summer movie, and possibly most significantly, he won the Funny Car title at the 1972 World Finals in the first and only rear-engined Funny Car.

The list of drivers who have strapped into a Jim Dunn-tuned Funny Car is littered with Hall of Famers and stand-out wheelmen, including Kenji Okazaki, who he tuned to a number of victories, including national event wins in Englishtown and the Big Bud Shootout in 1997. He tuned Frank Pedregon to the winner’s circle at the U.S. Nationals in 1999.

“In 1969, I won the biggest dragster race there was, the March Meet in Bakersfield, Calif. We had 100 entries for Top Fuel that year. I won the entire race that weekend, and the feeling of excitement was amazing! However, I didn't feel any more excited than when I won a street race. Every win is a great one,” said Dunn. “When my team wins now, I try to jump off the ground, but I can’t anymore, so I clap my hands. I get that same winning feeling. I'm going to keep doing this as long as I can. Fifteen years ago, Connie Kalitta asked me, ‘How long are you going to keep doing this, Dunn?’ I thought about it, and I looked at him and said, ‘As long as I’m able!’ He looked at me and said, ‘Good freaking answer.’ ” 

After more than 70-plus years of burning nitro and teaching drivers, Dunn is still actively working with up-and-coming Funny Car drivers like Buddy Hull this season. Dunn not only gave a lot of young and inexperienced drivers the opportunity to go on the road to compete in all the races, he also, in many instances, provided them with life lessons and more along the way.  The reality of Jim Dunn Racing is that if they’d had the kind of budgets other teams enjoyed, he would have won numerous other races and titles.

Throughout his career, drivers and/or tuners would stop by to ask him technical questions about parts or car set-up. They knew a tuner and driver of his experience, someone who ran Top Fuel and Funny Car at the same event at Orange County Int'l Raceway, could assist them with their issue. Dunn has also maintained the Mooneyes sponsorships since 1990 and continues to represent the iconic brand.

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