When did you decide to go doorslammer racing, what was your very first car, what kind of engine and who drove the car?
JO: In 1959 my dad and I built a '36 Chevy coupe street rod; I drove it to high school. We put a '57 Chevy, 6-cylinder engine with 4-barrel carbs and split manifolds. One Sunday we went to Dunkirk Dragway (an abandoned airport) for the drags. I raced my Chevy in E/Gas and won a trophy and $35.00, and that started my drag racing career.
Of all the Pro Mod cars you had, which one was your favorite and why?
JO: My favorite? It had to the first car we built when I started racing again, an '89 Corvette (right) painted in black primer for Top Sportsman/Pro Mod. [Ed Note: Bret Kepner named the car the Black Mariah, the name given to 19th century horse-drawn hearses which were painted black.] I think we had the most fun with that car. It ran good from the start. It was the first car Fred Hahn drove for me and we traveled around with an open trailer and a half-ton pickup. It was a lot simpler car to race. When we took it to a race track, we didn’t know what to expect from it. We would stand at the starting line and watch for the boards to light up with some really good numbers. We would jam the kids, Dan, Dave and Fred Hahn Jr, in the sleeper section of the truck with (car chief and shop foreman) Billy Leverentz, Fred Hahn, Dave Smith, myself and whoever wanted to go at the time, into the half-ton truck and go racing. This was also the same car we had to completely rebuild for the 1990 Pro Mod rule changes and then we went out and won three straight Pro Mod races that year.
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Who was the toughest racer that you faced in Pro Mod during your career?
JO: Probably the toughest racer we faced was Scotty Cannon. He set the bar pretty high back then. We always gauged our performance against his. And we match raced him a lot in those days and really enjoyed the camaraderie.
What is your best memory from your racing career?
JO: I think it would have to be the 1969 drag racing season. I won Indy and the Division 1 Points Championship and was voted Driver and Mechanic of the Year in Division 1that year. Back in the day when you built your own car and motor and towed around the country on an open trailer, that was very rewarding. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Your teams won Pro Mod World Championships in the NHRA, IHRA, Super Chevy and the USSC and you won the U.S. Nationals as a driver/car owner. Of all those accomplishments which one do you value the most?
JO: I think the one I value the most was winning the 2000 IHRA Championship. That was the year Summit Racing became our primary sponsor and kept us from ending our Pro Mod team. We were able to bring Summit their first Pro points championship and I’m told the trophy still sits on “the desk” at Summit Racing Equipment. It was great for everyone involved with our team.