Known for his successes in Funny Car racing, Elliott and Northern Force Team Manager Bruce Mehlenbacher recently met with the Sipple family at its Berea, Kentucky headquarters. This meeting and subsequent discussions have led to a partnership where Elliott will drive Doc Sipple’s Top Fuel Dragster.
“This is a terrific deal that completes a major part of the puzzle,” stated Elliott. “Doc and I hit it off and I will be proud to be a part of this racing effort. After spending many hours with John, and his son Mike, an agreement was reached in principle where I will drive the car that the Sipples will continue to own and maintain.”
Doc Sipple is taking a sabbatical from driving his Top Fuel Dragster, and the team, which includes crew chief and son Mike Sipple, will continue to campaign the car. The team placed in the top ten of the 2004 IHRA Top Fuel Dragster World Championship competition, highlighted with a runner-up finish at the Motor City Nationals in Milan, Michigan in July.
Speaking for the Sipple family, Mike Sipple is very supportive of the partnership, and believes not only is there a stronger opportunity with this teaming, but thinks the team will mesh well.
“This partnership gives us an opportunity to enhance our racing efforts and gives us a stronger car,” said Sipple. “And Bob’s personality matches up with Dad as close as possible.”
The Elliott-Sipple team will race under the Northern Force banner at IHRA events. The Sipple crew, including Canadians Larry Panzini and John Ford, will continue their duties with the racing effort while Elliott will drive the 6000-plus horsepower car, and Doc Sipple will oversee the entire racing operation.
Top Fuel racing is the epitome of this exciting and colorful sport. The cars, powered with nitro methane fuel, produce upwards of 7000 horsepower, and are the fastest-accelerating race cars in motorsports. From a standing start a Top Fuel Dragster will complete the quarter-mile in less than five seconds with speeds of over 300 mph.
For more information, contact: Bruce F. Mehlenbacher // Team Manager // Telephone: 905.772.1800 Ext. #22 // Cellular: 905.517.5345 // Fax: 905.772.1799 // E-mail: bmehlenbacher@northernforce.com // Website: http://www.northernforce.com
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