Interview by Mary Lendzion

Photos by NMCA/NMRA Staff

 

When Jimmy Dahl talks about car culture in Chicagoland, it is with fondness and firsthand knowledge.

 

He grew up around the Windy City, he went to car shows, wheeled to cruise-ins and watched street racing.

 

He remembers Mustangs being prevalent and powerful in the 1990s, and he purchased his first Mustang when he was in high school. In addition to driving it on the street, he did a bit of street racing before diving into strip racing. 

 

Dahl was inspired by other famed Mustang racers, including Chuck Samuel, and before long, he began competing in NMRA Super Street Outlaw followed years later by NMRA VP Racing Madditives Renegade and NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street.

 

He is happy hauling in those categories, and even happier continuously coming up with ways to coax more horsepower from his combination to keep up with his competition. He doesn’t stop thinking about racing when he’s away from the racetrack. In fact, he thinks about it whether he is driving around in his Ford F-350, at work as a mechanic or even on vacation. The self-proclaimed “racing fanatic” has an appreciation for all aspects of the sport, and is proud to be part of the NMRA’s 25th anniversary in 2023.

 

Read on for more about Dahl, who will always have an interesting racing tale to tell.

 

WHAT WILL YOU TELL US ABOUT THE MUSTANG YOU HAD IN HIGH SCHOOL?

 

I had a 1985 Mustang GT with a 302 cubic-inch engine, carburetor and manual transmission when I was 17 years old in the 1990s. It was stock, but when you are 17 years old and you have a car like that, you feel like you have the fastest car around. I drove it to my classes at Taft High School in Chicago, and I raced my buddies for bragging rights. They had everything from Mustangs to Camaros and Firebirds. They were all 1970s cars that were junkers, but we thought they were worth a million bucks. It’s funny because the movie “Grease” was based off of Taft High School. Anyway, I stopped street racing in 1994, but I was watching Fun Ford, and when NMRA started, I was watching that, too. Then I started building a car to race in NMRA.

 

WHAT CAR DID YOU BUILD FOR YOUR FIRST NMRA RACE?

 

I built a white 1990 Mustang LX with a small-block Ford and a ProCharger, and I chose to race in Super Street Outlaw. My first NMRA race was at Orlando Speed World in 1998, and I was running 8.89 at the time. NMRA Super Street Outlaw was the coolest thing ever. The technology wasn’t there at the time, so we took Mustangs, put the power to them and had at it. I had help from the late Jim Summers from ProCharger, and Larry Stauner from ASSC helps me to this day.

 

HOW WAS YOUR NMRA SUPER STREET OUTLAW JOURNEY, AND HOW LONG DID YOU COMPETE IN THE CATEGORY?

 

I had a great time in NMRA Super Street Outlaw. I liked the racers and their crews, and I made a lot of good memories in that class. There was a lot of camaraderie, and if you needed something, the racers and their crews would ask what they could help you with. I’m proud to call John Urist, Jim Blair, Chip Havermann and Carlo Catalanotto, among others, friends. I was in the top-ten in points in my first year, which I was very happy with. I raced in Super Street Outlaw until 2005, and then I focused on the house I bought in Chicagoland, and I had some health issues to deal with, but I’m good now.

 

WE ARE SO HAPPY THAT YOUR HEALTH IS RESTORED, JIMMY.

 

Thank you. I had colon cancer, so it was very scary for a while. When I was healthy again, I wanted to go faster, and I bought a white Mustang coupe and put a small-block Ford and Precision turbo in it. The late Ricky Best from Vortech wanted me to get into Renegade back then, but I really wanted to try X275 first. I ran pretty good, and I was always in the top half of the field with 4.60s. Then when the NMRA Renegade rules opened up a bit, I started updating that white Mustang coupe while also helping a friend of mine who also wanted to race in NMRA Renegade. I ended up buying his car, and it’s the black Mustang that I race in NMRA Renegade and NMCA Xtreme Street now. I never even raced the one I had been working on. I sold it to buy the one I have now.

 

WAS IT A ROLLER WHEN YOU BOUGHT IT FROM YOUR FRIEND?

 

Yes, and I bought it in 2019. I put my small-block Ford in it, and a 76mm Precision turbo in it. The paint on this car is prettier than the paint on the car I was working on. In addition to putting a smaller Precision turbo on it, I had to change the cam to make it legal for the rules, and then I raced the car for the first time at the NMRA race at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida in 2019. Unfortunately, I broke the engine at that race, and I started ordering parts and then the world started turning upside down with COVID, so I didn’t really get to race until 2021. In NMRA Renegade, I finished third in 2021 and fourth in 2022, and in NMCA Xtreme Street, I finished just outside of the top-ten in 2021 and 22, with the same engine by Tommy Olsen of T&T Racing Engines in Gurnee, Illinois and a Turbo 400 by RPM Transmissions and a PTC converter. 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT COMPETING IN NMRA VP RACING MADDITIVES RENEGADE AND NMCA EDELBROCK XTREME STREET?

 

It is definitely the people. My fellow racers are good people and hard-workers, and I’ve become close friends with a lot of them. We have in common a desire to do what it takes to be toward the top and win. We gather data, and we are on the phone with each other constantly, and we are also on the phone with manufacturers and others in an attempt to make our programs even better. I’m always talking with my engine-builder about whether we can try this or try that. I also like the level of competition. It pushes me harder. If my fellow racers are willing to push, I am, too. Because I’m in the Midwest and we have snow in the winter, I can’t test at the track, and that is a problem. I can go through the numbers and the data, but it is not the same as being at the track. I don’t have the biggest budget, but I will give it everything I have to be where I need to be. I don’t currently have sponsors, so I pay for all of this on my own, and we all know that racing at this level is not cheap, but it is in my blood and I have to do it, so I am basically a truck mechanic who works two jobs to be able to make this happen. 

 

DID YOU MAKE ANY CHANGES TO YOUR CAR OR COMBINATION OVER WINTER FOR THE 2023 RACING SEASON?

 

I went with a different Comp cam, one with a different profile, with the hope of making more power. I also went with a bigger Edelbrock intake manifold with the same hope. Also, Tommy Olsen of T&T Racing Engines freshened my engine and installed new rings and bearings. Nick Larson at Street Car Shenanigans made a turbo tube for me, and helped me with some brackets. He did it really quickly, before I had to leave for the race at Orlando Speed World in March. I discovered at the race at Orlando Speed World that I needed to swap PTC converters, and I didn’t get to race at the race at Rockingham Dragway because I tore a rotator cuff in my shoulder and had to have surgery, so I haven’t been able to get the car dialed for the changes made over winter, but I will be at the next race and should get to where I need to be.

 

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH IN 2023?

 

I’ve been running 4.60s, and I want to get into the 4.50 zone. It is really hard to get there, and I’m exploring ways in which I can do that. I also want to be running in the top-half of the field. Accomplishing top-ten finishes like I have feels great, but I want to accomplish top-five finishes. I have help from Larry Stauner from ASSC, who tunes my combination with Big Stuff 3, and I also have help from Tommy Olsen of T&T Racing Engines, Mark Magnuson, who raced Drag Radial and Real Street back in the day, and his crew guy, John Galloway. Noel Gonzales is my crew chief and comes to the races with me, and Tony Sinacore is a huge help when is not helping NMCA Nitrous Pro Street racer Joey Bucaro. My dad, Tom, is constantly there with me, even though my mom, Dee, recently passed away. I appreciate all of them for helping me do what I love.

 

WE ARE CELEBRATING NMRA’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2023. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE PART OF IT?

 

It means a lot. Michael Washington asked me if I was going to be at the celebration at the NMRA race at Summit Motorsports Park, and I told him I definitely was. It’s a pretty cool thing because NMRA is remembering all of the racers from back in the day with that event. It’s good to know that the series cares about all of the racers and wants to commemorate the 25th anniversary in this way.

(Fastest Street Car interview for July 2023 issue)