Personal Info:

Name: Dale Kozlowski
Location: Chicago, IL.
Age: 30's
Birthday: 11-23-68

Car:

Year: 1988
Model: Ford Mustang GT CONVERTIBLE
Power Adder: ProCharger F1R, I'll always stay with ProCharger, they are light years ahead of everyone else and the blowers internals are the best period.

Best ET: 9.70 - The car had the potential of a lot more, its just that at the end we had suspension problems
Best MPH: 140 mph.  We went faster in testing at home with the top down but that don't mean beans.

Specs:

2002 specs: homebuilt 347, PA C4, ProCharger, Trick Flow heads by TEA, Holley SystemMax intake by TEA, Custom cam by TEA ground by Comp Cams.

Accomplishments:

Does building a car to the NMRA rules and make all of the races count?

Sponsors:

JdsPerformance.com, Mi-Te Home Improvement, Prudential Realty, High Flow Heads, Koozy's Cafe in Bridgeview IL., ATI ProCharger, Patsby's Night club in Chicago Ridge, raftingparty.com, LaRocca's Performance
 

Questions:

How long have you been drag racing?  Since I was 6. Started on my bicycle against my sisters.  I've been racing mostly on the street for years with whatever I owned at the time. Best race I ever had was while I was driving a friends Yugo against the almighty street cleaner.

How did you get your start?  I got my start when my now Crew Chief Jeff Pakula, everyone calls him PAKMAN said, "You gotta go with me to this World Ford Challenge Race in Joliet." Those words were the beginning. I've seen fast cars with 30" plus tires an huge motors that ran 10's but after watching Mike Murillo in the Texas Star Car I was hooked. We went to a NMRA race in Byron entered with a little 75 horse kit and got our poopers kicked in. Even though we lost it was so much fun.

What’s been the biggest challenge to your racing program this season? Compared to last Season?  Time, time, and time. Getting the whole team together for testing is hard,2-3 times a week. Usually the wives go nuts then it's work schedules or the car isn't ready. Usually Jeff, my main man, tears the car apart after races, like the heads come off and he inspects and looks around for damage or fatigued parts. I wanna see what he does this year with two cars. Poor guy.  Our biggest problem now is holding the car and people's minds together. It seems once you go under the 10 second mark parts fail quickly and we've broken a major part at every race. Driving 10-20 hours to get to a race is very hard on everyone mentally. So our biggest challenge this past season was time and before that was knowledge. When you start building a car like these you pretty much are on your own in many ways. When we first started this year Bob Kurgan and his buddy Crazy Eddie came over at least once every two weeks to help Pakman and always called, if it wasn't for those guys we'd probably still be in the garage. Kurgan actually helped with the dyno and so did Mike Post. Just for the record, Post got us more power than Kurgan on the Dyno. BAMMM!

What would you consider your biggest accomplishments as a racer?  It's really been a lot of little things that have made us happy during the year. Going faster at every single race was the best in 2002.  As for titles we have nothing but we as team have done better than we expected. This was our first year of real competition and at EVERY race we went faster, never did we slow down, so to me that is a big accomplishment, our best time so far was 9.70 and lets just say that was with 7 cylinders for the most part.

What’s gotten you hooked on the Mustang drag racing scene?  What didn't!? Some guys golf and some bowl for a hobby but you cant beat heads up racing as long as you can afford it. Can't really pinpoint one specific thing, there are many. The whole thing of heads up racing is such a rush!

What are your plans for the future?  Jeff is talking about a 2003 body style and retiring the convertible but that is still up for grabs yet. 150 mph plus with no steel roof is scary in a way. We are adding a 1994 Mustang to the team for 2003 and a big ol' trailer for both cars. At the end of the year we might switch motors in the cars and sell the vert as turn key but I'm getting WAY ahead of myself. Oh yea I forgot to mention the last part to my team.  Our plans right now are a custom show paint job that Greg is applying as we speak, a new engine by FastTimes that should speak for itself, revised head job port job with no fluff, we plan on flying Jim LaRocca in from New Jersey to dyno this new bad boy, lots of suspension adjustments, I'm going to drag racing school in Vegas in February, we will now be a two car team, and we just ordered a new 48 ft trailer. Is that enough?

What changes, if any, do you feel the sanctioning bodies need to make in order for our sport to prosper? That is a double edge sword question. Both the NMRA and FFW really do try to make everyone happy but it can't be done, someone will always be unhappy. I feel sorry for the rule makers of World Ford Challenge. Every year the two, NMRA and FFW, cars' become further apart. Would be nice if they stayed closer together in the cars builds.

Who are your biggest friends (or enemies) at the track?  I can honestly, hopefully, say I have no enemies except NMRA tech. Ice water running threw their veins. Wesley, Thom, Mike, and Travis you guys know I'm kidding. Right? I like everyone that I met so far.

Who do you fear having to see at the starting line?  Why?  Who do I fear?! That's easy I fear me sitting in my car at the staging lane, on the trans brake at full bonsai mode and having my wife pop out of the blue pointing at the checkbook and yelling something at me for a bill I hid and she found. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it! Then for sure I'd have to let go of the TRANS brake button and get out! PS. Honey I don't hide no car bills!!

What would you tell someone looking to start out in the heads-up racing scene?  Do a few months research before even buying a Mustang. Its a very expensive sport and you want to avoid buying something twice. Whatever you decide multiply it by 3. We originally thought the convertible would cost...ah never mind, my wife might read this and then I'll be really busted. It costs a lot guys and girls.

Very briefly, tell us the dumbest mistake you’ve ever made at a racetrack?  HA HA. There has been numerous dumb mistakes, do we have enough paper here? Our first time out with our T-Trim and right before our 3rd run in Georgia, Jeff "Pakman" told me do not get out of the throttle you "sissy." So to make a point and to prove the car wasn't working I didn't. I can assure you everyone on our team crapped their panties and Jeff told me the crowd stood up and screamed. That had to be the wildest ride ever! Then there was the ghost rider car....don't want to talk about that one! The Jason vomiting in the McDonalds parking lot drive threw on my truck from too much Vodka, And my 90* burnout in the box, On that one, I had my headlights on and shinned them on everyone in the crowed, all I saw was very big eyes looking back at me!

Anyone you’d like to thank, wives you HAVE to thank, other things not mentioned you feel are important?  First and foremost my crew, Greg Pakula, Jason Dalot, and a special thanks to my right hand man Jeff "Pakman" Pakula without these guys there would be no way any of this could happen. Thanks to my wife for letting me dent the bank account, the teams wives, numerous if not all the NMRA Renegade racers, of course a special thanks to Chris and Donna Sydor -- thank you, Jim LaRocca and his entire shop for the red carpet treatment and giving the car all that extra power, Illinois Auto Central Thermo King for giving "Pakman" so many days off during their busy season, and all my sponsors for giving me, the new guy, a chance.

What music do you listen to?  Who is your favorite?  It always changes.

Any nick names for you?  Who gave it to you?   Why?  OSO = Bull in Spanish. I'm sure Pakman could tell ya a bunch but you couldn't print them!

Kids?  2

Pets?  Me personally no but my children do, a cat.

What do you like to do as a hobby outside of drag racing?  My hobby is my business. I'm a workaholic.

What track do you dislike the most?  Anyone that doesn't hook

Which is your favorite track to race on?  Whatever one that makes Pakman comfortable, because if he's comfortable were all happy or our home track. RT41 in Indiana. The car doesn't look like much but when it runs peoples' jaws drop. Who expects a convertible to run in the 9's? Bad part is once it runs we have a bunch of people all around talking and just having a good time, makes it hard to work but it is fun, and if it isn't fun then why bother?

Do you have a lucky charm?  No, but luck has a lot to do with everything in racing.

If you could meet anybody you wanted living or not who would it be?  Why?  2002 Playmate of the Year. Why? Do you really have to ask?