Fellow veteran driver Tony Wilson initiated the reunion after he asked Mauney to build a modern-day replica of“ Barney,” the acclaimed nitrous-fed‘ 41 Willys that Mauney – with Jenkins tuning – won the 1995 IHRA Pro Mod championship with, ending a streak of four consecutive championships by class stalwart Scotty Cannon.

While the new iteration of Barney has more

power than the original – it features a 998ci Pat Musi motor with a Liberty transmission and Ty Drive – the paint and color scheme are identical to Mauney’ s original.

“ Building this car has been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” says Wilson.“ I’ ve always wanted a‘ 41 Willys. Having Tommy drive and Shannon on the keyboard tuning, it’ s just the right thing for this car. It’ s been 30 years, and I feel like both of these guys are getting close to the end of their careers. There’ s no better way to showcase the car and them than doing it with IHRA.”

Wilson lives just five miles away from Mooresville Dragway in North Carolina, and remembers attending the Quick 8 Racers Association events

monthly and seeing all the cars built by Mauney there competing. When the time came for him to finally see his dream car come to life, there was only one option on who would build it.

“ When I was a kid, I didn’ t know about any other cars. I thought you had to have a Tommy Mauney car if you were running Pro Mod,” Wilson says.“ Things change over the years, but I’ ve always looked up to Tommy and Shannon – they’ re just well-respected people. When I thought,‘ I’ m gonna build a brand-new car, what would I do? I want to build a Tommy Mauney car.’ I went to Tommy and asked if he’ d be interested in building another Barney, and he said he’ d love to do that. There’ s no better way to honor these guys

PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICK BELDEN, TARA BOWKER, AND TONY WILSON