31 years after winning an IHRA Pro Modified championship together, Pro Mod icons Tommy Mauney and Shannon “The Iceman” Jenkins are teaming up once again to compete at the IHRA season opener this weekend at Darana Motorsports Park – Benson.
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 notably has more power than the original – it features a 998ci Pat Musi motor with a Liberty transmission and TyDrive – the wrap 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 for what they’ve done over the years.”
While the car is mainly intended for Pro Nitrous competition, the class is not currently contested in IHRA. Instead, the team will be competing this weekend in Outlaw Pro Mod as a way to break in a brand-new car in a slightly smaller field. The goal is to simply have a good time and make memories.
“The car is brand new. It’s never been down to racetrack,” says Wilson. “I think this worked out to be the best-case scenario. Tommy is super excited about getting this opportunity, and I have plenty of parts. Tommy built this car up to date – it is as state of the art as anything out there, and we have all the stuff to do it. I just want Tommy and Shannon to go enjoy themselves and have fun with it.”
Wilson won’t just be watching on the sidelines, however. He’ll also be driving this weekend, piloting Ed Burnley’s Harts Charger-equipped “Iron Man” ’69 Camaro in the regular Pro Mod class.
“This all played hand-in hand-with Ed Burnley giving me the opportunity to drive the Iron Man car,” Wilson says. “It’s not feasible for me to drive two cars. I just don’t have time to do it. With Ed giving me the opportunity to run his car in Pro Mod, it allowed time for Tommy to be able to do this.”
Whether this arrangement is simply a one-off deal, or turns into something bigger in 2026, remains to be seen. For his part, Wilson is leaving the ball in Jenkins and Mauney’s court, and letting them run with it. But regardless, he’s excited to see what they do in those classic purple and white colors.
“As long as we don’t tear anything up, I’ve left it to them – I’ll let them race it as much as they want to race,” says Wilson. “If they want to run PDRA, if they want to run IHRA, they can run anywhere they want to run with this car. I’ll service it, I’ll maintenance the car and take care of it. I’ll play the car-owner, role for the year, if they want to continue to race it. This is an open invitation to Shannon and Tommy to have a year of racing together, and it’s up to them how much they want to race this year.”
This story was originally published on March 20, 2026. 
The post Tommy Mauney and Shannon Jenkins Reuniting in IHRA Three Decades After Championship first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
