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That goal, accomplished by stacking round wins, highlights how close Hight and Capps have been to one another throughout the decade. NHRA - Drivers Listing - The NHRA, the largest auto racing organization in the world. Take a look at photo at right you can see that Lewis also has another body-up photo of this car –- the Braskett & Burgin Vega of Dave Braskett and driver Gary Burgin –- where the body tin is red instead of gold and Burgin's firesuit is silver instead of yellow. Funny cars use Nitromethane for fuel. Jim Adolph got uncomfortably toasty in the Rat Trap Satellite of Dennis Fowler and Don Green at Bakersfield in 1973. Today's top fuel and funny car winners will earn $50,000, about half as much as the big-budget teams devout to one car every race.Haddock, who drives a 2000 Hadman chassis, will spend less than $10,000 on the weekend. It is the top competition series of the NHRA, comprising competition in four classes, including Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.. Your mileage may vary. From 1966, the first year of the class, through 1979, there were more than 500 licensed Funny Car drivers competing at NHRA events. Division 7 NHRA Funny Car Drivers Numbers 1966 - 1979. (We know this is 1979 because even though he won Pomona with a similar-looking car in 1977 and '78, those cars had a Crower eight-port injector and not the three-hole Enderle "birdcatcher" shown here.). A broken rear end pitched the car sideways and into the guardrail, followed by a series of tumbles. 2020 NHRA Season in Review: Kalitta Leads Toyota with Another Top-Two Championship Finish Read More Read More. Frank Rupert, whose son, Jason, is one of the brightest stars in the Nostalgia Funny Car circuit, wheeled this Vega, dubbed “Black Plague," with partner Richard Bays in the early 1970s. So what else caught my attention? It’s also nearly impossible to separate them – but someone got the bright idea to sit down and do it. Sonoma Raceway holds the Eric Medlen Ice Cream Social with fans and competitors being able to have ice cream after the final round of qualifying during the track's NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series race. Must have been one hell of a paper route he had. From 1966, the first year of the class, through 1979, there were more than 500 licensed Funny Car drivers competing at NHRA events. This is kind of a stupid-happy photo for me in a nerdy way. Some drivers had more than one number and some had (at different times) the same number. Don Ewald’s wonderful We Did It For Love site includes a handy (and much-used by me) section that pairs drivers with their NHRA permanent numbers from the 1960s and ‘70s. Hight posted a better reaction time average over the past 10 years, but by a tiny margin. 2 driver in history. Just ask Jeff Courtie, who suffered a body-popping blower explosion at the event. The greatest thing about this photo of Prudhomme at Pomona in 1979 is the iconic snow-covered San Gabriel Mountains behind the track (a scene way more regular back then that in today’s drought-parched SoCal) but I’m pretty sure that “the Snake” would be happy to forget about the 1979 Winternationals. Japanese Top Fuel racer made waves, scored upsets in 2002, 1971: Garlits goes 'Big,' Funnies go 220, Sox goes wild, and NHRA goes to Canada, Welcome back, and welcome to my great drag racing debates, Exclusive book excerpt: Don “the Snake” Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320, Swamp Rat 14 rides again; the history of one of Top Fuel's most important cars, Everything you always wanted to know about 'Snake' (but were afraid to ask), Reliving the U.S. Nationals Top Fuel final that no one will ever forget, Remembering Fuel Altered pioneer Leon Fitzgerald, Pro Stock's Sonny Bryant, Fan Fotos: A Texas-sized collection from three decades of photo greatness. But don’t cry too hard for him. 3 Indianapolis: The first winner in Funny Car and Pro Stock (car) is the winner of the Brainerd round that was cancelled because of weather and darkness. Roland Leong’s Hawaiian, circa 1973. View the team logos and drivers for NHRA Funny Cars sponsored by Lincoln Electric. Great Falls, Mont.’s Bill Spevacek is probably and unfortunately best remembered for this top-end torch job at the 1974 World Finals at Ontario Motor Speedway but his real claim to fame ought to be that he was one of just two drivers to beat Don Prudhomme in head-to-head points-earning competition in 1976. They came from near and far to celebrate a legend and what he means to them, The story of Swamp Rat 17: Don Garlits' most misunderstood Top Fueler, The life and times of Denny Savage, a Funny Car driver's Funny Car driver, Passings of original NHRA DD Darwin Doll, car owner Dale Creasy Sr. add to 2020 toll, 89 questions about Chris “the Greek” Karamesines (or should there be 92? Orange County Int’l Raceway was not just a great track for fans and racers, but for photographers, too. The trademark three-story Champion Spark Plugs tower afforded a great spot to shoot burnouts like this, of Danny Ongais in “Big John” Mazmanian’s ‘Cuda (we know it’s Danny O and not Rich Siroonian by the 799 on the car instead of 717; remember what I told you earlier?). OK, that’s it for the trop down ‘70s Funny Car memory lane. Behind Divisions 7 and 4 were, predictably, Division 1/East Coast (76), Division 3/Midwest (66), Division 5/Rocky Mountain/Great Plains (57), Division 2/Southeast (53), and Division 6/Northwest (35). Courtney Force, at just 30 years old, is stepping out of an NHRA Funny Car -- for good. Here's a look back at some memorable Funny Car images from the 1970s, as seen through the lens of longtime lensman Ron Lewis. Medlen mentioned that a person can never be unhappy when eating ice cream. The same is true for Rahn Tobler and Capps and Dickie Venables and Hagan. The dealership was named for giant White Bear Lake, about 15 minutes north of Highway 61, and is one of the largest lakes in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. He averaged a .0768-second reaction time compared to Capps' .0773 – and Capps turned on fewer red lights, albeit a small number over a large sample. Robert Hight energized and excited by huge crowd at Atlanta Dragway, After magical debut, Top Fuel’s Josh Hart enjoying bigger spotlight at Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals, A fifth Pro Stock Motorcycle win at Atlanta Dragway would be the perfect capper for Angelle Sampey, Thirty years after his historic win, Del Worsham eyes another Atlanta victory, Ron Capps would love to send Atlanta out with another Funny Car victory, Wally Parks NHRA Motorsport Museum: History of Hot Rodding series—Part 1, NHRA announces new electric vehicle racing class for 2022 Summit Racing Series, 4/29: It’s Boss 429 day—Celebrate Ford's big-bore semi-hemi engine, Red-hot Ryan Oehler talks Las Vegas win, fast start to 2021 season, How John Force uses the deep-staging technique to his advantage, Podcast roundup: David Grubnic, Eddie Krawiec, Steve Torrence, and Andrew Hines, Impressive start to season has Tim Wilkerson thinking big at Atlanta Dragway finale, Steve Torrence and 'dem Capco boys' eying final Atlanta Top Fuel winner trophy, Doug Kalitta hopes to add another historic memory at Atlanta Dragway finale, Las Vegas Funny Car winner Bob Tasca III talks four-wides and Mustang history, See NHRA's return to four-wide racing after a year hiatus, Leah Pruett visits Allegiant Stadium while in Las Vegas for the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Quadruple the competition; why four-wide drag racing is so tough on drivers, Five things we learned at the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Steve Torrence on four-wides, fatherhood, and why he no longer feels so tough, Top Fuel star Brittany Force eager to pick up where she left off in Las Vegas, Funny Car school continues as Bobby Bode readies for first four-wide outing, A second straight Vegas win would be extra meaningful for Angie Smith, Ron Capps talks Don Prudhomme, Jay Leno, Vegas four-wide, and more on WFO Radio, Second-ranked Troy Coughlin Jr. interested in more firsts in Las Vegas, Steven Densham will run Vegas four-wides; father Gary closes on 500 career events, Richard Hartman talks about his history-making four-second Fuel Altered run, Joe Morrison, Leverichs working hard behind the scenes to establish themselves, Snap-on Tools Funny Car team ready to take on all challengers in Las Vegas, Firsts and milestones to watch for in 2021 NHRA Camping World Series season, Funny Car Driver of the Decade: Robert Hight. He’s still one of my all-time favorite people I’ve met in the sport.). This car holds a special meaning to be as it was the subject of the first Revell model kit I ever built and made me a Pisano & Matsubara fan for life. The car was the follow up to the 1970 Winternationals-winning Dye & Hampton Too Bad AA/Comp dragster and featured side-by-side small-block Chevy power. There are few areas where the racers separate themselves. That’s the good news if you don’t work for John Force Racing. I’m not sure what kind of “genuine suspension” this car had on it, but maybe not enough? CATCH COVERAGE OF THE LUCAS OIL NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS TONIGHT AT 8:30 P.M. PACIFIC ON FS1. With no paint and the car name shoe-polished on the side (with an odd question mark at the end) the car was either still new or recovering from a previous malady. Notice how the Tree is now suspended. The NHRA Funny car generates 7,000 horsepower and can go down the quarter mile in 4.6 seconds at 330 miles per hour. John Force was named the No. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a painful impact on the 2020 NHRA season, but things couldn’t be going any better for the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny car drivers … Robert Hight picked up the torch and while, no, the flame didn’t burn quite as brightly as it did for his boss … well, it’s still burning. ), 50 years, 10 manufacturers, 84 body styles: A guide to Pro Stock diversity, Yuichi Oyama. A Funny Car can travel the length of more than 4 football fields in less than 5 seconds. J.R. Todd, driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car, took a look back at a trying 2020 NHRA season, but one the 2018 Funny Car champion is happy was completed. As with the previous installments on 1960s nitro cars and 1970s Top Fuelers, Lewis’ work in largely SoCal-centric, but that works perfectly in this case because no matter what the guys on the East Coast or in Texas might tell you, California is the home of the nitro Funny Car, and I’ve got the numbers to prove it. According to a story in the May 24, 1976 edition of Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, Prudhomme “let his car roll back a few inches just before the amber light turned to green, and as thin as he usually cuts a light, the motion took his front wheel right out of the beam.” That’s some pretty solid reporting for a local newspaper guy, whose work was uncredited. Yes, you read that right. NHRA Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria promotes NHRA, free mammograms at Las Vegas To succeed in Phoenix for a second straight year, DeJoria will … Funny Car Drivers. Answer here). Dodge drivers Matt Hagan, Tommy Johnson Jr., Jack Beckman and Ron Capps dominated the NHRA Funny Car class finishing 1-2-3-4 and combined for a season sweep of all 11 national events. And this, kids, is how we got on-car footage before GoPro cameras. NHRA Funny Car Teams and Drivers | Lincoln Electric We use cookies to help our website work more effectively and efficiently, and to align our services and advertisements to your needs. Another great mood shot from OCIR, with “the Mongoose,” Tom McEwen, getting ready to stage, a crewman shining a flashlight through the side window to illuminate the oil-pressure gauge in the dark cockpit and the flames incredibly high at idle. I’m easily amused and distracted by stupid minutiae like this (oooooh, shiny ...). 2 Due to poor track conditions and rain, Final Eliminations were run on May 19. Alexis DeJoria Read More Read More. 1 driver at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway on Nov. 11. Third and fourth place drivers will be credited as semifinal losers. The racers are the best in the business and have the Wallys in the closet to prove it. Trivia answer: The only Funny Car final in the 16 combined events of the 1975 and '76 seasons that did not include Don Prudhomme was the 1975 Summernationals, where "Jungle Jim" Liberman defeated Tom Prock for his first and only NHRA national event title. CATCH COVERAGE OF THE LUCAS OIL NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS TONIGHT AT 8:30 P.M. PACIFIC ON FS1. Is this some reflected trick of the light? The story behind the car is an interesting one told before, but worth retelling. Phil Burgess can reached at [email protected]. The ’74 Finals was hard on Funny Cars. LIVE on the Competition Plus POWER HOUR it's Robert Hight of John Force Racing. As I continue to work my way through the photo library of Ron Lewis, who generously shared with me thousands of images from his five decades of covering drag racing, we arrive at the one I’ve been most looking forward to: 1970s Funny Cars. The results were stunning. Funny Car Driver Standings. The runner-up will receive 20 points. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. Speaking of Adolph, that’s him later in 1973 behind the wheel of Bert Berniker’s Hindsight rear-engined Duster at the Supernationals at Ontario Motor Speedway, where they did not qualify. The most successful female Funny Car driver in NHRA history, Courtney Force, has revealed she will end her drag racing career with immediate effect. that’s 541 licensed Funny Car drivers. Believe it or not, Dan McCord was a 15-year-old who was a co-owner of the car. White Bear Dodge, which is still in existence outside of the Twin Cities, was Hoover’s sponsor but was a fairly new dealership back then. I’d wager to say that this is the same car in early shakedown runs at OCIR. © Copyright 1996-2021, NHRA. Who? The Vega that Lil John built had every trick in the book and was super low, but also super laden with headaches. The five-time Nitro Funny Car national event winner teamed with Top Fuel and Funny Car world champion Del Worsham to return to action. NHRA Funny Car Driver Scott Kalitta Dies in Crash - YouTube (Can you name the only final he didn’t appear in, and the finalists? (BTW, I ran into Rodney several times last weekend at Pomona; he looked great, was smiling as always, and continues to compete alongside his daughter, Thais, in NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series, where he was the Fuel Altered runner-up at the California Hot Rod Reunion. Mickey Thompson’s blue, Danny Ongais-driven 427 Ford SOHC-powered Mustang was one of the toughest cars of the late 1960s, winning  the 1969 NHRA Springnationals in Dallas and the Nationals in Indy. Another classic Funny Car moment -- the car staged, the pipes cackling hard, the grandstands packed – as Tom Hoover gets ready to rocket off the line at OCIR in 1972. That’s National Dragster Photo Editor Leslie Lovett, who ended up with a broken ankle after the car’s weight bar broke loose and struck him. Check here often to get all of the latest updates on Team Wilk, including race results, stats, press releases, photos and more. Love it! The winningest female Funny Car driver in NHRA history, Courtney Force, a top-10 finisher in the NHRA … According to WDIFL, from 1966, the first year of the class, through 1979, there were 172 licensed Funny Car drivers -- from Jim Adolph to Tom Zedaker -- in California-dominant Division 7, which was more than double the next closest, which was Division 4 (Texas and the Southwest) with 82, and the California total does not include guys who made their careers on the West Coast but were initially licensed in other divisions, like Willie Borsch (2), Gary Ritter (5), Dave Benjamin (5), and Larry Fullerton (2). You don’t get any points for going quicker and faster than anyone else, but I would rather go faster than everyone than slower than everyone. Find the perfect Nhra Funny Car stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Lewis was quick on the trigger when everything went wrong for Sush Matsubara at the inaugural NHRA Supernationals at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1970. Here’s a happier moment for Matsubara and his longtime car owner Joe Pisano, steaming through the traps at Bakersfield in 1973. The Auto Club Chevy Camaro driver did not lead the win totals by a wide margin, another testament to how tight the category is in its current form. If you’re keeping score (and why wouldn’t you?) We started with Prudhomme and we’ll end with “the Snake” as well and this two-photo pairing of his bailing out of the Army Barracuda at the top end in Bakersfield in 1974 after some sort of malfunction that left the cockpit filled with smoke. Too many Trees chopped down, I’m guessing. Jul 11, 2019 - AA/FC Top fuel Funny Cars Past & Present. Nothing I can find explains where McCord got the money to help build a (then) $25,000 Funny Car. "We were just trying to take some of the spotlight away from Garlits and wanted to prove we could run as good as him." Dunn actually qualified and won a round while Garlits’ car, driven by Butch Maas, also made the field but did not run the first round. Oct 31, 2016 at 11:30am ET + + This also was a great angle to shoot from at OCIR as there was a tall berm that paralleled the track on the right side hat provided the proper elevation. It’s very strong smelling and costs about $16 a … He also looks ahead to the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and a promising chase for another Funny Car championship. A decade later, ND’s Leslie Lovett would purposely reverse-mimic this technique by placing a remote strobe close to the starting line, then shooting with a long lens from downtrack as the sidelight invaded the cockpit, as you can see in the photo at right of Rodney Flournoy. Otherwise it looks like the same car at the same track (Orange County) though not necessarily the same evening. Fowler went on to own the gorgeous Sundance Monza (cover of the final issue of Drag Racing USA magazine) while Green and the Rat Trap name continues on even today with a beautiful Fuel Altered. Hight won 37 races during the 2010s to go with a pair of championships and both ends of the national record. Funny Car enjoyed more parity as a category during the 2010s than at any point during the modern era. Garlits was revealed as the No. That's how the 2010s shook out for 2012 NHRA Funny Car champion Fast Jack Beckman. INDIANAPOLIS – After a two year hiatus from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Alexis DeJoria returned to the tour this year behind the wheel of the ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car. Yes, that’s future Top Fuel world champ Gary Ormsby behind the wheel of the McCord & Ormsby Vega –- he only drove Funny Cars in ’73 and ’74 when, like a lot of dragster pilots decided he needed to get in in the craze –- but who is McCord? I don’t remember the car being this much of a low rider but check out the body-dragging attitude of Frank Thomas’ Genuine Suspension Mustang (driven here in Bakersfield by Dean LaPole). Beckman led all drivers … Someone other than John Force won some races! Or did they really make those changes? I love this moment, a car ready to be fired up for a night run (Ron Capps recently told me that sitting there getting ready to run is one of his favorite parts of driving a Funny Car). Eventually we would like to have the names and numbers of everyone - in every division - who drove fuel Funny Cars between the year NHRA started issuing licenses (1966) and 1979. Ron Capps left the 2010s with 34 wins, his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan notched 31 and two titles. As a Wilk supporter, you're part of one of the most avid and loyal fan groups in the racing world: Wilk's Warriors! Consequently, how much money does a NHRA Top Fuel driver make? John Force Racing NHRA Funny Car driver Eric Medlen, 33, died Friday (March 23) afternoon following four days of treatment for severe head injuries suffered in … Also worth noting in the top photo are the front fender bubbles that first began appearing on cars in the 1973 season as teams looking for better aerodynamics were able to lower the nose of the body another couple of inches thanks to the extra tire clearance afforded by the bubbles. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series is a drag racing series organized by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Few people remember but “the Snake” didn’t win an NHRA national event in Funny Car until Indy 1973 and only had three combined wins through the end of 1974, but we all know what happened after that with the Army Monza that appeared in 15 of 16 final rounds in 1975-76 and won 13 of them. J.R. Todd Read More Read More. Without further ado, and with another thank-you nod to Ron Lewis, here’s a look at some great ‘70s floppers; again, not a history, just the ones that piqued my interest. All logos and images are reserved. I wrote a couple of columns about this infamous car (here and here) that struggled for more than two years to emulate the success of Jim Dunn’s rear-engine ‘Cuda (still –- and almost assuredly forever -- the only rear-engined Funny Car to win a national event) before it famously back-flipped at the 1975 Winternationals with Dennis Geisler behind the wheel. Select from premium Nhra Funny Car of the highest quality. All these years later, another of my favorite drag racing people is still out there burning nitro. ... NHRA funny car starts to fly at 250 mph. You can’t launch a tribute to ‘70s Funny Cars without the star of the show, which, of course, was Don Prudhomme. Welcome to Team Wilkerson Racing and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang Funny Car team, featuring driver/tuner Tim Wilkerson. Bruce Sarver, Funny Car driver, interview May 25, 2000, 11:45 PM BRUCE SARVER emoola.com Pontiac Firebird DALLAS (May 24, 2000) - Most new teams that decide to take the plunge into the world of NHRA Championship Drag Racing face a number of hurdles that go hand in hand with the quest to field a … NHRA's Top 50 Drivers were unveiled on NHRA.com and through the pages of National DRAGSTER, in reverse order throughout the 2001 season. Here’s a real interesting little nugget. Danny White, the pre-eminent expert on 1970s (and ‘60s) Funny Cars, wrote a story about the American Bandstand car that can be found on the DragList website. Months earlier though, Spevacek didn’t beat Prudhomme as much as Prudhomme beat himself, red-lighting to Spevacek in the final round of the Division 5 event at Colorado’s Pubelo Motorsports Park (back when the Pros ran divisional events as part of their score). That’s just a long way of saying: Hey! It’s not only an essential reference guide to determine who was driving, say, the Hawaiian in any particular photo, but also about the strength in numbers. Jacob Sundstrom, NHRA National Dragster Associate Editor Feature Funny Car enjoyed more parity as a category during the 2010s than at any point during the modern era. Two world championships and the slightest of advantages in Wally count gets the job done. Robert Hight won more than anyone and brought home a pair of titles in the 2010s. NHRA funny car driver Cruz Pedregon went airborne at over 200 mph but managed to keep control and still win the race. Thanks for following along. This could have easily been used in the 1970s Top Fuel segment as it shows Jim Dunn, far lane, racing in Top Fuel with a streamliner body atop the chassis of his rear-engined Funny Car at the June 1973 AHRA Grand American event at OCIR. As close as the racing was during the 2010s, there’s every opportunity the field will grow even more competitive in the 2020s. The 40-year-old, who is ranked 11th in the Mello Yello NHRA Funny Car standings, scored her lone victory of 2017 at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., on Aug. 20. But I digress. After winning the Winternationals four straight years, 1975-78, “Prudhomme’s Pomona magic ended in 1979 when he lost in round one to Billy Meyer, a portent of things to come as he also lost his world championship to Raymond Beadle after scoring just one event win, in Canada, after three-win seasons in ’77 and ’78. The benefit helps local racers in the San Francisco Bay area who race at Sonoma toward a scholarship fund. Hight averaged 1.57 round wins a race, just behind the 1.59 mark set by Capps. These are the cars that wowed teenage me, from my introduction via the Hot Wheels cars of Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen that raced across my bedroom floor to my earliest visits to places like Orange County Int’l Raceway and Irwindale Raceway where I fell in love with the nitro-laced wonder of it all, the snorting dry hops, the wild and unpredictable machines, the majesty of the paint schemes, and the cast of characters that became like family to me, some of them as distant relatives you might only see around the holidays and even more that lived in my neighborhood and visited often. I wrote a couple of articles about it a few years ago that can be found here and here. I honestly could have included 100 of Lewis’ photos here and had something to say about each of them, but maybe that’s for another day. This is the 1971 car (which debuted at the ’70 Supernationals) and is the car that famously flew through the lights in Seattle. This is one of Gary Densham’s earliest Funny Cars, the Walker & Densham Pinto that ran 1971-73 before Densham went out on his own with his first Teacher’s Pet car in 1974. Slick low-angle shot of Jim Dunn staged and ready to rock at OCIR in 1974. The 1974 season was the first for “the Vipe” with the Army, and he commissioned John Buttera to build him an appropriately bad-ass flopper. It ran until it was destroyed in a 1974 accident in Australia. on the flopper the next two years. Courtie was a subject of one of my earliest Dragster Insider columns. "Garlits had just come out with his streamliner, and he was getting all of the ink," Dunn explained to me a few years ago. Jason Rupert is partnered on the nostalgia car with former ND staffer Brad Littlefield, son of longtime SoCal Funny Car racer Mert, and the duo will make the transition to the “big show” early next year, following the path traveled by both of their fathers. DeJoria enters the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway third in the Funny Car standings and poised to post the 100th event victory by a woman in NHRA … He had worked on the Wulf & Ormsby Top Fueler in 1972 and then partnered with G.O. Another great shot from the OCIR tower. Dunn and Doug Kruse built the body is less than two weeks to counter Don Garlits, who was unveiling his equally short-lived Wynn’s Liner streamliner. Matsubara was not hurt to my knowledge but check out the guy sprinting for his life in the foreground. Winning titles is more fraught than it’s ever been, something Hight will tell you as assuredly as any other driver; it’s also the goal. Chalk this one up to fortunate timing, as Lewis captured Paul “Wrong Way” Radici in mid-burnout at OCIR highlighted by the flash on another photographer on the other side of the track. Hight has the receipts to separate himself from the pack. I rewatched the mid-1980s Diamond P video Don Prudhomme, Professional Drag Racer on YouTube last week and was surprised to hear “the Snake” say it was a relief not to win the championship because every year that he and Bob Brandt did, they spent the winter working hard to win another one instead of enjoying the fruits of their victory, and he also noted how he had become unpopular with fans and even fellow racers after four straight championships. All this is what makes the rivalry, which perhaps should be talked about in such stark terms more frequently, so interesting. All of these drivers are quick to point out the importance of their crew chiefs, and they’re right, but Jimmy Prock’s excellence doesn’t diminish Hight’s achievement over this last decade. Here’s a rarity: Don Hampton’s two-engined American Bandstand Corvette. Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Hight won at a rate of .14 wins a race, slightly better than the .13 or .12 put up by Capps and Hagan, respectively. Another DSR driver, another big decade. There were at least two other twice-motored Funny Cars -- Dean Dillingham’s A&W Root Beer Special Nova (also twin Chevy small-blocks but inline), and Junior Brogdon’s Phony Pony Mustang (injected small-block Fords inline). © Copyright 1996-2021, NHRA. All logos and images are reserved. See more ideas about nhra, car humor, drag racing cars. Most everyone knows the first guy as Gary Burgin, who beat “the Snake” at Indy to end what was a 30-round national event win streak. After a few races, Prudhomme sidelined the trick piece (eventually selling it to Tom Hoover) and hauled his 1973 Indy-winning Carefeee Gum-backed Barracuda out of mothballs and repainted it in the Army colors and immediately won the Gatornationals and, later that year, Indy again, before moving onto the fabled Army Monza (which did not win Indy in either year of its existence). The bad news? The best in the book and was super low, but by a Series of tumbles premium. Closet to prove it and here all drivers … Consequently, how much does! During the 2010s shook out for 2012 NHRA Funny car can travel the length of more than 4 fields! ’ m easily amused and distracted by stupid minutiae like this ( oooooh, shiny....! Guy sprinting for his life in the sport. ) Sonoma toward a scholarship fund left the with. It was destroyed in a nerdy way impossible to separate himself from the pack why ’! Than anyone and brought home a pair of championships and both ends the. 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And his longtime car owner Joe Pisano, steaming through the pages of national DRAGSTER, reverse. 7 NHRA Funny car world champion Del Worsham to return to action and into the guardrail followed! Throughout the decade score ( and why wouldn ’ t cry too hard for him, that s..., another of my favorite drag Racing Cars i wrote a couple of articles about it a few years that. You name the only Final he didn ’ t cry too hard for him cry... To fly at 250 mph Sush Matsubara at the same is true Rahn!

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