Keeping NHRA Fans Up to Date
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Jake Johnston: Funny Car's "what if?" guy
I don’t remember prolific 1970s Funny Car racer Jake Johnston having a nickname, but if I were to give him one today, it would definitely be “What If?”
What if Johnston hadn’t suffered freak mechanical issues in the final…
The two Tommy Larkins
"Big Tommy" Larkin
"Little Tommy" Larkin
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Southern California was home to scores of nitro and gas dragsters, but what are the…
The Bobby Vodnik story, plus more Cassidy Bros.
Bobby Vodnik’s first serious ride was this B/Gas dragster that he campaigned with Larry Reimer and his uncle, Jim DeVos.
Vodnik at the wheel of the Speed Sport dragster in San Gabriel,…
Vodnik, Garlits, and the Mysterious Winternationals
Bobby Vodnik, second from right, consults with the Masters & Richter team after losing fire in the first round at the 1964 Winternationals.
The great thing about this column has always been…
The Cassidy brothers
(Above) The Cassidy brothers, John, third from left, and Les, third from right, made a lot of fans on the East Coast in the 1970s with their Funny Cars, including their rare Grand Am-bodied alky burner (below). Sharp-eyed…
Neither wind, nor snow …
Fifty years ago at the Winternationals, Jack Williams scored a wild Top Fuel victory that ultimately would lead to the world championship. Race queen Bobbie Hefley presented him with a "flash edition" of National…
Remembering Pat Garlits
With the Circle K NHRA Winternationals under way this week, I hadn’t planned to write a column for today, but that was before the sad news came last Sunday on the passing of Pat Garlits. “Big Daddy’s” email arrived in my…
In-car video
Welcome back aboard for another column of onboard camera work. The first part of today’s column will focus on moving pictures, followed by a recap of more onboard images I’ve received.
Even though videos from in-car…
More in-car photos
Based on feedback from last week’s column, it looks like a lot of you are on board for another ride down the in-car highway as photos and suggestions have come flowing in since the column was published.
Those of you who read the column early…
Get on board!
Not many of us are ever going to know what it feels like to be inside a Top Fueler blasting down the track or fight the wheel of a Funny Car as it bucks its way down the track. The proliferation of onboard video cameras in all forms of motorsports…
Farewell, "Friendly Fran"
Social media is the buzz phrase of the new millennium, allowing instant commentary by and about practically anyone. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it isn’t terribly hard to find out what today’s drag racing…
Ivo's four-engine enigma
Ask any 500 Tommy Ivo fans which of his many, many race cars is his most famous, and it’s a pretty safe bet that 495 of them will say it’s his wild four-engine Showboat. And who could blame them? With four Buick engines…
Gordie Bonin, your memories
Praises and love continue to roll in in the wake of Gordie Bonin’s unexpected passing two weeks ago, and the level of admiration is touching. I’m sure that “240” knew he still had a lot of fans, but maybe not the depth of…
Lions re-created: Small in size, big in fun and memories
For those who were at the recent Lions Drag Strip Reunion at the NHRA Museum and even for those who read my report last week, one thing that caught everyone’s eyes was Rick Voegelin’s amazing scale model of the famed facility.
The small-scale –…
The OCIR Reunion
Get-togethers at the NHRA Motorsports Museum are always fun, and its Southern California location ensures an all-star cast of drag racing greats, so it’s no surprise that they showed up in force at the Orange County Int’l…
Remembering Gordie Bonin
It has been three days since I got the news, and I still can't believe that Gordie Bonin is dead. The death of the popular former Funny Car star last Friday took the community by surprise and by shock, the first reports…
Sorting through the Inbox
It may only be Nov. 22, but it already feels like Christmas Eve for this Orange County Int’l Raceway pit rat looking forward to the OCIR Reunion tomorrow at the NHRA Motorsports Museum. Even though I never got a chance to visit Lions Drag Strip, I…
More Garlits and 'Snake'
Wow, what a surprise. There are a few Don Garlits and Don Prudhomme fans out there among the Insider Nation. Who knew?
Yeah, so response to last week’s partially off-the-wall comparison of the similarities between the two…
Don-ning my Garlits-Prudhomme trivia cap
While I was writing last week’s column and doing research comparing the careers of Don Prudhomme and Don Garlits, it struck as kind of interesting that two of the biggest names in our sport’s history, two of our most iconic…
More on Six Seconds to Glory
Well, I devoured my new Six Seconds to Glory book during the race weekend in Las Vegas and found it to be every bit as tasty as I had imagined. It was packed with enough mouthwatering morsels to satisfy any Don…
Six Seconds To Glory
The original book (left) and the reissue
If I say the name “Hal Higdon” to any self-professed Don Prudhomme mega fan, the four words I’d better hear back from them are “Six Seconds…
The legend of "Big Mike" Burkhart
A couple of weeks ago, my weekly My Favorite Fuelers column on the National Dragster website centered on Top Fuel and Funny Car drivers from the great state of Texas. I purposely omitted known heroes, like Eddie…
Touching moments, toppled Trees, and fond farewells
After covering 14 national events in 19 weeks, we get a little breather this week, at least on the Mello Yello side, which conveniently will allow me to catch up on overdue business here from the last several columns. I didn’t travel to them all (…
Drinking in the Sparkling Burgundy story
It’s hard to imagine a segment of the NHRA family that Mike Lewis hasn’t touched in more than 40 years in the sport. People today know him as the high-profile face of the Don Schumacher Racing empire, where he serves as…
More Tree topplings
Last week’s first look at errant racers who clobbered the Christmas Tree was almost exclusively short-wheelbase roadsters, but as I mentioned, there’s plenty of blame to go around in all classes, as this week’s column well illustrates…
Chopping down the Christmas Tree
As you’ve read over the last two weeks, the introduction of the Christmas Tree wasn’t always met with warm embraces, especially by the old guard, who had honed their spidey senses to enable them to get a good leave on the flagman’s signal, and I…
More tall tales of the Tree
I got some interesting feedback and pats on the back from a number of people about last week’s column on the history of the Christmas Tree. For a…
Happy Birthday, Christmas Tree
There’s no doubt that this year’s newly rechristened Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals was a pretty darned great drag race, with lots of drama, close and exciting racing, Don "the Snake” Prudhomme as grand marshal, and…
Herm Petersen, Part 3
While it’s fun and exciting each week to reminisce about the great cars and moments in the wonderful history of our sport — and based on the continual feedback from the Insider Nation, it’s a weekly trip you all enjoy, too — the stories that seem to…
Herm Petersen, Part 2
Less than seven months after being severely burned over more than half of his body when his race car overturned and caught fire at Orange County Int’l Raceway in July 1973, the indomitable spirit that sustained Herm Petersen before and since had him…