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The day that 'Jungle' drove the Chi-Town Hustler
It’s a fact of life that just when you think you know everything about something, you get slapped upside the head, which happened to me (again) this week.
Everyone knows the story of the great Chi-Town Hustler, how engineering ace John Farkonas,…
Open for business, again
As any of you who have been around this cantina for any length of time full know, it’s as much your own memorable morsel as the main course that I serve up that makes this column the popular potluck it has become.
Despite me hanging out the…
The slingshot's last hurrah
Who had the first slingshot dragster is certainly debateable, but Mickey Thompson long took credit for it with this car, pictured in 1954.
Tomorrow marks the anniversary of a very telling date in…
Second helpings
Yeah, and they have pretty cool t-shirts, too ...
Friday’s "Food for Thought” column about dragstrip delicacies may have been…
Food for thought
It may well be the most famous and photographed concession stand in drag race history, showing up in the background behind superstar racers burning rubber at Irwindale Raceway in the 1960s and ‘70s, and…
A farewell to Dave Condit
I was all set to kick off a discussion of dragstrip food when I learned yesterday about the passing of former Funny Car racer Dave Condit. I guess John Force mentioned it on the air during this weekend's ESPN2 show from Denver, but because I was…
And, finally, ‘the Snake’ weighs in
(Above) The "slightly off" Rapid Transit paint scheme and (below) the real deal. (Above) The same Rapid Transit car, new '91 grille treatment, another kinda-sorta…
All Snake, all the time
Over the wails of frustration from the few residents of the Insider Nation complaining about the current “all-Snake-all-the-time” format … sorry ‘bout that, and here we go again.
Last Friday, I left the floor open for further comments/discussion…
What became of the original yellow 'Cuda?
I knew this would come up one day – I just didn’t know it would be two years later – but now seems to be about the perfect time considering the recent subject matter concerning Don Prudhomme and Barracudas. It may give you an excellent idea of what…
The 'other' black 'Cuda
(Above) Don Prudhomme shook down the Snake III 'Cuda at OCIR prior to its debut at the 1973 Supernationals. (Below) The fully decaled/painted car as it appeared at the Supernationals and Lions' Last Drag Race. (Steve…
Red Gooses, black Snakes, and steam catapults
After somewhat reluctantly (yet honor bound to do so) publishing mixed reviews of the replica Hot Wheels Duster Funny Car in last Friday’s column, I was glad to see an outpouring of support for the project from fans. Though…
That was then, this is now
Coming or going, you can nitpick the differences between the original, as shown in the first and third photos supplied by Bob Snyder and shot at the 1970 AHRA Summernationals at New York National Speedway,…
It's ready!
Just a real quick hit this morning while I try to dig myself out from the chaos that is my desk anytime that I travel to a national event. We didn’t get back into SoCal from our trip to Norwalk until late yesterday, so I didn’t get a chance to drop…
M&R revisited, and the tale of Bob Gibson
After posting here last week about Roger “Riceman” Lee’s upcoming re-creation of the Masters & Richter Top Fueler, it didn’t take me long to get the expected reply about whether it was the ex-M&R car that “Big John” Milner drove in More…
Top Fuel seasons, then and now
OK, Insider experts, what do Top Fuel racers Carl Olson, Don Garlits, Chip Woodall, Jeb Allen, Art Marshall, Gary Beck, Jim Walther, and Don Moody have in common? I’ll give you some time to think about it as the column progresses.
If you’ve been…
Filling out my to-do list
Dale Pulde, far lane, took on Dave Condit and the L.A. Hooker Mustang at Lions.
My recent mention of upcoming topics brought forth a lot of responses and, as always, some great help.
I’ve been…
It's ramped up and almost ready
Any trip to Englishtown is steeped in history — the names of heroes such as “Jungle Jim” Liberman and Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney are always invoked. The vast majority of the nitro racers who compete annually always…
The name game
Quite a few of you applauded my tongue-in-cheek strikethrough "mistake" in referring to the annual event in Englishtown as the Summernationals, which, of course, now is the name of the recently completed event in Topeka. I'd…
Rats, snakes, hustlers, and kings
At this time next week, I'll be at one of my favorite places in the drag racing world, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown for the annual Summernationals SuperNationals. (Still struggle with that one, and don't even get me started on…
At a loss, again ...
Another Tuesday, another sad duty to report another substantial loss to our sport. Yesterday, about 5 p.m., just a week after the death of James Warren, we lost 1970s veteran fuel Funny Car campaigner Dick Rosberg, adding to the already staggering…
Memories of James
As expected, the news earlier this week of the passing of Top Fuel hero James Warren brought forth a sea of sorrow and a wave of nostalgia as fans and friends remembered the West Coast giant and mourned his passing.
A few…
A monumental loss
Searching through the James Warren photo archive, I was struck by this photo, showing Warren, center, in the Irwindale Raceway winner's circle with Roger Coburn, left, and Steve Evans. Hard to believe we've lost all three of…
Hot times in ol' Hot-lanta
Fair warning that this will be this week's only Insider column because come Thursday, I'll be in the air again (surrounded by an airplane) on my way to Atlanta for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern…
Let's get small
Honestly, I don't know where and how some of you find the patience to craft incredible machines out of just about thin air, but follow-up to last Friday's report on the from-scratch efforts in plastic of British artist/modeler Mark Gredzinski…
And ... action!
"And then we put a camera over here to catch my good side ...."
So, the news is now out, unveiled last Friday at the Anaheim Comic-Con during a panel discussion and officially announced yesterday on…
Model citizen
Most of us hard-core drag racing fans built plastic models in our youth – and a lot of you apparently still do – but I have to admit that I was never very good at it. Sure, the pieces would all end up in the right places and the decals mostly…
A weekend of tributes at the NHRA Museum
In his five-decade racing career, not many people got one over on Don Prudhomme. Save for Tommy Ivo's notorious practical jokes on the young "Snake's" first road trip with him in the early 1960s, you couldn’t pull a fast one on Prudhomme, whether in…
More odds and ends
I spent the weekend combing through recent submissions to catch up on some of the follow-ups you guys have been sending. (Yes, this is how I spend my weekends ...)
Frequent artistic contributor John Bell wrote to say that he enjoyed "The Legend…
Enough!
You know what? It has been a pretty lousy two weeks for the NHRA family. Just before the Las Vegas event, we learned of the passing of former Division 4 tech ace Lindy Vencill, known far and wide as one of NHRA's great…
More of your photos
The outpouring of photos of Don Garlits from your collections in the last week prompted me to revisit – as promised earlier this year -- some of the many other photos that have been sent my way the last few years. Many of you have given me the honor…