There are a lot of records and milestones in recorded drag racing history, and run early 1960s. Don Prudhomme, a kid from Southern California, captured a stellar 81 round wins and just 8 round losses from June 1962 through May 1963. He was the driver of the Greer-Black-Prudhomme Top Fuel dragster and the team wreaked havoc at dragstrips up and down California with one side trip to Texas.
Despite his success with dragsters, Prudhomme would add a Funny Car to his successful racing operation by the end of the '60s and create one of the most iconic pairings in drag racing history with the Mattel Hot Wheels "Snake and Mongoose" legacy.
On the advice of longtime friend Tom McEwen, the two teamed up in 1970 and built a pair of Funny Cars as part of a sponsorship program with Mattel Hot Wheels. Prudhomme became known as "The Snake" while McEwen assumed the role of "The Mongoose." The famed rivalry and toy product lines that followed cemented the duo's prominent position in the history of the sport. It was a monumental sponsorship opportunity, showing that drag racing could attract companies outside of the performance aftermarket industry. Prudhomme went on to earn four NHRA championships over his 35-year driving career, becoming a full-time team owner in 1994 and seeing two more NHRA titles with Larry Dixon as his driver in the Top Fuel eliminator.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2024 من Hot Rod.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2024 من Hot Rod.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
What Is Pro Street?
You know it when you see it.
Pro Street in Pure Vision
Builder Steve Strope weighs in on the Pro Street look and what he would build today.
THE GAS ERA LIVES ON
These vintage race cars chart the evolution of technology in the early days of drag racing.
MOTOR HEAD FOR LIFE
Scott Sullivan is one of the original Pro Street pioneers. He still builds cars today out of a small shop in Dayton, Ohio.
BRINGING BACK PRO STREET!
David Freiburger and Roadkill Garage built a Pro Street Nova.
SWEET ASPIRATIONS
Jerry and Matthew Sweet added an 800ci Pro Stock mountain motor to chase HOT ROD Drag Week's Pro Street NA Record.
Making Bad Decisions Badder
Bradley Gray's 1970 Nova is a Hybrid! It's a streetable Funny Car.
ART PROJECT
This Rad Rides by Troy-built '63 split-window Corvette went from restaurant prop to ripping up the street!
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
THE PRO STREET ERA PEAKED IN THE '80S. ARE WE IN THE BEGINNING OF A RESURGENCE?
Making Connections
Project T-top Coupe: We install a Terminator X Max for big power.