THE TRIBUTE FOR THE WIN

Ron Capps wins the NHRA U.S. Nationals driving a Don Prudhomme-Hot Wheels tribute Funny Car.

- MICHAEL GALIMI

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.