Giving thanks
It’s the season of mindfulness and thankfulness and, despite a turkey tryptophan hangover, National Dragster Editor Phil Burgess carved out these succulent heapings of thankfulness for the year.
It’s the season of mindfulness and thankfulness, so I want in on the moment, too. Despite a turkey tryptophan hangover, I was able to pull myself to ol’ Lappy after dinner and carve out these succulent heapings of thankfulness.
I’m…
Ode to my best friend
I never had a biological brother, a familial sidekick to share life’s experiences, its ups and downs, its discoveries and surprises, its joys and its heartaches, another guy who was always there as your “ride or die” through thick and thin.…
Who's on Funny Car's Mount Rushmore?
A few weeks ago, we mused about which four racers would occupy the places of honor on a Top Fuel Mount Rushmore monument. Now it's Funny Car's turn. Which drivers or owners over the class' 60 years deserve to be immortalized? Caution: This is not as easy as it seems.
A few weeks ago in this space, I mused about which four racers would occupy the places of honor on a Top Fuel Mount Rushmore monument. I asked for and received input from…
Top Fuel 'on the fours': A look back at six NHRA Top Fuel championship years
In just a few weeks, we’ll be crowning 2024's Top Fuel world champion in Pomona, so here's a look back at the champions from 1964, ’74, ’84, ’94, ’04, and ’14, which, as it turns out, provided not only some very interesting title tales but also pocket glimpses of those eras.
In just a few weeks, we’ll be crowning world champions in Pomona, as we have for the last 40 years since the season finale moved to the track in 1984, and when it comes to Top Fuel, it will be the 60th year that we’ve crowned a Top Fuel world champ…
Who’s on Top Fuel’s Mount Rushmore?
In recent years, we’ve seen a flood of articles across different sports all asking the same question: Who's on your [fill in the blank] Mount Rushmore? We got to wondering: Who would be on Top Fuel's Mount Rushmore? Garlits? Muldowney? Schumacher? Brown? Dixon? Kalitta? Torrence?
In recent years, I’ve seen a flood of articles across different sports all asking the same question: Who's on your [fill in the sport or team] Mount Rushmore?
The reference, of course, is to the famous national monument where the faces of four U.…
Remembering Alison Lee, the first First Lady of Top Fuel racing
Before Shirley Muldowney ever turned a tire in Top Fuel and nearly 20 years before Brittany Force was even born, the First Lady of Top Fuel was Alison Lee, whose tuning prowess made her a legend in the sport. We lost Alison Aug. 29 at age 84, but her legacy will long survive her.
Before Shirley Muldowney ever turned a tire in Top Fuel and nearly 20 years before Brittany Force was even born, the First Lady of Top Fuel was Alison Lee, whose tuning prowess on a series of successful Top Fuel dragsters made her a legend in…
From Muldowney to Zetterström, the history of female NHRA Top Fuel drivers
Beginning with Shirley Muldowney in 1974 through Ida Zetterström's debut last weekend in Brainerd, 24 women have raced in NHRA national event Top Fuel competition. Here’s a quick look at those two dozen nitro-fueled females.
Top Fuel has had more female competitors than any other NHRA Pro class, and Ida Zetterström’s Top Fuel debut last weekend at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd made her the 24th woman to compete in drag racing’s quickest class. Here’s a quick…
When ‘Snake’ calls … and wants to reminisce about Funny Car dry hops
Ask any Funny Car fan from the 1970s what he or she misses most about Funny Car racing today, and I’ll bet you that the answer is those cool pre-run “dry hops" from the 1970s and '80s. Count among them one of the guys who mastered them, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme.
Ask any Funny Car fan from the 1970s what he or she misses most about Funny Car racing today, and I’ll bet you that the answer is “dry hops.” I know that’s the case for this old fan, and apparently, it is as much for one of the guys who mastered…
Farewell to Neil Britt: Friend, mentor, creator, motivator, innovator
For nearly 15 years, Neil Britt led the NHRA Publications department, carrying it to new heights, as he had at every publication before that. Britt passed away July14, and is remembered fondly by his friends and former colleagues in the motorsports world.
I like to tell the story about how NHRA National Dragster and I were born in the same year, and even though ND’s first issue in February 1960 preceded my birth by three months, it's always felt like I was born to be here.…
From Shirley Shahan to Maddi Gordon: A history of NHRA's 100 female winners
In 1966, Shirley Shahan became the first woman to win an NHRA national event; nearly six decades later, Maddi Gordon became the 100th winner with her victory in Top Alcohol Funny Car in Seattle. Here's a historic look back at the road to 100 female winners.
Maddi Gordon’s Top Alcohol Funny Car victory at the NHRA Northwest Nationals made her the 100th different female racer to hoist an NHRA national event Wally, an incredible milestone even for a sport that prides itself on diversity.
Those 100…
Seattle and the Fallnationals: A history of drama, intrigue, and points battles
Today it hosts the Northwest Nationals, but for six years in the late 1970s, Pacific Raceways (then known as Seattle International Raceway) was home to the Fallnationals, an exciting and often pivotal event in the season championship battles.
At this time next week, I’ll be at Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle at what remains one of my favorite national events. Today it’s called the Northwest Nationals and has been part of the NHRA national event schedule since 1988, when it initially…
Garlits went 'Big' in Indy in 1964 for first of eight U.S. Nationals victories
Don Garlits scored the first of eight NHRA U.S. Nationals Top Fuel wins in 1964, the first year that the class was contested in Indy. It was the end of a wild year and a wild race for "Big Daddy."
As we build up towards the massive celebration that will be the 70th running of the famed NHRA U.S. Nationals, we’re looking back at some of the great performances and Indy dominations, starting with the 1960s, and you can’t talk about Indy in…
When Garlits calls ...
“Big Daddy” Don Garlits is a legend in the drag racing world and even though he long ago hung up his famous black racing helmet, the 92-year-old icon still has plenty to talk about.
I was lying in bed Wednesday morning, checking email on my phone in preparation for another busy day, when an incoming call took over the screen. It was Don Garlits, and when Don Garlits calls, you answer.
“Big Daddy” is a legend in the drag…
Historic photos of (P)interest
Most of us can’t get enough of drag racing photos in general and historic photos in specific. Here's a look at some interesting images from our sport's past and the stories behind them.
If you’re like me — and I’m betting a lot of you are — you can’t get enough of drag racing photos in general and historic photos in specific. Heaven knows I've been through NHRA's immense digital library hundreds of times, obsessing over the…
Reborn on the Bayou
NHRA national event racing returned to Louisiana last weekend with the running of the Laris Motorsports Insurance NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals at No Problem Raceway, but for 15 years in the 1970s and '80s, the NHRA Cajun Nationals was the state's biggest drag race.
NHRA national event racing returned to Louisiana last weekend with the running of the Laris Motorsports Insurance NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals at No Problem Raceway, where hundreds of racers enjoyed the hospitality of co-track owners Nelson and…
A look at NHRA's all-time win streaks
Tony Schumacher. Don Prudhomme. Bob Glidden. Dave Schultz. Four legendary NHRA racers who hold four legendary winning streaks, marks that are being challenged in 2024 by Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Gaige Herrera. Here's a look at how those streaks were assembled.
Gaige Herrera’s Pro Stock Motorcycle win at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte was his seventh straight victory in the class, putting him in the elite company of Don Prudhomme and Tony Schumacher, who marched their respective Army-backed race…
Remembering Larry Dixon Sr.
From Southern California street-racing legend to early-dragster hero to Winternationals-winning Top Fuel driver, Larry Dixon Sr. led a charmed life surrounded by fast cars. This is his story.
In NHRA annals, the photo is pretty iconic. Larry Dixon Sr. is smiling in the Pomona winner’s circle in 1970, clutching his NHRA Winternationals Top Fuel Wally in one hand and 3-year-old son Larry Jr. in the other, and the towheaded little tyke…
An all-star turnout as friends and family celebrated the life of Roland Leong
On the Thursday before the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, nearly 500 friends, family, and hot-rodding compatriots of legendary car owner and tuner Roland Leong gathered at the Lions Automobilia Foundation and Museum in Southern California for a celebration of his life.
It’s a sad but real truism that you'll probably never really know just how appreciative people are of your efforts and friendship or how deeply you're admired until you’ve left us, because we all invariably forget to say those things before it's…
The Chrisman family photo album
The Chrisman family has been a part of the Southern California landscape since before the Winternationals were a thing. The family has opened its scrapbook for us to take a look back at the incredible legacy that continues to this day.
Over its long existence, NHRA Drag Racing has witnessed the rise of many racers who can truly be called the superstars or legends of the sport, and Jack Chrisman is one of them about whom more recent fans might not know, but he was arguably one of…
Florida's first NHRA 'national event' was the Winter Nationals? Yep (sorta)
Ten years before the Gatornationals brought NHRA national event racing to Florida, NHRA partnered with NASCAR to create a test event, dubbed "the Winter Nationals," during NASCAR Speedweek in Daytona in 1960.
Any hardcore NHRA Drag Racing fan can probably tell you that NHRA debuted the famed Winternationals name in 1961 in Pomona, Calif., and the equally historic Gatornationals came to Gainesville, Fla., in 1970, but what fewer may know is that the…
Fifty years ago, Pro-class stars were also being made at divisional events
Fifty years ago, there were only seven national events on the schedule, but fans across the country saw great action on the divisional level where Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock competed at 28 additional events. Here’s a look back at some of those 1974 heroes.
When you look back 50 years ago at the 1974 national event schedule, as we did here a few weeks ago, there were just seven events on the calendar, a far…
Gainesville Raceway through the years
Three weeks from now we’ll be at Gainesville Raceway for the kickoff of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series as we celebrate the 55th anniversary of the famed Gatornationals. Here’s a look back at the ever-changing face of Gainesville Raceway over the years.
Three weeks from now we’ll be at Gainesville Raceway for the kickoff of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series as we celebrate the 55th anniversary of the famed Gatornationals.
Gainesville has been hosting the event since its…
‘Have helmet will travel’: The story of versatile wheelman Gary Southern
Gary Southern, who will be posthumously inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame next month, could drive anything. In a racing career that spanned nearly 30 years, he drove what he estimated was more than 70 cars in many of the sport's top classes.
Next month, Don Garlits’ International Drag Racing Hall of Fame will induct its newest members, and sadly, two of them who were alive when they were notified of their honors won’t be there to accept them. One is Walt Austin, who was to be…
50 years ago: A look back at the highlights from the 1974 NHRA season
Step into the Dragster Insider Wayback Machine, set the dials for 50 years ago, and return to the 1974 NHRA season for a look back at how things were, including the schedule, performance markers, and big moments on and off the track.
As I’ve done the last three years, it’s time once again to step into the Dragster Insider Wayback Machine and set the dials for 50 years ago and a return to the 1974 NHRA season.
Once again, I’ll take a look back at the way things were, including…
A fond farewell to Parks Tower
With the recent demolition of the famed Parks Tower at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, the NHRA U.S. Nationals lost a part of a four-decade landscape, but the memories will remain.
Imagine driving onto the block where you grew up and discovering that the house in which you grew up was gone. That’s going to be a bit of the feeling for me when I pull into Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park later this year and see the Parks…
The big book of drivers who wheeled Roland Leong’s Hawaiian entries
Over the course of a long career as an NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car team owner, Roland Leong was one of the sport’s most successful car owners, but he also hired, fired, replaced, or lost more than 20 drivers over that span. Here's the stories behind each.
As you've read from me the last couple of weeks, and from tributes I've posted from some of the stars of our sport, there's no way to over-report on the importance of Roland Leong…
A final 'aloha' to 'the Hawaiian'
We lost Roland Leong, the irrepressible owner of the “Hawaiian” line of Top Fuelers and Funny Cars, last week, and his friends, former drivers, and more shared their thoughts about the man and their experiences with him.
Roland Leong, the irrepressible owner of the “Hawaiian” line of Top Fuelers and Funny Cars, was a part of our drag racing world for seven decades before his passing just after Christmas, and if you were a fan of any kind of racing in that span,…
Twas the days before Christmas ...
Reimagining a Christmas staple, with a little help from the legends.
Note to my readers: I wrote the column below last week, before the passings earlier this week of Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy. Their losses to the sport and what they brought to the sport cannot be understated. I had the pleasure…
An ode to the front-engined Top Fueler, and to the family ties that bind us
The front-engined Top Fuel dragster is such an iconic piece of drag racing lore and still romanticized by those who drove them and continue to drive them, and a way to never forget our past.
The book landed on my desk with a giant thunk, the kind of thunk that nearly 700 pages of book makes. Racing Through Life, the Autobiography of Carl V. Olson.
There, grinning at me from the cover, was a young but instantly…
The 10: Don Prudhomme
The second installment of a new feature, chronicling the 10 greatest career moments of some of NHRA's greatest racers. This week, it's legendary Top Fuel/Funny Car owner/driver Don "the Snake" Prudhomme.
Last week I compared some of the great individual seasons in NHRA’s recent history with the 1976 season of Don “the Snake”…