Barry Setzer, Pat Foster, and their amazing Vega
The Top 20 Funny Cars list rolls on, headed soon for the top 10, and although there were no assurances of anyone’s position -- due in no small part to the strength of “the field,” each having earned a berth based on the sheer weight of evidence…
Remembering Art Chrisman and Chuck Etchells
Chuck Etchells The last week provided a double shock of loss, with the passing of Funny Car barrier breaker Chuck Etchells Wednesday, July 6, and the loss of drag racing icon Art Chrisman the following Tuesday. The loss of Etchells…
Fan Fotos: The Nielsen Files, Part 2
I hope you all had a safe and sane Fourth of July and are ready to dive into the teeth of summer. I'll be in Chicago this weekend for the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals at fabulous Route 66 Raceway. While I'm…
Fan Fotos: The Nielsen Files
If you’ve been around this column for any length of time, you know there’s no measuring the depth of love and respect I have for followers of this weekly cornucopia of drag racing stream of consciousness. And you probably also know…
Deconstructing the vote: 14-17
Another month in the books, and another four cars have been revealed in the Top 20 Funny Car fan vote, with another coming Saturday, which will bring us up to No. 12. Here’s what has been revealed so far: 14. Ed McCulloch…
A Kean memory
Response to last week’s column full o’ photos was deliciously marvelous, with lots of my pals here digging my amateurish attempts because, after all, even a bad photo of a great Funny Car is worth seeing, right? As I’ve said…
More of Phil's Foto Follies
Ask someone if they want to see your old family photos, and they’ll probably come up with an excuse to go do something less painful; root canal comes to mind. But ask any drag racing fan if he or she would like to look at your old drag racing…
New England Funny Cars
As the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour heads back to New England this weekend, the 2016 season is about to get real busy with four races in as many weekends, keeping us all on the fly, so to speak, traversing the East Coast and…
Kirby's Funny Car 'supermarket'
For the past five months, we’ve been talking almost exclusively about Funny Cars here – I know, #FirstWorldProblems, right? – so I thought I’d take a look back at a place that was responsible for many of them, Don Kirby’s Funny Car “supermarket…
Deconstructing the vote: 18-20
I hope you all saw the reveal last Sunday on NHRA.com (or Saturday on the FOX show) of our Top 20 Funny Cars catch-up. We unveiled Nos. 18 to 20 to catch up to Tony Pedregon’s separate list that he began a few weeks ago, and I thought it would…
Top 20 FCs: The Insider Nation weighs in
Thanks to everyone for voting in my little straw poll last week to get the Insider Nation’s take on the Top 20 Funny Cars list. For the most part, your voting aligned pretty closely with the overall voting – you both picked the same car…
Your Top 20 poll
Fan voting ended earlier this week in the Top 20 Funny Cars poll, and we’ll begin to reveal the results in the very near future. It has been a fun exercise, especially the creation of the list and everything that went into it, as well as hearing…
Al Segrini
By their very nature, lists are polarizing. Whether it’s the top 10, 20, 50, or 100 anything that you’re trying to establish, there are going to be hits and misses among the critics and delight and disappointment among those who made…
The Mystery of the Blue Mustang
Last week’s video collection of vintage Funny Car clips was met with glee by the Insider faithful, what with all of the vintage fiberglass and dry hops, but it was the clip of the Mickey Thompson/Danny Ongais Mustang that drew the most oohs and…
Vintage Funny Car videos
I’ve spent so much time already this year writing about cool old Funny Cars and sharing cool old photos of same, so maybe it’s time for a little video to give new fans a better taste of what we’re being all nitro-teared nostalgic…
Top 20 list: The fans weigh in
VOTE NOW! Our Top 20 Funny Cars list was released last Thursday – a day late due to some technical glitches – but…
Top 20 Funny Cars
In case you missed the announcement today on NHRA.com, we’ve revealed the final Top 20 list of Funny Cars from which fans can…
Five great drag racing movies
Whether you’re relaxing on your couch streaming entertainment or at the local movie theater, who doesn’t love a good flick? And if you’re a drag racing fan – and we know you are – what’s better than a movie about your favorite motorsport?
Here’s…
Top 20 Funny Cars: We have a list!
Don “the Snake” Prudhomme has three, Kenny Bernstein has two, and 15 other drivers and teams each have one. That’s the breakdown after weeks of analysis and consultation that resulted in the compilation of a list of 20 of the…
'Buddy' Garner, NHRA's first season champion
"Buddy" Garner, of Hobbs, N.M., was crowned NHRA's first points-based champion in 1960, after a nearly perfect season with his C/A Plymouth.
It’s a pretty fair bet that the knowledgeable citizens of…
Female Funny Car pioneer Paula Murphy
Sometimes you just never know who’s going to be on the other end of the phone (especially in my line of work), so it was a great pleasure – and great timing – when I learned that the voice on the other end of the line earlier this week belonged to…
1970: A 'Super' season for Funny Car
The Funny Car class got its first taste of full integration into the NHRA season in 1970, NHRA’s vaunted “Super Season.” NHRA had nearly doubled its schedule, going from four races to seven – adding the Gatornationals in…
The Hawaiian, 1969-71
National Dragster's Lane Evans captured this unforgettable image of the flying Hawaiian. There are no subsequent shots from him because it was the last exposure on his roll of film (but we have more angles below).
Last week’s…
'Jungle Clare' Sanders
Clare Sanders, then and now
By 1969, the Funny Car class was in full bloom and contested at three NHRA national events. After its debut at the 1966 World Finals, the…
'Fast Eddie' Schartman
We began this whole odyssey into the early days of Funny Car with the announcement a few weeks ago that NHRA would be saluting 50 years of Funny Cars this season, with the starting point for the celebration being the 1966 season, when NHRA…
Remembering Jess Tyree
The history of the Funny Car class that we’re celebrating this year suffered a significant loss earlier this week with the passing of Jess Tyree, one of the drivers who was in on the ground floor of the class in 1966. Tyree died Monday of cancer…
Funny Cars: Who's on first? I dunno ...
Jim Johnson and Jimmy Nix suited up; the firesuits were mostly for show. Jack Chrisman's Comet was a race car, shown here running in B/FD in Pomona. Well…
Early Funny Car History 101
As one Insider reader tweeted to me last week after my column about working to create a list of the top 20 Funny Cars, “Can open, worms everywhere.” Yes, indeed, we did open a whole can of worms with the notion that I – or anyone…
Top 20 Funny Cars: Let the debate begin
As I noted here last Friday and as was announced earlier this week on NHRA.com, NHRA will be celebrating the Funny Car class throughout the 2016 season. Using the 1966…
Feedback Friday
Well, the new year is only a week old, and already it has been packed with a lot of newness, not the least of which is the new NHRA.com format that launched Thursday. The new design allows NHRA fans easier access to the wealth of stories available…