NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

 

 

 

 

The Durachrome Bug

19 Jun 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Warren Gunter's Durachrome Bug Funny Car of the late 1960s and early 1970s was emblematic of the class' evolving nature; no experiment or idea was too radical, no gimmick too out there in the pursuit of bookings and fan…
View More

The Misc. Files: The G Force

16 Jun 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Welcome back to the Misc. Files, brought to you today by the letter G. Two full file folders awaited me yesterday, and as I began rifling through them, there were so many fun photos and cars that I had trouble limiting it to my self-imposed 10…
View More

Chicago: The Name Game

05 Jun 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Well, here we are in fabulous Chi-Town – well, actually J-town, Joliet, just outside of Chicago – for this weekend's United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals. I've been to almost every venue on the Full Throttle Drag…
View More

The Misc. Files: Meet the F Troops

02 Jun 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
We're back for another trip through the sometimes fractured files of the vast National DRAGSTER photo library, digging into the black hole of forgotten friends who somehow never accumulated enough photos to warrant their own driver folder…
View More

Battling back: How 'the Snake" reconquered Top Fuel

29 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Our scheduled trip to Don Prudhomme's shop Thursday to see his collection of restored Funny Cars was cancelled at the last minute and rescheduled for the middle of next month, kayoing the column I had planned for today.…
View More

The Misc. Files: An E-Ticket ride

26 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
New rear-engined fueler Essman
The letter E may be among the most frequently used vowels in the English language, but its pickings are a little slim when it comes to surnames in the Misc. Files of the National DRAGSTER photo archives, yet I still found a hardy enough…
View More

It's a two-for-one celebration special

22 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Just in case Facebook/Outlook/your local authorities didn't alert you, today is my birthday. The big 4-9 … woo-hoo! Sunday also will be a huge day of celebration, speeches, and downtown parades hosted by The Society of Friends and Fans of Phil…
View More

Funny Car vs. Top Fuel Showdown revisited

16 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
John Force won the historic event in his Superman-themed Castrol GTX Mustang, defeating Top Fuel driver Bob Vandergriff Jr. in the $200,000-to-win race. This past weekend's ESPN coverage of the NHRA…
View More

The Misc. Files: D-lightfully D-verse

15 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Well, devoted dudes and dames of dragdom's days distant, it's due time to dive back into the delectable depths of the DRAGSTER Photo Department drawers again, digging to discover dandy dragstrip diamonds to digitize and document to delight…
View More

A little piece of her heart

12 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Jack Muldowney bent the tubes and gas-welded together Shirley's first car, this gas dragster in which she earned her license. Shirley Muldowney has had a lot of memorable firsts in her Hall of Fame…
View More

The Misc. Files: From C to shining C

08 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
By popular demand, it's time to take another dip into the Misc. Files of the vast National DRAGSTER photo archives. During ND's 50 years of publication, and even in the years leading up to its launch in 1960, the staff has…
View More

'Snake's' restorations just truckin' along

05 May 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
In the last couple of years, Don Prudhomme has amassed a pretty good collection of the cars that made him famous throughout the years, including the yellow and white Hot Wheels Barracuda Funny Cars…
View More

The Misc. Files: Welcome to the 'A' list

28 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Even in this digital age, my desk is covered with scraps of paper and Post-it notes filled with chicken scratch that sometimes I can't decipher a few hours later. There are random phone numbers without any name next to them, e-mail addresses to god-…
View More

The Misc. Files: The I's have it

21 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
I know a good thing when I see it, and last week's first dip into the Misc. Files was apparently a very good thing based on your feedback (and follow-up, as you will see lower in today's entry), so I randomly grabbed another letter from the drawers…
View More

Bob Bommarito, and welcome to the Misc. Files

17 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Tuesday's story about the OCIR Constructors Championship had the desired effect of creating some buzz from fans who remembered it and those who had long forgotten about it, but the most interesting feedback was from a racer mentioned in passing, Bob…
View More

'73 OCIR Constructors Championship: Independents Day

14 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Keith Black Ed Pink Sid Waterman Today's nitro crew chiefs can almost be as big a star as their drivers, household names…
View More

You know you’re a drag racing addict if…

10 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
American muscle is prevalent at the drift races. Here, Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s Mustang leads Daijiro Yoshihara's GTO into a turn at last year's event in Sonoma. Today is Good Friday and an official…
View More

Pedal power: Mike Dunn's first drag race

07 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Like a lot of you, my first introduction to Mike Dunn came in the movie theater, where the future 22-time national event winner was racing his Schwinn Sting-Ray in bicycle drags, complete with a blossoming chute, in the…
View More

April Fools ... the aftermath

03 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
As you can see, the reports of this column's demise have been greatly exaggerated, but Wednesday's April Fools' stories here on the big .com (more on them later) not only continued an online tradition dating back 10 years but also an NHRA…
View More

The Insider … out!

01 Apr 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
If you follow this column with any regularity, you probably know that I usually post new columns on Tuesdays and Fridays. So you probably were wondering yesterday where the new stuff was. Some of you might have assumed I was…
View More

Spaced out in H-town

27 Mar 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Although I readily acknowledge that I have one of the coolest jobs in the world, the traveling part is not always all that it's cracked up to be. Because we're working on the current issue of National DRAGSTER through Wednesday night, we…
View More

A real Thrill ride, plus more flyin' Hawaiian

24 Mar 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Eddie Hill won the 1988 Supernationals in front of his home-state fans in Houston, and while it certainly wasn't easy, it was very thrilling. What if Bobby Thompson had run out of baseball bats…
View More

Larry Reyes: The flyin' Hawaiian and other stories

20 Mar 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Former Hawaiian driver Larry Reyes, left, caught up with his old car owner, Roland Leong, a few years ago. The two made history together in the early 1970s and have remained friends. As a…
View More

Great Gatornationals moments, part 2

13 Mar 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Welcome to Part 2 of Phil's Fabulously Fantastic and Famous Florida Favorite Flashback, recounting some of the most memorable moments from Gatornationals history. My first 20, covering the race from 1970 through 1981, can be found in the entry below…
View More

Great Gatornationals moments? No problem (part 1)

10 Mar 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
The 2009 ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals will mark the 40th anniversary of NHRA's annual March classic, and looking back over its long and illustrious history, it's safe to say that it's been crammed with well more than 40 years of memories and history…
View More

The return of the Shelby Super Snake

06 Mar 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Don "the Snake" Prudhomme poses with his newest hot rod heartthrob, the all-new Prudhomme Edition Super Snake, produced by Shelby Autos. Auto legend Carroll Shelby, left, signed a…
View More

Going Hawaiian

03 Mar 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Later this week, the National DRAGSTER writers will be hammering away on this year's Readers Choice selections, eight article suggestions handpicked from scores of ideas received via e-mail and snail mail from our…
View More

'Ace'-ing the first two races

27 Feb 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Ed McCulloch, left, the first Funny Car driver to win the season's first two events back to back (1972) and his current driver, Ron Capps, the most recent to do it, celebrated in the Pomona winner's circle.…
View More

My first Gatornationals

24 Feb 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
My first trip to the Gatornationals as part of the ND staff was in the cab of a race car hauler in 1984 as part of Jim DePasse's Alcohol Funny Car team. That's me at left, Willie Wolter driving, and Jim DePasse Sr. and Jr.…
View More

Five Fave Fotos with Tom Schiltz and other hot topics

20 Feb 2009
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
DRAGSTER Insider
Five Favorite Fotos seems to be a favorite here, so let's rev up another one. This is a special get-well FFF, with a big shout out to my old pal Tom Schiltz, the veteran photographer from Division 3. You might recall his memorable pic of Bill Crites…
View More