THURSDAY - It's Day One of the long-awaited Professional Racers Organization Spring Training test session at Wild Horse Motorsports Park outside of Phoenix, Az. You will see the best of the best making test hits in preparation for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Another rare find from YouTube, we present to you the 1979 NHRA Winternationals from Pomona. Travel back in time when NHRA Winston Drag Racing was on the outskirts of Corporate America's takeover. These are the days when paint was king, and wraps were well off in the future.
You'll see the legends in the NHRA's three professional categories, and you will also see some of the old veterans pulling out the tricks of the trade.
As traditional as the season-opener was in Pomona; even more traditional was the ABC Wide World of Sports broadcast with Chris Economacki.
There's plenty to like about this old ABC made-for-television drag racing-themed movie.
Hot Rod, a.k.a. Rebel of the Road, is a cult classic that features some cool, old machinery where a young drag racer (Gregg Henry) enters a local championship race with a 1965 Plymouth. There's a town boss, a corrupt sheriff and an attempt to ensure an entitled son wins the drag race.
The storyline might be a bit cheesy but it has classic cars and drag racing, which makes it all tolerable.
Storytellers, the popular drag racing videos telling of days gone by, returns with another episode; this one told by Ed "The Ace" McCulloch.
In this video, Ace tells the story of some describe as the greatest promoter in Drag Racing, the late Bill Doner. McCulloch tells the story of how the Dones could talk him into almost anything, except beating up John Force. At one point, Doner's "enforcer" became. peacemaker. Yeah you gotta hear this one.
The Plans For Project RONNIE! Engine, Chassis, Suspension, Interior, Power Adder, Purpose, etc. In Episode 3, Stevie Fast discloses the long-awaited plans for his beloved Pickup Truck.
Travel back to the mid-1980s when the show Hidden Heroes followed some of drag racing's iconic names. The show, broadcast on the Nashville Network was a Diamond P production and took the cameras behind-the-scenes to introduce race fans to some of the sport's more dynamic individuals.
This episode spends time with veteran driver Joe Amato and his successful transition from Top Alcohol Dragster driver to professional world champion.
About the only thing predictable about the National Hot Rod Association's 8th Annual World Finals was the fantastic hospitality the citizens of Amarillo showed World Finals contestants and spectators. Everything else ran the gamut, providing the fine crowd of hearty spectators with a most exciting weekend of drag racing action at its finest.
"Unpredictable" was the byword, and Mother Nature lent herself to the occasion by going berserk. One minute the drivers were seating in their firesuits, and the next hour saw qualifying prematurely ended when a hail storm hit the strip! Overall, inclement weather caused cancellation of Thursday's downtown festivities, Friday's qualifying session, and shortened Saturday's qualifying efforts. But, lo and behold, Sunday the sun shone brightly, and it then became the competition, which took over the unpredictability of the event.
Winners ranged from the "sure bet" category like the Pro Stock win of Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, who annexed his first-ever World Finals title, to the Top Fuel win of Jim Walther, who overcame terrific odds to score the upset of the meet.
Such was not the case in Funny Car Eliminator, however, as Larry Fullerton and Kevin Doheny saved their best for last, clicking off a superb 6.58, 222.32 mph effort to upend Jake Johnston's valiant 6.69 bid. For Jake, it marked the second straight World Finals runner-up, and for Larry Fullerton, it marked the highlight in a long and varied career, which has seen more than its share of disappointments.
The 1987 season-opener for the Bristol, Tenn.-based IHRA was one which brought a lot of enthusiasm on many fronts.
After benching the Top Fuel dragsters in 1984, the IHRA welcomed back the kings of the sport. Then there was a the race to 200 miles per hour for the doorslammers which was the first major battle between the then top of the food chain for full bodied racing Mountain Motor Pro Stock and the up and coming Top Sportsman cars.
Check out all the action because this episode is chock full of it.
This documentary is the perfect way to spend your time, thinking back to the days of yesteryear when drag racing had the wow power because it was still a virtually unknown commodity.
The legends were very much involved in 1979, from Don Prudhomme to Don Garlits to Shirley Muldowney. Drag racing was still wide enough open to command an audience for such a documentary which would usually air in the afternoons on weekend when three channel, black and white television were still in the majority.
This video has a little bit of everything from NHRA to AHRA, Top Fuel to Funny Car to Pro Stock. If you can excuse the audio sounds of big block automatic cars on obvious four-speed Modifieds, you will enjoy this class.
Travel back to the mid-1980s when the show Hidden Heroes followed some of drag racing's iconic names. The show, broadcast on the Nashville Network was a Diamond P production and took the cameras behind-the-scenes to introduce race fans to some of the sport's more dynamic individuals.
This episode spends time with veteran driver Dick LaHaie and his family, during their run-up to an NHRA Top Fuel championship.
Another rare find from YouTube, we present to you the 1979 NHRA Winternationals from Pomona. Travel back in time when NHRA Winston Drag Racing was on the outskirts of Corporate America's takeover. These are the days when paint was king, and wraps were well off in the future.
There's plenty to like about this old ABC made-for-television drag racing-themed movie.
In this video, Ace tells the story of some describe as the greatest promoter in Drag Racing, the late Bill Doner. McCulloch tells the story of how the Dones could talk him into almost anything, except beating up John Force. At one point, Doner's "enforcer" became. peacemaker. Yeah you gotta hear this one.
The Plans For Project RONNIE! Engine, Chassis, Suspension, Interior, Power Adder, Purpose, etc. In Episode 3, Stevie Fast discloses the long-awaited plans for his beloved Pickup Truck.
Travel back to the mid-1980s when the show Hidden Heroes followed some of drag racing's iconic names. The show, broadcast on the Nashville Network was a Diamond P production and took the cameras behind-the-scenes to introduce race fans to some of the sport's more dynamic individuals.
About the only thing predictable about the National Hot Rod Association's 8th Annual World Finals was the fantastic hospitality the citizens of Amarillo showed World Finals contestants and spectators. Everything else ran the gamut, providing the fine crowd of hearty spectators with a most exciting weekend of drag racing action at its finest.
The 1987 season-opener for the Bristol, Tenn.-based IHRA was one which brought a lot of enthusiasm on many fronts.
This documentary is the perfect way to spend your time, thinking back to the days of yesteryear when drag racing had the wow power because it was still a virtually unknown commodity.
Travel back to the mid-1980s when the show Hidden Heroes followed some of drag racing's iconic names. The show, broadcast on the Nashville Network was a Diamond P production and took the cameras behind-the-scenes to introduce race fans to some of the sport's more dynamic individuals.
