Forget any preconceptions you might have had about Billy Meyer, the Hall of Fame Funny Car driver, developer of the game-changing Texas Motorplex and one-time owner of the IHRA. In this episode of Legends: The Series, producer/director Bobby Bennett cuts through the brash, bold façade that was the talented Texan’s alter ego to reveal a thoughtful visionary whose impact on the sport has been immeasurable.

From fielding one of the first 18-wheel support rigs to introducing myriad new corporate sponsors through previously untapped B2B relationships to building a racetrack that set a new standard for the sport at almost every level, Meyer’s fingerprints are all over the straight-line landscape.

Growing up in a household in which failure was not an option, he was the youngest son of motivational entrepreneur Paul J. Meyer, founder of Success Motivation Institute, who early-on taught him the value of goal setting, focus and hard work.

Travel back in time to this presentation of the 12th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals, a documentary-style show from Hurst Performance. The show opens not with the Kings of the Sport, Top Fuel, but instead the Stock Eliminator players. Of course the show, features the virtues of Hurst Performance. It clearly broadcasts the nuts and bolts of the sport for this era.

Eventually, it gets over to Top Fuel. Enjoy your time in drag racing some 56 years ago. It's easy to get lost in this presentation of the days gone by.

The NHRA made Brainerd International Raceway a stop on the growing tour in 1982. In this rare video produced for ESPN in its earliest years of programming, you'll get to see the Top Fuel division as well as the Top Alcohol Dragsters. The NHRA was just starting to get a handle on its television programming, as you will see.

You'll see the legends of the sport, plus a couple of up-and-coming Hall of Famers. You will also see some sportsman racers who went on to legendary careers as well.

Dwight Guild worked for many years on Funny Car teams racing at and around Orange County International Raceway. One day Guild realized the memories he had couldn't be shared just by speaking. So he invested in a video camera in the late 1970s, still largely an undeveloped market and began documenting the action at his favorite strip located in Irvine, Ca.

Little did Guild realize that in four years, the iconic strip, built in 1967 as one of the first super track drag strips, would be closed forever. This video documents Guild's bid to film the action from the strip right up until the final NHRA national event in 1983. He was there at the Last Drag Race at Orange County, but that's a story in itself.

Take a trip with CompetitionPlus.tv via You Tube to 1973.

This was not exactly an easy time in American history. The cost of a barrel of crude oil increased ten-fold, and the gas companies then passed on the price increase to the consumer. The controversial U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War drew to a close. Even the Professional Racers Organization went head to head with the NHRA's Labor Day tradition in Indy with a professional only race in Tulsa, Ok.

However, on one Sunday afternoon, in Muncie Ind., all was well in the world. At least it was for those who made the trip out to Mid-America Raceway for the IHRA Northern Nationals. One look at this video and you will see just how far drag safety has come since then.
According to noted drag racing historian Bret Kepner, this clip is taken from the repackaging of Bud Lindemann's Chicago-based "Car & Track" syndicated TV series which aired from 1968-1975. Speedvision rebroadcasted many of the original shows from 1993-1997. This nearly 10 minute video has Top Fuel racers Dick LaHaie, Paul Longenecker, Dale Funk, Pat Foster, Jim Paoli and Al Hanna.

NHRA added four new races to its expanding schedule in 1988. One of those four was a track new to the national scene, even though Sonoma had first held sanctioned events as early as 1969. You will see the legends like Joe Amato, Don Prudhomme, Bob Glidden, and so much more. This particular season would be the first of the explosive and expanding years of the sanctioning body.

​Check out this Sean Melton Urban Hillbilly video. The Big Tire Final at the Ozark Raceway Park No Prep Event got ugly fast. Glad both drivers were OK. The Homewrecker Motorsports Studebaker 'The Frigg' got the worst of the deal being pushed into the railing.
 

Watch the livestream of the Bill Bader celebration of life ceremony from Norwalk, Ohio.

The beloved track operator turned sanctioning body president was a promoter of the highest level. He was also a friend who never met a stranger. There was only one Bill Bader, Sr., a man who loved drag racing and its people beyond measure.