FUEL FUNNY CARS: THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS

[Music] [Music] they shake they rattle and occasionally roll they're the most violent unpredictable racing machines man has yet conceived funny cars floppers plastic fantastic call them what you will but they're five-second 260 mile an hour combat packs a grand stands like no other breed the mount saint helens of the quarter mile [Music] their roots are the stock cars of the early 60s that sent many a loyal dragster fan to the hot dog stand they said race cars don't have doors then something funny happened the stock car started doing wheel stands street cars didn't do that then a blower or two showed up on full-bodied steel cars and they got even funnier that's funny is in peculiar suddenly the fans were cheering wildly for the dodge the ford the chevy whatever they own product identity some trackside psychologists said then came nitro plastic bodies tube frames and a troop of touring stars with colorful nicknames they blaze the tires across the continent leaving some legendary stories in their wake [Music] when nhra accepted them as a real racing class the unfortunate name had stuck funny cars [Music] a new and exciting class is known as funny cars these are high performance vehicles made to look like ordinary sedans inside there's nothing ordinary about them special protective clothing is required in these lightweight powerhouses these are vehicles of the space age [Music] a sedan-like body is made of fiberglass and weighs only 150 pounds the funny cars can race the quarter mile in less than seven and a half seconds top speed 190 miles an hour it's the type of action the fans have come to see and funny car eliminator had them up in cheering their favorites that speed king mickey thompson pouring the traction improving bleach down for driver danny and gaius the mach 1 stage is against the camaro of school teacher kelly chadwick from texas an anxious moment for trackside photographers as chadwick narrowly misses the rail before shutting off and gaia splashes through in 7.38 seconds [Applause] chevy fans are backing bruce larson of pennsylvania he's drawn the quickest car of the meet don schumacher's barracuda from illinois [Music] schumacher's engine expires while larson charges to a great 7 35 192 mile per hour win and the crowd loves it connie coletta's bounty hunter mustang now tangles with california rich cerunian wheeling big john mazmanian's candy apple barracuda [Applause] ford camera versus plymouth hemi [Music] a tremendous hole shot by michigan's khalida but the barracuda is charging on the other end and it's big john moving to the semifinals by a headlight 753 199. they're pretty good guys but you know when you get to a meet like this you don't really have any friends these are the funny cars in effect they are short version double a fuel dragsters and plastic bodies and don fudom is everywhere today he owns this car it'll be driven by jay howell and here down parent's crew member as he pours the solution down for how long to burn in his tires heat them up and move into the starting line area a money car is capable of going over 200 miles an hour it's very light the bodies are made of plastic don shoemaker has been one of the hot fellows all across the country match racing and in the national competition as well throughout this year juventus car is a barracuda and so is the car that powell will be driving of our tutor and shoemaker has been very very steady in all of the competition leading up to the funny car quarter final buster couch is the starter watch him explode off that starting line i mean they leap out of there [Music] off the line and shoemaker at the top end pulls away to a comfortable wind 7.07 seconds elapsed time better than 210 miles an hour for the winner shoemaker so don prudhomme himself a winner just moments ago watches his barracuda lose in the funny car quarterfinals this race will feature our defending champion carr the hawaiian of roland leon from honolulu hawaii and the machine just now having its body latched down vic john mazmanian of whittier california and his driver richard zaroonian who is also his nephew the hawaiian being driven this year by young wooden boss lots of westminster california and you can bet just as soon as the snows melt in east this team will be headed out on their annual tour of during a dragstrips all over the united states that's how they make their living you know the burnouts really have added an awful lot to the show not only uh as well as helping the elapsed side generally at most drag strips around the country the funny cars will go up to the starting line and do burnouts from the starting line sometimes almost a full quarter mile and back all the way back up again obviously there's not time for that in a big meet here like the winter nationals i was about to comment that at first glance a funny car just looks like a strange automobile and then you see the driver sitting right dead in the middle of it just as if it were any other type of racing machine and you realize that it's something more than just what you'd see on the city street even though there's nothing on these automobiles that stock not even the body they're made out of very very lightweight fiberglass they're just really nice there's a strong product identity factor the chevy's good for the chevy funny guys and the ford for the forest and so forth mazmanian utilizing a plymouth barracuda-appearing replica of a plymouth barracuda driver richard cerrone strapped in he's completed his burnouts and he'll meet the dodge of roland leon appropriately named the hawaiian inside the cockpit you can see butch moss moss moving up very slowly these machines utilize a two-speed transmission they have on-board fire extinguishers and every conceivable safety device the nitro methane fuels are very strong hence the mass an unbelievable wheel stand by richard cerulnian boss blazes the tires to victory you'll seldom see a funny car stand on the bumper like that tom take another look at it really something incredible wheel stand especially considering uh the drivers uh think there's a lack of traction now you'll see the front wheels start to go skyward cerunian not lifting at all rocks over and it may bounce all the way up there it goes almost all four wheels off the ground it could have done some severe damage to that twenty thousand dollar car costs as high as thirty thousand dollars now to the bleach box after cleaning and hitting his tires comes pat foster that's his opponent in the blue car tom mcewen this is pat on the far lane in the red car he was the top qualifier 212 miles per hour and tom mcewen qualified fifth foster from tarzana california tom mcewen from fountain valley california moving up to the start it's gonna be coming up momentarily there it is thomas off first pat boss is trying to catch him in the red car back force is coming up and at the finish it is patch monster 6.69 is the time 220.04 miles per hour become the next quarter finalists that's roger linda mode and look at those tires as they spit them they really rise the front end goes way down the back end goes up here's his opponent dale foley in the red car will be on the outside lane from wilmington california fully qualified seventh roger linda mood qualified 11. both pulling up to the starting line now then the mood in the blue car there we go just goes up too much horsepower and he lost traction before we continue with the funny car quarter finals i'd like to say that funny cars are a sophisticated exotic fuel dragster masquerading as a family car the body is even plastic and the horsepower 1500 horses now early we talked to one of our semi-finalists uh pat foster exactly what is a funny car well the name funny crowd arrived though in 1965 where we started alder the wheel bases on some of the stock cars but they just had something that made people say boy that car looks a little funny basically the controls inside of the car are such that this is your your rear wheel brakes your hand brake system here this is this handle down here between my legs activates the reverser it's either in the forward position the car goes forward in a backward position it goes backwards my left foot's on the clutch pedal this control between my legs as a as a as a shifter you go from low gear to high gear it's a two-speed only system and you just push it forward and about the middle of the course and you'll go from low gear to high gear and these are probably the most important thing to the driver inside the car and that's your fire system and they're set before we make a run and in the advent of a fire of any serious nature at all and the driver lets go the steering wheel and crosses these arms and hits the two black knobs which automatically sets off a system that's plumbed throughout the entire car it plums the fire system to any place in the car there may be a fire up here we've got our parachute releases which are a dual shoot system on this particular car some guys run one some guys run two i stagger the handles just enough that i can pick a chute to pull even if i want to pull one or i can pull them both and uh over here we got a fuel shut off which in the advent of a fire also you hit your fire system and close the fuel shut off system and down very where you can't even see it as the magneto switch it's just a basic on and off toggle switch and basically that's about it continuing now with the funny car quarter finals this should be a beauty there's a defending champion butch moss from santa rosa california a blue car with a red trim and there's the starter buster couch and butch boss will be facing ed the ace mccullough that's mccullough from clovis california winner of the 71 national funny car class they're approaching the starting line that's mass on the near side and there's the start they're all fairly equally a very close race and it looks like mccullough takes the lead mccullough wins it his time 6.65 217.91 miles per hour here's another quarterfinal pairing swinging into view now as jim dunn from la mirada california in the red car it's the only rear engine funny car in the competition here he'll be facing jake johnson of fort worth texas will be in the blue car now watch him spin his wheels and watch them rise coming out of the bleach box in that bleach box to clean the wheels and heat them up is latex glue bleach everybody has their own concoction that is jake johnson from fort worth texas here in the blue car in the near lane as you switch back to jimmy dunn in the red car they're off not got the start but jake is coming up on the near lane johnson at the end is the winner jake johnson 6.94 178.92 miles per hour suddenly it was time for the funny cars and some wild ones burned out of the staging area [Music] the first duel in the second round featured al hannah driving the eastern raider against setzer and foster's chevy vegas [Music] barry setzer's vega is first through the traps with a 6.90 at 207.85 miles per hour the crowd was waiting for this one the goal between dick bart's blue max mustang in lane one and kenny saffridge driving mr norm's silver dive the blue max screams past kenny saffer to take the win at 217 miles per hour e.t 6.71 [Music] lane one smokey joe lee lights the fuse under his charger to squeak out a close win over gary bulger driving the gold digger this last run in the second round put paula murphy in her oil company special against jim paoli in the red white and blue vega [Music] paoli pulls paula's petticoat with a winning ep of 6.64 at 209 miles per hour 19 year old billy meyer lying on his back underneath his funny car getting it ready for the semi-finals billy is an absolute wizard when it comes to automobile engines and believe it or not they can take an automobile engine out of one of these cars and have it replaced in 35 minutes and the activity is just as frenzied over in don shoemaker's pit area don does the work on his car too [Music] i still need an 11 16. trying to mastermind his way to victory over billy meyer and now everybody cheers as billy meyer comes out getting ready for the semi-final match-up between him and john shoemaker as billy comes into that wet area on the pavement he'll spin those rear tires heating them up the water keeps the tires from blistering of course spinning them like that and making them smoke heats them up gives them lots of traction and bite which is what you need at the start line and now here comes non-shoemaker from parkridge illinois norman super shoe won the national championship in 1970 hopes to repeat here in the nationals in 1974 and billy meyer hopes to capture his very first national title waco willie is his nickname but we talked to him a little bit earlier hey billy i don't want to bother you when you're real busy here but what did you find in the shop was it okay yeah it was perfect that surprised me but we had to find out billy meyer was satisfied with the crankshaft on his car so we moved over to don shoemaker's pit what seems to be the problem you seem to be working frantically here oh we got a little bit too much weight on the clutch and it's pulling the motor down in the middle and burning some pistons out of it ah that's why you change the pistons huh that's right we have changed four of them well aside from the mechanical problem how about the psychological problem going against young billy meyer i'll take him on any day of the week he's a he's my hero right now because he's a good friend of mine he's a very young man he's doing a hell of a job but i'll take him on any day of the week well you won't have to wait any day of the week it's coming up real soon that's right it's coming up right now as a matter of fact as don shoemaker eases his car to the line boy what a moment of attention here everything has to be so right at that start and billy meyer gets a good start he's got to have a car length lead now a car length now two cars and he goes over and the engine blows on shoemaker's car as he crosses the finish line billy meyer defeats don shoemaker and the semis of the funny car and shoemaker blows the engine at the line here is the first race of this round quarterfinal action it's jungle jim lieberman against raymond beatle in other action this round denny savage driving the tri-town hustler defeated norm wilcox but wilcox unable to answer the call little john lombardo beat tom brock and we're ready to between needle and lieberman raymond beatles mustang 6.16 seconds moving very strong as he defeats jungle jim lieberman here's the car that is dominated and in fact john brudome is already in nx the world championship title as he has earned enough points without even winning this race to become the world champion for 1975. his competition pat foster the chicago patrol don bruno has already gone 241 miles an hour with a money car the fastest man in history ever to drive a full-bodied car through the quarter mile he is looking for that magic five-second run with a funding car no one has ever done it before can don bruno do it here at the nhra world fighter in this pass it'll be don brudom against pat buster foster out of chicago illinois the all-important start both drivers concentrating on the christmas tree as they approach those staging beams inching into the beams reactions i'm all important here don brudom easily out distances pat foster the rematch of the nationals coming up next in semifinal action here at the nhra world final raymond beatle the winner of the nationals and funny car eliminator in the blue max against none other than don the snake crew doll don verdom you've already annexed the world championship title twenty thousand dollars you're coming in running faster than any man in history in a funny car does this lessen your desire to win now that you've already annexed the world champion title no no certainly not uh that's just kind of a little frosting on the cake actually it just kind of adds to it and it just pumps you up and uh run a little bit harder and you know we're strictly out to win the race matter of fact i'd change all i'll trade i would trade all that for a win don rudom winning five of seven national events already this year an incredible record going up against raymond beatle the man he lost to in the finals at the nationals don bruno already the quickest car here at the world finals raymond beatle the second quickest let's see how they do leaving the line together but look at don prudhomme tremendous time for don the snake prudhomme ladies and gentlemen 5.98 seconds 5.98 seconds for don prudhomme that the first five second time ever recorded by a funny car in the history of drag racing his speed 237 miles an hour raymond beetle losing with a 6 34 shutting it off at 191 knowing there's no chance to catch the snake so the snake goes into the finals against denny savage setting for the first time in history the first funny car ever in the fives there it roars into life at the touch of the toe this power plant can deliver for dawn for around more than one thousand horsepower the body comes down now as he heads to the starting line for the big one the finals against gary burgin cars are on the line now and for dom has changed his mind and taken the right lane why perhaps we'll be able to find out later bergen on the near side for the big money remember now pradam has been undefeated in nhra national competition all year long the last defeat in this type of competition came here one year ago bergen on the inside inches ahead and wins by a wide margin to unseat and end for dumbest victory street funny car eliminator semifinals bob pickett in the near lane driving mickey thompson's u.s marine car the favorite on the snake prudhomme the u.s army monza smoke off bob pickett's car the tires losing traction and it's predome through the finish line first once again winning another race and moving into the finals ed the ace mccullough from fresno california his competition the shady glenn carr driven by pat foster a new car in competition on the west coast doing very well both cars completed their burnouts now staging let's watch a tremendous blower explosion for ed mccullough and pat foster crossing the center line that will disqualify him but let's look at ed mcculloch he apparently is okay but the car severely damaged a tremendous supercharger explosion as the tree went green ed mccullough hits the gas pedal and off comes the supercharger they're in slow motion you see it once again foster leaving the line okay but then crossing a little bit later let's watch again in super slow motion incredible deformation of the fiberglass body as that heavy supercharger comes up through the windshield fuel spurting out of the lines the emergency crew right on the scene ed mccullough winning but he's going to have a lot of work to do if he can even get the car repaired auto racing's most exotic cars frank's on manufacturers midway earlier we gave you a look at the top fuel dragster let's take a look now at the machine they call the funny car funny car is basically a redesigned fuel dragster with a fiberglass body the body designs are replicas of many popular american compact cars but these are built specifically for racing this one for instance is a replica of a trans am pontiac firebird big difference from their street cousins though they only weigh about 1700 pounds they put out around 2000 horsepower about the same as a top fueler the interiors are roll bars and aluminum sheet metal has a single cockpit for the driver there are no doors the driver gets in and the body is then set down over him speeds about 240 miles an hour in just about six seconds and for obvious reasons the racers and the fans call them floppers dave right frank picking up the action and funny car eliminator in round number two a total of 16 cars started eliminations here at the 77 gator nationals eight cars remaining it's tom mcewen driving the corvette against roger lindemood and for your trivia buffs roger linda mood was the 1964 top stock eliminator at the us nationals the q against linda mood funny car eliminator tom mcewen's car breaking something roger linda moved streaking to an easy victory 6.51 seconds 217 miles an hour in a battle of the services the u.s army plymouth arrow of don prudhomme from grenada hills his competitor bob pickett driving mickey thompson's car this is the u.s marine entry car a replica of a 77 starfire mickey thompson another of the famed names of drag racing defending champion don trudeau has an easy go of it this time a 6.34 second 228 mile an hour charge as bob pickett goes through at only 69 miles an hour going up in smoke the tires losing traction from the start here's al bergler out of detroit michigan the motown shaker birds are pulling up into the burnout area water puddles allowing the tires to break loose easily and the 2 000 plus horsepower spinning them smoking the tires and you see the parts flying and oil coming out from underneath al bergler's car apparently something going wrong with the motor ray beetle and the blue max pulling into the burnout area and the official saying shut it off as al burglar dead on the racetrack the car lots of mechanical problems you can see crew members out kicking off the parts and pieces that came bouncing out from behind it here comes al berger's crew now they'll be lifting up the body al will be getting out of the car there was no fire these cars carry an onboard fire extinguishing system nhra safety safari truck pulling out onto the track to begin the cleanup preparation on a single run with the blue max every car must make the same number of runs in elimination so ray beedle goes through the timing traps 6.28 seconds his speed 228 miles an hour the last pair of the second round of funny car eliminations in the near lane gordy bonnen hailing from edmonton alberta canada traveling quite a distance to get to gainesville florida gary burgin from california the orange baron a former national champion his car a 77 monza both cars inching into the staging beams getting set for that green light which means go and a great handling job by gary burgin as gordy bottom records the low elapsed time pairing and the second round of funny car racing finds tom mcewen he drives the corvette bodied car in the near lane against the ace ed mccullough mcculloch finished in the runner-up position here at the summer national back in 1972 and would love to make it to the winner's circle tom mcewen has been very consistent throughout most of 1978 performance times equally closed nearly at least at the stake has yet to make it to the winner's circle though money cars quite a handful to drive the fastest full-bodied cars in all of drag racing mcculloch with the lead off the starting line [Music] and not to be headed ed mcculloch how about this 6.1 a 6 10 elapsed time 237 miles an hour when we talk about elapsed time that's the amount of time it takes to go from the starting line to the finish line which is only one quarter of a mile away and that's all of course from a standing start denny savage at the wheel of the power steel john powers car the camaro body funny car on the tower side al sagrini driving for fred castronova [Music] [Music] and in a close race it's denny savage a fine 6.12 second 6.12 236 miles an hour sagrini gave it a good shot but with a red light start a 6 31 didn't pay off you saw him move just perceptively ahead of denny savage there in the circle you saw the red light left on the tree meaning al sagrini left just a hair too soon the canadian car gordy bonnet 240 gordy known as in the drag racing circle the reason for this bottom loves to drive him fast and over 240 miles an hour and a funny car is quite quite a speed john lombardo from north hollywood having the best day of his career on the national event circuit noted for running in the western part of the united states lobardo just blasting ahead of gordy bonnett 6.12 seconds his speed 236 miles an hour as gordy bonnin falls to little the hawaiian of roland leon rotten colson at the wheel the distinction of having to run the number one qualifier don bruno three times in a row he has won the world championship brudon the most feared driver right now in all of drag racing regardless the category regardless the type of car bruno mr consistency defending champion at the summer nationals the car owner roland leong you see there in the green shirt directing his driver ron coulson into exactly the spot he wants where he can find the most traction to give those big wide 18-inch tires the fight necessary to get him to the finish line first but he's got a tough road to hold and a hole shot by ron coulson will it pay off at the finish line a close race and it's ron coulson right now the sound of cars john force driving the corvette bodied car force hailing from placentia california up against austin texas kenny bernstein the 34 year old bernstein returning to drag racing last season after a five-year layoff which time he formed his own business chain of restaurants throughout the united states and decided to come back into drag racing first class and he did it for this beautiful plant aero-bodied car john force a long-time racer on the west coast he also picking up a major sponsorship and deciding to head on the national tour throughout all of 1979 and he's earned his way right here into the finals of the cajun nationals two of the best funny cars in the country meeting at state capitol dragway in baton rouge louisiana [Applause] the burnouts completed both drivers approaching the starting line concentrating on the christmas tree trying to eke out that little bit of advantage at the starting line that may put them ahead at the finish line let's watch [Applause] and it's jon force out first but something goes wrong and kenny bernstein wins his first ever nhra national title dave absolutely one of the most beautiful cars in all of drag racing in any category finds the winner's circle here at the cajun nationals its owner its driver a businessman racer kenny bernstein making his first visit to glory nhra style many many years ago he raced as far as runner-up retired from racing to become a very very successful restaurant and bar owner throughout the southwest congratulations kenny bernstein this great just super were you a little sick there from for a moment when force was out in front of you well yeah you know uh the car left pretty good and then it seemed to get the tires loose again and i was wondering for a second we were gonna get back around him but then she took off and i don't know what happened to him but we're here and that's what counts well congratulations to you you've brought a lot of class to this port not only your race car but your transporter everything you do seems to have that just that touch of class and polish well that's a that's a super compliment see from you and anybody else i really appreciate that we we like to do it that way we think that the the sport deserves it and we think just like i did five years ago when i quit if i couldn't go back into it first class and really do it the right way i i just wouldn't do it and i appreciate the compliment because it makes me feel great the funny car is really a 25-year 40 000 evolution of the stock car mechanically the engine the transmission the differential identical to that of a top fuel dragster but that's where the similarities in with the engine in front of the driver an onboard fire extinguisher system is required the exhaust header is much different than that of the fuel dragsters but the big difference really are the flip top fiberglass bodies that act as an airfoil pushing downward on the car for more traction even an escape hatch in case the driver has to make a speedy exit an incredibly fortunate driver tim gross hearing the cheers of the crowd as he walks away from the wreckage of one of the worst crashers in all of motorsports a forty thousand dollar funny car is a pile of junk that's what happened to tim gross's datsun 280z bodied funny car as it slammed into both guardrails at national trail raceway during a qualifying attempt the crew having to lift the remains of the chassis and engine you notice the front wheel's completely gone from the car tim gross looking on very fortunate to be able to even watch what's going on at this moment now we have the classic funny car match-up a semi-final pitting world champion raymond beatle in the blue max we always run the car just as hard as we have to win we're going to race to win this time too versus dom the snake product uh we've changed gear racials and we're really uh rolling the dice right now as they say and just going for the big number to try and put him away this is a classic match-up worthy of final round filling beadle who set a new qualifying record here of 5.973 seconds and also was under six seconds in his second round victory against perdum who was a five-time pomona winner in 1975 76 77 and 78 for dumb was unbeatable here at pomona in 1965 predom's first victory here was in top fuel on the other hand beetle a two-time world champion has never faced a victory here at the los angeles county fairgrounds but his car's been exceptionally fast they're in the line now waiting and for dumb battles at the start as the texan forward the blue max through the trap to stop the clocks and still again under six seconds five point nine three seven has produced close down the line pass debris on the track 245.23 miles an hour from the full max which apparently isn't it's a convertible the roof has come off the windshield is missing raymond beadle and the bluemax2 are going to be faced with a monumental repair job to get that car ready for the final and this graphically shows the forces that act on these cars at speeds approaching 250 miles an hour the wind gets in blows things right off and in the next semi-final hitting billy meyer against john force meyer has had similar problems his body cracked during the preliminary rounds and he's worried about it collapsing and then he blew an engine and had to make a hurried up engine change to get ready for this next semifinal against brute force that engine billy meyer just changed his smoking rather badly and it could mean trouble i chatted with him as he came to the line billy do you have anything left after this emotional interval between rounds oh yeah we're just getting ready again right now that's our fourth motor so it's uh we don't have much left in parts put together we got a lot unput together in the trailer but we just had to put them together again but you're breathing hard you're gasping and the race is about to begin that's all right i can relax real quick so relax billy meyer is as he comes up against john brute force of fullerton california a big man and his funny car is vibrating at the sides as well these 20 cars are made to look like pleasure cards but of course they're racing machines out and out with thin plastic bodies on them neither myron or force has ever won at pomona but meyer did win one of the 10 national races last year and it looks like mr forest was too anxious and fire goes down yes he knows that he red light it meyer gets it at 6.355 or 181 miles an hour a tough break for john brute force a native californian the assault on the qualifying standards did not lessen with funny cars world champion raymond beatle in the blue max ended in the number one position with a fine 5.91 second time and as you can see the rest of the field was close behind with the number 16 car just a quarter of a second slower and beadle continued to tell the story of funny car eliminator as he came to the line in the first round of competition earlier this afternoon the experts had classed beedle as the strong favorite expecting little trouble from the number nine qualifier al sagrini and it was then that it happened [Music] with incredible skill beetle regained control and drove the car to a stop [Applause] the crowd waited to see whether beadle had been injured and as he climbed out untouched the crowd roared its approval [Applause] as a lot of work has gone on both of these cars to get them ready for this final attack on the quarter mile tim gross in the near lane that's the right lane he doesn't particularly like it remember that's where he's had his problems before frank hawley has been dominating that left-hand lane and the parachute comes out on tim gross's car he loses as the vibration shakes the parachute out of the car and another blistering 6.07 for frank hawley as the chi-town hustler picks up nearly 20 000 at a gator nationals championship steve coming out of the legendary chai town hustler of farconas coyle and minnick loved all over the country for its long powerful burnout has now proven to be championship caliber as well for frank holly his first ever national title for the car owners well they were in a final once before many years ago but for them their first nhl oscar as well tim gross comes over who works so very very hard to get his car ready tim may have even had a little bit of an edge back at the line but the powerful chai town did it something else boy thank you very much it feels pretty good those guys all look pretty happy y'all bet they are a little bit of shock here can you believe this is happening dude oh yeah i mean when you drive a car like this it's bound to happen right i'm real happy for tim too i mean he works real hard glad to race him i wish of course you know we could have managed our deal at pomona i wish raymond had been around this long but we'll get him down the road well the money went to where it was needed the most in this particular final well i'll tell you and it's about time okay a happy frank holly as you can see our congratulations to austin coyle and pat minnick and all the gang from chicago illinois the chi-town hustler is indianapolis raceway park and on the track the crowd-pleasing fiberglass bodied funny cars in the far lane the team of candies in hues with mark oswald their driver and in the near lane is kenny bernstein from dallas texas comes kenny bernstein he's been having some real problems as of late but mark oswald who's driving for one of the best teams in the business the louisiana-based candies and hughes has got a great ride the brilliant blue funny car replica of a pontiac trans am with a nitro burning 2500 horsepower engine while in the bernstein camp again one of those nitro burning engines but a mercury ln7 fiberglass body bernstein has been on quite a tear lately he has had a very up and down season but if you ever hear of anybody breaking out of a slump bernstein has done it he won the recent north star nationals then won the completion of the big bud shootout which paid him fifty thousand dollars cash and now here he is in round number two against mark oswald at the u.s nationals striving for another championship both drivers now approaching the line where the concentration is all so important the start is everything and it is bernstein out first but oswald hot on his heels they enter the speed trap side by side bernstein wins the race but ladies and gentlemen the fastest time ever for a funny car mark oswald just ran over 257 miles an hour and lost the race the next pair of cars started at the starting line and into the water designed to allow the tires to start spinning then that smoke you see coming off the tires actually burning the rubber across the starting line the body goes down over the 2500 horsepower plus and tubular chassis of billy meyer the defending champion he's driving a pontiac trans am bodied replica in this money car category billy meyer took about a month and a half off his crew returned to his waco texas home and they said we have got to get our act together before the nationals he did no racing for almost a month and a half and came in here and qualified in the number two position and look there's problems with the billy meyer car the crew raising the fiberglass body to gain access to the engine billy is sitting behind the engine it's still running and we don't see anything coming out of it but there's obviously something wrong a very animated billy meyer trying to point and relay with hand signals something's wrong with that racing engine the crew looking over the fuel lines the supercharger of course sitting on top of the engine john force patiently talking to his crew or at least nodding the bodies going back down started buster counts checks it to make sure it's a okay and hooked at the front and billy meyer your number two qualifier has got problems if mark oswald lost his concentration by looking at his oil pressure think what billy myers going through right now he smokes the tires off the line john force a little loss of traction but he recovers quickly and john force wins the race 5.90 seconds at a speed over 236 miles an hour all eyes on this huge crowd riveted on the starting line as we get set for the final in funny car eliminator kenny bernstein has been the dominant car but the surprising john collins from long beach california qualified number two and is now in the finals against bernstein into the staging beams both cars leave on a green light and it's a very close race kenny bernstein in the airline begins to pull away and a tremendous run and ladies and gentlemen 260 miles an hour by a funny car as kenny bernstein shatters all performance standards for speed here's the first finals at indy for this man jim head in the near lane it is the defending champion kenny bernstein bernstein has got to be the favorite based on performance he ran 5.74 seconds in the semifinals jim head seems to be stuck in those 590s and he said earlier he's got to run better than that can he do it in the finals he'll need everything to beat bernstein all eyes in this sprawling facility focused on these two funny cars over 5 000 horsepower leave the starting line and up and smoke goes bernstein and jim head with the upset of this race has won the funny car title where jim had his first full year in funny car racing culminates with winning the most prestigious drag race of them all the u.s nationals title his crew absolutely overjoyed there it is motorsports nothing matches double-a fuel funny cars and what a contrast we have among the combatants for the world finals event title sherm gun the giant killer who disposed of in order kenny bernstein dawn fordham and billy meyer has been the spoiler here today mark oswald he has now clinched his first ever funny car world title for the candies and hughes team he is up against sherm gunn and don't think oswald is not aware of what gun has been pulling off here today on the pomona quarter mile but oswald may be handicapped a bit here he had to change engines they hurt the motor in the semifinals so badly they had to go into the trailer and pull out one of their spares any time you change engines there's always a chance that something could be left loose or not be right racers will tell you all their engines are the same well i've never seen two run the same sherm gun on the other hand uh just put in a couple of pistons uh had an enjoyable time between rounds chatting with his friends his young son only nine years old little sherm uh helping out as well as a lot of his friends and neighbors no fancy designer uniforms or 18 wheelers and germs pits uh a very economical act in fact here was the engine change as it occurred just moments ago in the pit area mark oswell himself on the far side of the engine helping out tom cattleman candies and hughes and here the contrast over in germantown's bed they had time for little sherm to get in there and clean out the inside of the body so his daddy would have a nice clean car for his first ever final round can sherm gun do it again if he does these grandstands will explode because you could literally throw a rock and hit sherman's house from the l.a county fairgrounds here at pomona he ran all of the national events or the majority of them this year and i tell you i think that kind of experience has helped get sherm gun into the final round but here in the near lane is the quickest funny car in the world but there's a problem with the oswald car a brief magnesium fire he probably blew a head gasket low and behold does little sherman mrs sherman ever love this a 5.87 seconds will put 25 or 30 000 in the sherm gun racing account and ed that revolution continues into another great season of championship drag racing both in race car design and in personnel movement first of all the race cars kenny bernstein has just about the zoomiest looking funny car ever built in fact crafted by indianapolis racers with aerodynamics paramount in their thought john force also with a beautiful new race car and more importantly there austin coyle who wrenched the shy town hustler to two world titles has parked that car gone to work to try to put john force into the winner's circle for the first time in qualifying the big news was this car the blue max the only two things they did in the off season was to add a second parachute as required now and change the number on the car because raymond beetle no longer drives the blue max he still owns it but in the cockpit is john lombardo of southern california on his very first full run lombardo set a national record at 5.68 seconds his second run he backed it up within the required 1 so this car and that new driver getting along beautifully but the blue max and crew have got their work cut out for them because in round number one rick johnson and roland leon's hawaiian car ran even quicker than their record at 566. lombardo came right behind johnson with an equaling 566 so it is going to be a thrilling day in funny car competition the funny cars are not the only machines out there smashing here's the final and funny car two of the greatest names ever in drag racing history the budweiser king kenny bernstein in the far lane don pradome in the near lane driving the pepsi wendy's special the montiac trans am body against the ford tempo 2500 horsepower plus those engines burning the nitro methane fuel as they patiently weight the final staging move by each driver they've got to be thinking how can i pull out this win and bruno drifts close to the center line he goes across the center line that means disqualification and bernstein has won another race the crew overjoyed with the victory what a way to cap a season the world championship and now the world finals title bernstein has been one of the most consistent racers on this racetrack number one qualifier he ran 562 in qualifying 560 in the first round marshall is out close to the guardrail he has to shut it off but bernstein continues through and there another 5.60 second elapsed time his speed over 252 miles an hour as the number one qualifier the world champion goes into the semi-final bernstein and armstrong are most concerned about this car the corvette driven by john force [Music] qualifying in the number two spot forced along with his highly paid and talented crew chief austin coyle beat ray higley in round number one they were to have run ron coretti but in a late afternoon qualifying session yesterday currently in the far lane was against dave yahara yahara drifted across the center line into the center line lights and then a rear-end collision at over 240 miles an hour both cars were essentially destroyed in this horrendous accident but as we have seen so many times before in nhra championship drag racing both drivers emerged from the wreckage unheard nationals event one year ago with al sagrini at the wheel in round number one he defeated billy meyer mike dunn john force second round of racing and funny car eliminator force is following in the tracks of kenny bernstein who just recorded low elapsed time at 5.60 seconds done the new driver for joe pizzano trying to make it two internationals wins in a row he's got the advantage off the starting line but look at four stunned nearby at the finish line john fours 5.75 seconds the speed on the corvette 252 miles an hour johnny west in the far lane the newest driver for roland leong against dale paulde pauldie and round number one had a barrel full of excitement as he raced against ed mccullough it was a good race off the starting line mcculloch in the near lane driving the oldsmobile owned by larry miner against the buick of holding watch what happens holding way out in front as they approach the finish line and then a tremendous explosion for ed mccullough incredibly he was able to bring the remains of the car to a safe stop when you see the video i think you'll be amazed at how hard you were driving that car in that inferno well the main thing i mean i knew i knew that pulley was alongside somewhere i knew the guardrail was on the other somewhere you know and anything in between i was trying to stay away from both of them i left my visor down until the flame went out and obviously it was you know oiled and burnt and i couldn't see and finally i lifted the visor up enough that i could see where i was going and then you know at that point i knew i was going to be okay the experience of ed mcculloch paid off in this instance as he with a brilliant driving job brought that bouncing sliding burning car to a safe stop dale pauldie goes on to take the win advances to the second round and is now against johnny west west a year ago was racing his own car now in the cockpit of one of the finest funny cars in the country he defeated tripp shumake in round number one johnny west will be in the lane furthest from our camera in the near lane is holding a tremendous amount of pressure has got to be riding on the shoulders of johnny west leong the car owner one of the best engine builders in the country west qualified well ranwell in defeating shumake but this his first major event competition at the wheel of a car of this caliber west is out in front he's done his job he gets near the center line he crosses it automatic disqualification for west holly wins the race a fine 5.77 second elapsed time his speed only 244 miles an hour so dale paulie goes into the semifinals our last pair of cards in the second round finds the pontiac trans am bodied car of tim gross in the near lane gross is racing against a former california now living in oklahoma this is john collins collins won his first ever nhra championship last season when he won the fall nationals title but here he qualified with a 567 almost a tenth of a second quicker than tim groves gross defeated john lomardo in the first round of competition while john collins took on the corvette of tom hoover and came out the winner collins fell off his qualifying face just a bit in the first round but tim gross improved over his qualifying time he may be one to watch in funny car eliminator gross in the near lane collins in the far lane it's a green light start gross builds an early lead he continues to extend it and across the finish line tim rose continues to improve a brilliant 5.68 second elapsed time 246 miles an hour and a new body shape oh absolutely the buick completely dis figuration that no one's seen before in our sport it's different a lot of can-am stuff here gtp stuff maybe but the downforce gary wheeler and dale armstrong just did a super jump now look at how clean the exhaust pipes are firing on kenny bernstein's car unlike graham calling he is throwing raw fuel into the atmosphere definitely not firing properly on all eight cylinders as they move up the stage both cars up to the line now bernstein the far side cow on the near side america's cup of drag racing as cowan sits ready in the cockpit there's the amber light they're running and kenny bernstein grabs the whole shot and an explosion an explosion in cowan's car fire continues to burn kenny bernstein comes across the line the winner of 5 49 2 64. in bunnycar qualifying ed mcculloch lined up in the far lane of the track jim head in the near lane a tremendous driving job by ed mccullough kept the miller american car from overturning as the car left the starting line it immediately moved to the right ed corrected the car started out of control as it crossed over the center line it ran into the rear of jim head then rocked up on the left wheels and header pipes sliding down the racetrack mcculloch brought the car back to four wheels ten times he had been to the final round without a win but this time it was different and john force went on to win so the frustration is over for the man who drives this car and john i've got to ask you how does it feel to arrive here a champion steve you've been here with me so many times we've done this before and only difference is now it's changed you take 12 years of your life the first half with dawn perdome taking you away taking it away you come back with kenny bernstein taking it away and one day you can finally call home to your five-year-old daughter and say yeah we won at this time we took it all it makes my hair stand up it's something we have earned by crew chief austin coyle we worked hard for it we won it the sponsors paid for it we got there and the fans got it and i thank god it's finally over it may only be beginning now and that's where we're at i mean it's a whole new ball game today and i'm scared to death but at least we were there once and we're going after it again john force a most enjoyable man he's in the far lane as he faces the king kenny bernstein bernstein driving a buick with saber-bodied car john forest with an old versa both cars getting maximum traction a terrific bunny car contest it is kenny bernstein by only two 100th of a second 562 to john forces 564. now these next two cars dale paul d and kenny bernstein were within one 100th of a second of each other in their performance time from the previous round and kenny bernstein by just about a foot defeats dale baldi his elapsed time 5.38 seconds makes you wonder what kind of pressure gross is under right now you know he's got the figure that ozil's going to run another 5 37 that's how you tune your car by what the other guy's going to run gross smokes the tires he has to lift off the throttle oswald wins it and don it is another 5 37. the fourth in a row you get kind of tired dave this morning is just hard work and mcculloch and his crew have put in their hours look at the time 5.36 seconds 272 miles an hour mcculloch more than keeping pace with the rest of the field either tom hoover or john force in that semi-final round problems just blasts away from him at the start force elapsed time five point four four seconds a bit slower than the other cars maybe that new engine isn't producing quite the same power that the old one did ed mccullough against john force in the semifinal mcculloch with the choice of lanes the other pair matches the two big red cars mr consistency mark oswalt against kenny bernstein now on the starting line it is time for the first race of round number two competition in funny card eliminator here is the four-time winston champion the budweiser king kenny bernstein against bernstein in this second round race is the surprising art hindi the team of hendy and worsham from san bernardino california got by the first round when they defeated chris lane that's the sutherland family's entry and hindi now in round number two has got to race the toughest of them all only the second man in the history of the sport to win four consecutive winston titles don prodom did it first back in the mid 70s and now kenny bernstein has been the driver of the 80s kenny gives a great deal of credit to that man his crew chief dale armstrong bernstein qualified with a 5.30 second elapsed time good for number four art handy had a 5.37 second time that was good for the number eight spot candy like so many other racers joe amato and daryl gwen included had a successful career in alcohol competition before making the switch to the professional categories bernstein in the near lane both cars have problems they slow and hindi recovers hindi pulls ahead and pulls off the upset it is art hindi with a very slow but winning 6.78 second elapsed time as bernstein apparently falls victim to mechanical problems right now on the track it is a continuation of round two of funny car racing ed mcculloch against mark oswald a new national record has already been established in qualifying by mark oswald at the wheel of the candies in hughes cart he set the elapsed time record and backed it up within the required one percent at 5.29 seconds elapsed time mccullough qualified in the number seven spot at a 5.34 second time for his miller high life osmo bill you may ask with good reason why don brudom with a 5.19 second elap time and the number one qualifying spot does not hold the new national record the reason he has yet to back it up within the required one percent at the same event oswald pulls ahead of mcculloch at the start a close race at the finish line oswald 5.33 seconds elapsed time a losing 5 40. while the racetrack may only be a quarter of a mile long a lot of action could take place for the driver at the wheel of one of these 4 000 horsepower funny cars this is bruce larsen the man that upset kenny bernstein in the final round of the recent winter nationals the season opening event larson qualified here at the super nationals in the number five spot with a 5.30 to race here in round two against the quickest of them all don prudhomme who's had a 5-19 but has yet to get close to it in subsequent runs under the watchful eye of starter buster couch don bruno pulls the skull abandoned pontiac into the staging beef bruce larson has the choice of lane and it may have paid off as bruno fills up in smoke parson through the quarter mile the quickest time of eliminations and a new national record for bruce larsen 5.27 seconds his earlier time serve as the 1 backup for bruce larson the new national record holder for elapsed time our next pair the engines fired and running are pulling into the water area where they start the burnout procedure scott coletta the second half of the coletta flying services team you saw his dad earlier connie who drives the top fuel dragster here's tom hoover at the wheel of the champion auto stores pontiac trans am it was just one round of racing ago that hoover pulled off the big upset of that round when he defeated john force at the far end steve is with bruce larson may i introduce to you the new nhra national record holder for elapsed time wow 5 27. oh that's great thanks a lot for being the guy to tell me that's my pleasure you already had the backup run from qualifying 200 bonus winston points wow oh it feels good we've been having some problems with burning pistons at the end of the runs and i finally decided to just run it the whole way through so many people looking at the racetrack and the terrace moves have been conservative not your truth no no we knew where we were from that uh that time run we got yesterday here come my guys they get a lot of credit the quickest crew in all of drag racing after more than 20 years of this sport it's an incredible start of the new season for bruce larsen the winter nationals win and now a new national record scott coletta backing up into the tracks left by those tires on the long smoky burnout it is rubber against rubber as colletta pulls to the line he qualified number six with a 5.32 second elapsed time over the number 10 qualifier had a 5 43 but that was quickly exceeded by his fine 5 36 in the first round over with problems at the start coletta goes up in smoke he brings the car under control and pulls through the finish line the winner in a rather strange race coletta with a seven point six zero second elapsed time now set for the funny curve final you are looking at john force the defending champion and he'll be opposed by bruce larson and with the sun almost down you'll see the long nitro flames that are always there but not visible under bright sunshine this should be quite a show for the fan the bunny car final round oh it's a beautiful start marshall got a little [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's real cool out here and he maybe didn't tune it up enough for that so into the interview area bruce larson brings his own light yeah he's burning pure aluminum there that makes a nice white fire you better watch out if you're burning the paint off this world champion car well that's just a little oil no harm no big damage to the automobile the safety safari snaps it right out well i'm sure larson doesn't care he's won it all and he won this one right off the starting line you know his reaction times have not been good today but on this particular run he was ready for john force because john force was ready for him and it was a really good race but larson noticed pulls it out just a little bit not a big difference in the two cars the type of a race that the fans really love and steve is standing by with the funny car champ well an anxious moment down here don fred is bruce larson no sooner than he won the race the car lit up underneath lots of fire lots of smoke the safety safari as always right on hand to put it out he is out of the car he is okay he is not only the winston champion for 89 he's the winston finals winner as well you are okay yeah yeah no fire come in there at all what do you think what's going on there i don't know i guess maybe a valve cover gas could blew out it wasn't anything serious we're happy now i think this is the sixth time that we've been able to say thanks to century and thanks to oldsmobiles thanks to my crew those guys are terrific so are you a fantastic year indeed for all of us bruce larsen funny car winner who won here at the winter nationals bob glidden also one of the internationals if gary ormsby wins all three will have repeated it from our raceway we're waiting for a report on that i don't know what happened i was up sideways on two wheels i looked out the window and i i saw mccullough and i looked back and i recovered and i hit him i was over against the wall and off the wall but i didn't see him and i just kept shooting i don't know what happened well i looked at the car and i don't see a mark on it did you feel any collision with the wall oh no i never got the wall it wasn't didn't hit the wall it's just that i was sideways oh i never hit walls heart pumped a little well it's kind of getting exciting no no wall no marks on this car no walls no marks no walls no marks don't hit walls can't afford it come on tyler let's hear it let's make this exciting let's make this exciting time come on wait don't give me no more how that's ridiculous let's see it i want to go down and see it right now what are they saying what are they saying i hit the wall i never touched the wallet never went over nothing no hey we got a here how did we call it how do we call it where standby i'm with lynnwood well great get limb with there ain't a mark on this hunt i've got john 4 standing right next to me not a chance you see any marks on this car not none this car didn't hit no wall it didn't hit the wall no no never hit no wall drain a mark on this thing oh car who in the hell no drag it right down the race track in no way show me the lord where it hit this far away get me on the tower i don't give a where'd it hit i know when i hit this wait give me a ride down here what do you got what do you got give me a motorcycle hey somebody get on the phone you tell them they want me out of the race you show me a mark on my car you tell them that right no more i hear you let's go drag it right down never hit anything you

Channel: CompetitionPlusTV

Views: 111,341

Keywords: DRAG RACING NEWS, CLASSIC DRAG RACING, FUNNY CARS, NITROMETHANE, DRAG RACING, NHRA, IHRA, AHRA, DON PRUDHOMME, TOM MCEWEN, BLUE MAX, RAYMOND BEADLE

Id: rQJIhgJqDac

Length: 70min 6sec (4206 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 13 2021