Funny Car Drag Racing of the 1970s

[Music] foreign cars and in fact they are short version double a fuel dragsters and plastic bodies and Don food home is everywhere today he owns this car it'll be driven by Jay Howell and here Don turns crew member as far as the solution down for hollow to burning his tires heat them up and move into the starting line area a funny 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 fellas all across the country max racing and in the national competition as well throughout this year you make this car is a barracuda and so is the car that Howell will be driving a barracuda that Shoemaker has been very very steady in all of the competition leading up to the funny car quarterfinal Buster count is the starter watch him explode off that starting line I mean they leap out of there [Music] Hollow smoking off the line and Shoemaker at the top end pulls away to a comfortable win 7.07 seconds elapsed time better than 210 miles an hour for the winner Shoemaker so don Freedom himself a winner just moments ago watches his Barracuda lose in the funny car quarterfinals [Music] in case you wonder why these are called funny cars the reason for that's very simple a few years ago when they first came on the scene as an experimental class the public address announcers called him a funny car the name struck no one's come up with a better one yep now we see Bruce Larson and Bobby wood that's Bobby smoke because he heats up his tires and a Chevy two the red one really steaming things up that Chevy 2 has pressed to power incidentally he'll be running in the near Lane and Bruce Larson in the Camaro will be in the far Lane they're ready to go and it's Larson in the far Lane the winner 7.16 seconds 206 miles an hour Bobby wood 7.22 seconds elapsed time a close loser Bruce Larson goes to the semifinals and the funny cars everybody cars and that's that they've got the Ram Chargers fired up [Music] the Ram Chargers are legendary for building more horsepower than anybody else big difference and their big success has come from finally finding some reliability they would always set low elapsed time but the engines were likely oh Lions ready somebody once said that the Ram Chargers car is like a gun they put a bullet in it the bullets the motor they shoot it they put another bullet in it they've been known to bring a whole truckload of motors and you to leave the motor every run incredible guys Roland Leon could make it two [Music] he is the defending Champion car owner Roland did it here in 1966. when he won the Winter Nationals and came back the next year with a different driver and won it again from the way they both burned out they appear to be ready to go boy are they ready the tires the burnouts are so hard that the tire smoke has even filled up the cockpit Butch boss maybe having a little trouble seeing out of that car listen to that Ram Chargers motor just crisp and clean boss hanging in the back trying to get those extra burn ins I would imagine that pretty soon Buster is going to make him come to the starting line probably what the owner in the car was talking to the starter about he's got his man working a little extra hard on it may very well be may prove to be a wise move a good strong burnout can be worth 15 hundredths of a second sometimes the way these two machines have performed both cars are pre-staged neither driver wants to Stage first finally Goldstein does moss moves in behind him and it's a beautiful start what a finish the Hawaiian rolling Leong makes it two in a row the first big win ever for Butch Moss the first time he drives the car what that is almost an a racial Alger story low elapsed time of the event for funny cars 6.93 seconds 212 miles per hour here's the replay you just can't make them any closer than that not hardly one car length between them and 400 feet a second how did Pat Foster in the red car he'll be on the outside Lane he has the yellow streak down the side of it against Dale Foley also in a red car now both of them are taking their time warming up here they are going out of the beach box fitting off those tires here comes that after who had the top qualifying time here but they're going back and forth quite a bit and that is pulling off the tires and if you get too much horsepower and those tires cool up you might go up in smoke lose traction we'll see what happens here they face each other just a few weeks ago and Dale Foley won that fully on the inside Foster on the far Lane then I go stop losing tracks it looks like fully all the way and Paulie is the winner time 7.57 181.08 miles per hour and once again it's not the speed at the end of the course that wins it's elapsed time over the quarter mile and that's why the start is so desperately important there's our winner Dale Foley going into the finals here's our other semi-final pair that's Ed McCulloch right there coming out of the police box he'll be facing Jake Johnson here's Johnson wait a minute he lost his shoot both these cars are blue that's Jake Johnson in the near Lane now whether he can run or not I don't know trying to get no they're not going to put it back in they're just going to take it off now is the question of whether he can run without a shoot or not because it's quite dangerous you probably reach 200 miles out the other end Buster couch the starters asking can he go and they're saying yes he can so here we go Jake Johnson versus Ed McCullen there's a red light on the right hand side for Jake Johnson and I believe he breaks down it's easy it's an easy pass to make it he's the winner in the Slow Time naturally saving his car 7.79 and Jake Johnson broke down I think it's his rear end the same thing happened at the super Nationals last year's Frank Hall he hails from Linwood Washington one of the rising stars of drag racing he's matched up against the Motown Shaker this car from Mount Clemens Michigan driven by Al Berger you see on the back the parachute pack the parachutes encased in this aluminatized cloth protecting them from fire as you saw Bert Littlefield the fire can billow out underneath the car and damage the parachute it pops out with a spring-loaded pilot suit and helps slow these guards they used aircraft type disc brakes to stop them from their speeds of some 230 miles an hour full fire suit face mask breathers and of course the goggles that will be put down before albertster makes his run they're now approaching the starting line in the center of the track and you see the Christmas tree we'll talk about this Christmas tree a little bit later in the program Frank Hall making a correction right there in the middle of the course as the car started to drift towards the center line he goes through the quarter mile in 6.72 seconds as a very dejected out burglar as something breaks in the funny cars lovely wife Jeannie in to talk with him you see the burnout being made by Cheryl Greer from Warner Robins Georgia having one of his best years ever Cheryl Greer a long time drag racer he's meeting up against the relative newcomer in the sport driving Jim Green's green elephant from Linwood Washington this is Frank Hall clouds of smoke covering the track we're in semi-final or round number three action four cars remain now just three the winner of this to meet Bobby Rowe in the finals a good start by both cars but in the middle of the course you can see it's Frank Hall an overflow crowd at Amarillo Dragway thrilled with excitement at the Pro Stock and now funny car finals there is Frank Hall from Linwood Washington and here Bobby Rowe from Fresno California the two finalists in funny car Eliminator heading for that world championship title over 25 30 000 invested in these fiberglass replicas of today's modern muscle cars late model supercharged fuel burning engines 1800 horsepower speeds over 230 miles an hour the crews edging up to the starting line watching ever so close every action by both drivers starter Buster couch intently gazing at the Christmas tree making sure both drivers are ready the three goes green they leave together a tremendous race Bobby Rowe Frank Hall nearing the center line but not Crossing and he is there first a little bit of smoke out of the car but everything okay and there you see Frank Hall winning Sunday a car Eliminator he is your funny car world champion from Linwood Washington Frank Hall with a winning time of 6.39 seconds Bobby Rowe a hundredth of a second quicker at a 6 38 his speed 228 miles in a bunny car eliminations uh possibly not the most dangerous but certainly the most exciting to watch and this matchup will pit Don prudhom of ganada Hills California in a 74 Cuda against Charlie thurwanger of Dallas Texas also in a 74 car this winnavega that question dad these are the most exciting things to watch in drag racing as the fiberglass replica bodies give the fan something to cheer for as far as product identification in this case the Plymouth Barracuda against the Chevrolet Vega but also the superstars Don Prudhomme involved in this race against Mike burkhart's Vega Charlie thurwanger Up in Smoke lost attraction so it'll probably all be all for not on this one as Don purdom crosses the line of 6.4 to 215 miles an hour here we see it in slow motion he gets off the line all right and right there you see this cloud of smoke billowing out behind that coming from the tires as they start to spin he loses traction pradome not missing a beat his engine performing magnificently puts it through the quarter mile at a fine 6.42 rudome has just been dominating funny car action throughout the year thus far Ed McCulloch shown here of Fresno California a 74 Dodge sport he'll go against Paul Smith of Boynton Beach Florida you'll be in the left lane McCulloch in the right lane there we saw a good example of how the mechanics and the driver get in and out of these cars the body raises up from the front the engine the tubular chassis all the Fire Equipment the fire bottles and you see here the face masks the Breather mask and the full fire suit required of all the drivers in these funny cars and many other types of competition cars in NHRA competition they also carry bottles of freon in the car two bottles one on each side of the engine in case of a fire instead these can actually be located in any position they were located there in this revolution car of Ed McCulloch on either side of the engine and attached to the chassis but they are loaded with freon in case of the fire of engine explosion or fire the driver just simply hits a button the freon is plumbed throughout the body of the car into the driver's compartment also into the engine to extinguish any fire free staging lights go on as the drivers pinch closer to the starting line now we have stage for both cars and a good start this should be exceptionally close close is hardly the word for the wind going to Paul Smith at a much slower elapsed time than Ed McCulloch must have gotten a much better start seven seconds flat to a 684 for Ed McCulloch here we see a bit of an advantage for Paul Smith he gets a little bit towards the center line corrects comes back in and it is very close anybody's race at this point you see right there Paul Smith winning it over Ed McCulloch by less than a fender link back at the starting line Tom Brock of Utica New York in a 74 Dodge he'll be in the right lane this is Paul rodici radicchi and wise out of St Louis Missouri in the Chevy Vega and looking in and seeing radicchi the goggles the fire mask the Breather mask where they can breathe through those filters the Nitro fumes won't bother them at all tremendous concentration at this point really this is where it is all happening is at the starting line and these drivers concentrating completely on getting the best Reaction Time possible a good raise to this point this will be very close some smoke out of the radicchi and wise car obviously the motor giving him some problems 657 for Tom Brock and let's take a look at this one again in slow motion they leave the line together things look very good at this point as you can see and in there it is something going awry the Smoke's starting to come out meaning the motor is going away Tom Brock not having a bit of problem he goes through and fills I name a lot of fans will recognize around the country Tom McEwen Fountain Valley California is also known as the Mongoose Cheryl Greer of Warner Robins Georgia he'll be in a 74 Mustang and McEwen in a 74 duster that Mongoose moniker came from a long-standing rivalry with good friend by the way Don brudome Tom McEwen known as the Mongoose Prudhomme getting the first label tied on him as the snake because of his reaction times at The Starting Line just as quick as a snake well but you are not one to let anything go by decides well if prudhome is the snake that I'm the mongoose and they've had some exciting matches over the years certainly had over a decade for each of the drivers but going with a fine oh this is going to be very close and it's going to be McEwen but just barely two hundredths of a second slower but the advantage coming right at the starting line over Cheryl Greer you also saw Cheryl Grier slowing a little bit 206 miles an hour maybe he thought and this is something to look for in this slow motion maybe he thought that McEwen could never catch him because uh we'll see here but it looks like he may be leading going into this point he is but McEwen right alongside of him and drives right past him just before the finish line costy Ivanov of Boston Massachusetts he'll be driving a 74 Vega he'll be in the right lane Dale Pauli of Van Nuys California the left lane in the 74 Pontiac Pontiac is a Grand Am body style there are a couple of those entered at this Spring Nationals and a most unique car and with tremendous horsepower out of Mickey Thompson shop Dale Foley Up in Smoke The Boston Shaker across the Ivan office 661 taking the win easily over a smoking Dale pull day explaining that once again you see a lot of smoke like that there's no traction the tires aren't adhering to the track you're not getting any any traction the horsepower is going to waste what they're doing Ted is just making another burnout but not at the right time Gene snow Fort Worth Texas he'll be in the left lane he's an old veteran of this Don Schumacher Park Ridge Illinois at a 74 Vega the ride Lane a matchup of identical cars mine shot there of Gene snow inside the car you can see him inside the roll cage very similar to the cage design on a Top Fuel dragster Schumacher of course the Ravel Super Shoe the rebel snowman team still tremendous start for snow something apparently down on horsepower for Schumacher as streaks to the win to a 6-67 and 6.93 for Don Schumacher not a very good race at all sagrini of Silver Springs Maryland in the left lane Leroy Goldstein of Mission Viejo California he'll be driving a 74 satellite a good burnout how's the greedy kind of losing himself in the smoke in the right-hand Lane driving for Whipple and Mr Ed the name Ed Wills known amongst funny car racers particularly he builds a number of the bodies that are used on these cars art Whipple one of the finer mechanics around in the business today Al sagrini driving this beautiful black magic car from Silver Springs Maryland again they'll be staging very carefully again the concentration because in Drag Racing it all happens at the line the advantage that can be gained at the starting line is oh look at that Leroy Goldstein going instantly sideways right at the starting line as the grainy just eases her through so it goes down they recorded a 705 for that right now look at this here you see it in slow motion almost as if it's on a pivot I bet he doesn't go four feet forward and almost turns the car completely to the right and almost into the guardrail it looks like now he gets it corrected and starts to swing back around the photographer is moving back as that fiberglass bodied 1800 horsepower monster heads right straight for them good reaction time on the photographer's part also good reaction time on the part of Leroy Goldstein he was headed straight for the guardrail and yet saved any damage to that fiberglass body what could have caused that do you think could have been anything dead could have been water under the tires one wheel pulling the other one not like he would drive a tracked Caterpillar tractor or something like that could be some problems in the differential also causing it to turn now back in the starting line John Shoemaker of Farmington Michigan he'll be in the left lane Larry Fullerton of Jacksonville Florida Fullerton driving a 74 Mustang and Shoemaker a 74 Pontiac Fullerton's trojan horse Mustang is one of the few 74 Mustang 2 bodies in funny car racing today certainly is one of the lowest and wind cheating that you could ask for he also has problems putting all that horsepower to the ground too [Music] and there's the time 7 46 the winning time for 14.72 for a losing a 2 000 horsepower propelling these funny cars that feeds over 240 miles an hour from a standing start in just 1320 feet here is the first race of this round water vinyl action it's Jungle Gym Lieberman against Raymond beetle in other action this round Dennis Savage driving the tri-town Hustler to be to Norm Wilcox with Wilcox unable to answer the call Little John Lombardo beat Tom Brock and we're ready to between needle and labor man foreign Beatles Mustang 6.16 seconds moving very strong as he defeats Jungle Jim Lieberman here's the car that is dominated it in fact John brudome is already an act 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 perdome 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 funny car no one has ever done it before Can Don Bradon do it here at the NHRA World Final in this Mass it'll be Don brudome against Pat Buster Buster out of Chicago Illinois the all-important start both drivers concentrating on the Christmas tree as they approach those staging themes inching into the bees reactions I'm all important here Don brudome easily out distances Pat Foster a 6.17 but NHRA Championship drag racing attracting a 56 000 plus crowd here in four days of drag racing at this 76 Gator Nation Championship drag racing one of the most popular of all spectator sports throughout the world funny car Eliminator round number two in the near Lane Bob tickets is the Mickey Thompson car his competition Tom Hoover patiently waiting for the green light then exploding into action Bob Pickett in the near Lane has a bit of a lead about a one car length lead gives him the win at the Finish Line winning time 6.65 seconds 221 miles an hour the losing time less than a tenth of a second apart 6.74 the losing time for Tom Hoover at over 220 miles an hour here they are in slow motion at half track pick it with about a car length lead and he holds that through the timing traps and takes the win in round number two action Cheryl o'grier from Warner Robins Georgia the Mustang bodied car here's the Dodge of Tom crock leads the castranova brothers the hail from Utica New York and here in Gainesville Florida the weather absolutely magnificent beautiful sunshiny day the Overflow crowd watching as Tom Brock Goes Up in Smoke and making an easy runaway victory in round number two he recorded a 6.40 seconds at over 207 miles foreign [Applause] that's TV Tommy Ivo former dragster racer now converting to a funny car for 1976 this is second major event his competition driving Bill shivsky's car is topper Cramer scars now staged the green light comes on it is tougher Kramer with a bit of a hole shot oh what a close race Tommy Ivo just pulling it out in the last eighth of a mile as the hole shot definitely appeared to go to topper Kramer let's watch dancing off the starting line is Kramer what appears to be about a half a car length lead But Here Comes Tommy Ivo in the slow motion replay with a half a car length victory at the Finish Line at 6.49 seconds to losing time 6 -5-6 final pair in this second round of funny car Eliminator Don the snake prudhome in the near Lane in the far Lane Johnny White fight with problems predom and easy run but a lot of smoke out of fredon's car indicating some burned pistons and racing we do Steve in round number two eight cars remaining in funny car Eliminator Waco Willy they call him Billy Meyer from Waco Texas he is against Dodger Glenn Dodger Glenn out of Newcastle Delaware drives the Frantic Ford both cars having completed burnouts inch their way into the staging beams ready for a blast down the quarter mile let's take a look to win easily easily his elapsed time 6.82 seconds his speed only 170 miles an hour he knew Dodger Glenn having his share of problems the low qualifier Don crudeau the defending champion at the summer nationals also the reigning world champion you can see the big number one proudly displayed on the side of his Plymouth Arrow competition at the ace McCullough two of the top Professionals in drag racing the color again the problems right off the starting line for Dome with an outstanding 6.26 second elapsed time 227 miles an hour here's Tom Hoover Hoover's competition car out of Stanton California Gary Burgett hoover-based in Minneapolis Minnesota and Hoover with a big lead over Bergen through the Finish Line as Hoover not just a 6.45 second elapsed dime to speed 216 miles an hour Bergen running into problems right off the starting line here we see in slow motion Bergen hazing the tires the car losing traction right off the line and that's enough to give the win to Tom Hoover the crew on the return Road lifting the body so Hoover can get out and start to disrobe from the extremely warm fire suit worn by all drivers in Top Fuel and funding car RC Sherman in the black magic car this one of the few Corvettes in Drag Racing Tom from Mongoose McEwen free stage lights lit on the Christmas tree now the staging beans now the start McEwen is a problem amazing desires as RC Sherman all the way at 6.90 seconds 156 miles an hour he also knowing that McEwen in trouble shutting it down saving the engine for the next round there you see it the race lost right there as not only did he Haze the tires also possibly some mechanical problems right those machines just pouring out that horsepower yelping inhaling that Nitro methane as they move into the staging area needle driving the popular Blue Max there they go and it is Raymond Beetle all the way beetle with a big victory over Denny Savage in the time of 6.27 seconds so a happy crew of Raymond beetles joining him at the Finish Line let's take a look at that again Frank Raymond beating had nine Choice surprisingly at the last minute he moved over to the right lane looks like it paid off as he hooks up for a solid win there's Carl with the winner Raymond you changed lanes at the last minute was that a psych job or was that something you were looking for right along no we decided it's just the way we pulled up we thank you decided after last we run good that last time in that right lane so we're going to try the left and we said well we run so good we might as well stick with what we had more semifinal Action Now Gordy Bonnet of Vancouver Canada a defending champion in this money Corvette against Tom Tom the mongoose McEwen McEwen Abby Pratt his best season ever won the U.S Nationals second in the Spring Nationals they're in the staging area waiting for the gray lights hey got it oh tight race spotted out in front but Hewitt coming on strong at his McEwen the Mongoose buy a whisker 6.22 just six hundredths of a second separating the two Racers here you see it again you see the jump that Bonnie got but McEwen coming on very strong at the Finish here's Carl with the mongoose um when we talked to you earlier today you said if you got past perdomen the second round you were gonna win the race you're in the final how do you feel about it feel real good everything's going according to play I'm just racing the man for men on how I think I have to do without taking a chance and spinning the tires yeah he got on me a little bit off the starting line but I had plenty of power in the middle I want to make sure it got off the starting line so uh I don't know what we turned 6 22. so we got Lane Choice against Beetle here is Gordy bottom the Nationals Champion he's got that right lane let's see how he can do as he comes up against the Hawaiian the car owned by Roland Leong and driven by Ron Coulson in the previous round Colson went a 6.35 second elapsed time while Broad and ran a 6.40 just five hundredths of the second separated their performances bear in mind they were both in the left lane in the previous round and by virtue of the lower E.T the lane Joyce going to Ron Coulson here in the semifinals together and Colson goes out of control and crosses the center line which means automatic disqualification so Gordy bottom moves into the finals now fine 6.64 second elapsed time his speed 231 as the best time turned yet today seems in that right hand lane by Gordy button right here is Ron Coulson out of control you see him heading into that right hand lane he backs off the throttle turns the wheel back to the left but it's two ladies already crossed the center line and that means instant disqualification you can't cross the center line in any run in competition here's Gordy bonnen and Ron Coulson Gordy Bond and uh possibly the only driver this year to make it into three final rounds in National event competition that's the case we're going to have to win it we came here let's win the darn thing Don garlich just told me that a man can win this race in that right hand line he's not wrong I don't know what we ran but it felt pretty good for that lane it felt the best Runners you know felt are seen all weekend in that lane in the 660s and let's go back up to the starting line and see if you win Lane Choice okay okay let's watch as Gordy bottom watches John Force hopefully overcomes his mistake of the previous round and will start the car in low gear off the starting line he had a big break as he wanted his crew member directing him back into his own tracks trying for the traction that he hopes against hope will be there alongside of him Tripp Shoemake driving for Johnny Loper should make hailing out of Phoenix Arizona they told Steve a little bit earlier this is the first time he got to the semifinals of the national event this year in the previous round Shoemake with a 6.60 easily out distance the time by John Force but all important right now is how quick will they run to determine who gets the lane choice in the finals against Gordy bonnet and they both smoked the tires John Force drifting out towards the guard rail he backs out of it and gets back in it but moves to the right as Tripp Shoemake moves into the finals his elapsed five six point eight eight seconds and a dejected crew member heads back for John Force's crew to go down and tow the car back as race day is over for John Force you see the two cars both losing traction right off the starting line and Shoemake recovering the quickest gets the traction back and gets across the Finish Line first

Channel: Calvin Walker

Views: 651,824

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Id: pLemcRvcagg

Length: 32min 50sec (1970 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 31 2022