Even two-plus years later, the power and reach of the DRAGSTER Insider continues to please and amaze me, both in terms of its quality of readership and the interaction of said readers with yours truly. Every entry seems to inspire mail of one kind or another, be it kudos or corrections, which lets me know that it's a deep and caring audience that I have been fortunate to tap into.

K.C. Spurlock scored his first nitro Funny Car win at the 1990 Winternationals and won the race again four years later.

The recent one-hit wonder columns have unleashed a torrent of responses, many from those of you trying to keep me honest, asking about the inclusion (or lack thereof) of certain drivers. For example, one reader (the names have been removed to protect the not-so innocent) wondered why K.C. Spurlock wasn't on my one-hit Funny Car list. He remembered that K.C. Spurlock had won the 1994 Winternationals and (bonus points) even that he had runner-upped to Cruz Pedregon at the 1994 U.S. Nationals but forgot that Spurlock had scored his first Pro win at the 1990 Winternationals, in a dual upset with first-time Top Fuel winner Lori Johns.

Another reader thought I had left my good pal Pat Austin off the Top Fuel list, and though Austin is probably best remembered for the first double-up win – Top Fuel and Alcohol Funny Car at the 1991 Topeka event – he actually won five times in Top Fuel to go with his 70 Alcohol Funny Car wins. Yet another recalled Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen's heart-tugging win at the 1978 U.S. Nationals – shortly after the death of his son – but forgot that "the 'Goose" first won in Ontario, Calif., in 1973 and that he also won the Cajuns and Northstars in 1986. I did get busted, though, by Todd Berube for leaving Clare Sanders off the Funny Car list (1969 Winternationals; since added), though he was only 50 percent right as he also thought that Leonard Hughes' '70 Gatornationals win was his lone win, forgetting that Hughes also won in Englishtown the following year.

Tuesday's story also inspired an e-mail from former Funny Car racer Bob Pickett, driver of the Pete Everett's Pete's Lil Demon entries, Mickey Thompson's Grand Am, and so many more. Pickett no longer lives in Granada Hills, Calif. (a hometown in SoCal's San Fernando Valley that he briefly shared with Don Prudhomme); he has relocated to Florida, where's he's still competing, albeit now as a tournament salon skier (being in Florida, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's a form of water skiing, not snow skiing). He dropped me his phone number, so I'll be giving him a call soon to share his story. Even now, 27 jaded years later on the job, it's still a thrill to hear from racers I grew up watching and cheering for -- but have never met as they had left the sport before I became part of its inner circle – and know they are reading my musings. I saw Pickett for the first time at Irwindale, in 1972, where he was driving Everett's Demon; here's the somewhat fuzzy photo from 12-year-old Phil.

Within these walls works the Funny Car winner of the 1981 Springnationals.

I also tracked down Craig Epperly, but not in time for Tuesday's column. He's still SoCal-based and now vice president and chief operating officer at CSI Electrical Contractors in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. I'm setting up a time to talk with him for details about those early-1980s heydays, but the company bio describes him thusly: "Some may think that Craig Epperly is a quiet, unassuming man. Although that may be true, there is another reason for his lack of verbosity – he's always thinking and planning. Always! Craig has an illustrious career spanning over 30 years, 25 of which have been spent in supervision. His areas of responsibility with CSI include design-build projects, initial job setup, manpower scheduling, schedule compliance, foreman training, and total project quality management. Among his hallmark traits include his ability to execute a plan seamlessly and his well-earned respect and admiration of CSI employees. A consistent and valued part of the CSI management team, Craig is well-known for his supportive and nurturing nature, along with his philosophy of 'action speaks louder than words.' "

I heard back from Craig this morning, via e-mail, and he responded, "I have a lot of great memories from those days. Henry Harrison and Amos Satterlee were a big part of my success, and I will never forget that." He says that he still follows NHRA and attends both races in Pomona plus some nostalgia Funny Car races with Steve Plueger and Paul Trabue.

I've also been exchanging e-mails with Jay Howell, a long-ago racer perhaps best known for the Prock & Howell F Troop Willys. He has an amazing career story – he also helped build memorable cars such as the L.A. Dart wheelstander, Don Gay’s Infinity GTO, the Ramchargers' "Skinny Dart," Seaton’s Shaker Corvair, and many, many others. He also holds the unique (I believe) honor of being the only driver other than "the Snake' himself to drive one of Don Prudhomme's Funny Cars in the 1970s; he wheeled the yellow Hot Wheels Barracuda at match races in Indy in 1970 while Prudhomme was campaigning his Top Fueler. To me, that's interesting stuff. I had first heard from Howell after showing the rear-engine Cotton Picker Funny Car he had built in the C edition of the Misc. Files, in which I dubbed him "legendary"; he blushed as well as one can via e-mail, and we began a dialogue. It's been going on for a long time, partly because he's enjoying the retired life -- sailing the Atlantic along the East Coast "from Maine to the southern Bahamas" with wife Diane in their 40-foot sloop Far Niente (Italian for “without a care”) – and partly because of some health issues on his end, but he completed a career recap recently for me that I plan to share here soon.

My recent article saluting Ford's long history in the sport (and my own with Ford) elicited a couple of very cool images. The one at right was sent to me by reader Bob Robillard and shows one of the earliest Tasca Ford entries, a 406-powered Ford Galaxie driven by Dean Gregson, shown here at Charlestown Dragway in Rhode Island in 1963. Gregson was the first special high-performance manager for Tasca Ford after Bob Tasca Sr. founded the division for his successful dealership in 1961.

Wrote Robillard, "Living in Rhode Island most of my working life, I remember Tasca Ford from the beginning, and my high school butted up to Tasca's dealership lot. After hearing that you are a Ford fan, I decided to send you this pic." I've taken the liberty of cropping the photo to just show the Tasca Ford; you can see the whole image here.

The second image is of Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Mustang burning out under the lights at what looks like Orange County Int'l Raceway. What's great about it is that it's a drawing (technically a "photo illustratiion"), not a photo. It was created by John Bell, whose work I have shown here before, and depicts what he calls "his favorite Ford." I'd be hard-pressed to argue with him; the '75-'76 Blue Max was one bad hombre. I've shown it small here for the sake of space; you can see a bigger version here.

The final image, also sent to me by Bell, shows some of the collection of race car parts that he and his brother, Steve, who has been shooting the drags forever, have collected over the years.

Without a super-close examination, it's easy to pick out the flanks of one of "Big Mike" Burkhart's Funny Cars, some body panels from Jim and Alison Lee's Top Fueler, a chunk of Steve Gold's Jerry Boldenow-driven Moby Dick Corvette Funny Car (later campaigned by Ezra Boggs), two pieces of the aforementioned Blue Max Funny Car (I can think of at least two occasions that might have wrought the Max asunder -- his Gainesville barrel roll in 1982 or his body-shedding final-round wheelie in Columbus, Ohio, in 1975), and what looks like a serious chunk of the side of the Swensen & Lani Magnum Force Funny Car. What a collection!

The Fred Files, a quartet of columns featuring the early 1970s work of former Division 1 photographer Fred von Sholly, continues to draw mail. Richard Bibey wrote, "I grew up a literal stone's throw away from the Cecil County Drag-O-Way. Seeing all of these pictures have brought the memories flooding back. The test sessions at Cecil by 'the Grump' was something I had forgotten about. When I heard someone there, I would hop on my 20-inch-slick- and parachute-equipped bicycle and ride in. If there was anyone there, I was there. Us kids would race from the starting line to the finish line on our bicycles (I couldn't pedal that far now if I had to). I remember Bill Levitt in Quickie Too setting the track record one night and then arguing with one of the other neighborhood kids that Joe Jacono beat John Collins in the Mongoose 2 by a mile. I had parts in the basement from just about every Funny Car that crashed there. I wish I still had them. Mom got tired of walking around them and had the basement cleaned out one day. I have collected drag racing stuff for years. I just gave my entire collection to my niece's little boy. He had no interest in drag racing before. His eyes lit up, and the kid can't stop thinking about drag racing now. After these pictures and stories, I now have the same feelings again." Bibey also thinks that he spied himself and his two cousins in the background of the attached Fred Files photo, hanging at the fence (behind the smirking kid with the front-row seat). Could be!

Speaking of von Sholly, he dropped me a line to let me know that he's updated his PhotoBucket photo site with several hundred more photos; the total now tops 800. "They are not all great photos," he said, "but I feel that many are better than no picture at all since they are rare. I've left them all, the good and the not-quite-so good. If anyone wants their money back, I'll promptly send a refund!" He also has been pleased with the comments you've sent him. "I've been receiving many very nice and complimentary e-mails from all over the country and even one from Ireland," he wrote. "Evidently, everyone who used to work at Cecil County still reads your column! It's very gratifying."

Fred couldn’t just drop in without a gift to share, which is the photo below. "Attached is an interesting picture that I just found," he wrote. "It shows three dragsters on the starting line at Cecil County. On the right side of the photo, bending over the dragster, is Al Procopio, the owner-operator of Cecil and a co-owner of Capitol and Aquasco Raceways. Al was very inventive and always came up with new promotions. For the life of me, I can't remember the plan that night, and I took the picture! (Getting old isn't all it's cracked up to be!) Maybe one of your loyal readers can remember if you think it's an interesting subject and photo. I don't think they ran side by side as the picture suggests."

OK, readers, time to show off that Insider know-how. Drop me a line and let me know if you remember what was up.

And finally, there's this little gem. At right is a not-so-great photo I grabbed at speed with my phone on the way home from lunch (the Original Tommy's … great chili dogs and chili fries!) on the eastbound 210 Freeway just east of Irwindale Avenue. Yes, that Irwindale. Anyway, just off the freeway, about a quarter-mile's distance from the site of fabled Irwindale Raceway, is this billboard purchased by Citizens Business Bank. It's one of a series of billboards that the bank has created to salute valued partners of its bank, which began in 1974 in nearby Chino and has grown to nearly 50 branches, including one in Fresno, Calif., which might well explain why the valued partners featured here, more than 200 miles south of Fresno, are the Scelzi brothers: our ol' pal Gary and brothers Mike and Jim, representing their Fresno-based business, Scelzi Enterprises, which creates custom truck bodies.

The brothers and their business also are featured on the bank's Web site with five other valued partners (including the Tournament of Roses, which hosts a little New Year's Day get-together each year in Pasadena, just up the freeway from the sign), and they are featured in the company's annual report with their testimonial about the bank. ("Citizens Business Bank takes care of all our financial needs, which has helped our business grow and prosper. We continue to be successful because our banker takes the time to understand our business and customize solutions for our needs.") Both include this bottom photo of the brothers at work; the same image, minus the background, is what adorns the sign.

Even though he's no longer racing with us (for now), it looks as if it's still hard to get away from what Scelzi Sez.

OK, race fans, that clears out (mostly) the overflowing Inbox for now. I'll be back Tuesday with something else new and exciting. Maybe the next Misc. Files, maybe a Bob Pickett or Craig Epperly story, maybe the Jay Howell story, or maybe something completely different that hits my radar screen. Thanks for reading.