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Your stuff
Even though I can’t sing and can’t play a single musical note, I like to think of myself as the creative sort. I've shown a fair amount of ability to put words to paper to construct semi-meaningful sentences (and sometimes even paragraphs on…
In the Snake Pit
Though we didn't completely dodge the rain bullet at the Winternationals, we got away with pretty much just a grazing wound from losing Friday, which only gave folks like me time to better explore the Snake Pit, the collection of Don Prudhomme's…
The Pomona archives
Welcome to Winternationals week and the countdown to the beginning of the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season. The race begins in just two days, and with this year's delayed start to the season, I'm sure I'm…
At the (dry) hop ...
Ask any number of drag racing fans who attended the digs in the 1970s what they miss most, and I'd wager that half of them would say dry hops. For the uninitiated, a dry hop was like a practice launch that Funny…
'Cool is in the eye of the beholder'
Whatever your definition of cool – and based on the avalanche of submissions I received in the last four days, it's a pretty wide definition – I can say that you guys are sure cool. I couldn’t believe the number of e-mails I received or the wide…
Yeah, 'the Snake' is definitely cool
Quintessential Don Prudhomme cool. Toothpick in mouth, cool shades.
"Yeah, I just won the Winternationals for the fourth straight year; it's no big deal."…
Fan Fotos: 1970 Summernationals
Last month, I spent a little time cleaning out some of the many Insider folders that I created in my e-mail program, but I purposely skipped the one labeled Fan Fotos, containing groups of submissions from the faithful readers here. I have run these…
Sticking it to me
I asked for photos of your decals – or "stickers" as many would call them -- so naturally, you guys decided to bury me in submissions. What I present below is just a small but representative sampling of what I received, and…
Decal details
I'm still pulling together all of the info from the massive collection of sticker/decal images that you all sent as the result of my two Sticker Shock columns last month, but in the meantime, here are follow-up notes on some of the decals that I…
A bold yet frustrating attempt
As always seems to be the case with any mysteries raised in this column, the sleuths of the Insider Nation always solve the case. Today's story, about Bill Traylor's Bold Attempt streamliner that I featured here a few weeks ago, is just Exhibit No.…
Remembering Jim Jackson
You may have read in the NHRA.com Notebook last week about the passing of Jim Jackson, who was partners with Simon Menzies on some Top Alcohol Funny Cars and a nitro Funny Car in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Menzies is a great friend of the…
Sticker shock, part 2
Welcome to Part 2 of the Sticker Shock thread that I began Tuesday. If you were sick that day or can’t muster the strength to scroll-wheel your way down this page, I'm showing off some of the vintage decals/stickers that I…
Sticker shock
As cities grow and redevelop, new buildings are built, and it seems as if we're always hearing about construction workers unearthing ancient remains or other remnants of previous civilizations. All work is halted as…
Feedback on your feedback
The countdown to Pomona continues -- now at an even 40 days before the kickoff of NHRA's 60th Anniversary season – while around here, the cleaning continues. We devoted a good portion of Wednesday to the final (and ugly) part of completing the move…
When 'Brute Force' met Mötley Crüe
Part of the trick of this job is the research, but a more important part may well be knowing who to ask about things you won't find in the printed records or for additional details. Being able to reach out…
Cleaning out the e-mail, Part 2
Welcome back, and to Part 2 of my Inbox Blowout. On Tuesday, I began the daunting task of sweeping out the many Outlook folders I have created to handle the stream of e-mails from the faithful readers of this column and wanted some of the saved and…
Cleaning out the e-mail, Part 1
We're all back in our places with bright shiny faces as we kick off the new year here at NHRA. Some staff members are still unpacking and setting up their work areas after last month's move, and we spent yesterday afternoon in a planning meeting for…
It's in the cards
If you read last Friday's column, you know that I have a huge trove of drag racing collectibles. I'm sure it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what some of the actual collectors out there among you have stashed away, but it's a pretty good…
Moving-day treasure trove
Well, I'm all moved into my new digs, with the exception of a few boxes that still need unpacking and stuff that still needs sorting. It was an interesting trip back to 1993, which is when the Publications Department moved out of the Financial Way…
Getting my move on ...
Boxes o' stuff in my office
Issues? Yeah, I've got some issues ...
I hate moving.
I've had to move my residence seven times in my adult life, but the…
Final farewell to a legend
The California drag racing community came together last Saturday to lay to rest Roger Coburn, the tuning genius behind James Warren's romp through the SoCal fuel dragster classes in the late 1960s and 1970s, and, as befitting the legend, the…
Our drag sport, illustrated
National DRAGSTER may have the longevity record for drag racing weeklies, and Drag News will always be considered by some to have been the sport's authoritative tome, but there still was room for others to…
The 'Garage Photo'
If there's a single photo that resonates deeply with all of us old-time race fans and racers, it’s this famous shot of "the Ridge Route Terrors," Roger Coburn and James Warren, photographed by Jon Asher in Coburn's garage.
Everything in this…
Being thankful
It's a bit of a short week here at National DRAGSTER what with Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday off for a four-day weekend, so this will be the lone column of the week. We're actually shipping this week's issue…
How to avoid the champions curse? Buy us lunch
Wow, just five days into the off-season, and it has been pretty eventful already. Rumors of firings and hirings (some of them even true) are flying faster than fuelers, Austin Coil ends his 26-year relationship with John…
No Maas? No way!
Butch Maas was flanked by his sisters, Judi, left, and Linda, as they helped their mom celebrate her 75th birthday in 1995. "It actually was one of the last times we were together," said Linda.…
Sorry, Butch
Two days after receiving the news, I still hate myself. Well, maybe that's a bit strong, but I'm certainly very mad at myself.
Tuesday evening, we lost Butch Maas to cancer, and I lost my chance to glean from him his…
The Johnny Appleseed of the Fiberglass Forest
Although carbon fiber has replaced fiberglass as the material of choice for Funny Car bodies, there's not a longtime fan around who doesn't recall Steve Evans hawking flopper shows and promising fans that "the pits will look like a fiberglass forest…
Running up the ol' phone bill
I devoted most of yesterday to trying to make some of the phone calls I mentioned in the column a week ago and trying to at least touch base with some of the people I've yet to reach but have promised myself I would.
…
'I always liked to hear about the old-timers'
Those of you who have followed this column since its inception July 23, 2007, some 380 entries ago according to my quick math, have seen this column evolve into its current format. Originally, it was conceived as a behind-the-scenes look at how …