Wednesday, February 24, 2016

02/24 TOM MCEWEN, NHRA, DRAG RACER

AMERICAN DRAG RACER TOM MCEWEN JOINS THE SHOW TO TALK ABOUT THE BAKERSFIELD DRAG RACES NEXT WEEK!

2016 Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet • March 3-6, 2016

The Famoso Raceway dragstrip is located north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships. 33559 
Famoso Rd, McFarland, CA 93250
www.famosoraceway.com

2016 Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet • March 3-6, 2016

Tom McEwen, (born 1937) is an American drag racer, who won the NHRA U.S. Nationals during part of his 45 year career. He is listed as number 16 of the 50 most significant drivers of NHRA’s first 50 years. He received the nickname "the Mongoose" in 1964 from engine builder Ed Donovan. It was largely originally used as a device to entice Don "the Snake" Prudhomme into a high-exposure match race. McEwen won only five NHRA national events during his 45-plus-year career, but McEwen’s gift for gab and promotional ability made him one of the sport's most influential and controversial figures.

As stated by Roland Leong, “McEwen was the smartest of the bunch. When he came up with the Hot Wheels deal using the Snake and Mongoose characters, it shook the world of drag racing big time. He produced a sponsorship package that allowed him and Prudhomme to buy the best equipment, pay expenses, make money and sell their image all over the United States. I hate to admit it but McEwen and Prudhomme showed us the way to the future. They were a lot smarter than most of us who didn't see past the end of the quarter-mile.”

Early Career
McEwen gained his early experience in a variety of rides, beginning in 1953 with a '53 Oldsmobile at Santa Ana Dragstrip in Irvine, California. He then went on to race a '54 Olds at Lions Dragstrip in Long Beach, California.

He went from the stock ranks to gas coupes, altereds, and eventually dragsters and funny cars. Among the cars he drove were the Stone-Woods-Cook '50 Olds fastback, the Bader & Ferrara Cadillac-powered Crosseyed Crosley, Art Chrisman's Hustler II, the Bud Rasner and Gary Slusser Fiat coupe, Dick Rea's Chrysler-powered blown gas dragster, and Gene Adams' Albertson Olds.

1960's
McEwen continued his relationship with Adams for several years. In 1962, he drove Adams' Shark, which was one of the first dragsters to use a streamlined body with an enclosed parachute pack. This would turn out to be one of McEwen's best known rides.
In 1963, McEwen achieved his greatest success at the time when he posted a runner-up finish against Art Malone at the Bakersfield March Meet in California in the Broussard-Garrison-Purcell-Davis car. He also drove Donovan'sDonovan Engineering Special dragster, and it was in this car he first raced Prudhomme.

McEwen won his race against Prudhomme at Lions Dragstrip on September 12, 1964. He overcame Prudhomme's bright-orange edition of the famed Greer-Black-Prudhomme car in two straight sets, inspiring what may be the most famous match-race pairing in the history of drag racing.

Later in 1964, McEwen drove Lou Baney's Yeakel Plymouth-sponsored dragster to victory at the 32-car UDRA meet at Fontana Raceway in Fontana, California. He also took Top Fuel titles at Lions Dragstrip and Pomona Raceway.

Because their first get-together had received so much attention, two more races between McEwen and Prudhomme were staged at Lions Dragstrip in 1965. McEwen drove the Yeakel Plymouth dragster past Prudhomme and his new ride, the Leong-owned Hawaiian, two rounds to one in the first, then lost in two straight sets in the second.

Because McEwen confined his racing to the West Coast, he and the touring Prudhomme raced each other only once in 1966, at the Winternationals, site of their first national event meeting. There, Prudhomme in the B&M Torkmaster Special took the win, with a 7.59 e.t. to McEwen's 7.69. They would not meet again for the rest of the decade.

McEwen won the 1966 Hot Rod Magazine Championships at Riverside Raceway and then went on to win the 1968 Stardust National Open in Las Vegas. He also recorded the lowest ever elapsed time to date with a blistering 6.64 at the Orange County PDA Meet in 1968.

The Promoter
McEwen also continued to build on his reputation as a colorful promoter. The Plymouth Hemi Cuda he unveiled in 1965 was featured in every major car magazine. He convinced the Southern California Plymouth Dealers Association to support him and displayed the car all over the West Coast.

In 1967, McEwen took the same approach with one of drag racing's great one-shot wonders: Ford Motor Company's Super Mustang. When it made its highly anticipated debut at the Winternationals, it generated significant publicity.

McEwen's strong promotional talent and Prudhomme's success on the racetrack eventually led to the formation of a national touring team sponsored by Mattel and, in mid-1969, McEwen and Prudhomme corporately became Wildlife Racing.

The Mattel deal ran from 1970 through 1972, and in 1973, Wildlife Racing secured Carefree sugarless gum as a sponsor. McEwen and Prudhomme dissolved their corporation at the end of the 1973 season.

1970's
In 1972, McEwen won his first major event when he dominated the Top Fuel field at the Bakersfield March Meet. A year later, he scored his first NHRA national event victory by topping the quickest funny car field in history at the SuperNationals at Ontario Motor Speedway.

He went on to win four more national events, including his dramatic U.S. Nationals funny car victory over Prudhomme in 1978, following the death just a few days earlier of his son, Jamie.

Later Life
He won the prestigious Big Bud Shootout in 1984 and won Top Fuel at the 1991 Summernationals. Tom McEwen retired in 1992. He currently works in ad sales for a small magazine publishing company in Southern California.

Snake and Mongoose Movie
A movie portraying the story of Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen was released in the summer of 2013. It follows the story behind the rivalry of the Southern Californian racers.

WIKI.ORG
FACEBOOK.COM

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

02/17 ROGER GOODELL, LEONARD JOHNSON, JIM BROWN STATUE, MANNY PACQUIAO ANTI-GAY REMARKS

Former All-Pro NFL defensive end Fred Dryer and Mike Horn talk sports!

Join them this week as they discuses the following topics



ROGER GOODELL EARNINGS 


PATRIOTS RELEASE LEONARD JOHNSON 


MANNY PACQUIAO LOSES NIKE SPONSORSHIP OVER ANTI-GAY REMARKS

JIM BROWN HUMBLED AS BROWNS UNVEIL STATUE PLANS TO HONOR EX-RB


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Wednesday, February 10, 2016

02/10 TERRY BLOUNT, 56TH ANNUAL CIRCLE K NHRA WINTERNATIONALS

TERRY BLOUNT FROM THE NHRA JOINS THE SHOW TO CHAT ABOUT THE 56TH ANNUAL CIRCLE K NHRA WINTERNATIONALS - FEB 11-14
NHRA.COM
TWITTER: @TERRYBLOUNTNHRA

Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
2780 Fairplex Drive, Pomona, CA 91768
Tickets: nhra.com/tickets; 800-884-NHRA (6472)
Radio Frequency: 105.3 FM

Terry Blount, an award-winning sports journalist, author and broadcast commentator who has covered every major motorsports event as well as Super Bowls, World Series, and NCAA Final Fours, among others, has been named NHRA vice president of public relations and communications. In his role with NHRA, Blount leads and creates the strategic direction for corporate communications, media relations, and public relations for the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body.

During the last decade as a popular sports columnist at ESPN.com, Blount covered national motorsports for seven years and spent the last three years covering the Seattle Seahawks. As the main beat writer for the Seahawks, he also served as a television commentator for ESPN’s family of networks. Showing his ultimate versatility, he recently covered the 2015 U.S. Open golf championship at Chambers Bay in Washington. Blount has vast knowledge of NHRA Drag Racing and covered the sport extensively during the last three decades as a senior columnist for ESPN.com and as a motorsports writer for several major daily newspapers in Texas.

Prior to working at ESPN, Blount held sportswriting jobs at several major newspapers, including theDallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and Houston Post. In 2009, he published his first book,The Blount Report: NASCAR’s Overrated and Underrated. Blount is one of only three members of the media wing of the Texas Motorsports Hall Fame. He was inducted in 2011 when Richard Petty and John Force entered the Hall. He is a past recipient of the Hearst Newspapers Citation of Writing Excellence as well as a recipient of the Excellence in Journalism Award from the Houston Press Club. Blount holds a bachelor’s degree in radio/TV communications from the University of Houston. He will reside in Southern California.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

02/03 BROWNS TO RELEASING JOHNNY MANZIEL, SUPER BOWL 50, KEN STABLER HAD CTE, WHITE SOX EYEING ANDRE ETHIER

Former All-Pro NFL defensive end Fred Dryer and Mike Horn talk sports!

Join them this week as they discuses the following topics



BROWNS SEND CLEAR INDICATION THEY PLAN ON RELEASING JOHNNY MANZIEL



SUPER BOWL 50 PREDICTIONS


FORMER RAIDERS QB KEN STABLER HAD BRAIN DISEASE CTE

WHITE SOX EYEING ANDRE ETHIER


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