Tom McEwen
Encyclopedia
Tom McEwen, is an American drag racer, who won the 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 famous drag racer, Roland Leong in the book SNAKE vs. MONGOOSE, “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.”
McEwen accrued his early experience in a variety of rides, beginning in 1953 with a '53 Oldsmobile at Santa Ana Dragstrip in Irvine, Calif. He then went on to race a '54 Olds at Lions Dragstrip in Long Beach, Calif.
He went from the stock-car ranks to gas coupes, altereds, and eventually dragsters. 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 blown-gas Chrysler dragster, and Gene Adams' Albertson Olds.
McEwen continued his relationship with Gene Adams for several years. In 1962, he drove Adams' Shark car, which was one of the first dragsters to use a streamlined body with an enclosed 'chute pack. This would turn out to be one of McEwen's most famous 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. He was driving the Broussard-Garrison-Purcell-Davis car. He also drove Ed Donovan's Donovan Engineering Special; this was the dragster he used when he first raced against "the Snake".
McEwen won his race against "the Snake" at Lions Dragstrip on September 12, 1964. He beat Prudhomme, who was driving a bright-orange edition of the famed Greer-Black-Prudhomme dragster, in two straight sets (this car was later painted yellow), 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 swept Top Fuel
titles at Lions Dragstrip and Pomona Raceway.
Because their first get-together had received so much attention, two more races between "the Snake" and "the Mongoose" were staged at Lions Dragstrip in 1965. McEwen wheeled the Yeakel Plymouth dragster past Prudhomme and his new ride, the Roland 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's B&M Torkmaster Special took a 7.59 to 7.69 win over McEwen. 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 elapsed time, at that time, with a blistering 6.64 at the Orange County
PDA Meet in 1968.
McEwen also continued to build on his reputation as a colorful promoter. The Plymouth Hemi-Cuda, that he unveiled in 1965 was featured in every notable 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.
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 California's Ontario Motor Speedway.
Tom 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. He also won the prestigious Big Bud Shootout in 1984 and won Top Fuel at the 1991 Summernationals.
Tom McEwen retired in 1992.
Ed Donovan
Ed Donovan is a SAG actor and the editor/publisher of In Focus Magazine, Florida's Film,Television and the Arts Industry Magazine. A former Boston police officer, Donovan was the subject of a biographical non-fiction book called 'The Shattered Badge" The title comes from his working in founding and...
. It was largely originally used as a device to entice Don "the Snake" Prudhomme
Don Prudhomme
Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme, is an American drag racer.-Racing career:In 1962, Prudhomme was a partner in the Greer-Black-Prudhomme digger, which earned the best win record in NHRA history, before switching to Funny Car. He would win the NHRA FC championship four times in his thirty-five-year career...
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 famous drag racer, Roland Leong in the book SNAKE vs. MONGOOSE, “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
Drag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
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.”
McEwen accrued his early experience in a variety of rides, beginning in 1953 with a '53 Oldsmobile at Santa Ana Dragstrip in Irvine, Calif. He then went on to race a '54 Olds at Lions Dragstrip in Long Beach, Calif.
He went from the stock-car ranks to gas coupes, altereds, and eventually dragsters. Among the cars he drove were the Stone-Woods-Cook '50 Olds fastback, the Bader & Ferrara Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
-powered Crosseyed Crosley, Art Chrisman's Hustler II, the Bud Rasner and Gary Slusser Fiat coupe, Dick Rea's blown-gas Chrysler dragster, and Gene Adams' Albertson Olds.
McEwen continued his relationship with Gene Adams for several years. In 1962, he drove Adams' Shark car, which was one of the first dragsters to use a streamlined body with an enclosed 'chute pack. This would turn out to be one of McEwen's most famous rides.
In 1963, McEwen achieved his greatest success at the time when he posted a runner-up finish against Art Malone
Art Malone
Arthur Malone "Colonel" is a retired American racecar driver.-Career:Malone is known primarily as a drag racer and was the 1963 AHRA Top Fuel World champion.In 1959, he drove for Don Garlits...
at the Bakersfield March Meet in California. He was driving the Broussard-Garrison-Purcell-Davis car. He also drove Ed Donovan's Donovan Engineering Special; this was the dragster he used when he first raced against "the Snake".
McEwen won his race against "the Snake" at Lions Dragstrip on September 12, 1964. He beat Prudhomme, who was driving a bright-orange edition of the famed Greer-Black-Prudhomme dragster, in two straight sets (this car was later painted yellow), 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
Fontana, California
Fontana is a city of 196,069 residents in San Bernardino County, California. Founded in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area...
. He also swept Top Fuel
Top Fuel
Top Fuel racing is a class of drag racing in which the cars are run on a mix of approximately 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol rather than gasoline or simply methanol. The cars are purpose-built for drag racing, with an exaggerated layout that in some ways resembles open-wheel circuit racing...
titles at Lions Dragstrip and Pomona Raceway.
Because their first get-together had received so much attention, two more races between "the Snake" and "the Mongoose" were staged at Lions Dragstrip in 1965. McEwen wheeled the Yeakel Plymouth dragster past Prudhomme and his new ride, the Roland 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's B&M Torkmaster Special took a 7.59 to 7.69 win over McEwen. They would not meet again for the rest of the decade.
McEwen won the 1966 Hot Rod Magazine
Hot Rod Magazine
Hot Rod is an American monthly magazine devoted to hot rodding, —modifying automobiles for performance and appearance.-History:Hot Rod is the oldest magazine devoted to hot rodding having been published since 1948. Robert E. Petersen founded the magazine and his Petersen Publishing Company...
Championships at Riverside Raceway and then went on to win the 1968 Stardust National Open in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
. He also recorded the lowest elapsed time, at that time, with a blistering 6.64 at the Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
PDA Meet in 1968.
McEwen also continued to build on his reputation as a colorful promoter. The Plymouth Hemi-Cuda, that he unveiled in 1965 was featured in every notable 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.
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
Funny Car
Funny Car is a drag racing car class. In the United States, other "professional" classes are Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Funny cars have forward-mounted engines and carbon fiber automotive bodies over the chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers'...
field in history at the SuperNationals at California's Ontario Motor Speedway.
Tom 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. He also won the prestigious Big Bud Shootout in 1984 and won Top Fuel at the 1991 Summernationals.
Tom McEwen retired in 1992.