Hot Wheels- Snake & Mongoose

HOT ROD REUNION

In Bakersfield California, each HOT ROD REUNION event features a wide variety of activities, including NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport's most famous and historic cars and drivers racing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Funny Car, Fuel Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others. 

snakeandmongoosemovie

 
Snake & Mongoose the Movie (memory lane) 

This all started with Lesney Products in 1953, Matchbox toys were sold in boxes similar in style and size to those in which matches were sold.  

Then boom 1968 Hot Wheels is born from Mattel, Hot Wheels were conceived to be more like "tricked out" cars as compared to Matchbox cars. "Torsion Bar" the axles followed a "C"-like shape that was connected to the chassis. When pushed down, the axles would bend like real shocks.  The metallic Spectra-flame paintwork also marked out these models from the drab enamel of Matchbox cars. The Redline Era as until 1977 the wheels had a red line etched around the tire rim, popular on muscle cars at the time. 

In 1970 Mongoose & Snake Drag Race Set, which reached values as high as $500 during the 1990s, but has since been produced in modified replica form. It featured yellow Plymouth Barracuda and red Plymouth Duster funny cars, loops, jumps, and even an apparatus that would deploy drag chutes after they crossed the finish line, all in a box showing Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen.

   Snake & Mongoose, depicts one of the greatest rivalries in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history, and the groundbreaking accomplishments of Don 'the Snake' Prudhomme (Jesse Williams) and Tom 'the Mongoose' McEwen (Richard Blake) in all of drag racing, sports marketing, and sponsorship such as Hot Wheels. Watch the trailer and other clips about the movie. 

Snake & Mongoose

snakeandmongoosemovie

 

2013 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series from Englishtown, NJ

The Pro Mod is always interesting, found this clip and at the end is Mike Janis 2x Modified World Champion setting standards and delivering results.  Mike's just not a driver he's the CEO of  Mike Janis Racing, ah that's his supercharger their running!  6.035 @ over 240 mph in the 1/4.  This Valvoline machine is a monster!

Mike Janis Racing Engines, Superchargers and Injectors

CEO / Driver

 Mike has over 30 years of business experience within automotive aftermarket retail and distribution industry segments.  Mike is a highly recognizable brand in motorsports and is known worldwide for building best-in-class performance products. He is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the competition department.  Not only has Mike built engines for some of the most well-known teams in the United States, he has also expanded operations to include an international client base of teams in Canada, Europe, and Australia.   Mike is the 2nd overall with the most wins of any driver in Pro Mod history and has 2 World Championships to his name, along with over a 12 year run of finishing in the top 10 in the point standings, something no other driver has been able to do.

Mike Janis Racing

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Raceway Bakersfield California

Auto Club Famoso:

Half a century ago, Bakersfield was a sleepy oil town best known as the last stop before climbing the “Grapevine” road to Los Angeles. Things changed rapidly when local country singer Buck Owens rose to fame in the late 1950s. At the same time, drag racers from around the country began pouring into Famoso for quarter-mile runs. The March Meet originally called the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships, was spearheaded by the Smokers, a local race club. The Smokers, who began racing at Famoso in 1951, became skeptical of reported times and speeds set in the east by “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. So they invited him to Bakersfield to compete. In March 1959 he did just that. The result was the March Meet, often called the “Woodstock of drag racing.” Although Garlits lost in the first round and Art Chrisman became Top Eliminator, Garlits went on to become the most celebrated drag racer in history and #1 on the NHRA’s Top 50 list. Garlits’ appearance at Famoso spread the fame of the track, March Meet and Bakersfield far and wide.

 The March Meet and Famoso Raceway created an entire generation of both racers and racing fans and marked Bakersfield as a Mecca for the sport. The Mears family began to race at Famoso, as did Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen, Cruz and Tony Pedregon and many, many others. NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick launched his racing career in Bakersfield.

In its hay day, the March Meet was the race on the NHRA schedule, where legendary racers such as Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, “TV Tommy” Ivo, Shirley Muldowney and Connie Kalitta clashed. Many of today’s stars like John Force and Ron Capps competed in the March Meet. Force – this year’s Grand Marshal – won the March Meet in 1984.

 Today the March Meet is racing’s top nostalgia event and is the first stop on the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series. It’s still, in Blake Bowser’s words, “…the largest single event in Bakersfield. It helped put Bakersfield on the map. Bakersfield is Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and the March Meet.”

 John and Blake Bowser, the father and son tag team who run the Kern County Racing Association, are also the operators of historic Auto Club Famoso Raceway and producers of one of the most famous drag race events of all-time, the March Meet.

 John Bowser: I moved to Bakersfield from Camden, N.J., in 1952, just a few months before the big 7.5 earthquake which wiped out most of the town. My mother owned a grocery store which was destroyed by the quake. That was a nice ‘welcome to California’ thing for us. When we got here, I thought the West was made up of cowboys and Indians.

 I got into drag racing when I was going to Bakersfield High School in 1958-59. Bakersfield was a big motorhead city back then and still is. We used to go to Southern California to see drag racing at Irwindale, Lions and San Fernando. They were ‘lunch money’ trips – we’d save up our lunch money from the school, pool it together and go racing. I first went to Famoso in 1959. There was some drag racing at Gardner Field and Taft before Famoso was built, but Famoso changed everything. Back in the fifties, Bakersfield was like American Graffiti—lots of cars and kids hanging out. Racing was fun: you’d drive your race car to the event, race it and drive it home.

Today the March Meet is racing’s top nostalgia event and is the first stop on the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series. It’s still, in Blake Bowser’s words, “…the largest single event in Bakersfield. It helped put Bakersfield on the map. Bakersfield is Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and the March Meet.”

"Special note out to NitoAmerica, with the cooperation of the teams and tracks you get to experience great HD camera views of all angels with choice sound! To say the least,  NitroAmerica brings the race in your face!"    

Auto Club Famoso

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NHRA Force It!

Let's get this smoking with a tire break in, from Jeg Coughlin Jr ProStok

JEGSHighPerformance

See! That's what it takes!

Now for the Superman of drag racing, what I need to mention a name? Yeah right, how about a word from his daughter. " I've seen him on fire, upside down, backwards and exploding at 300 miles per hour over the years. He always walked away from these crashes with a great story to tell…and some missing eyebrows. Years ago, he raced a special themed Superman car and my sisters and I, as children, thought that he must have super powers"!

 -Ashley Force Hood

 This was from last year but a great clip, this guy is Superman! "John Force" 

 jfrracing



Force Crew  

The Force is diffidently with this crew. 

John Force Racing

 jfrracing·



Brittany Test 

 This about to launch, 53rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 2013 NHRA Winternationals Feb. 14-17 Pomona, Calif. Jan 18 2013 Brittany Force testing her top fuel dragster, will this be Wounder Women? 

NHRA Schedule

Jack Cecil

Race Season Starts Smoking

This is going to be a great race season, NASCAR has brought the SS Camaro out but we lost Dodge hope they can make it back (how about another bailout). Kicks off Feb 24th Daytona. NASCAR

Grand Am racing is introducing the GX class and all eyes will be on the new diesel from Mazda. Green, Green, Green on Jan 24th Rolex 24 Daytona. Grand AM

Formula 1 just had it's day-view in Texas last year so we're up and running back in the states. Formula 1

The 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series begins, as it has for 53 years, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona Feb. 14-17. NHRA 

The Indy Cars are coming back to Pocono since 1989 on July 7th, 2013, A. J. Allmendinger (remember him?) is under consideration for the seat at Team Penske that was occupied by Ryan Briscoe. This all starts on March 24th at The Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida. INDYCAR

And a whole lot more,  so let's kick this off with an edited vid of the burnout compilation from the 2012 California Hot Rod Reunion also features a raw fuzz guitar from the 70s as the vid progresses, dude don't worry! You're going to like the camera angles and serious HD!

Nothing but Rubber

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