1970’s – Drag Racing 11 : 1977-1979

1977 NHRA Summernationals – Englishtown, NJ   (53 min)
Another great race from the memorable 1977 season! Shirley Muldowney is once again the victor in Top Fuel, this time
over Jeb Allen, while Larry Lombardo, wielding Bill Jenkins “Grumpy’s Toy”, defeats Frank Iaconio. Don Prudhomme
takes his Plymouth Arrow U.S. Army sponsored funny car to a victory over Billy Meyer. This was one of the first truly
excellent Diamond P broadcasts, with lots of drama, excellent camera work, and the great Steve Evans handling the
interviews. Taken from an old VHS tape, this version includes the original commercials, but there is a slight jitter (or
stutter) effect due to an improper conversion from VHS to digital, but the footage is very watchable!

1978 NHRA Sportsnationals – Bowling Green, KY   (38 min)
Fantastic coverage of the Sportsman classes in this rare 1978 NHRA race, with commentator Steve Evans and host
Dave McClelland. This was a chance for the lower classes like Pro Comp, Modified Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock
Eliminator, etc. to get some TV exposure, and we see names and cars that were rarely (if ever) shown during a regular
TV broadcast of an NHRA event. Ken Veney gets a lot of air time, along with Cotton Perry, Judy Lilly, and many others.

1979 NHRA U.S. Nationals – Indianapolis, IN  (46 min)
Considered one of the most memorable races in NHRA history, this was the 25th Anniversary of the U.S. Nationals, and
the NHRA was entering a new era of popularity heading into the 1980’s. Don Garlits brought out Swamp Rat 1 and made
a full throttle exhibition pass, complete with the Indian Chief flagman as the starter (in the actual event competition,
Garlits would be eliminated in Round 2 by Larry Dixon). The heavy favorite in Funny Car was Don Prudhomme, but the
Snake was stunned when his Plymouth Arrow U.S. Army funny car goes sideways out of the hole in Round 2, losing to Ron
Colson’s Corvette funny car (owned by Roland Leong). If that wasn’t enough of an upset, the famous Raymond Beadle in
the Blue Max funny car, now the heavy favorite after Prudhomme’s defeat, is also taken out in Round 2, losing to the
little known Kosty Ivanof. In Pro Stock, we see Bob Glidden’s little Plymouth Arrow verses Larry Lombardo in the new
“Grumpy’s Toy” Camaro. The finals in Funny Car saw Gordie Bonin in the “Bubble Up” Firebird defeating Kosty Ivanof
when Ivanof’s Corvette funny car broke on the starting line. In Top Fuel, Kelly Brown defeated John Abbott. Lots of
great footage in this one, and being the 25th Anniversary, a lot of extra fanfare.