A true story that inspired a movie By Archie Bosman
Pictures by NHRA The Los Angeles premiere of the Snake & Mongoose movie brought a fine sense of occasion to the racing world on Monday evening, August 26. The new movie tells the tale of two of drag racing’s most illustrious drivers Don “Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “Mongoose” McEwen. Held at the Egyptian theater on Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood—the venue for the movie industry’s first premiere in the early nineteen-twenties—invited guests began arriving at 4pm. By around 5:30 over 500 had gathered, including movie and racing celebrities, at which time they began their walk along the red carpet toward the theatre.

Don Prudhomme was the first Funny Car driver to exceed 250mph and won the NHRA Funny Car championship four times in his thirty-five year career. He retired in 1994 to manage his own team, and with driver Larry Dixon they won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2002 and 2003. But by the end of the 2009 racing season inadequate sponsorship forced Don to disband the team and retire from drag racing.
Most memorable victory in 60 years of drag racing history In creating the movie narrative, former editor and racing writer Alan Paradise had devoted eight months to writing the script and a further four months to completing the re-writes. яндекс. His work spanned about 120 pages, each page representing about one minute of screen time. Though the movie portrays racing rivalries, friendships, triumphs and tragedies, Paradise framed his narrative around McEwen’s memorable Funny Car victory at the 1978 NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. It was here that McEwen defeated his former partner, arch rival and longtime friend Don Prudhomme in the final round. And it was memorable because Tom had fulfilled the dying wish of his thirteen-and-a-half-year-old son, Jamie, who had succumbed to leukemia 10 days earlier. The Leukemia Society subsequently appointed Tom to their board of directors. As he toured the country’s race tracks, he called on hospitals, visited children suffering the deadly disease, which is a cancer of the blood cells, and engaged in promotions to raise money for its cure. A reliable advocate, he continued the practice until he retired from racing. Before the movie goes on general release on September 6, the two Southern Californians, Prudhomme (72) and McEwen (76), attended the movie’s premier August 29 in Avon, Indiana. The event was scheduled to coincide with this year’s NHRA Indy Nationals, an event both have attended for over fifty years.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |

Tom McEwen winner of three AHRA Funny Car Championships and five NHRA Funny Car national events. Both Prudhomme and McEwen have been inducted into the NHRA Hall of Fame.
Recent Comments