Tom McEwen (drag racer)

rdf:langString Tom McEwen (drag racer)

rdf:langString Tom McEwen

rdf:langString Tom McEwen

rdf:langString McEwen's 1967 slingshot rail

rdf:langString September 2018

rdf:langString Top Fuel Funny Car

rdf:langString American

rdf:langString what year? Not like it only happened once

rdf:langString Tom McEwen (January 14, 1937 – June 10, 2018) was an American drag racer who was a winner of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals. His racing career spanned 45 years. He is ranked at number 16 on a list of the 50 most significant drivers of NHRA’s first 50 years. Starting as an owner-driver, he received the nickname "the Mongoose" in 1964 from engine builder Ed Donovan, after McEwen signed up to drive Donovan's "vaunted" . It was originally used as a device to entice Don "the Snake" Prudhomme into a high-exposure match race. After trouble getting the Gilmore Engineering-chassied Donovan dragster sorted out, McEwen quit (replaced by Prudhomme, no less) to drive for Lou Beney, in the Yeakel Plymouth dragster. (Baney also conceived McEwen's mid-engined Hemi 'Cuda funny car.) In 1965, he faced Hot Wheels teammate Prudhomme at the Hot Rod Magazine Championship Drag Races, held at Riverside Raceway, "one of the most significant drag racing events" of that era; the Top Fuel Eliminator (TFE) trophy that year went to Jim Warren. McEwen also drove the ill-fated Super Mustang at its debut at the 1967 Winternats. Leaving the Super Mustang, McEwen joined the Bivens & Fisher team, driving their dragster, and soon set an NHRA national record. McEwen won five NHRA national events, but his 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." McEwen had four children: Jamie, Joe, Tom Jr., and Kathleen, and two grandchildren: Christian and Jonathan. Jamie and Joe are deceased.