Here’s a gem of a video that I literally fell over completely by accident while trolling YouTube for cool US Nationals stuff that I am going to beat everyone over the head with the in weeks leading up to the race. The video features the full Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour segment where Dick Smothers went and raced in stock eliminator at the 1968 US Nationals. There are clips of this thing all over the internet but not the whole segment and the big different is the flipping awesome interview with a young Steve Evans after Dick Smothers makes a couple of runs in his 12-second Oldsmobile. The interview is great because Smothers is a true gearhead and car guy but his preference always tilted towards the road racing/sports car world. His description of coming off the clutch and ripping gears in the Olds is fantastic. The best part is when Evans asks him about whether or not he’s interested in driving a fuel car and Smothers essentially says that he’s afraid to even stand near them when they are running!

This segment was a big win for the NHRA which at the time was really cranking along in the cultural consciousness. During this late 1960s period the Smothers Brothers were some of the biggest stars on television with witty, biting, and sometimes controversial social comedy that captured the changing times perfectly. When a guy as cool as Dick Smothers showed up and gave your events a ringing endorsement, it was big time stuff.

Between the footage of Smothers in the car, Evans in the interview, and Don Garlits hauling tail and then sticking his hand out of the dragster cockpit at the finish line with the V for victory symbol way up there, this is spectacular video from 50 years ago.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THIS AWESOME PIECE OF DRAG RACING MEDIA HISTORY – EVANS AND SMOTHERS AT THE 1968 NHRA US NATIONALS –