A few days back we showed you sportsman eliminations from the 1988 NHRA SuperNationals which were held at what is now Royal Purple Raceway. It was the first time that the NHRA raced at the track and it was no a spring race, instead it was a late season contest and that’s why it’s kind of fun to watch this thing in the context of the 2018 season. By the time this race was held in ’88 many of the points championships were all but locked but there was one overriding story that was dominating the top ranks of the sport. The direct drive cars had finally caught the two speed machines in both nitro funny car and top fuel and it makes for some interesting moments.
Maybe the best part of the show is when Don Prudhomme is being interviewed by Steve Evans and he makes ripper of a run. Evans mentioned that he has a transmission in the car but then asks if there are any gears in it (guys were leaving the cases in and running them 1:1) and Prudhomme refuses to tell him! He makes reference to the fact that they are swapping back and forth and that they are not really ready to spill the beans on any of that stuff yet. Pretty great! When’s the last time you heard a drag racer openly protect a speed secret. It has been a while.
The funny car final in this one is great. Mike Dunn and Bruce Larson square off, Dun driving Joe Pisano’s amazingly beautiful Olds and Larson in the car he would drive to a 1989 World Championship. There’s a pre-final interview with Joe Pisano that’ll leave you both smiling and amazed at one of the great pioneers in the sport. We won’t give away the end, this one is worth the watch!
