The first NHRA Southern Nationals were held in 1981 at a track that had originally been designed as an airport and lived a pretty sleepy life before hosting one of the biggest races on the NHRA tour of that era. The track is still busy as hell hosting not only the Arby’s Southern Nationals but also the NMRA/NMCA All-Star event, weekly programs, and a whole lot more throughout the competition year. Back in 1989 the Southern Nationals were interesting because of a new racing surface that apparently had an appetite for pro stock cars. There were two bad wrecks. Both of them resulted in damaged cars but people who walked away.
One of the other side notes from this race is covered on the TV show and that’s the fact that Shirley Muldowney actually hired Don Garlits to come and oversee the work on her car for portions of that 1989 season. This was one of the greatest odd-couple pairings in the sport’s history and while it did not last all that long, Garlits helped the program some and was a neat guy to have back in the pits.
The coverage here is good and informative and 45 minutes long. There were no qualifying shows, there was not three hour same day broadcast. There is effectively no coverage of the first round of any class, virtually none of pro stock second round, and the list goes on. The show is bad ass, the interviews are cool and the personalities are great. Not nearly as comprehensive as today’s shows (ask me how I know) but there’s magic here and I adore every second of it.
