Ed McCulloch’s Top 5 Most Influential Funny Cars
June 14, 2009 by Hechtspeed · 2 Comments
MyRideisMe.com has your Funny Car hookups! We asked 3 current NHRA superstars in funny car and top fuel what funny cars are their “Top 5″ most influential of all time, and why. Look for the Top 5 from Ed McCulloch, Ron Capps and Don Schumacher.
Let’s get started with the Napa Auto Parts funny car crew chief, Ed “Ace” McCulloch.
The “Ace” has a drag racing career stretching back more than 30 years. A socal boy living right in the middle of where hot rods and drag racing really took off. It’s no wonder he’s driven everything from top fuel to funny’s.
During those early days racing all over the country at whatever track was paying, he learned what it takes to make a nitro burning beast go fast and more importantly, win. He’s got 18 wins in funny car and another 4 in top fuel and he won at Indy 5 times.
“Ace” is truly a legend in funny car and a perfect kick off for MyRideisMe.com’s 5 Most influential Funny Cars…
Ed “Ace” McCulloch’s Top 5 Funny Cars
“Going back some years, probably ‘Jungle Jim’ Liberman would be included. He was a great showman, just a natural. When we used to match race, that was what it was all about, putting on a show. I guess one of the most influential would definitely have to be ‘Jungle Jim’ Liberman.”
“Another one would be the Blue Max, with Raymond Beadle. They were a really good group of guys on that car.”
“(Paul) Candies and (Leonard) Hughes would be one of the top ones, too. Really competitive cars. They always ran hard.”
“Even though I hate to do it, I have to put Don Prudhomme and the Army car in there because he was good in his day, won a lot of races for a long time.
“I could put five of mine in front of those four already,” he added. (note: I’m trying to get some of Ace’s private stash of pictures to post.)
“Obviously, on today’s circuit and going back in time with Austin Coil’s career and then his going on to John Force Racing, they would have to be in the top five.
“There’s probably a lot of cars there that are equally as good that I haven’t mentioned, but based on what they’ve done, the fame they earned and the way they presented themselves, those are probably my top five.”
“It depends on how you want to position this. I mean, do I think any of my time with Capps is good enough for my top five, probably not. Not yet. I’ve got a wider stretch to choose from.
“Blue Max and Jungle Jim had a lot of cars over time and they were always very dominant and had very good race cars. I can’t single it down to just one specific time frame or year or car. I’m looking at it over a period of time. As for the Snake, probably his Army car, in my opinion, was his dominant car. The rest of them it’s just what I think were influential over time.”
MyRideisMe.com thanks 70sfunnycars.com, draglist.com, monza.homestead.com, bluemaxfunnycar.com and fastmachines.com for the pictures shown.
Another big thanks to Judy Stropus from Don Schumacher Racing and her intern Leah Vaughn for getting the info out of these Funny Car legends.
What’s your top 5? Leave a comment and let us know!
“Internet Barn Finds #3″: 70′s Funny Cars
June 2, 2009 by Hechtspeed · 1 Comment
For #3, MyRideisMe.com went in search of Nostalgia Funny Cars. We scored a great find when we discovered the www.70sfunnycars.com website in our internet search. The website itself is vintage too, as it was established in 1998…was the internet even around back then? Ha Ha
Real Funny Cars, and not show cars, actually appeared at car shows?
Funny Cars had names, showed up to the races on open ramp trucks, and used tow cars often supplied by spectators after the crowd was pulsed by the track announcer for “volunteers?”
This Vintage Funny Car website has many hidden jewels and is sure to bring back memories! You’ll need a couple hours to soak in all this ‘Nostalgia’. We’ll launch into more in the future from 70sFunnyCars.com…we’ve only just gone through the waterbox and started our 1st burnout (…”Remember when Funny Cars would do 5 burnouts”)!
Have your own pictures or stories about your favorite Nostalgia Funny Car from ‘back in the day’?
Please share them by emailing to: nostalgiaFC@MyRideisMe.com
Or, leave a comment below, you don’t need to be a member. If you like what you see, please Join us! as a member and add your rides to your MyRideisMe virtual garage. Here’s an example: Vintage Dragster Garage
Take a minute and look around at our other Nostalgia/Vintage Car stories here at MyRideisMe… it don’t cost-ya nut’n!
