Don Schumacher's a car owner, right? Yea, that's what he is now. He's got 6 full-pro NHRA drag racing teams running including his son and Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher. Before that, Don Schumacher was the pilot of his "Stardust" Funny Car.  Don retired from racing  in 1974 to focus on his family business and it's said, "a huge sigh of relief was heard from rivals like Gene Snow and Raymond Beadle in Texas, Pat Foster and Don Prudhomme in California and the late “Jungle Jim” Liberman in Pennsylvania."  Known as “The Shoe” he was tearing up tracks, especially at match races and even in England where you'll find several records he set as an ambassador for drag racing across the big pond. Shoe won the winner of the  1972 Coca-Cola Cavalcade of Stars,  the 1973 AHRA World Championship, 5 NHRA (including Indy) and 9 IHRA event titles driving his Plymouth Barracuda Funny Cars always called “Stardust”. Don Schumacher, the driver and mega-team owner who wears all 6 team colored shirts on any given weekend is our next "Top Five Most Influential Funny Cars" Don "The Shoe" Schumacher's Top 5 Funny Cars “I have to start off with...

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...

So, I was "stumbling" around on StumbleUpon, a cool search tool/website where you can tell it what you're interested in and just hit the stumble button. I stumbled upon "Rare American Made Autos" page. Here's a quick quote from the website that explains what the Red Scarf Club is. Of all places to find cool pictures of rare American cars, an artilleryman's website!? Car Nuts are everywhere! "The RED SCARF name comes from the color of the artilleryman's parade neck scarves. (ie; The infantry color is blue, the engineers - green, the artillery - red, and so on. Each section of the army, has its own designated color.) Our present day club was loosley formed by a small group of 553rd FA Bn veterans, their wives, friends and familys, to get together once or twice a year in Branson, Missouri for a "Dinner and a Show", and share old "War Stories" - as we call them - and each others company, for a couple of days." Here's some teaser pics...if you can name any one of these cars, well...you're just sick! ha ha Try out StumbleUpon and tells us...

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 "Remember when Funny Cars actually resembled their street driven cousins? 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...

Professional Racers Owners Organization’s (PRO) “Great Helmet Auction” INDIANAPOLIS, In. – On June 6, 2009, PRO’s Great Helmet Auction will go live on eBay! This 10-day auction (ends June 15th) features autographed helmets, most worn during NHRA Drag Racing competition, by stars of the sport including: Jack Beckman Brandon Bernstein Kenny Bernstein Antron Brown Ron Capps V. Gaines Mike Edwards Ashley Force-Hood John Force Matt Hagan Robert Hight Allen Johnson Warren Johnson Doug Kalitta Ron Krisher Cory McClenathan Mike Neff Tony Schumacher Bob Vandergriff Jr. Tim Wilkerson For a full description of these driver’s helmets, including their history, photographs and a link to each helmet on eBay, visit www.GreatHelmetAuction.com. Mark your calendars now with the following dates: June 6 – The Great Helmet Auction begins on eBay. June 15 – Last day to bid and win! June 16 – Helmet winners announced. Winning bids benefit PRO, an organization that provides services and other benefits to professional drag racing team owners and drivers, with a portion of proceeds to benefit Racers for Christ (Team RFC), which has serviced NHRA for over 25...

1966 Mustang Fastback - Pro-Touring Budget "I bought a 1966 Mustang Fastback out of a junk yard for $400. Thought I would challenge myself to build as exotic a g-machine as possible for $5000. "   It sounds impossible, anti-Pro-Touring even. MyRideisMe.com asked Ron Schwarz, owner/builder of this Grabber Blue beauty, to share his 5 Tips with our readers. He tells it like no one else can. This guy is hilarious! There are some killer classic quotes here. Stick to these 5 Tips below and you too can build your own budget dream ride.   1. Choose The Right Car Your car has to be affordable, but still turn you on. If it doesn’t keep your interest it will be just another project that doesn’t get finished. Choose a car you can get cheap parts for, period.   2. Do your homework The mods on this Mustang were done with factory (Ford and GM) parts from performance models/sports cars. The front suspension is all C5 Corvette parts; great handling, big brakes, relatively cheap, and fairly easy to come by.   3. Choose The Right Drivetrain. Find a drivetrain that...

Being passionate about modified rides, I spend a lot of time on websites that span the spectrum of hotrodding to "tuning" and everything in between. Two favorite build styles of mine are Pro-Touring and the Street Drift style called HellaFlush. HellaWho? I'll explain in a minute. Call it DetroitFlush or Ill-Touring (Ill, as in Siiiick wheel fitment dude!). We can nail down the name later. Let's dig into this concept a little and see what you, the reader, has to say. First, lets define the two components of DetroitFlush individually. Pro-Touring. The Pro-Touring.com's definition as a reminder, is old muscle with new sports car performance. Modern suspensions, brakes, big wheels/tires and late model drivetrains (like a 6.1L Hemi Crate motor, 6 speed Tremec and 20" wheels with 315/30/20 Pirelli's like the TerraCuda built by Chip Foose) HellaFlush on the other hand is the concept, "Offset Is Everything" and traces its roots to Japanese Street Drifting which pushes the limit of fenders on import cars such as WRX's, EVO's, 240SX's and RX-7's. As seen in the picture above from the HellaFlush website, the wheels fit flush to the fender. Simple...

"I wanted out of that run so bad I unhooked the harness and was driving about 125 mph sitting on top of the roll cage, steering with my feet." If you found this story at MyRideisMe.com, you already know that Bonneville International Speedway and Salt Flats Land Speed Racing have quite a history. That history is filled with amazing pioneers in hot rodding, racing, and humans just plain going fast! The previous story from the Salt Flat Racing category: Salt Flats Car Show, the Bonneville Salt Flats are seriously the mecca for hot rodders and custom car nuts. This 1929 roadster typifies; race car and family history of Salt Flat and Land Speed Racing you're sure to find with every trip to the Salt. The owner Larry Volk, together with his family of Land Speed Racers have their own Salt Flats racing history. The Volk Family was kind enough to loan me their racing scrapbook full of newspaper clippings and photos so I could scan a few to share that rich history here at MyRideisMe.com. The recent pics you see were snapped this last Saturday at a church parking...

Please Contact: Michelle Domagala (317) 373-8455 or email prodragracers@earthlink.net Professional Racers Owners Organization’s (PRO) “Great Helmet Auction” INDIANAPOLIS, In. – On May 15, 2009, PRO will unveil its’ first ever online promotion the Great Helmet Auction. The auction features autographed helmets, most worn during NHRA Drag Racing competition, by stars of the sport including: Jack Beckman, Brandon Bernstein, Kenny Bernstein, Antron Brown, Ron Capps, V. Gaines, Mike Edwards, John Force, Ashley Force Hood, Matt Hagan, Robert Hight, Allen Johnson, Warren Johnson, Doug Kalitta, Ron Krisher, Cory McClenathan, Mike Neff, Tony Schumacher, Bob Vandergriff Jr., and Tim Wilkerson! For a full description of driver helmets, including their history and photographs, visit www.GreatHelmetAuction.com when the site goes “live” on May 15. The 10-day auction will be hosted on eBay beginning June 6 and ending June 15. Direct links to each helmet can be found on the www.GreatHelmetAuction.com website. Winning bids will benefit PRO, a trade organization providing services and other benefits to professional drag racing team owners and drivers, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Racers for Christ (Team RFC), an organization which has been servicing NHRA for over 25...

Come join us for the 2009 Peach State Muscle Car Challenge. It begins tomorrow and there is still time to register. For more info and to register visit Pro-Touring Peach State Muscle Car Challenge.     Basic info: May15 Dinner - $5 per person Friday will consist of Meeting up at David's toy box in Canton GA, Hang out with our cars and get to know each other over some music and food. May 16 Drag Racing - $15 per car Saturday we will meet up around 8:00am then head over to Calhoun http://www.paradisedragstrip.net/ and run our cars until around 3:00pm. Then we will all cruise the back roads of Ga. to Canton for the Cruz night. There have been as little as 400 cars and as many as 700 cars at this Cruz night. Have some dinner at one of many different restaurants. Then back to the David's toy box to hang out some more. May 17 Autocross - $25 per car Sunday will meet up at the host hotel around 8:00am then cruise up 41hwy to the parking lot for the auto cross at http://http://www.redtopautoauction.com/ Wallace Sanford...

MyRideisMe.com is a big fan of John Force and John Force Racing.  Combine that with the idea that we'll help worthy causes and this is a win-win. This food drive is Saturday,  May 9th, so help out any way you can. John Force Racing Press Release: ASHLEY FORCE HOOD ASKS FANS TO JOIN HER AND STAMP OUT HUNGER YORBA LINDA, CA (May 7, 2009) --- NHRA Funny Car superstar and 2007 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future winner Ashley Force Hood would like fans to join her in helping “Stamp Out Hunger.” Please join her in the fight to end hunger on Saturday, May 9, 2009, by leaving non-perishable food donations in a bag next to your mailbox for your letter carrier. Stamp Out Hunger is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Last year, over 73 million pounds of food were donated to food banks. “I found info about the Stamp Out Hunger event in a magazine a few days ago and jotted it down in my organizer since it’s such a simple thing to do and yet a very important cause. When I got to...

All Ways Hot Rods, located near downtown Phoenix, was founded in 1999 by the Way brothers Mike and Randy. They help hot rodders build their dream cars. One of those dream cars you may be familiar with is a flawless 1932 3 Window Coupe that won the 2008 Goodguys "America's Most Beautiful Hot Rod" award. In this shoebox how-to we'll take a look at how Gregg Grisham, a long time member of the All Ways team gives the custom touch to a '50 Merc's front and rear bumper by adding '51 Merc' bumper guards. Let's listen in to the how-to instructions from Gregg: "This method will work for most combinations. I need to mention that it is important to clean off the chrome and copper from where you are welding, and to make the surfaces of your welds as pit free as possible, and a good chrome shop like Kerr West can do wonders to finish off the parts. Here's a list of the Chop Shop Tools All Ways Hot Rods used: Rolloc grinder with various pads to clean chrome and grind for fit, 45 degree with cutoff wheel...